Saltcrop

By: Yume Kitasei

Narrated by: Eunice Wong

From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky and The Stardust Grail comes the tender and gripping tale of two sisters who sail across oceans to find their missing third sister – and Earth’s salvation.

ONE OF ELLE'S BEST FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS OF 2025

LONGLISTED FOR GOODREADS READER'S FAVOURITE SCIENCE FICTION 2025

'An absorbing, compelling tale of love, loyalty and danger' Guardian

'A deft and intimate family saga set against the backdrop of an utterly believable dystopian world' Elle

'An unforgettable novel that teems with big ideas and abundant heart' Michelle Min Sterling, New York Times bestselling author of Camp Zero

'A brilliant triumph and a heartfelt love letter' J.R. Dawson, award-winning author of The First Bright Thing

'Urgent and gorgeously written' Sarah Brooks, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands

In Earth's near future, seas consume coastal cities and mutant fish lurk in their depths. Skipper, a skilled sailor and the youngest of three sisters, earns money skimming and reselling plastic from the ocean to care for her ailing grandmother.

Her eldest sister, Nora, left home in pursuit of a cure for failing crops all over the world. Now, she’s missing. When Skipper and her other sister, Carmen, receive a cryptic plea for help, they must put aside their differences and set out across the sea to save her.

But their voyage through a dying world both beautiful and strange brings them to question what dangerous attention did Nora attract, and how well do they really know their sister – or each other?

Thus begins an epic journey spanning oceans and continents and a wistful rumination on sisterhood, friendship, and ecological disaster.

'Get a copy of Saltcrop for all the perpetually warring siblings you know' Vajra Chandrasekera, author of the Nebula, Ignyte, Crawford, and Locus award-winning The Saint of Bright Doors

'Luminous, credible, and engrossing from beginning to end' Kirkus, starred review

'A tale that feels both intimate and expansive. It’s an impressive feat' Publishers Weekly, starred review

©2025 Yume Kitasei (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

Praise for Saltcrop :

'Part eco-thriller, part sisterhood epic, Kitasei has written an unforgettable novel that teems with big ideas and abundant heart.' Michelle Min Sterling, New York Times bestselling author of Camp Zero

'This is a beautiful book about the people you'd cross oceans for. A brilliant triumph and a heartfelt love letter to the siblings we don't understand but are irrevocably sworn to.' J.R. Dawson, award-winning author of The First Bright Thing

'Urgent and gorgeously written, Saltcrop is an adventure, a family drama, an ecological thriller, and above all a story of ordinary humans doing extraordinary things.' Sarah Brooks, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands

'The blighted and ruined landscapes the Shimizu sisters traverse, and the disease-struck, semi-feral communities they encounter, all feel dangerously nearby, a world three minutes into the the future of our present disastrous trajectory. The love they bear for each other, even if it’s often tangled up in old pains and many mutual irritations, make even that future feel survivable' Vajra Chandrasekera, author of the Nebula, Ignyte, Crawford, and Locus award-winning The Saint of Bright Doors

Fascinating peek into a possible future through the eyes of 3 sisters

This was a bit of a slow burn at the start as we discover the world and got to know the sisters, and then the story picked up and I couldn’t put this down. The different perspectives from each sister was an interesting approach that helped dive deeper into the struggles and themes within the story, this made me better understand the characters better and it was really touching look at families.