Take the plunge into South Florida’s sunken coast in author and playwright Tim Chawaga’s debut novel. This action-packed speculative mystery explores the cost of freedom in a capitalistic climate apocalypse. Salvagia follows a ragtag group of nostalgia divers, spaceracers, and environmentally conscious collectivists as they attempt to untangle the truth behind a mysterious death. Here’s everything you need to know before the book hits shelves on August 12!
Synopsis
If there’s one thing Triss Mackey is good at, it’s finding a loophole. She’s currently exploiting this skill to avoid her government service in the Second Civilian Conservation Corps and enjoy a quiet life aboard her rented, sentient CabanaBoat, the Floating Ghost. All she has to do in return is retrieve recycling from Florida’s flooded coastal cities, now known as the yoreshore. In her spare time, she dives for salvagia (valuable relics from times past, AKA nostalgic salvage), hoping one of these artifacts will earn her enough capital to buy her beloved CabanaBoat — and her freedom along with it.
When the federal government decides to pull out of Florida, Triss’ timeline for purchasing the Ghost is cut short, endangering her precious loophole. In the feds’ absence, the corporate mafias — helmed by infamous luxury hotel owner Edgar Ortiz and his group, Mourning in Miami — are set to take control. In a desperate search for the biggest score of her life, Triss stumbles upon Ortiz’s dead body, chained to the ocean floor. Out of time and options, she teams up with Ortiz’s virtuoso spaceracer son, Riley, to get to the bottom of his father’s untimely demise. If she can solve the mystery, it may just lead her to a piece of salvagia worth enough to secure her future.
A Sharp-Witted Sci-Fi Mystery
I forced myself to take longer breaths, hold them, space them out.
Around my fifth breath, something clicked. I suddenly felt calm, then almost euphoric. I stared back at the maw.
Its blackness surrounded me now, and I did not look away again. It beckoned.
— Tim Chawaga, Salvagia
Tim Chawaga’s Salvagia is climate fiction at its finest, envisioning a near-future Florida devastated by uber-lethal weather events like “SuperCanes.” Led by a competent and roguishly charming protagonist, this story features towering mechanical titans, hydraulic alligators, hive mind drones, and spacefaring drag racers. Chawaga’s richly built world is the perfect backdrop for the high-stakes whodunit that unfolds when Triss accidentally discovers a political plot to seize control of the South Florida yoreshore. If you’ve been searching for an unputdownable mystery with a speculative twist, this one deserves a spot on your TBR.
A Heartfelt Look at Community
What do you do when you find yourself adrift?
You tread water until your legs give out, ‘til your blood mixes with the yoreshore murk. Only then do you find something to hold onto. Anything will do, even Reefer’s reef, that crude and deadly weapon.
And then?
You come to the party. You stay late. When there’s a lull in conversation, you make another drink, since you’re afraid of what silence will coerce you to say. You lie awake and wait, and see who might be there to greet you in the dark.
— Tim Chawaga, Salvagia
Chawaga’s debut is populated with a memorable cast of characters, including a hotshot corporate mafia heir, a sentient rocketship mechanic, a conservationist with a knack for attracting “peculiar Florida characters,” and a salvagia diver running from her past. As the story progresses, this eclectic crew forms an unlikely found family, forcing Triss to confront her strained relationship with trust. To stay alive and win her freedom, she must leave her fate in the hands of her companions — and her sentient Cabanaboat. This uplifting exercise in faith sees Triss relearning the value of community in the wake of a traumatic loss.
An Unexpectedly Humorous Adventure
‘…Any other suspects? I guess I’m one of them, but I didn’t do it. We couldn’t stand to be in the same room together long enough for me to kill him.’
‘The nice thing about killing someone underwater is that you don’t have to talk to them,’ observed Myra.
— Tim Chawaga, Salvagia
Amidst the political machinations and power struggles driving Salvagia, Chawaga makes sure to slip in plenty of humor. His characters are endlessly witty and unfailingly unpredictable, resulting in slapstick antics and grade-A banter. Even in the most tension-filled moments, when readers are on the edge of their seats, holding their breath in anticipation, hilarity ultimately ensues. The effect is a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience that expertly marries levity and depth.
A Rumination on What It Means To Move the Needle
‘…Your friend Eli died because he was trying to move the needle, too. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?’
I thought of Eli then, and Myra, pursuing her Third Way, disappointed at every turn. I thought of Coral Castle, destroyed just minutes ago by a machine that a thousand Ermies couldn’t build.
As far as I had ever seen, the needle never moved far enough to make a difference.
— Tim Chawaga, Salvagia
When the story opens, Triss is jaded with dreamers and visionaries. Throughout the years, she’s watched the people she loves sacrifice themselves in the name of moving the needle. But in her experience, the needle never moves very far. Certainly not far enough to justify the heavy toll inflicted on anyone who even attempts to alter the status quo. In Triss’ mind, trying to change the world is a pointless endeavor. Why bother when it only seems to bring more suffering?
It’s only through the example set by her community that Triss learns a valuable lesson: Moving the needle doesn’t have to be revolutionary. Sometimes, it simply means carving a tiny place for yourself in a world that doesn’t want to make room. Together, Triss and her friends find ways to reclaim the power that’s been stripped from them. It might not change the world, but it’s a step toward a better future, however small.
Final Thoughts
Salvagia by Tim Chawaga is a rip-roaring romp through climate change–plagued near-future Florida, propelled by a charismatic heroine and a gripping murder mystery. Danger lurks at every turn, fueling Chawaga’s high-velocity investigation of found family, trauma, and modern-day issues like the climate crisis. This deft debut makes the perfect page-turner for anyone seeking a laugh, a thrill, and perhaps, even a cry.
You’ll love Salvagia if you enjoyed these books:
- Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
- Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo
- The Midsolar Murders series by Mur Lafferty
- New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
- The Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald
Bookstr’s Salvagia Dream Cast:
- Kiki Layne as Triss Mackey, a salvagia diver
- Taylor Zakhar Perez as Riley Ortiz, a champion spaceracer
- Natalie Morales as Myra, Triss’ eccentric environmentalist friend
- Vico Ortiz as Nepheli, Riley’s adoptive sibling
- David Harbour as Maurice Thibodeux, a powerful corporate mafia leader
If you want to add Salvagia to your TBR, you can preorder it on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon. Thank you to Diversion Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To read our review of Sam Davey’s mystical Arthurian retelling, The Chosen Queen, click here!
To browse more books like this, check out Bookstr’s Science Fiction shelf on Bookshop!
