"Oceanic" 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 uni ...

novella by Australian writer

Greg Egan Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and amateur mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, ...

, published in 1998. It won the 1999

Hugo Award for Best Novella The Hugo Award for Best Novella is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novella award is available for works of fiction of between ...

Publication history

"Oceanic" was first published in the August 1998 edition of ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'' by Dell Magazines. Editor

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...

republished it in '' The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection'' (1999) and '' The Best of the Best Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels'' (2007). It was again republished in Greg Egan's collection ''

Dark Integers and Other Stories Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of lighting, illumination, an absence of visible spectrum, visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human visual perception, vision is unable to di ...

'' (2008) and in Egan's collection ''Oceanic'' (2009).

Reception

In 1999, "Oceanic" won the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

best novella, and Asimov's Reader Poll for best novella. It also won two foreign short story awards: the 2000 Hayakawa's SF Magazine Reader's Award and the 2001

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. ...

. "Oceanic" was also a finalist in the 1998 Aurealis Award for best science fiction short story, a long list nominee for the 1999 James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award, and a short-list nominee for the 1999 HOMer Award for best novella.

Synopsis

The story follows Martin, a Freelander living on the oceans of Covenant. As a boy he has a religious experience that shapes his life for years to come. As he grows into manhood his experiences and studies begin to conflict with his deep rooted faith. Eventually he joins a small circle of scholars studying the effects of one of Covenant’s most abundant microbes as his views of life change dramatically.

References

External links

* * Full text online. {{Hugo Award Best Novella Hugo Award for Best Novella winning works Australian science fiction novels 1998 science fiction novels 1998 novels Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction Works by Greg Egan Short stories by Greg Egan Australian novellas