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The Mountain in the Sea
Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.
Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.
The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. Dr. Nguyen joins DIANIMA’s team on the islands: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android.
The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves.
But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.
A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.
Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.
The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. Dr. Nguyen joins DIANIMA’s team on the islands: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android.
The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves.
But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.
A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.
456 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2022
About the author
Ray Nayler
60 books596 followersCalled "One of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction" by Locus Online, Ray Nayler's critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and Nightmare, as well as in many "Best Of" anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction.
For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Beginning in September 2022, he will serve as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Beginning in September 2022, he will serve as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,179 reviews
December 17, 2022
How to make a book about homicidal octopuses suck (sorry):
1. Recap every available octopus video (have you seen that one of the octopus walking across tidepools? changing color as it dreams? So has Ray Nayler!) and recent octopus book.
2. Make all your characters vehicles for plot, synopses of aforementioned octopus facts, or philosophizing about sentience and semiotics.
3. Write like a stuffed shirt: ponderously, humorlessly, and with an inflated sense of your own profundity.
DNF around 40%, not sure exactly because my partner with whom I was reading this book confiscated it during my last rant and it is now safely back at the library. (Someone doesn't understand the pleasure of a good hate read.)
Octopuses are awesome. This book is not. At 40%, things had finally started to happen, but the octopuses were still offscreen and the humans were still being insufferable. From the faux academic chapter headers to the endless, pointless backstories, to the pretentious references (octopuses are the Odysseuses of the sea - okay, sure, but lots of animals regularly dodge death and don't end up on sushi menus), things were not going anywhere I wanted to follow.
It's too bad, because I am utterly fascinated by octopuses. At one trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I stopped by the giant pacific octopus tank while I was wearing a hat, and it unfurled itself over to check out my funny-shaped head. I looked at many organisms that day, but it was the only one who looked back. Ray Nayler is slavishly faithful to the available information on these enigmatic and astonishing animals, but the result is curiously lifeless, a philosophical thought experiment rather than red (or green!) blooded speculative fiction.
If you like octopuses, read the research or watch the clips yourself. The Mountain in the Sea does the unforgivable thing of making its cephalopod subjects less interesting than they really are.
1. Recap every available octopus video (have you seen that one of the octopus walking across tidepools? changing color as it dreams? So has Ray Nayler!) and recent octopus book.
2. Make all your characters vehicles for plot, synopses of aforementioned octopus facts, or philosophizing about sentience and semiotics.
3. Write like a stuffed shirt: ponderously, humorlessly, and with an inflated sense of your own profundity.
DNF around 40%, not sure exactly because my partner with whom I was reading this book confiscated it during my last rant and it is now safely back at the library. (Someone doesn't understand the pleasure of a good hate read.)
Octopuses are awesome. This book is not. At 40%, things had finally started to happen, but the octopuses were still offscreen and the humans were still being insufferable. From the faux academic chapter headers to the endless, pointless backstories, to the pretentious references (octopuses are the Odysseuses of the sea - okay, sure, but lots of animals regularly dodge death and don't end up on sushi menus), things were not going anywhere I wanted to follow.
It's too bad, because I am utterly fascinated by octopuses. At one trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I stopped by the giant pacific octopus tank while I was wearing a hat, and it unfurled itself over to check out my funny-shaped head. I looked at many organisms that day, but it was the only one who looked back. Ray Nayler is slavishly faithful to the available information on these enigmatic and astonishing animals, but the result is curiously lifeless, a philosophical thought experiment rather than red (or green!) blooded speculative fiction.
If you like octopuses, read the research or watch the clips yourself. The Mountain in the Sea does the unforgivable thing of making its cephalopod subjects less interesting than they really are.
June 8, 2022
Whether you're new to Ray Nayler's work or a longtime reader, this book will keep you trying to work through its puzzle-box nature.
Themes of consciousness, sentience, thought, language, and person-hood suffuse this book. What does it mean to think? What does it mean to be? And how might these questions develop in a world that is hurtling towards environmental and climatic disaster? The Mountain in the Sea delves into these and brings up... well, I'll leave you to read and find out for yourself.
But this book isn't a dense, philosophical treatise. It's intensely tactile, too. It creates and lives within its own world. It draws you in. You can feel the rough corals, taste the salty spray, smell the coppery blood of many characters who come to some pretty rough ends.
The chapters are almost what I'd call bite-sized. This makes it very easy to "snack" on the book... to constantly say "just one more chapter" - and then find yourself saying that again and again. In between chapters, there are quotes from a couple of the characters in the story.
As a final thought: I think that in a very subtle way... this story is also very much about identity. Not everyone here is who you, the reader, think they are. Some characters are not who they think they are. Some characters are not who they wish they were.
Ray Nayler's first book feels like both the entrance to- and the capstone of many themes and subjects he has written about over time. Long after you've closed the final pages, this book will still have you wondering, still have you guessing.
+++
Disclosure: This review is based on an advanced reader copy I received from Ray Nayler. I'm leaving this review as an honest reflection of my experience reading this book. Aside from the book itself, I have neither gotten nor promised anything to Ray Nayler or the publisher.
Themes of consciousness, sentience, thought, language, and person-hood suffuse this book. What does it mean to think? What does it mean to be? And how might these questions develop in a world that is hurtling towards environmental and climatic disaster? The Mountain in the Sea delves into these and brings up... well, I'll leave you to read and find out for yourself.
But this book isn't a dense, philosophical treatise. It's intensely tactile, too. It creates and lives within its own world. It draws you in. You can feel the rough corals, taste the salty spray, smell the coppery blood of many characters who come to some pretty rough ends.
The chapters are almost what I'd call bite-sized. This makes it very easy to "snack" on the book... to constantly say "just one more chapter" - and then find yourself saying that again and again. In between chapters, there are quotes from a couple of the characters in the story.
As a final thought: I think that in a very subtle way... this story is also very much about identity. Not everyone here is who you, the reader, think they are. Some characters are not who they think they are. Some characters are not who they wish they were.
Ray Nayler's first book feels like both the entrance to- and the capstone of many themes and subjects he has written about over time. Long after you've closed the final pages, this book will still have you wondering, still have you guessing.
+++
Disclosure: This review is based on an advanced reader copy I received from Ray Nayler. I'm leaving this review as an honest reflection of my experience reading this book. Aside from the book itself, I have neither gotten nor promised anything to Ray Nayler or the publisher.
October 24, 2022
Brilliant near-future science fiction about consciousness and first contact with an octopus species that have developed communication and culture.
The mega-corporation DIANIMA has purchased and isolated the Vietnamese archipelago of Con Dao, defending it's marine sanctuary with lethal force. It's only inhabitants are a lethal security drone specialist and the world's only android. Joining them is a marine biologist and cephalopod intelligence expert, Dr Ha Nguyen. The archipelago is home to the Con Dao Sea Monster, something that is becoming increasingly clear to be a very intelligent octopus species which has had lethal interactions with humans.
Meanwhile a former dive guide from Con Dao is kidnapped and enslaved in one of the giant AI fishing vessels that are systematically destroying the world's oceans. And far off in Europe, a renowned hacker is approached for a particularly difficult job.
As Ha investigates the octopuses of Con Dao it becomes quickly obvious that they can communicate, have symbolic language and tool use and a culture that includes care for both young and elders. It also becomes clear that they're well aware of humans and have strong opinions about them. As Ha and her fellow investigators work towards understanding the octopuses, they become fearful for the small population as DIANIMA and the world discover their existence.
This is all about the nature of consciousness, using both the octopus consciousness and the android Evrim as mirrors to our own humanity and what consciousness means there. There's also some fascinating parallels with things like the way the drone operator Altantsetseg uses her drone fleet and the way that the DIANIMA corporation itself operates in comparison to the octopus intelligence itself. And there's an underlying theme of the power of all these different sorts of consciousness and whether they seek to establish community and connection or mastery and domination.
