''The Deep Range'' is a 1957

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, concerning a future sub-mariner who works in the field of

mariculture Mariculture, sometimes called marine farming or marine aquaculture, is a branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other animal products, in seawater. Subsets of it include ( offshore mariculture), fish fa ...

, herding whales. The story includes the capture of a

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and are often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

similar to a

kraken The kraken (, from , "the crookie") is a legendary sea monster of enormous size, per its etymology something akin to a cephalopod, said to appear in the Norwegian Sea off the coast of Norway. It is believed that the legend of the Kraken may h ...

. The novel is based on a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

by the same name that Clarke wrote in November 1953 and which was first published in

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

's '' Star Science Fiction No.3'', copyrighted in 1954 but published in January 1955. The short story was then published elsewhere, including in '' Argosy'' magazine in February 1956 and collected in Clarke's '' Tales from Planet Earth'' (1989).

Plot

The Deep Range follows the career of former astronaut Walter Franklin in the Marine Division, rising from trainee, to game warden, and eventually to Director of the Bureau of Whales. A spacewalking mishap had left Franklin floating in space, out of contact and isolated for an extended period. The resulting severe

acrophobia Acrophobia, also known as hypsophobia, is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share similar ...

(termed ''astrophobia'' by Clarke) rendered him unable to function as an astronaut and forever isolated him from his family on Mars. He is forced to turn to the sea for a final attempt at rehabilitation. The Division is a mid-21st Century sea-based organization responsible for feeding a sizable portion of the Earth's population through the farming and harvesting of plankton as well as the herding and slaughter of whales. The Whale Bureau employs wardens who in their single-person scout subs shepherd the whale pods and protect them from predatory orcas and sharks. The narrative is divided into three sections. Part I covers Franklin's training and adaptation to his new environment. Along the way he makes a lasting friend of his mentor and meets his eventual new wife. A recurrence of the astrophobia causes a breakdown and suicide attempt. An unexpected rescue convinces Franklin to commit fully to his new life. Part II details Franklin's experiences as a veteran warden from the mundane to the more exotic. Abnormally high sperm whale deaths in a specific sector point to the existence of an enormous giant squid, nicknamed Percy. Franklin is tasked with spearheading the effort to find and capture Percy. A similar attempt later to capture the elusive Great Sea Serpent goes tragically awry. Part III sees Franklin in charge as Director of the Bureau of Whales. Amid the everyday administrative and scientific challenges, the Bureau encounters a threat to its very existence. A Buddhist monk mounts a credible and effective campaign to stop the harvest of whales, even though it accounts for an eighth of the world's food supply. As Franklin struggles to counter the campaign, he finds himself inexorably drawn to the monk's viewpoint. An undersea catastrophe presents Franklin with his last opportunity to visit the depths he has grown to love. In the final chapter Franklin and his wife attend the bittersweet departure of their son into the Space Service and reunion with his former family on Mars: "To his son, he willingly bequeathed the shoreless seas of space. For himself, the oceans of this world were sufficient."

Setting

A lengthy portion of this novel takes place on an extrapolated

Heron Island, Australia Heron Island is a coral cay located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef. It is north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and north-north-west of the state capital Brisbane. The island is situated on the leew ...

. Towards the end of the novel, the main character visits

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

, the ancient

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n city.

Reception

Galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

'' reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the novel, describing it "as fresh and bright as dawn on a tropic sea."Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf
, ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edi ...

'', October 1957, p.122 He later called the short story a "super duper topnotcher".

References

Sources

External links