Chains of the Sea

by Robert Silverberg (Editor), George Alec Effinger (Contributor), Gardner Dozois (Contributor)

Contents

6 • Introduction (Chains of the Sea) • (1973) • essay by Robert Silverberg
9 • And Us, Too, I Guess • (1973) • novella by George Alec Effinger [as by Geo. Alec Effinger ]
73 • Chains of the Sea • (1973) • novella by Gardner Dozois [as by Gardner R. Dozois ]
143 • The Shrine of Sebastian • (1973) • novella by Gordon Eklund

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

There are many authors in the database with this name.

Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of three novellas that Silverberg edited with the idea that the writers were young and relatively new to the field. (I guess he was running out of good themes. Anyway, of the three writers, only Eklund is still with us, as is Silverberg himself.) The title story by Gardner R. Dozois is probably the best of the three; it's an award-winner, a kind of dark thriller with A.I. and alien intervention from a child's viewpoint. My favorite of the three is George Alec Effinger's And Us, Too, I Guess, a sardonic look at humanity's penchant for ignoring problems and hoping they will go away. It's just as applicable now as it was a half-century ago, if not more so. I always found his work deep yet accessible. The final story, The Shrine of Sebastian by Gordon Eklund, is a sly look at religion and an early study of gender roles. They're all good tales and worth a look.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three short novellas by guys under 30. I bought this on a whim because I liked the cover, and it had a story by George Alec Effinger (whom I admire) and Gardner Dozois (whom I knew only as an editor, not a writer). I didn't expect much, but all three stories turned out to be very fine.

The story by Dozois, by the way, was just released in a French translation a few months back as Le fini des mers.

1. And Us, Too, I Guess. By George Alec Effinger. 4 stars.

For unknown reasons, species start going extinct one by one, one per day. Except for a few scientists, humans go about their lives like nothing big is happening. They become fairly upset when it is the time for dogs to die, but still don't panic like I'd expect. It is more of a slow, quiet apocalypse.

For unknown reasons, Effinger plays a little game with the setting. While all the place names and other descriptions make it clear that the story is set in New Orleans, he repeatedly states that it is in Cleveland! I have no idea what that was about, but it made me laugh. Maybe the editor forced him to re-locate the story from New Orleans to Cleveland and he slyly did so without changing the place names. Who knows. He was born in Cleveland and moved to New Orleans, so he knew both well.

2. Chains of the Sea. By Gardner Dozois. 4 stars.

This little story has it all. It is my clear favorite. It also won a Nebula award in 1973.

Little Tommy loves playing in the woods and occasionally speaking to the Thants, which nobody else can see. (Think of fairies.) This gets him late for school and into all sorts of trouble with his teachers, therapists, and his nasty, abusive father. Mommy is no help: "she had been defeated for as long as Tommy could remember; her original surrender, her abnegation of herself, had taken place years ago, maybe even before Tommy had been born. She had been beaten spiritually so thouroughly and tirelessly by the more forceful will of her husband that at some point her bones had fallen out, her brains had fallen out, and she had become a jellyfish." What beautiful language! Though it doesn't sound like words Tommy would use.

Meanwhile, aliens come to Earth and don't do anything for a while. When they finally come out of their ships, they are truly alien: morphing from bug-eyed monsters to simple geometric shapes and melding together and splitting apart into separate entities. They have no interest in speaking to humans. It isn't even clear that they notice humans. The AIs are able to make contact, but they have really come to the Thants.

The aliens "regarded humans as parasitic on the [AIs], and reacted in much the same way as a man discovering that a friend was heavily infested with tapeworms and lice or blood ticks -- with shock, distaste, and a puzzled demand to know why he hadn't gone to a doctor and got rid of them a long time ago." Eventually the aliens decide to get rid of the human problem. They explain to Tommy, via the Thants, that they will "increase the entropy". It probably will hurt "just a little, for a little while." (The Thants have a very different sense of time, so this is probably also going to be a very slow apocalypse.)


3. The Shrine of Sebastian. by Gordon Eklund. 4 stars.

The pope has died and she named her brother as her sucessor. (Women can be pope and men can be nuns. Not explained, but just roll with it.) But first he has to carry out her wish to have her body buried at the shrine of Sebastian. This is troublesome because Sebastian was a heretic who is still worshiped, mostly by robots. New Pope Julian takes the robot Andrew (who is writing a new version of the Bible) with him and they head for the shrine with the body. Twice Julian has to have a leg replaced. "The process of amputating a leg or an arm and replacing it with another had never been made wholly painless. When Andrew began to cut he tried not to scream. Soon, he fainted." They only had to do this twice, which was lucky because they only brought two spare legs.

They almost get killed by a group of humans that consider robots to be the work of Satan. Julian escapes by convincing the local priests that he is a human and Andrew survives because the fire wasn't hot enough to melt him. The trip takes quite a while, but the old pope's body doesn't decompose. Hmm, what's up with that? When they finally get to the shrine, Julian discovers a startling truth about himself.