Highly recommended book that should see some attention in the 2023 awards season.
The mega-corporation DIANIMA has purchased and isolated the Vietnamese archipelago of Con Dao, defending it's marine sanctuary with lethal force. It's only inhabitants are a lethal security drone specialist and the world's only android. Joining them is a marine biologist and cephalopod intelligence expert, Dr Ha Nguyen. The archipelago is home to the Con Dao Sea Monster, something that is becoming increasingly clear to be a very intelligent octopus species which has had lethal interactions with humans.
Meanwhile a former dive guide from Con Dao is kidnapped and enslaved in one of the giant AI fishing vessels that are systematically destroying the world's oceans. And far off in Europe, a renowned hacker is approached for a particularly difficult job.
As Ha investigates the octopuses of Con Dao it becomes quickly obvious that they can communicate, have symbolic language and tool use and a culture that includes care for both young and elders. It also becomes clear that they're well aware of humans and have strong opinions about them. As Ha and her fellow investigators work towards understanding the octopuses, they become fearful for the small population as DIANIMA and the world discover their existence.
This is all about the nature of consciousness, using both the octopus consciousness and the android Evrim as mirrors to our own humanity and what consciousness means there. There's also some fascinating parallels with things like the way the drone operator Altantsetseg uses her drone fleet and the way that the DIANIMA corporation itself operates in comparison to the octopus intelligence itself. And there's an underlying theme of the power of all these different sorts of consciousness and whether they seek to establish community and connection or mastery and domination.
Highly recommended book that should see some attention in the 2023 awards season.
December 10, 2022
Again, another book whose blurb is innacurate. This was not a thriller, and definitely humans
This was like a very long introduction to a potentially further thriller. Not that was bad, but with that kind of sysnopsis, the reader has expectations which will not be fulfilled.
Anyway, the book has a highly appealing premise, but I would have liked a fewer POVs. For example, Eiko' story adds absolutely nothing to the main thread. There are (too) many musings, and info dump, and so much use of word "indiference" from all the characters. Yes, we get it, humans are a selfish species, and we should care a lot more about what and who surrounds us, but it is tiring to read about it every few paragraphs.
It might seem that I didn't like the book with all the complaints above, but I did. I love octopuses, they are fascinating, and I do think their inteligence is not far from how it was described here. The characters are well developed, and I couldn't help but root for all involved.
All in all, a good book, and I do hope to read a thrilling sequel for it.
This was like a very long introduction to a potentially further thriller. Not that was bad, but with that kind of sysnopsis, the reader has expectations which will not be fulfilled.
Anyway, the book has a highly appealing premise, but I would have liked a fewer POVs. For example, Eiko' story adds absolutely nothing to the main thread. There are (too) many musings, and info dump, and so much use of word "indiference" from all the characters. Yes, we get it, humans are a selfish species, and we should care a lot more about what and who surrounds us, but it is tiring to read about it every few paragraphs.
It might seem that I didn't like the book with all the complaints above, but I did. I love octopuses, they are fascinating, and I do think their inteligence is not far from how it was described here. The characters are well developed, and I couldn't help but root for all involved.
All in all, a good book, and I do hope to read a thrilling sequel for it.
January 9, 2023
Two staff members wrote reviews for this book. Happy reading!
Jeremy's review
3.5/5 stars
This phrase, from the first sentence of the publisher’s marketing description, was all I needed to know in order to decide that I needed to read this book.
I’ve been fascinated by octopuses (yes, that is the correct plural form, feel free to @ me) ever since doing a report on them in a grad school level course I audited a number of years ago.
An unfortunate side-effect of this, however, was that I kept finding myself wanting to love the book more than I actually did, despite coming away with a sense that I would greatly enjoy having a conversation with the author.
The story is set in an undefined but relatively near future, in which the line between nation-states and corporations has all but completely disappeared and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are both widespread and varied.
There are three primary point-of-view (POV) characters, each in a separate plotline: Dr. Ha Nguyen, a marine biologist hired to study the octopuses; Rustem, an AI hacker, and Eiko; formerly an aspiring programmer, now a slave worker.
Additionally, each chapter opens with an excerpt from one of two books written by two of the characters: Dr. Nguyen or Dr. Arnkatla Minervudottir-Chan, who had created the world’s one and only extant android, Evrim.
It has been written of octopuses that they are the nearest thing to intelligent alien life that we can meet on this planet, and this book runs with this idea. While this sort of ‘first contact’ is used to examine philosophical concepts such as consciousness, the same themes are simultaneously put to the test through the human interactions with varying levels of technology: drones, AI, and Evrim.
And therein lies both the strength and weakness of this novel – this sort of intellectual food-for-thought is compelling enough for some of us (raises hand), but while stuff does happen, nobody would describe this as plot-driven storytelling. Could provide plenty of fodder for a very particular sort of book discussion group, but I do wonder about its broader appeal.
Cora's review
*Spoiler alert!*
My heart already wants a sequel to The Mountain in the Sea, but my head says that maybe it's better as a stand-alone. This conflict will continue for some time, because I truly enjoyed The Mountain in the Sea.
My co-worker read this book out of his fascination for the octopus. His review, plus the concept reminding me of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin, sealed the deal for me.
The Mountain in the Sea takes place in a very plausible future, filled with AI, political intrigue, and conflicts over how best to preserve precious ecosystems from destruction. This book probably isn't for everyone, as it's not as plot-driven as space-opera sci-fi as much as food-for-thought, philosophical sci-fi. I enjoy me some philosophical sci-fi that makes me view the world differently after I finish reading it, seeing humanity reflected in the eyes of another species, android or otherwise.
(No, not that kind of android!)
Not that the story isn't interesting, but I thought I'd be honest about the kind of sci-fi we're dealing with here. Also, there's a bit of time-switching between characters, so that may be disorienting, but I promise that the story manages to fit together decently.
Despite these caveats, the characters were interesting and well-developed, particularly the villain, and that's why I kept reading.
It ended up being a fascinating what-if scenario of what happens when humanity encounters another self-aware species, and how we'd react, particularly considering the context we and this book live in, the climate crisis and political instability. Based on the story, I'd say the results are definitely mixed!
I won't say too much more about The Mountain in the Sea, except for, if you're a sci-fi fan, I think you'll enjoy this one, and maybe think about humanity and our world differently. For better or worse.
Happy reading!
-Cora
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Jeremy's review
3.5/5 stars
“…[S]pecies of hyperintelligent octopus…”
This phrase, from the first sentence of the publisher’s marketing description, was all I needed to know in order to decide that I needed to read this book.
I’ve been fascinated by octopuses (yes, that is the correct plural form, feel free to @ me) ever since doing a report on them in a grad school level course I audited a number of years ago.
An unfortunate side-effect of this, however, was that I kept finding myself wanting to love the book more than I actually did, despite coming away with a sense that I would greatly enjoy having a conversation with the author.
The story is set in an undefined but relatively near future, in which the line between nation-states and corporations has all but completely disappeared and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are both widespread and varied.
There are three primary point-of-view (POV) characters, each in a separate plotline: Dr. Ha Nguyen, a marine biologist hired to study the octopuses; Rustem, an AI hacker, and Eiko; formerly an aspiring programmer, now a slave worker.
Additionally, each chapter opens with an excerpt from one of two books written by two of the characters: Dr. Nguyen or Dr. Arnkatla Minervudottir-Chan, who had created the world’s one and only extant android, Evrim.
It has been written of octopuses that they are the nearest thing to intelligent alien life that we can meet on this planet, and this book runs with this idea. While this sort of ‘first contact’ is used to examine philosophical concepts such as consciousness, the same themes are simultaneously put to the test through the human interactions with varying levels of technology: drones, AI, and Evrim.
