Dow Amber has lived to his teenage years knowing only the high country, and the fact that he has been born to a life of logging, like his father and forefathers before him. But when a chance sighting of the open water and an immense sailing ship sparks an uncontrollable longing for the ocean, Dow turns his back on the life he knows. In desolate Stromner, on the edge of the Claw (a bay protected by twin peninsulas and twin towns), Dow learns to sail and fish, and hears stories of a terrible whirlpool that claimed two lives ten years ago. While the boat he sails is disappointingly small, and the fishing work distinctly unglamorous, Dow soon catches sight of the impressive sailing ships of the elite Ship Kings again, on their regular visit to the neighbouring city of Stone Port.
HB 289 pages