4 stars times 3 = 5 stars. (Math with stars works differently.)

[Macquart · Rating 3 out of 5]

first story is very good. 4/5
a slow apocalypse, which was a new concept at the time. one species disappears from the earth every day, starting with unnoticed or insignifiant ones. it was a surprisingly modern take, very interesting but not particularly well written.

second story is the arrival of aliens who don't acknowledge us, but instead enter in talks with the other inhabitants of the planet, who live in a parallel world, unknown to mankind. the story focuses on a kid and it's not particularly interesting. 2/5

last story is my favorite. 5/5
a holy Bible flavored distant future story of robots and men living in a dead world. very cool, lively characters, well written, loved it.

[Peter Strauss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is comprised of three novellas, each by an author who, the editor believes, is an up and coming science fiction writer ( George Alec Effinger, Gardener Dozois, Gordon Eklund). In the first story ( And us too, I guess ) two scientists discover that, one by one, each of the world's species is dying in a single day. The 'calamity' begins with a species of guppies, followed by a species of fungus. In this world, the people are undisturbed with the loss of species without charisma. But, Effinger states, we start to pay attention when all of the world's dogs start to go. Next, Chains of the Sea by Gardener Dozois, alien spaceships land, but while their presence preoccupies humankind, they could care less about us, communicating instead the true rulers of the world that unbeknownst to us, live invisible among us. In the last story ( The Shrine of St. Sebastion), humans have left this planet for another leaving behind androids and a sprinkling of men and women. One of each, a man and a robot, set about a quest to locate a shrine raised to a man ( St. Sebastion ) there at the time when the balance of men and woman bequeathed earth to artificial humans. The tale that there hangs is by turns distressing and humorous.

Each of the writers above did indeed go on to achieve some notice. While I believe each of these stories starts from an intriguing premise, I feel the execution which follows is uneven. I find the most complete success goes to Dozoios whose story is consistently affecting.

[Oberon Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three novellas:

And Us To, I Guess - by Geo. Alec Effinger
4 stars - great premise, with whole species dying (becoming extinct) overnight, without reason. Nice build up as more keystone species start to drop.

Chains Of The Sea - by Gardner R. Dozois
3 stars - like the Goonies, but with only one vaguely interesting protagonist (who reminded me of Elliot in E.T. In the part where he’s drunk). I liked the description of the aliens and their craft, but the rest plodded a bit. Borderline dark, thriller genre.

The Shrine Of Sebastian- by Gordon Eklund
2 stars - pretty much unreadable.

All three authors were under 30 years old at time of writing.

It was the first time I’d read any of their works. If these are indicative of their style elsewhere, I’d like to delve more into Effinger and Dozois.

[Chleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une petite nouvelle qui mêle science-fiction, et fantaisie avec subtilité. Nous suivons les pas d'un enfant et nous avons accès à sa sensibilité sur le monde qui l'entoure. J'ai aimé rencontrer les Autres du coin de l'oeil et les réflexions sous-jacentes sur l'altérité et la place de l'homme dans l'univers. L'introduction d'IAs qui gouvernent dans l'ombre et ont depuis longtemps surpassé l'homme est aussi intéressante.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories are all pretty much downers, but that is what it means by “Chains of the Sea”. The sea serpent, so powerful, is chained to the sea, and cannot survive in shallow waters.

All three of these novellas are worth reading, especially the final Shrine of Saint Sebastian, which, for me at least, concealed its secret in plain sight.

[Helloran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Commentaire de Chains Of The Sea : une nouvelle particulièrement maîtrisée dans la forme, qui réussit la gageure de mélanger SF et fantasy, invasion mondiale et drame familial, le tout en une centaine de pages. Maintenant, je connais Gardner Dozois.

[Rochelle Blumenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

the middle story was great! the other 2--eh.

[Jon Adler · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And Us, Too, I Guess" by George Alec Effinger 
3/5 Stars

File under: stories about mollies (the fish) and Vitamin K.

Second favorite of the three. Thought the concept was quite interesting, despite my own conviction that the idea of scientifically defined “species” is a quite limited way to classify living beings. I liked the way the story unfolded. Felt like it could be a great short film, or part of a television anthology.

"Chains of the Sea" by Gardner Dozois 
5/5 Stars

The best of the lot, and the reason I read the book to begin with. [[Lue Elizondo]] has mentioned it multiple times, so I wanted to see what the hype was about. In some ways, reminds me of an evil version of “Arrival”, with a much larger lens on what could be going on here on earth. Thought the AI angle was also fun, regardless of how the present-tense, real world rollout of such technology seems to be unfolding.

