Description
In November 2039, marine scientist Wend Taylor heaves themself aboard a zero-emissions boat skippered by elusive nature photographer Viola Yang. Guided by instinct, ocean dreams, and a shared birthday in 1972, they barter stories for passage across the Pacific. Aljon, Viola’s younger cousin, keeps a watchful eye and an innovative galley. Story by story, the trio rethink secrets, flying dreams, and how they experience their own minds.
When they reach Hawaiʻi and prepare to part ways, opportunity and mystery pull them closer together. Both scientific and personal discoveries take shape as they join with ex-lovers, lost friends, and found family. Wend must navigate an ever-shifting future, complicated by bioengineered microbes and a plot to silence scientists, entangled with inexplicable dreams and a calling to Be the Sea.
Cover Artist: Matthew Spencer
Author Clara Ward will be donating 100% of their royalties to conservation efforts for our global ocean.
Media:
“The Cake is a Truth” by Clara Ward as a guest of Cat Rambo
Buzz:
“I am so delighted to see this book published. I read an early version, and it’s terrific. Please consider picking it up, perhaps by ordering through your local bookstore, or by requesting from your library!” — Cat Rambo, Nebula winning writer, editor, and teacher
Reviews:
“I’m not a big sci-fi person, but if more of it left me feeling as good as this one did, I’d call myself a huge fan.” — Alex Brown, Ignyte Award winning critic of Punk-Ass Book Jockey
“An amazing sci-fi novel… An eclectic cast of queer and disabled characters… If you enjoy optimistic stories that take into account the realities of our world but present innovative solutions, you’ll enjoy Be the Sea“ — Dawn Vogel, History That Never Was
“Reading BE THE SEA felt like diving into the rhythm of a character’s actual life – not “skipping to the good parts,” but watching everything, a day at a time, an hour at a time. It’s an interesting life, which involves sea voyages as well as a gradually unfolding set of psychic experiences and intrigues, but you get to watch not just the intrigues but the way they fit into a larger pattern of routines, career struggles, relationship negotiations, eating, sleeping, and storytelling as our protagonist, Wend, struggles to articulate why they’re here on this voyage and what they feel. I’m just so here for the type of experience that this book offers.” — Ada Hoffman, author of The Outside