And therein lies both the strength and weakness of this novel – this sort of intellectual food-for-thought is compelling enough for some of us (raises hand), but while stuff does happen, nobody would describe this as plot-driven storytelling. Could provide plenty of fodder for a very particular sort of book discussion group, but I do wonder about its broader appeal.
Cora's review
*Spoiler alert!*
My heart already wants a sequel to The Mountain in the Sea, but my head says that maybe it's better as a stand-alone. This conflict will continue for some time, because I truly enjoyed The Mountain in the Sea.
"That was one of the keys, Ha knew, to understanding them. That lack of control from the center, that feedback from limbs, that pure embodiment of mind. They were not trapped in a skull, controlling everything from behind a sheath of bone. They were free-flowing, through the entire body. Not a ladder--a ring. A neural ring moving signals from limb to limb to mind, back again. A distribution loop through the whole body. A whole consciousness that could become parts, and then whole again. A whole consciousness that could become parts, and then whole again. It was one of the many problems Ha felt she would have no time to solve."
My co-worker read this book out of his fascination for the octopus. His review, plus the concept reminding me of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin, sealed the deal for me.
The Mountain in the Sea takes place in a very plausible future, filled with AI, political intrigue, and conflicts over how best to preserve precious ecosystems from destruction. This book probably isn't for everyone, as it's not as plot-driven as space-opera sci-fi as much as food-for-thought, philosophical sci-fi. I enjoy me some philosophical sci-fi that makes me view the world differently after I finish reading it, seeing humanity reflected in the eyes of another species, android or otherwise.
(No, not that kind of android!)
Not that the story isn't interesting, but I thought I'd be honest about the kind of sci-fi we're dealing with here. Also, there's a bit of time-switching between characters, so that may be disorienting, but I promise that the story manages to fit together decently.
Despite these caveats, the characters were interesting and well-developed, particularly the villain, and that's why I kept reading.
It ended up being a fascinating what-if scenario of what happens when humanity encounters another self-aware species, and how we'd react, particularly considering the context we and this book live in, the climate crisis and political instability. Based on the story, I'd say the results are definitely mixed!
"It was easier to pretend that Altantsetseg was an individual, that all of her choices were her own, than to admit that Altantsetseg was a part of them. That all of them were, in fact, bound together so tightly that they formed a single entity, incapable of functioning--incapable of surviving--without all of its interlocking parts in place."
I won't say too much more about The Mountain in the Sea, except for, if you're a sci-fi fan, I think you'll enjoy this one, and maybe think about humanity and our world differently. For better or worse.
Happy reading!
-Cora
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
May 24, 2023
Y si una nueva especie de pulpos hiperinteligentes tuviera la clave para el futuro de la humanidad?
Empiezan a difundirse rumores sobre una especie de pulpos peligrosa y extraordinariamente inteligente que podría haber desarrollado un lenguaje y una cultura propios.
Ha Nguyen, una bióloga marina que ha dedicado la vida a investigar el cerebro de los cefalópodos, hará lo posible para estudiarlos.
Dianima, una empresa tecnológica, se ha aislado en el remoto archipiélago de Con Dao, en Vietnam, donde los pulpos han sido avistados.
La doctora Nguyen viaja a las islas para unirse al equipo de investigación formado por una agente de seguridad llena de cicatrices de guerra y el primer androide de la historia.
Los pulpos son clave para realizar descubrimientos sin precedentes sobre la inteligencia animal. Pero hay mucho en juego: quien consiga aprovecharse de dichos hallazgos logrará una gran fortuna.
Así pues, mientras la doctora Nguyen intenta comunicarse con la especie recién descubierta, entra en escena una facción más importante que Dianima para apoderarse de los pulpos. Sin embargo, nadie les ha preguntado a estas criaturas marinas qué opinan. Ni qué piensan hacer al respecto..
4,5, va, le doy esos cinco pulpos.. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
Sorprendente lectura. Un análisis preciso y formidable de la consciencia humana.
Pero quizás sea también su pecado que puede recaer en la pesadez para otros lectores.
Le da mucha importancia en parte a lo que es la naturaleza de la conciencia, utilizando tanto la conciencia del pulpo o de los androides como espejos de nuestra propia humanidad y de lo que significa la conciencia.
Le da muchísima importancia y no negaré que es una parte del libro además de la trama de los pulpos y otras subtramas. Es el eje central del libro. El pilar.
Una historia bien hilada, y por encima de todo, fascinante e interesante. Los capítulos son un bocadito. Esto hace que sea fácil devorar el libro.
Uno de nuestros protagonistas, Ha, investiga a los pulpos de Con Dao, se vuelve rápidamente obvio que ya pueden comunicarse, que tienen un lenguaje simbólico junto un uso primitivo pero ya desarrollado de herramientas y una cultura que incluye el cuidado de jóvenes y ancianos.
También queda claro que conocen muy bien a los humanos, tienen opiniones muy firmes sobre ellos. Vamos, lo que nos hemos buscado.
Mientras Ha y sus compañeros investigadores trabajan para comprender a estos pulpos, se vuelven temerosos por la pequeña población cuando Dianima y el mundo descubren su existencia.
Los lugareños cuentan historias de buzos y de personas desaparecidas. Otros asesinados de maneras violentas..
¿Son estos nuevos pulpos responsables de sus desapariciones? Los estudian, los analizan e intentan ver cuánto han evolucionado y si han creado una civilización..
Pero nadie le ha preguntado a los pulpos qué es lo que quieren o sus intenciones..
Los rumores sobre este libro son ciertos. Creo que todo lector de CF podría disfrutar de este libro. Tiene muchos ingredientes para dejar más que satisfecho.
Una muy buena lectura en una época en el que la CF para mi no está brillando demasiado no por calidad, sino por cantidad.
También hay algunos paralelismos fascinantes con aspectos como la forma en que el operador de drones, Altantsetseg, un curioso personaje usa su flota de drones, pasando por la forma en que la corporación opera en comparación con la propia inteligencia del pulpo.
Hay un tema subyacente del poder de todos estos diferentes tipos de conciencia y si buscan establecer comunidad, conexión o el dominio y la dominación.
Me parece fascinante la inmersión del autor en las IA. Por no hablar de los pulpos que es lo que más me ha gustado.
Es un libro de CF complejo, es algo denso pero entiendase por "denso" que es complejo en sus ideas, ciencia y conciencia. Para mi no es que haya sido aburrido ni difícil de leer.
Sabía en parte de lo que son capaces los pulpos unos seres increíbles que muchos no sabréis que son uno de los seres más inteligentes y llenos de recursos del mundo. Con una capacidad de camuflaje que deja pasmado.
Por supuesto aquí hablamos de una evolución en la especie. Pero no así sacada de la chistera sin más. No, no. Con sentido, ciencia y evolución que es lo que más me ha impresionado.
Le aplauda al autor, no coge en este libro y dice venga unos pulpos, drones, androides, IA y nos montamos una party formando un batiburrillo. No, no. Todo tiene su sentido, ciencia estando bien plasmado, pensado, estudiado y trabajado.
CF currada. No para todos los públicos sabemos lo de los gustos y las flores.
La trama se desarrolla en un futuro indefinido pero relativamente cercano en el que la línea entre los estados nación y las corporaciones casi ha desaparecido y las aplicaciones de la inteligencia artificial son amplias y variadas.
Este libro es CF de la buena, si bien tiene una al principio estructura confusa, no molesta, te vas adaptando rápido al igual que el autor va moldeando una historia fascinante, original, muy trabajada y estudiada.
Trata preguntas muy interesantes. Qué es la conciencia, qué significa ser humano. Qué le debemos los humanos a otras formas de vida..
Como he dicho, el riesgo está ahí. Esto puede sacaros de la lectura o estropearla. O todo lo contrario. Creo que lectores asiduos del género lo van a disfrutar. El libro fue y está siendo un exitazo, por algo será..
