The Route of Ice and Salt

Zarate's language is atmospheric and delivered with such a perfect cadence that it offers a sort of false security in the beginning of the novella, mirroring the lull of a ship's rocking or the calm before a storm. Because of that, the turns Zarate takes later in the narrative are all the more deceptive, with the language gaining power just as the story becomes more action-focused.

There are a lot of surprises in this little novella, but the opening material and afterword deliver extra context that makes the book all the more striking. I don't want to ruin the read for anyone, but suffice it to say that if you begin reading and push yourself through the deceptively quiet and unnerving opening section, you'll be rewarded with a payoff show more that brings the whole of the book together in a satisfying and utterly striking fashion.

Absolutely recommended, but do note that this is an adult read with explicit material, and there are some serious CWs to be taken into account if that's something you'd normally look up. show less

The Route of Ice and Salt (La ruta del hielo y la sal) is a novella retelling of “Dracula” by José Luis Zárate and translated by David Bowles. This story was originally published in 1998, and as far as I can tell this is the first translation of Zárate’s work into English. He’s a well-known author in Mexico and known for his speculative/science fiction.

The choice of a re-telling of Dracula is very interesting. While the bones of the story remain the same, this novella focuses on the voyage of the Demeter. The ship is headed by a Captain (who remains unnamed) and is gay.

I suppose the entire story is a metaphor for what has gone on in the Captain’s life and what continues to happen to him. He is trapped on a ship with men he show more cannot touch and surrounded by relationships/ friendships he cannot partake of.

The story is split into the events from the log of the Demeter, the Captain’s POV and flashbacks to his youth. These perspectives weave together to create a visceral, dark and compelling tale about a man who is torn over who he is. There are portions of the story in which the descriptions of the boat are completely focussed on sensuality and equate the boat… the voyage and the crew to a larger erotic experience.

The writing is flowery at the beginning of the novella although this does settle a bit as the story progresses. At times, the descriptions are breath-taking, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether the descriptions are of terrifying incidents or mundane ones. I’m not familiar with the process of translation so I’m uncertain how much of the language style is in the original novella.

I think what I found most compelling was the internalized homophobia the Captain dealt with and the way that it manifested with respect to the threat that was on board the Demeter.

“At times, I wonder whether a concrete fear is better, whether that swath of deadly night lowering upon us is preferable to the ineffable nothing gnawing at our nerves. To the strange certainty that we have left a door open somewhere, an unwitting invitation to whatever awaits outside, stalking us.”

This is a fascinating retelling of a beloved tale. I would recommend it to anyone who interested in the more traditional horror stories. show less

A slow burning tale, written in a beautifully lyrical style, where menace increases as the voyage moves on. A sensual story of the hidden, the monstrous, and fear.
Spawned from the classic Dracula, this book explores the sea voyage from the viewpoint of the captain in an original and haunting way. It will no doubt be initially confronting to some readers in the candid directness of the captain's thoughts but it brings a fullness to the narrative that is vitally important.

I'm puzzled as to how to review this book. I'm definitely suffering from a situation of not clearly knowing what type of book I was reading before starting it. I thought this was a queer take on Dracula (centered around the ship voyage to England). As I started reading, the narrator's perspective was clearly not just queer, but highly erotic. I reread the back of the book and it did mention the captain's desires, but I still felt the level of detail was more intense than the blurb let on.

I enjoy erotic (and queer erotic) fiction, but I need to be in the mood and know that's the type of book I'm reading before I start. I was taken by suprise by the almost softcore porn tone of this book. This is not just a novella with a steamy sex scene show more or two thrown in. This is a story told from the perspective of a man who is practically consumed by his desire for his crew. So consumed by his desire that... he has a dream about penetrating his ship and climaxing inside the helm and also wonders if the rats aboard the ship enjoy tasting the ejaculate of the sailors. It just wasn't the content I was expecting and I didn't feel prepared by the blurb.

