Oceanic (novella)

"Oceanic" was first published in the August 1998 edition of Asimov's Science Fiction by Dell Magazines. Editor Gardner Dozois 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 (2008) and in Egan's collection Oceanic (2009).[1]

In 1999, "Oceanic" won the Hugo Award for Best Novella, Locus Award best novella, and Asimov's Reader Poll for best novella.[2][3][4] It also won two foreign short story awards: the 2000 Hayakawa's SF Magazine Reader's Award and the 2001 Seiun Award.[5][6] "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.[7][8][9]

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.

• Oceanic title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Egan, Greg Egan. Oceanic. Full text online.