Os animo a darle una oportunidad..✍️🐙
Empiezan a difundirse rumores sobre una especie de pulpos peligrosa y extraordinariamente inteligente que podría haber desarrollado un lenguaje y una cultura propios.
Ha Nguyen, una bióloga marina que ha dedicado la vida a investigar el cerebro de los cefalópodos, hará lo posible para estudiarlos.
Dianima, una empresa tecnológica, se ha aislado en el remoto archipiélago de Con Dao, en Vietnam, donde los pulpos han sido avistados.
La doctora Nguyen viaja a las islas para unirse al equipo de investigación formado por una agente de seguridad llena de cicatrices de guerra y el primer androide de la historia.
Los pulpos son clave para realizar descubrimientos sin precedentes sobre la inteligencia animal. Pero hay mucho en juego: quien consiga aprovecharse de dichos hallazgos logrará una gran fortuna.
Así pues, mientras la doctora Nguyen intenta comunicarse con la especie recién descubierta, entra en escena una facción más importante que Dianima para apoderarse de los pulpos. Sin embargo, nadie les ha preguntado a estas criaturas marinas qué opinan. Ni qué piensan hacer al respecto..
4,5, va, le doy esos cinco pulpos.. 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
Sorprendente lectura. Un análisis preciso y formidable de la consciencia humana.
Pero quizás sea también su pecado que puede recaer en la pesadez para otros lectores.
Le da mucha importancia en parte a lo que es la naturaleza de la conciencia, utilizando tanto la conciencia del pulpo o de los androides como espejos de nuestra propia humanidad y de lo que significa la conciencia.
Le da muchísima importancia y no negaré que es una parte del libro además de la trama de los pulpos y otras subtramas. Es el eje central del libro. El pilar.
Una historia bien hilada, y por encima de todo, fascinante e interesante. Los capítulos son un bocadito. Esto hace que sea fácil devorar el libro.
Uno de nuestros protagonistas, Ha, investiga a los pulpos de Con Dao, se vuelve rápidamente obvio que ya pueden comunicarse, que tienen un lenguaje simbólico junto un uso primitivo pero ya desarrollado de herramientas y una cultura que incluye el cuidado de jóvenes y ancianos.
También queda claro que conocen muy bien a los humanos, tienen opiniones muy firmes sobre ellos. Vamos, lo que nos hemos buscado.
Mientras Ha y sus compañeros investigadores trabajan para comprender a estos pulpos, se vuelven temerosos por la pequeña población cuando Dianima y el mundo descubren su existencia.
Los lugareños cuentan historias de buzos y de personas desaparecidas. Otros asesinados de maneras violentas..
¿Son estos nuevos pulpos responsables de sus desapariciones? Los estudian, los analizan e intentan ver cuánto han evolucionado y si han creado una civilización..
Pero nadie le ha preguntado a los pulpos qué es lo que quieren o sus intenciones..
Los rumores sobre este libro son ciertos. Creo que todo lector de CF podría disfrutar de este libro. Tiene muchos ingredientes para dejar más que satisfecho.
Una muy buena lectura en una época en el que la CF para mi no está brillando demasiado no por calidad, sino por cantidad.
También hay algunos paralelismos fascinantes con aspectos como la forma en que el operador de drones, Altantsetseg, un curioso personaje usa su flota de drones, pasando por la forma en que la corporación opera en comparación con la propia inteligencia del pulpo.
Hay un tema subyacente del poder de todos estos diferentes tipos de conciencia y si buscan establecer comunidad, conexión o el dominio y la dominación.
Me parece fascinante la inmersión del autor en las IA. Por no hablar de los pulpos que es lo que más me ha gustado.
Es un libro de CF complejo, es algo denso pero entiendase por "denso" que es complejo en sus ideas, ciencia y conciencia. Para mi no es que haya sido aburrido ni difícil de leer.
Sabía en parte de lo que son capaces los pulpos unos seres increíbles que muchos no sabréis que son uno de los seres más inteligentes y llenos de recursos del mundo. Con una capacidad de camuflaje que deja pasmado.
Por supuesto aquí hablamos de una evolución en la especie. Pero no así sacada de la chistera sin más. No, no. Con sentido, ciencia y evolución que es lo que más me ha impresionado.
Le aplauda al autor, no coge en este libro y dice venga unos pulpos, drones, androides, IA y nos montamos una party formando un batiburrillo. No, no. Todo tiene su sentido, ciencia estando bien plasmado, pensado, estudiado y trabajado.
CF currada. No para todos los públicos sabemos lo de los gustos y las flores.
La trama se desarrolla en un futuro indefinido pero relativamente cercano en el que la línea entre los estados nación y las corporaciones casi ha desaparecido y las aplicaciones de la inteligencia artificial son amplias y variadas.
Este libro es CF de la buena, si bien tiene una al principio estructura confusa, no molesta, te vas adaptando rápido al igual que el autor va moldeando una historia fascinante, original, muy trabajada y estudiada.
Trata preguntas muy interesantes. Qué es la conciencia, qué significa ser humano. Qué le debemos los humanos a otras formas de vida..
Como he dicho, el riesgo está ahí. Esto puede sacaros de la lectura o estropearla. O todo lo contrario. Creo que lectores asiduos del género lo van a disfrutar. El libro fue y está siendo un exitazo, por algo será..
Os animo a darle una oportunidad..✍️🐙
Read
June 11, 2023DNF - I wish books were what you thought they were.
The end.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
The end.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
March 5, 2023
A sure-fire Hugo contender (and probable winner)!
No matter what you are looking for in a novel, The Mountain in the Sea is a real winner. You do not have to be a science-fiction fan to love it. The plot is gripping, with various groups in fierce competition as humans explore the nature of minds and consciousness and take actions that will be crucial to the future of humans and other life. The characters are fully developed; I believed in and cared about them. I sympathized with Ha Nguyen and her strong sense of responsibility for everything she is involved in. Readers also will feel for the autonomous AI Evrim, who has been exiled to the remote Con Dao Archipelago both to help with the work there and to protect him from violence taking place against AIs as possible competitors to homo sapiens. I mused at one point whether I had ever felt sorry for an AI before; I certainly ached for what Evrim experienced. Other supporting characters were also intriguing.
The setting is well done in two ways. It was fun to read about future tech like the abglanz identity shield that helps protect privacy and identity and various uses of drones that seem very likely. Other tech aspects were much more daring, like the technique used to create Evrim . The physical setting in southeast Asia was also unusual and interesting, as was the structure that the author imagined for future governments around the world. Ray Nayler is well prepared to write about this, having spent most of his career working outside the US, including in Ho Chi Minh City.
As you might guess from the well done details described above, the writing style is impressive, too. The little details were carefully crafted, like the simple description of a café in Astrakhan where the owner “made Turkish coffee so thick a water buffalo would float in it.”
Good science fiction is imaginative entertainment, and The Mountain in the Sea certainly is entertaining. You CAN read it just for fun, but it is much more than a thriller. The best science fiction also makes you think, and that is where the book really excels. Each chapter begins with a quote from one of two books, How Oceans Think by Dr. Ha Nguyen or Building Minds by Dr. Arnkatia Minervudottir-Chan. These experts, who both are prominent characters in the book, present ideas about the nature of minds, consciousness, and culture that are the basis of the whole book. Ha does research on a possible octopus culture and what that means about their minds, but the ideas presented encompass the nature of minds of all sorts: human, animal, artificial, and augmented human .
The Mountain in the Sea is speculative fiction, and it is credible due to the author’s knowledge and extensive research. He works in the marine biology field for NOAA, so he has a good background for thinking about nonhuman minds. He also has read a lot of research and cites a number of references about the connectome, biosemiotics, and the philosophy of mind.
I enjoyed the story, but for me, this was not a book to zoom through. It reminds me of classic works from authors like Isaac Asimov and David Brin or David Walton's Three Laws Lethal. I kept stopping to muse about what was just said, and I am looking forward to recommending it to my science fiction book group so that I will have an excuse to read it again.