Beyond that, the writing style was too flowery and introspective for me, even if there was no erotic content. I wasn't connecting with the imagery or the sometimes redundant descriptions and thoughts of the captain. Plot-wise, the vampire content really takes a back seat. I would have loved some more tension. Or more vampiric activity. By the end of the story, I was confused about what was happening - and maybe this was intentional given the mental state of the captain at this point, but it wasn't clicking with me.

I do think it's great that this book was even published - it was back in 1998 in Mexico, when not only was sci-fi and fantasy rare but also queer fiction. I bought my copy a year or two ago through a crowd funding campaign to have it published for the first time in the US and I'm happy to have helped a marginalized author get his story to more readers. I also think books that tackle homophobia and queer guilt are important. This one also touches on assault, so there are a lot of heavy themes happening, given the low page count.

At the end of the day, it just wasn't a story for me, but YMMV! show less

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this from audible on audiobook.

Thoughts: I listened to this on audiobook and the narration started off a bit dry but got better as the story went on. This is strangely lyrical and horrific. It takes a bit to get moving, and I thought the pacing was uneven.

The captain here is picking up a strange cargo of boxes of dirt from Romania along with a crew there. He lusts after the companion-ship of the male crew, but knows that he should be a leader to them and not use his power to coerce them into his bed. However, on their voyage from Romania to England strange horrific things start to happen on the ship. First there are the dreams, then the rats disappear, then the sightings of a show more strange thin man, then the mice reappearing but as strange creatures, and then the crew disappearing. The captain recites this all through journal entries that get increasingly dreamlike and horrific.

The first part of the book really dwells on the captain's sensual forbidden thoughts, and he apparently spends a lot of time lusting after the men on his ship. Finally, he does end up taking a lover. This part of the book is a bit slow and mainly just interrupted by the strangely horrific dreams he starts to have. However, as the book continues, you get deeper and deeper into the horrific aspects as more and more odd things start to happen on the ship.

This was okay. I enjoyed the lush gothic descriptions and the premise. I am glad this was a shorter, the writing style is a bit tough to follow at points and rambles. The narration also wasn't the best for this audiobook; the narrator was a bit flat and not engaging to listen to. I did like how the captain went through the comparison of his need for other men and compares that to a vampire's need for blood; it was an intriguing look at how these two things (which seem pretty different to me) were so close together in his mind. It was very poetic and gave an interesting look into thought processes of the time.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay. This was written in a beautifully horrific and gothic style. Seeing the captain deal with his position as a good captain who protects his men and fights with, first his personal needs, and then the horror around him was fascinating. I am not unhappy to have read this. However, I did find it a bit hard to follow at times and the narration wasn't the best. I would have preferred to read this rather than listen to it. It is a short read and a unique one. If you are interested in a gothic horror at sea this is a decent one. show less

The Route of Ice and Salt (original: La Ruta del Hielo y la Sal) is a novella by José Luis Zárate, based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I read the English translation by David Bowles.

Content Note: antiziganism, (critical treatment of) homomisia

Plot:
The Demeter is set to sail from Varna to Whitby with 50 boxes of Transylvanian soil. While not the most usual cargo, it also isn’t that out of the ordinary to transport and the captain and his crew are set for a long, but mostly boring journey. But strange things are happening aboard the ship, making it like nothing they ever experienced before.

A queer retelling of (part of) Dracula from a new perspective sounded like exactly my cup of tea. But unfortunately, I couldn’t really get into The show more Route of Ice and Salt despite its many strengths. It is an excellent piece of literature, it is just not my style.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2024/07/25/the-route-of-ice-and-salt-jose-luis-zarate/ show less

reworking of dracula with the details of how he crossed from Europe to Whitby. Told from the point of view of the (gay) captain of the schooner that was hired to carry specifically only a few boxes of dirt 'for scientific investigations'

It starts and ends with the captains actual voice/thoughts and then has a series of excepts from the log in the middle. Neither is perhaps the best, although epistolary format would be closer to the original. I skimmed lots of the thoughts because he was obsessed with sex but had to restrain himself in order to maintain the respect of the crew. It was dull and slightly gross. The vampire didn't actually make much of an appearance other than eluded to in the log.

Probably more of the interest is in show more original foreign language retelling of a western tale. Didn't work for me. show less