1000 years in the future the Earth is mostly covered in water. Giant city-sized 'rafts' hold most of the world's population, giving a comfortable if bland life to the inhabitants. Sal, a trainee navigator on the Sydney raft, discovers through her researche on the world wide internet connecting all the rafts that a research project is being carried out on the Shanghai raft into genetic modifications to allow people to grow gills which will allow them to breathe underwater. Feeling that this will give her a far more interesting life she arranges a transfer to Shanghai and a new life begins for her which will eventually lead to her being part of the crew of a completely new raft with new adventures in store. Her life is certainly not bland now!

Cities at Sea by Martin Simons is an absorbing tale of a strange future world and the reactions of the population to the genetically modified few, and also the interactions with some of the 'lubbers', land dwellers who avoid the rafts. A good tale of a strange new world