I received an advance review copy of The Mountain in the Sea from NetGalley and the publisher.
REREAD for my SF Group March 2023.
No matter what you are looking for in a novel, The Mountain in the Sea is a real winner. You do not have to be a science-fiction fan to love it. The plot is gripping, with various groups in fierce competition as humans explore the nature of minds and consciousness and take actions that will be crucial to the future of humans and other life. The characters are fully developed; I believed in and cared about them. I sympathized with Ha Nguyen and her strong sense of responsibility for everything she is involved in. Readers also will feel for the autonomous AI Evrim, who has been exiled to the remote Con Dao Archipelago both to help with the work there and to protect him from violence taking place against AIs as possible competitors to homo sapiens. I mused at one point whether I had ever felt sorry for an AI before; I certainly ached for what Evrim experienced. Other supporting characters were also intriguing.
The setting is well done in two ways. It was fun to read about future tech like the abglanz identity shield that helps protect privacy and identity and various uses of drones that seem very likely. Other tech aspects were much more daring, like the technique used to create Evrim . The physical setting in southeast Asia was also unusual and interesting, as was the structure that the author imagined for future governments around the world. Ray Nayler is well prepared to write about this, having spent most of his career working outside the US, including in Ho Chi Minh City.
As you might guess from the well done details described above, the writing style is impressive, too. The little details were carefully crafted, like the simple description of a café in Astrakhan where the owner “made Turkish coffee so thick a water buffalo would float in it.”
Good science fiction is imaginative entertainment, and The Mountain in the Sea certainly is entertaining. You CAN read it just for fun, but it is much more than a thriller. The best science fiction also makes you think, and that is where the book really excels. Each chapter begins with a quote from one of two books, How Oceans Think by Dr. Ha Nguyen or Building Minds by Dr. Arnkatia Minervudottir-Chan. These experts, who both are prominent characters in the book, present ideas about the nature of minds, consciousness, and culture that are the basis of the whole book. Ha does research on a possible octopus culture and what that means about their minds, but the ideas presented encompass the nature of minds of all sorts: human, animal, artificial, and augmented human .
The Mountain in the Sea is speculative fiction, and it is credible due to the author’s knowledge and extensive research. He works in the marine biology field for NOAA, so he has a good background for thinking about nonhuman minds. He also has read a lot of research and cites a number of references about the connectome, biosemiotics, and the philosophy of mind.
I enjoyed the story, but for me, this was not a book to zoom through. It reminds me of classic works from authors like Isaac Asimov and David Brin or David Walton's Three Laws Lethal. I kept stopping to muse about what was just said, and I am looking forward to recommending it to my science fiction book group so that I will have an excuse to read it again.
I received an advance review copy of The Mountain in the Sea from NetGalley and the publisher.
REREAD for my SF Group March 2023.
January 11, 2023
Looks like this will be an unpopular opinion, though I have a feeling the average rating for this book will even out once all the 5* “thank you to the publisher” reviews have been bumped lower.
Might be a case of “it’s not you it’s me”, and to be fair the book isn’t THAT bad, but in this instance I’m judging it against its own lofty aspirations - I’ve given objectively worse books better ratings, but these books also didn’t try to tell as complex of a story as this one.
First off, I don’t think this is science fiction. It reads like fantasy. The “science” is basically all faux blabbering about AI and ridiculous tech, to an extent that I can’t even tell which parts of the blabbering relating to octopus intelligence are actually real science. Which is a shame, because octopuses are awesome in real life too.
The main thing that pushes it into fantasy territory for me isn’t even the sentient AI stuff, because that would just be standard sci-fi. It’s the baffling insistence of the author to create a bizarro world where no currently existing country appears to still be in existence. The blurb says this is supposed to take place in the near future and it reads like it too; I would’ve guessed 50-100 years in the future max. But if that’s the case, the “political system” Nayler creates is hysterical.
Like I said, none of countries we know today still seem to exist, and instead we get tons of random city state “Republics”, high tech paradise Tibet, and the “Chinese-Mongolian winter war”. Seriously man? A geopolitical shakeup this drastic either would take a lot more time or, like, atomic conflict. My point is, you can’t just drop these names in there and then apparently not think about how we got to a point where Ho Chi Minh City is now an autonomous rich af trade zone.
Especially because none of this is needed to make the actual story work, all it did was make me cringe to hell and back. Yep I’m a geopolitics nerd and yep it’s nitpicky to be bothered by shit like this in a work of fiction, but if you’re writing a book that takes itself so goddamn seriously and is so self-important, then you have to be held to your own standards.
We have three main story and time lines: one taking place on an island where we follow a scientist investigating the emergence of an intelligent octopus species (or I should say, even more intelligent than real octopuses already are); one that follows some hacker dude; and one about a trafficked man enslaved on an automated fishing vessel.
Only the first one would’ve been needed. In a way, I found the story of the modern day slaves to be the most impactful, especially because this is something that actually goes on in real life and is both absolutely dreadful and also completely invisible to the wider world. That being said, it didn’t add anything to the plot. Neither did the hacker storyline. Yeah I know Naylor wanted to go off about sentience and intelligence and all that, but compared to the first contact plot it seemed… I don’t know. Redundant. You have a chance to create an inventive tale of first contact, “aliens” right among us - stick with that!
We also have excerpts from characters’ fictional science books opening each chapter, which… oh boy. So self-important, I just cannot. Also irrelevant, because we learn these things during the main storyline anyway. Showing not telling ya know? Thanks for the info dumping though.
Plus, endless faux science monologues. Sometimes monologues about feelings thrown in for a change, which unfortunately still doesn’t make it any better.
As for the writing, I’m pretty sure Ha, Evrim and Rustem were the same person. At least they were written the exactly same way, loooong monologues included. Kidding obvs, but also kinda not.
As I said, it might be a “it’s not you it’s me” thing. Plenty people seem to have liked it, but it didn’t work for me. In large parts I think because I was so disappointed the cool concept wasn’t as poignant as I thought it would be and Nayler wasted an interesting first contact story trying to throw in musings about robots (and that world building, argh).
… appreciate the opportunity for a good rant though. Love a good rant! 😅
Might be a case of “it’s not you it’s me”, and to be fair the book isn’t THAT bad, but in this instance I’m judging it against its own lofty aspirations - I’ve given objectively worse books better ratings, but these books also didn’t try to tell as complex of a story as this one.
First off, I don’t think this is science fiction. It reads like fantasy. The “science” is basically all faux blabbering about AI and ridiculous tech, to an extent that I can’t even tell which parts of the blabbering relating to octopus intelligence are actually real science. Which is a shame, because octopuses are awesome in real life too.
The main thing that pushes it into fantasy territory for me isn’t even the sentient AI stuff, because that would just be standard sci-fi. It’s the baffling insistence of the author to create a bizarro world where no currently existing country appears to still be in existence. The blurb says this is supposed to take place in the near future and it reads like it too; I would’ve guessed 50-100 years in the future max. But if that’s the case, the “political system” Nayler creates is hysterical.
Like I said, none of countries we know today still seem to exist, and instead we get tons of random city state “Republics”, high tech paradise Tibet, and the “Chinese-Mongolian winter war”. Seriously man? A geopolitical shakeup this drastic either would take a lot more time or, like, atomic conflict. My point is, you can’t just drop these names in there and then apparently not think about how we got to a point where Ho Chi Minh City is now an autonomous rich af trade zone.
Especially because none of this is needed to make the actual story work, all it did was make me cringe to hell and back. Yep I’m a geopolitics nerd and yep it’s nitpicky to be bothered by shit like this in a work of fiction, but if you’re writing a book that takes itself so goddamn seriously and is so self-important, then you have to be held to your own standards.
