''Cachalot'' ( 1980) is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by American writer

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghos ...

Plot summary

Cachalot is an ocean planet where humans have begun building floating cities. It is also the same planet where all of Earth's cetaceans were transplanted six hundred years ago after the Covenant of Peace was enacted with all intelligence-enhanced ocean dwellers. Four of these cities have been destroyed when a middle-aged scientist and her late-teen daughter are dispatched to the planet to discover the source of the attacks. The novel title comes from the French word ''cachalot'', meaning

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale famil ...

. This word was applied to the sperm whale when the mammals were actively hunted in Earth's oceans. The novel features a new musical instrument called "neurophon" producing not only tunes but also nerve sensations on human skin and irritating alien creatures found on the planet.

External links

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Alan Dean Foster homepage
1980 American novels Humanx Commonwealth Novels by Alan Dean Foster 1980 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Del Rey books Fiction about whales Fiction set on ocean planets {{1980s-sf-novel-stub