How Does 'Cities Of Salt' Critique Oil And Colonialism?

Ishida, a young man, unexpectedly meets a girl named Rhina by sheer fate. But before long, a war erupts and they are captured by soldiers led by the malicious Lieutenant Monte. The lieutenant gives them a dreadfully simple choice: leave their homes in search of a legendary "lost city at sea," its immortal king, and bring back a mind-boggling amount of gold, or have their mountain reduced to ashes. Ishida’s father had set out in search of the place, too, but never returned. The journey will take them across oceans, sun-scorched deserts, and over perilous mountains; but most importantly of all: the two will discover their true selves will discover their true selves when they confront what will determine their fate. The questions remain: will they be able to find the lost city at sea and bring its treasures back to the avaricious lieutenant before time runs out? Or, perhaps the place they are searching for is simply non-existent?

"Has anyone heard of this city?! No one seems to remember it, and something horrific might have happened to it."

---> if you are interested in my work, please check out my novel The Starving Vulture. Available on Amazon, $3.99 for the Ebook and $14.95 for the Paperback https://www.amazon.com/Starving-Vulture-Miguel-Monta%C3%B1a/dp/1951150899<---------The Pacific Capital. A product of an altered world, the legacy of the dead Philippine nation. A congested megacity holding 50 million people all huddled in what was once Metro Manila. It is the center for Pacific Maritime Trade, the world's largest Tax Haven and one of the few places in the world free from the Draconian but necessary environmental laws that saved the world since Cometfall. Ruled by Megacorporations, Corrupt Politicians, Invested Nobility and Criminals. It is one of the world's most important agricultural and pharmaceutical centers. H-6 is an Arbiter of the Court. As Judge Jury and Executioner, they maintain the essential Power Plant Canals and Massive weather controlled Dome Districts. Two elements that even the all powerful Megacorps need maximize their profits. Making Arbiter's Court the true rulers of the city. But even an all powerful Arbiter of the Court like H-6 knows, that Ambition and Greed will always find ways to ignore the rule of Law. Solus Valentine is a Security Consultant, plying her trade to anyone in need. She is a gun for hire who has the street smarts for the city's underworld. Whether in the gilded halls or the most flooded streets, she's ready for your contract. But while completing a contract, she stumbles into a vast conspiracy that just might threaten the city's fragile power balance, if not the world. She just might need an Arbiter's help for this one. One who might be someone from her past.

A civil war is on the verge of erupting in the western part of Africa, Nigeria. Two boys are lost in the shadow of the war and must make their way out of the dark shadows. No matter what it takes.

He built empires by never loving anyone. She survived him by becoming something unstoppable. Adrian Blackwell did not believe in mercy—only leverage. As the youngest billionaire to dominate three continents, he ruled boardrooms with ice in his veins and blood on his hands. Falling in love with his wife was his only mistake. And when betrayal came, he chose the lie that preserved his empire over the woman who gave him everything. When Adrian cast Elara out of his life, he never knew the truth. She was pregnant. And she refused to beg. Disappearing with nothing but her name and a secret that could shatter him, Elara rebuilt herself from ruin. Years later, she returns not as the discarded wife—but as a powerbroker in her own right. Wealth sharpened by vengeance. Grace forged in fire. A woman who learned that survival is the most dangerous form of ambition. Now their worlds collide again—at the summit of global power. Adrian wants her back. Elara wants justice. But the past has claws, the truth has a price, and the child between them is no longer a secret that can stay buried. As enemies circle and empires tremble, love becomes a battlefield where forgiveness may cost everything and revenge may cost even more. Because in a world ruled by billionaires, love is the most expensive risk of all.

Princess Riley of Avarayne watched merchants with ledger, smooth smiles murder her mother at the docks and cast the queen into the harbour's hungry rip. Days later, her grief-numbed father guided by a new wife with colder hands than the sea stripped Riley's birthright and crowned a newborn son in her place. Hounded by courtly poisons and a stepsister who polishes beauty like a blade, Riley binds her chest, hides her hair beneath a bandana, and vanishes into the night as "Rye." Aboard the infamous Gilded Wraith under Captain Kade Thorne, the Wolf of the Azure. Rye learns knots, storms, and the language of survival. A slow, impossible pull grows between captain and "boy," even as she steers the crew through sea monsters, rival pirates, and raids against the royal fleet hunting them. But when a bounty bearing House Morcant's seal surfaces, Riley glimpses the conspiracy that began the night her mother drowned. Captured and unmasked to save Kade's life, Riley is dragged back to a palace that would sell her in marriage to silence the truth. To free the man who became her compass and claim the justice denied her, she must choose: reclaim a crown salted with blood or burn the lies that built it.