We have three main story and time lines: one taking place on an island where we follow a scientist investigating the emergence of an intelligent octopus species (or I should say, even more intelligent than real octopuses already are); one that follows some hacker dude; and one about a trafficked man enslaved on an automated fishing vessel.
Only the first one would’ve been needed. In a way, I found the story of the modern day slaves to be the most impactful, especially because this is something that actually goes on in real life and is both absolutely dreadful and also completely invisible to the wider world. That being said, it didn’t add anything to the plot. Neither did the hacker storyline. Yeah I know Naylor wanted to go off about sentience and intelligence and all that, but compared to the first contact plot it seemed… I don’t know. Redundant. You have a chance to create an inventive tale of first contact, “aliens” right among us - stick with that!
We also have excerpts from characters’ fictional science books opening each chapter, which… oh boy. So self-important, I just cannot. Also irrelevant, because we learn these things during the main storyline anyway. Showing not telling ya know? Thanks for the info dumping though.
Plus, endless faux science monologues. Sometimes monologues about feelings thrown in for a change, which unfortunately still doesn’t make it any better.
As for the writing, I’m pretty sure Ha, Evrim and Rustem were the same person. At least they were written the exactly same way, loooong monologues included. Kidding obvs, but also kinda not.
As I said, it might be a “it’s not you it’s me” thing. Plenty people seem to have liked it, but it didn’t work for me. In large parts I think because I was so disappointed the cool concept wasn’t as poignant as I thought it would be and Nayler wasted an interesting first contact story trying to throw in musings about robots (and that world building, argh).
… appreciate the opportunity for a good rant though. Love a good rant! 😅
October 30, 2022
4.0 stars
This was a smart science fiction novel that studies the fascinating world of cephalopods. These animals are so intelligent so it doesn't feel like much of a strange to imagine them being conscious. This book also includes prominent AI characters which adds to the discussion of personhood. I highly recommend this novel to readers looking for an intelligent sci fi novel.
This was a smart science fiction novel that studies the fascinating world of cephalopods. These animals are so intelligent so it doesn't feel like much of a strange to imagine them being conscious. This book also includes prominent AI characters which adds to the discussion of personhood. I highly recommend this novel to readers looking for an intelligent sci fi novel.
January 13, 2024
The Mountain in the Sea is an old school science fiction novel about robots and octopi, starring a disaffected hacker assassin, a philosophical marine biologist, an android, and of course a string-pulling billionaire genius of the type Elon Musk seems to have confused with reality (having missed the point of every book he ever read). In other words, my idea of a good time. (If I’d known the novel was more about androids than sea creatures, I’d have read it ages ago. I have a deep fondness for the earnest robot novel, dating to my childhood love of Isaac Asimov—and Janet Asimov, for that matter, whose (very tame, I'm sure) scenes of sexual awakening in the oft-reread
Mind Transfer
fired my preadolescent imagination like little else.)
I’ve said before that it’s easier to write a genius than be a genius, because authors see the future and can let their characters in on it if they so choose. When your genius isn’t just solving mysteries or saving the world but probing the nature of consciousness, however, things get a little harder. Extensive excerpts from How Oceans Think, Dr. Ha Nguyen’s supposedly groundbreaking work on octopus consciousness, don’t exactly offer deep insight into the nature of awareness; nor does Dr. Arnkatla Minervudóttir-Chan’s Building Minds. But Nayler overcomes this limitation—common to much excellent science fiction, which is an impossible genre intent on imagining the unimaginable and so runs into this problem routinely—the way all limitations must be overcome: by recognizing it. By the end, it is clear that Drs. Minervudóttir-Chan and Ha Nguyen are profoundly flawed thinkers, authors of profoundly flawed books, their perspectives on humanity, consciousness, language not to be trusted. So too with the novel’s slightly stilted prose; first a limitation, later a lovely reflection of the isolation and loneliness that marks each and every one of the book’s characters: men and women alone in their own minds, surrounded by technology that preys on and exacerbates that loneliness at every turn. You know, like the rest of us.
This is a philosophical novel, a novel built to explore ideas through lives, rather than lives through ideas. It is imperfect. Vivid world building but uneven; playfulness without silliness, but without any real feeling for comedy, either; a set of interlocking mysteries that keep the pages turning but don’t always quite deliver on their promise. Nonetheless, it is excellent science fiction—flawed not because it could have been done better but because all great science fiction is flawed. The novel’s thoughtful approach to artificial intelligence reminds me of an old truth: that as in the 20th century so in the 21st, science fiction offers a far richer playground to explore the potential impacts of new technology than the warmed over pop science silicon valley hype that sprouts like a fungus across the pages of “serious” newspapers and magazines. If you’re interested in what AI could mean in the world, there would be worse places to look for answers—not because you’ll find them here, but precisely because you won’t.
I’ve said before that it’s easier to write a genius than be a genius, because authors see the future and can let their characters in on it if they so choose. When your genius isn’t just solving mysteries or saving the world but probing the nature of consciousness, however, things get a little harder. Extensive excerpts from How Oceans Think, Dr. Ha Nguyen’s supposedly groundbreaking work on octopus consciousness, don’t exactly offer deep insight into the nature of awareness; nor does Dr. Arnkatla Minervudóttir-Chan’s Building Minds. But Nayler overcomes this limitation—common to much excellent science fiction, which is an impossible genre intent on imagining the unimaginable and so runs into this problem routinely—the way all limitations must be overcome: by recognizing it. By the end, it is clear that Drs. Minervudóttir-Chan and Ha Nguyen are profoundly flawed thinkers, authors of profoundly flawed books, their perspectives on humanity, consciousness, language not to be trusted. So too with the novel’s slightly stilted prose; first a limitation, later a lovely reflection of the isolation and loneliness that marks each and every one of the book’s characters: men and women alone in their own minds, surrounded by technology that preys on and exacerbates that loneliness at every turn. You know, like the rest of us.
This is a philosophical novel, a novel built to explore ideas through lives, rather than lives through ideas. It is imperfect. Vivid world building but uneven; playfulness without silliness, but without any real feeling for comedy, either; a set of interlocking mysteries that keep the pages turning but don’t always quite deliver on their promise. Nonetheless, it is excellent science fiction—flawed not because it could have been done better but because all great science fiction is flawed. The novel’s thoughtful approach to artificial intelligence reminds me of an old truth: that as in the 20th century so in the 21st, science fiction offers a far richer playground to explore the potential impacts of new technology than the warmed over pop science silicon valley hype that sprouts like a fungus across the pages of “serious” newspapers and magazines. If you’re interested in what AI could mean in the world, there would be worse places to look for answers—not because you’ll find them here, but precisely because you won’t.
June 22, 2023
For fans of Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and The Soul of an Octopus; a surprising exploration into the wonder of consciousness by Sy Montgomery.
Author Ray Nayler takes the latest research and findings on all things octopus and presents us with a seemingly true tale. Scientist Ha has always felt a special kinship with octopus. Joined by an AI named Evrim on a sanctuary island, the two are tasked with studying the resident octopus colony. Locals tell stories of missing divers and beachcombers.
Are the octopus responsible for their disappearances?
Are these creatures trying to communicate, and is the systematic use of coral and human remains a sign of a misunderstood civilization and culture?
Ha and Evrim find themselves in a race against time to solve the mystery of these enigmatic creatures while corporate and nation-state entities, with their own agendas, attempt to breach the highly secured area. Getting ever closer to the astonishing truth, it makes them question the nature of language, memory and consciousness.
Trending now.... all things octopus. This is a must read! - Amy O.
Author Ray Nayler takes the latest research and findings on all things octopus and presents us with a seemingly true tale. Scientist Ha has always felt a special kinship with octopus. Joined by an AI named Evrim on a sanctuary island, the two are tasked with studying the resident octopus colony. Locals tell stories of missing divers and beachcombers.
Are the octopus responsible for their disappearances?
