THE GODWHALE

Eyre-Methuen hardback, 1975. Cover artist uncredited.

"A thundering surf drowned the forlorn screams of sand-locked Rorqual Maru. Brine-tossed grains of olivine and calcite buried her left eye, blocking her view of the sky...As the eyelid of sand darkened her world, Rorqual wept over her irretrievable, wasted years. She was a Harvester without a crop - a plankton rake abandoned by Earth society when the seas died. 

Well over 600 feet long, Rorqual was a cyborg: part whale, part ship, and a marvellously complex combination of biology and mechanics. She had been built to serve Man, and yearned for his return and the feel of his bare feet on her decks. 

Then, after centuries, the miracle happened. The sea grew life again - and Rorqual began her long, slow search. But mankind had forgotten all about Rorqual and her kind..."