The Land-Knower

"Lu will come back." People had been saying it out on the water for eighty years. No one believed them. The year the flood swallowed the last piece of land, polar station researcher Shen Zhou died in the archives. When he opened his eyes again, he was sprawled on the sea in Year 101, salt filling his mouth. He had memorized two hundred years of weather data, the coordinates of thirteen thousand sunken cities, and the real cause of the flood. In an age when fresh water was worth more than a life, everything he knew was worth a ship, and every scrap of it came with a blade hanging over his head. The leader of the raiders wanted him alive. The deep-sea fleet was searching for him. Even the floating island that had taken him in kept wavering between surrendering its secrets and surrendering his life. He had only one request: don't make him go underwater. He was afraid of water, right down to his bones. Until he discovered that only someone from the polar regions could open the door on the ocean floor.