Are these creatures trying to communicate, and is the systematic use of coral and human remains a sign of a misunderstood civilization and culture?
Ha and Evrim find themselves in a race against time to solve the mystery of these enigmatic creatures while corporate and nation-state entities, with their own agendas, attempt to breach the highly secured area. Getting ever closer to the astonishing truth, it makes them question the nature of language, memory and consciousness.
Trending now.... all things octopus. This is a must read! - Amy O.
May 6, 2023
I really wanted to love The Mountain in the Sea. I'm sad to report that I didn't even really like it.
Maybe the actual paper or ebook version would have been the best call for this one, because the audio created some problems that the actual book may not have. At the beginning of each chapter are quotations from a book one of the characters, Dr. Ha Nguyen, has supposedly written, to provide insight into unfolding events. We often see authors borrowing from the worlds they've built, with Stephen King being a prominent borrower across novels and even series. However, here this device didn't work as well as hoped, as the listener isn't given any warning: Which is narrative for the novel? Which is quotation? It gets confusing quickly.
Another issue preventing me from connecting with the story: there was simply too much chucked in here. There was Dr. Ha Nguyen, but there were also ancillary characters that didn't add to the overall story. I kept waiting for them to have impact, but it never really happened. As well, all the robotics and AI stuff was trying too hard, clearly way too advanced for a storyline that was supposed to be fairly near future.
I couldn't get into this one, even though sci-fi is definitely my favorite genre. It was too much ambition and not enough compelling story.
Maybe the actual paper or ebook version would have been the best call for this one, because the audio created some problems that the actual book may not have. At the beginning of each chapter are quotations from a book one of the characters, Dr. Ha Nguyen, has supposedly written, to provide insight into unfolding events. We often see authors borrowing from the worlds they've built, with Stephen King being a prominent borrower across novels and even series. However, here this device didn't work as well as hoped, as the listener isn't given any warning: Which is narrative for the novel? Which is quotation? It gets confusing quickly.
Another issue preventing me from connecting with the story: there was simply too much chucked in here. There was Dr. Ha Nguyen, but there were also ancillary characters that didn't add to the overall story. I kept waiting for them to have impact, but it never really happened. As well, all the robotics and AI stuff was trying too hard, clearly way too advanced for a storyline that was supposed to be fairly near future.
I couldn't get into this one, even though sci-fi is definitely my favorite genre. It was too much ambition and not enough compelling story.
Read
June 23, 2023My introduction to the fiction of Ray Nayler is The Mountain in the Sea. This debut novel published in 2022 came to my attention at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, where Nayler was joined by Sara Gran and Alex Jennings on a panel about writing in the genres of Ray Bradbury. I knew little more about Nayler's book than it was futuristic and speculated as to first contact between humans and a species of octopus that have developed symbolic language. While I'm one of the biggest Trekkers I know, science fiction is a genre I read sparingly. I'm abstaining from rating this book, which I ended up wanting to be a very different novel.
In an unspecified future date, three parallel stories are at play: Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, author of a book called How Oceans Think, arrives on the island of Con Dao off Vietnam (now named the Ho Chi Minh Autonomous Zone), where a powerful tech company called DIAMIMA has purchased the island as a nature preserve and seeks to make contact with the octopuses. Rustem is a hacker in the former Soviet Union whose work for hire involves subverting the AI which carry out the bidding of the transnational tech corporations. Eiko is a young Japanese man who's been abducted and put to work with other human slaves on board a fishing vessel commanded by AI.
The escape from an AI ship was the most exciting of the three story threads. The Russian hacker didn't interest me at all. The contact with the octopuses had an eerie grandeur that I enjoyed, but so much of this story involves Ha's philosophical conversations with an android. I expected more than two or three characters to be part of the team to contact civilized cephalopods and for this to be the focus of the book, like contact with the intelligence aboard the crashed spacecraft in Michael Crichton's Sphere was the focus of that book. I wanted more octopuses. Nayler wanted to world build around the octopuses.
Future tech like abglanz, drone hexcopters and auto monks kept me from embracing the story, while developments like environmental calamity, collapse of world governments and the rise of tech companies that seem to be either enslaving people or assassinating them with impunity made for a downbeat read. My search continues for science fiction that envisions a world fifty years from that isn't completely bojacked. As often happens, I felt the characters were slaves to the concepts or tech, though extra credit is due to writing the chief protagonist as a Vietnamese woman who speaks English and Turkish.
As always, I find that when I am unable or unwilling to update my reading status with excerpts from a book, I'm just not into it. I want to stress that science fiction fans--who have reviewed The Mountain in the Sea very well--might love this. Nayler, who has written short stories for many years, has a CV that seems fit for one of the first humans living and working in an undersea habitat. The cover design by Abby Kagan is beautiful, from the typeface to the symbols to the color, and truly magnificent. I'll keep my autographed copy on my bookshelf for years to come.
Here's a dissenting, five-star review from a hugely popular reviewer on Goodreads!
Angie Boyter's Reviews > The Mountain in the Sea
In an unspecified future date, three parallel stories are at play: Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, author of a book called How Oceans Think, arrives on the island of Con Dao off Vietnam (now named the Ho Chi Minh Autonomous Zone), where a powerful tech company called DIAMIMA has purchased the island as a nature preserve and seeks to make contact with the octopuses. Rustem is a hacker in the former Soviet Union whose work for hire involves subverting the AI which carry out the bidding of the transnational tech corporations. Eiko is a young Japanese man who's been abducted and put to work with other human slaves on board a fishing vessel commanded by AI.
The escape from an AI ship was the most exciting of the three story threads. The Russian hacker didn't interest me at all. The contact with the octopuses had an eerie grandeur that I enjoyed, but so much of this story involves Ha's philosophical conversations with an android. I expected more than two or three characters to be part of the team to contact civilized cephalopods and for this to be the focus of the book, like contact with the intelligence aboard the crashed spacecraft in Michael Crichton's Sphere was the focus of that book. I wanted more octopuses. Nayler wanted to world build around the octopuses.
Future tech like abglanz, drone hexcopters and auto monks kept me from embracing the story, while developments like environmental calamity, collapse of world governments and the rise of tech companies that seem to be either enslaving people or assassinating them with impunity made for a downbeat read. My search continues for science fiction that envisions a world fifty years from that isn't completely bojacked. As often happens, I felt the characters were slaves to the concepts or tech, though extra credit is due to writing the chief protagonist as a Vietnamese woman who speaks English and Turkish.
As always, I find that when I am unable or unwilling to update my reading status with excerpts from a book, I'm just not into it. I want to stress that science fiction fans--who have reviewed The Mountain in the Sea very well--might love this. Nayler, who has written short stories for many years, has a CV that seems fit for one of the first humans living and working in an undersea habitat. The cover design by Abby Kagan is beautiful, from the typeface to the symbols to the color, and truly magnificent. I'll keep my autographed copy on my bookshelf for years to come.
Here's a dissenting, five-star review from a hugely popular reviewer on Goodreads!
Angie Boyter's Reviews > The Mountain in the Sea
May 7, 2023
“This is a refuge? A turtle refuge?”
The monk raised his head. Eiko saw , then, the dark array of hexagonal light receptors where eyes should have been in the automonk’s face.
“All beings shall find refuge here,” the automonk said.
I have read some of Ray Nayler’s short fiction in Asimov’s, so was excited to learn he had a debut novel coming out. What struck me about The Mountain in the Sea is how it speaks to the current zeitgeist moment where AI has exploded onto the scene.
Obviously Nayler did not write the book with this in mind, just like those ‘eerily prescient’ Covid-19 novels rode a populist wave. But if you want a great fictional exploration of the issues facing the world now in terms of technological and social disruption, this is the novel for you.
I do not want to give too much away, suffice to say it is a First Contact novel … that takes place on earth. Well, underwater, to be more accurate. It is a novel about conscience and sentience and capitalism’s drive to destroy, or commodify, everything on the planet.
