Oceanic
by Greg Egan
Synopsis
According to the Scriptures, the oceans of Earth were storm-tossed, and filled with dangerous creatures. But on Covenant, the oceans were calm, and the Angels created nothing in the ecopoiesis that would harm their own mortal incarnations.
The people of Covenant believe they are the descendants of immaterial “Angels” who were brought to the planet by the daughter of God to “repent their theft of immortality” and live and die as flesh once more.
Martin is a Freelander, raised on the ocean, and a personal experience as a child convinces him of the truth of this account. But when he becomes a biologist and begins to study the native life of Covenant, his work leads to revelations about the true history of the planet, and the nature of his own beliefs.
Publication history
- Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 1998.
- The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois; St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1999.
- “Il Culto Degli Oceani” in Strani Universi 2, edited by Piergiorgio Nicolazzini; Editrice Nord, Milan, 1999. Translated by Luca Landoni. (Italian translation)
- “Deti oceanu” in Ikarie, November 1999. Translated by Petr Kotrle. (Czech translation)
- Hayakawa’s SF Magazine, January 2000. (Japanese translation)
- “Océanique” in Bifrost #20, October 2000. Translated by Francis Lustman and Quarante-Deux. (French translation)
- Oceanic and Other Stories (collection, Hayakawa) Translated by Makoto Yamagishi. (Japanese translation)
- eBook from Fictionwise, 2001. [Out of print. This story can be found in the eBook for the collection Oceanic.]
- “Oceanika” in Sfinks #4, 2002. (Polish translation)
- “Océanique” online at Quarante-Deux. Translated by Francis Lustman and Quarante-Deux. (French translation)
- “Oceánico” in Oceánico (collection, Cuasar Ediciones) (Spanish translation)
- Delos/Odissea, Milan, 2006. Translated by Viviana Viviani. ISBN 8-88909-625-X (pb) (Italian translation)
- The Best of the Best, Volume 2, edited by Gardner Dozois; St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2007.
- Dark Integers and Other Stories (collection, Subterranean Press) [Out of print.]
- Oceanic (collection, Orion)
- “Océanique” in Océanique (collection, le Bélial’) (French translation)
- Oceanic (collection, Greg Egan)
- The Best of Greg Egan (collection, Subterranean Press)
- The Best of Greg Egan (collection, Chengdu) (Chinese translation)
Information and illustrations
Oceanic / created Monday, 26 April 1999
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Copyright © Greg Egan, 1999. All rights reserved.
