Songs of Thalassa

by Brian Tissot

Overview

Twelve light-years from Earth lies Thalassa—an uncharted ocean planet shrouded in storms, secrets, and the echoes of a vanished past. For Sage Thompson, a fallen big-wave champion haunted by loss and exile, the journey to Thalassa is a last shot at redemption. Once celebrated across the virtual surf world, she now rides the edge of obscurity. But this mission isn't just about reclaiming a title—it's personal. Her father vanished on Thalassa years ago during a doomed expedition. Now, Sage follows his path through space in search of answers. What she finds is beyond imagining: a water-covered world teeming with alien beauty, spiritual resonance, and ethereal songs that speak directly to her soul. As rivalries ignite and ancient forces stir beneath the waves, Sage must confront the truth about her past, her culture, and the fragile line between science and spirit. Part ecological parable, part cosmic adventure, Songs of Thalassa is a powerful tale of ancestry, awakening, and the mysterious intelligence of the sea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781098301514
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	04/01/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Brian Tissot is a marine ecologist, surfer, and myth-tech science fiction author living on the wild edge of the Pacific NW. With one foot in the world of hard science and the other in the tides of imagination, he writes visionary stories that blend marine biology, indigenous wisdom, and speculative futures. A lifelong explorer of waves and oceans, Brian has led pioneering research on coral reefs and the deep sea, publishing widely in scientific journals and appearing in films and popular media. His science fiction reflects a deep reverence for the ocean and a poetic sensibility shaped by years of diving, surfing, and listening to the rhythms of the natural world. Brian's stories often unfold in richly imagined worlds — part crumbling utopia, part sacred dreamscape — where ecology is destiny and memory is terrain. Whether charting alien oceans, haunted ruins, or spiral stairways rising from submerged cities, he writes with the heart of a surfer, the eye of a filmmaker, and the soul of a poet. At the core of his work lies a human pulse: characters searching for grace in shipwrecks, belonging in hostile environments, and meaning in the ruins of lost civilizations. Brian Tissot is not just a writer — he's a cartographer of forgotten worlds and a cultural diver mapping the sacred in the futuristic.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xi

Book 1 Sage 1

Chapter 1 Sage 3

Chapter 2 Milo 12

Chapter 3 Big Island 20

Chapter 4 Ocean Planet 28

Chapter 5 Waves of Change 35

Chapter 6 Orbit 44

Chapter 7 Thalassa 54

Chapter 8 Unearthly Slabs 65

Chapter 9 Sea of Dreams 71

Chapter 10 Ocean of Nightmares 81

Chapter 11 Colossus 87

Chapter 12 Maelstrom 98

Book 2 Nesoi 105

Chapter 13 Matriarch 107

Chapter 14 Islands 111

Chapter 15 Discoveries 117

Chapter 16 Crossing 125

Chapter 17 Journey Within 128

Chapter 18 Home Island 133

Chapter 19 Songs and Cycles 142

Chapter 20 Reunion 149

Book 3 Tidefall 157

Chapter 21 Chimera 159

Chapter 22 Black Rain 162

Chapter 23 Cauldron 173

Chapter 24 River 178

Chapter 25 Ruins 184

Chapter 26 Syzygy 189

Chapter 27 Visions 197

Chapter 28 Love & Light 201

Chapter 29 Precipice 208

Chapter 30 Songs of Thalassa 215

Chapter 31 Crossroads 220

Chapter 32 Clans 224

Book 4 Awakening 231

Chapter 33 Mythmaking 233

Chapter 34 Coming Home 239

Chapter 35 'Ohana 245

Chapter 36 Circle of Aloha 250

Chapter 37 Exhibit 259

Chapter 38 Kumu 266

Chapter 39 Maka 275

Chapter 40 Ho'olökahi (Come Together) 280

Chapter 41 Edge of Po 287

Glossary 295

Editorial Reviews

In "Songs of Thalassa"... [Tissot] blends cutting-edge oceanography, marine biology, Hawaiian culture, and music into a delightful hard-SF tale sure to join the ranks of fine water worlds." —Don Sakers,
"Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine"

"Hawaiian surfing, spirituality, science and science fiction merge in this futurist epic." —David Helvarg, Author of "The Golden Shore"

"The Song of Thalassa helps us understand what it means to love and listen with our hearts. Building on the aloha that the Hawaiian culture shares with the world, Tissot expands this love to the stars." — Noelani Puniwai, PhD. Professor, University of Hawaii School of Hawaiian Knowledge

"Like a beautiful melody, Songs of Thalassa will fill your heart, mind, and soul. I hope you join in the song..." —Michelle Tissot, Writer

"An inspiring blend of Hawaiian spirituality, big-wave surfing, and ocean science set in the fictional reaches of deep space." —Mark Hixon, PhD. Surfer, Marine Biologist

"Surfing, astronomy, extra-terrestrial planetary and marine science... entwined in an action-filled thought-provoking story of personal growth, Hawaiian spirituality, and future resource exploration. Beautifully written... you'll feel like you are in the story with the characters!" —Michelle Clapper-Wachi, Aquatic Biologist

"The story has an engaging and innovative storyline—the mix of oceanography and surfing on a low-gravity exoplanet is a really cool idea... a reader is likely to learn a lot about volcanology, ecology, and planetary science from this story." —Joe Pitkin, author of "Stranger Bird"

"Awesome. Tissot not only succeeds in capturing on the page what it is to surf big waves (a rare feat), but he also seamlessly constructs a universe around the love of surfing that has spread to other planets." — James Lindholm, PhD. Surfer, Marine Biologist, and author of "Blood Cold."

From the Publisher