The story-within-a-story that this one gets its name from was particularly heart-rending. Not at first, with Tommy’s optimistic ending – but when Tommy realizes internally that his stupid friend was right. The mute, indifferent dissolution comes for all flesh. Of course the fictional dragon would be blown to smithereens.

Tommy is such a sweet, sad character. The juxtaposition with his mistreatment – at the hands of his parents, teacher, and psychiatrist – with the grand indifference which the aliens approach all humanity is masterful. His relationships – direct and indirect – with “the other people” didn’t feel tropey. After all, he is human. It would not make sense for him to be treated any different than the rest of his brood. I thought Dozois did a great job developing Tommy in such short time, showing us what he was like at home, with his peers, and by himself.

"The Shrine of Sebastian" by Gordon Eklund 
3/5 Stars

Least favorite of the three. It was fine. The plot twist at the end was pretty well done, I thought. Something had seemed off so far, but I couldn’t figure out why. In general, I just don’t find stories about androids/robots/humans mixed with faith super compelling. At least the Robot Andrew was interesting.

[David Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this collection up at a used book sale, wanting to get a random taste of that unselfconscious 1970s science fiction. The three stories in this book are unrelated except for being published by young authors in the same year.

One of them, the titular "Chains of the Sea" by Gardner Dozois, alternates between two plots: one the classic trope of a boy who can see things others cannot, the other a cartoonish depiction of an alien landing. There is too much gauzy buildup, and little happens until the very end. The parallelism of the stories tries to seem more profound that it is.

The other stories were more interesting because more off the rails. "An Us, Too, I Guess" by George Alec Effinger reads at first as a classic cautionary tale of climate change, loss of diversity, etc., except that it is something weirder. Even before the "cataclysm" around which the story hinges, things were already not quite right in this world, where scientists wear their lab coats out in public and their research consists in a significant part of building beautiful, shimmering contraptions of glass. It is a sendup, but I'm not sure exactly of what. Even weirder is "The Shrine of Sebastian" by Gordon Eklund, involving, as it does, a robot named Andrew, a pope who goes about in medieval armor, and a corpse that the two of them are toting across the dystopian landscape. It would make an amazing Jodorowsky film.

[Ariel [She Wants the Diction] · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was some incredibly weird 70's sci-fi - all authored by dudes, of course! I'd rate this somewhere between 2 and 3 stars because the concepts were original/cool, but aside from the first story ("And Us, Too, I Guess"), executed rather poorly in terms of enjoyability. I had to force myself through "Chains of the Sea," though that ending... what a whammy! "The Shrine of Sebastian" was absolutely bewildering, especially the part where amputation is just a casual thing. Overall I'm not sorry I read it, but it's certainly not the greatest.

[trale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each one was fantastic, “And us, too, I guess” was a personal favorite, the ending leaving you go develop your own ideas while still letting you know exactly what happened, and never really giving you an idea of the original disaster is keeps you enthralled through out waiting for the answer that never truly comes. It’s terrific writing through and through.

[Devin Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

These 3 stories were each a vibe. The first one about a slow motion apocalypse felt like a modern parable for the climate chaos we face.

The second both about abuse and UFOs was powerful and beautiful.

The third was a medieval future populated with robots and androids was clever and cool

[Noel Armando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las dos primeras historias son bastante buenas; la tercera, infumable.

[Kayla Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting concepts regarding what we perceive and what we cannot perceive. Weird story, but I am definitely going to read it again to see what I pick up the second time around.

[Marwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Us too, I guess : ⭐⭐⭐
Chains of the sea : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The shrine of Sebatian : ⭐⭐⭐

[Ryan Gainey (ryan_Gainey StoryGraph) · Rating 5 out of 5]

All three stories were moving and unique, especially given how long ago they were written. But Chains of the Sea was a real standout.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

All three of these were great - but Chains of the Sea was definitely the strongest. Would love to check out more of Gardener Dozois's work.

[Danny · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two novellas are very depressing and unimaginative. Story line is quite simple. Nothing much actually happens, its all glimpses into peoples lived experience. However the writing style is quite creative. If you weren't depressed before reading these stories you probably will be afterwards.

[ZeN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, "Chains of the Sea" by Robert Silverberg, where our impending doom is served with an extraterrestrial twist! Brace yourself for a galactic buffet of disaster as humans grapple with the cosmic equivalent of tangled headphones. Aliens arrive, not with the intention of sharing wisdom, but to remind us that our WiFi passwords aren't as secure as we thought. As Earth's finest minds scramble to decipher their cryptic messages, it becomes clear that these aliens have mastered the art of procrastination, leaving humanity more puzzled than a Rubik's Cube in a room full of colorblind cats. So, dear readers, grab your tinfoil hats and prepare to face the ultimate existential crisis—because nothing says "you're doomed" quite like being schooled by extraterrestrial tech support.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three fair science fiction novellae by Effinger, Dozois and Eklund read during the 1982/83 winter break from school.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat, crazy 70s stuff.