by T. J. Bass
First published 1983
Rorqual Maru stretches over 600 feet through the sterile waters that killed her purpose. This living harvester, part whale and part ship, was built to rake plankton from Earth's oceans. When the seas died, human society abandoned her to drift alone. Centuries pass in dormant silence. Then life returns to the waters. Rorqual Maru stirs from her long sleep, her biological systems responding to the renewed ocean. She prepares to resume her ancient mission of serving mankind. But the humans who created her have moved on. They no longer remember the great harvesters they once built. Rorqual Maru faces a world where she has become obsolete, a relic from a forgotten age. Her awakening forces a confrontation between past and present, between the loyal servant and the masters who no longer know her name.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, post-apocalyptic, environmental-science
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, man-vs-machine, man-vs-nature
Setting: Earth
Period: Future
281 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ballantine Books