Skip to main content

story identification - Earth as Water World, invasion at climax, fought off


Back in the '80s, I read a story - novel length for the time (would probably be a 'novella' now) - with the following aspects that I can recall:




  • The world had been 'drowned'; except for outcroppings from the highest mountains, there was no natural land - only 'cities' anchored in place somehow.





  • The world was divided into a number of "Thassalarchies", sections of ocean ruled by a strongman who commanded a fleet.




  • Technology seemed to have regressed to more-or-less early Renaissance




  • There was a race of modified humans, the 'Seaborn Ones', who lived under the seas.





  • The viewpoint character was a peon of the time, and wanted to go to sea and become one of the Thassalarch's men.




  • At the end, the viewpoint character had managed to ascend to being the Thassalarch of two territories, and had learned how to communicate with the Seaborn Ones, more-or-less just in time for the "return of the Star Beasts", who supposedly caused the drowning of Earth. In the end, the Star Beasts were defeated.




I will be d$$$ed if I can recall the title or author of the story. Help, please?



Answer



Based on this entry, it's Conquerors from the Darkness by Robert Silverberg.


Conquerors from the Darkness




A thousand years in the future, the earth has been conquered by an alien race and covered by a single sea. Dovirr Stargan, who is disgusted with the servility of his life on the floating city of Vythain, longs to become one of the Sea-Lords, who roam the sea as powerful protectors of the cities.


Dovirr gets his wish, but the return of the alien race brings unexpected and critically dangerous crises to his new life as he learns the real, sometimes terrible, significance of power.



This review has more details and an older cover:
Older cover of Conquerors from the Darkness


As noted by you in your comment, a very green cover does exist. It corresponds to the 1968 Mass Market Paperback:
Green cover


The novella that the book is based on, "Spawn of the Deadly Sea", can be found in the April 1957 issue of Science Fiction Adventures, available here, and indeed the word is "Thalassarch":




Howyn, Thalassarch of the Western Sea, was a tall, heavy man with the thick, brutal jaw of a ruthless leader.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more