Waste Tide

Waste Tide is a Locus Award Finalist for Best First Novel, translated by Ken Liu. Mimi works as a waste processor on Silicon Isle, an island off the coast of China where discarded electronics—phones, laptops, bots, and bionic limbs—are sent for recycling. The island is buried under towering heaps of electronic waste that pollute the landscape. Mimi and thousands of other migrant workers were drawn to Silicon Isle with promises of steady employment and improved living conditions. Though essential to the island's economy, these workers remain vulnerable to those in power. The situation destabilizes as multiple factions clash: local gangs fighting for control, ecoterrorists working to disrupt the existing system, American investors seeking profits, and a Chinese-American interpreter tracing his heritage. Their collision triggers conflict between rich and poor, tradition and modern ambition, and humanity's past and future. Mimi and her peers face a choice: accept their role as pawns in this conflict or take control of their own fate.