A zookeeper and his family emigrate from India to Canada, taking a lot of the zoo animals with them, but the ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific and Piscine "Pi" Patel is the sole human survivor, or so he says.

About two-thirds of the way through I thought it had jumped the shark, but by the time I'd reached the end I decided it hadn't. That's as much as I can say without too many spoilers.