If that does not sound like a particularly gentle or entertaining read, fear not: This is a no holds barred thriller, intertwining several narrative strands that eventually converge, rather violently, at the end.
I was reminded of Frank Herbert in that each chapter is preceded by a fictional quote from books written by the protagonists – initially I skimmed these, but then I realised they are quite integral to the story and not superfluous at all.
I was also reminded of Isaac Asimov, especially with the android character of Evrim. Indeed, the book harks back to a much older speculative fiction tradition, especially Arthur C. Clarke. But with a modern twist, of course.
My only complaint about the book is it could have been tightened in the editing process, as some parts are really drawn out in terms of their overall contribution to the final resolution. Still, one of the more intriguing SF novels I have read in a long time. Nayler is a writer to watch.
The monk raised his head. Eiko saw , then, the dark array of hexagonal light receptors where eyes should have been in the automonk’s face.
“All beings shall find refuge here,” the automonk said.
I have read some of Ray Nayler’s short fiction in Asimov’s, so was excited to learn he had a debut novel coming out. What struck me about The Mountain in the Sea is how it speaks to the current zeitgeist moment where AI has exploded onto the scene.
Obviously Nayler did not write the book with this in mind, just like those ‘eerily prescient’ Covid-19 novels rode a populist wave. But if you want a great fictional exploration of the issues facing the world now in terms of technological and social disruption, this is the novel for you.
I do not want to give too much away, suffice to say it is a First Contact novel … that takes place on earth. Well, underwater, to be more accurate. It is a novel about conscience and sentience and capitalism’s drive to destroy, or commodify, everything on the planet.
If that does not sound like a particularly gentle or entertaining read, fear not: This is a no holds barred thriller, intertwining several narrative strands that eventually converge, rather violently, at the end.
I was reminded of Frank Herbert in that each chapter is preceded by a fictional quote from books written by the protagonists – initially I skimmed these, but then I realised they are quite integral to the story and not superfluous at all.
I was also reminded of Isaac Asimov, especially with the android character of Evrim. Indeed, the book harks back to a much older speculative fiction tradition, especially Arthur C. Clarke. But with a modern twist, of course.
My only complaint about the book is it could have been tightened in the editing process, as some parts are really drawn out in terms of their overall contribution to the final resolution. Still, one of the more intriguing SF novels I have read in a long time. Nayler is a writer to watch.
September 9, 2023
Wow! What did I just read?! This book is blowing my mind (in the best of ways).
Humans have always looked for signs of intelligent life. The problem is that they rarely, if ever, look on our own planet. One day, they can no longer deny the existance of another intelligent species on this planet, however: octopuses.
Various signs are collected and examined by a scientist (and others). There is a murder mystery of sorts* as well as highly interesting conversations between the afore-mentioned scientist and an adroid.
Because humanity, while being interested in being a creator, could never handle sharing the #1 place with anyone or anything else.
* It was very poignant that the "!" making octopuses and their development (evolution) impossible to ignore was a dead person. Because of course humans would associate the use of a tooll to kill as THE sign of intelligence. *sighs*
More than that, though, on a meta-level, the author probably also put that in because of the age-old thought experiment of ANY species becoming murderous once crossing a certain threshold in their intelligence.
I loved the quotes from the invented science book at the beginning of every chapter and almost all of them rang so true in their observations of the oceans and their inhabitants.
Moreover, having not only two but three intelligent species (even if one was represented by only one) was highlly interesting as it gave another angle on both of the respective others.
A very erudite "what-if" story that nicely showcases humanities limitations(not just recent ones). The lack of imagination, the refusal to share, the inability to actually communicate (even with one another). As a linguist, I definitely adored the author putting such an emphasis on communication / linguistics, of course.
There was more, though. Like the examinations of different cultures (that story of Istanbul and the dogs ... *shudders*) or how all other species know from us humans is viollence and tragedy. So WHY SHOULD their reaction to us be anything but violent? Also, when will we finally get over the arrogant assumption that we're the only ones, chosen etc.?! Which makes this book also about human hubris and stupidity. *snickers*
Wonderful story, character-driven, gorgeously alivened by a great writing style. One of the highlights on my SF shelf, definitely.
Humans have always looked for signs of intelligent life. The problem is that they rarely, if ever, look on our own planet. One day, they can no longer deny the existance of another intelligent species on this planet, however: octopuses.
Various signs are collected and examined by a scientist (and others). There is a murder mystery of sorts* as well as highly interesting conversations between the afore-mentioned scientist and an adroid.
Because humanity, while being interested in being a creator, could never handle sharing the #1 place with anyone or anything else.
* It was very poignant that the "!" making octopuses and their development (evolution) impossible to ignore was a dead person. Because of course humans would associate the use of a tooll to kill as THE sign of intelligence. *sighs*
More than that, though, on a meta-level, the author probably also put that in because of the age-old thought experiment of ANY species becoming murderous once crossing a certain threshold in their intelligence.
I loved the quotes from the invented science book at the beginning of every chapter and almost all of them rang so true in their observations of the oceans and their inhabitants.
Moreover, having not only two but three intelligent species (even if one was represented by only one) was highlly interesting as it gave another angle on both of the respective others.
A very erudite "what-if" story that nicely showcases humanities limitations(not just recent ones). The lack of imagination, the refusal to share, the inability to actually communicate (even with one another). As a linguist, I definitely adored the author putting such an emphasis on communication / linguistics, of course.
There was more, though. Like the examinations of different cultures (that story of Istanbul and the dogs ... *shudders*) or how all other species know from us humans is viollence and tragedy. So WHY SHOULD their reaction to us be anything but violent? Also, when will we finally get over the arrogant assumption that we're the only ones, chosen etc.?! Which makes this book also about human hubris and stupidity. *snickers*
Wonderful story, character-driven, gorgeously alivened by a great writing style. One of the highlights on my SF shelf, definitely.
March 7, 2023
A species of octopus has not only developed language and a civilization, but a way to pass on its knowledge. A corporation controls the island where the new species lives. It sends the marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen to the island (where she has been before) to do research. There, she encounters the world’s only android and a mysterious security guard.
This book has a confusing structure, but it deals with very interesting questions: what is consciousness, what does it mean to be human, what do humans owe other forms of life, etc. I certainly did not understand everything that was going on in this book, but I enjoyed it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
This book has a confusing structure, but it deals with very interesting questions: what is consciousness, what does it mean to be human, what do humans owe other forms of life, etc. I certainly did not understand everything that was going on in this book, but I enjoyed it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
October 27, 2022
Fans of the short story/movie Arrival, take note of this one. This is an exciting debut novel from Ray Nayler that perfectly sprinkles in modern thriller elements (think Blake Crouch, who provided a back cover blurb) into a philosophically thought-provoking story and approach (think early David Mitchell, also on the back cover). I flew through this in a few days and didn't want it to end, honestly.
This is very much Arrival, in that the core story is a scientist brought on board to try and understand and communicate with a hyperintelligent alien species. It just so happens that the "alien" species is a newly discovered, hyper-evolved community of octopi living in an archipelago off of Vietnam who are displaying a newly developed use of language. There are a LOT of octopus facts here and it's all incredibly interesting (and also seemingly part of a larger trend of octopi in movies/tv/books of late). Nayler himself is the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He knows his stuff and has clearly thought about this a lot, which really shows (to the book's benefit).
The other part of the book's approach is that it's very much a near-future sci-fi book, with world building that isn't particularly surprising or out of the ordinary, but it's all so incredibly well considered and plausible. To use another movie reference, it's a lot like Her, where things are very much the same in the near future but with lots of clever gadgets and tech that seems to make a lot of sense. Naylor also is clearly a citizen of the modern world, because all of this stuff is (of course) abused by governments and shadowy organizations. It seems depressingly accurate that a lot of the more spy/espionage aspects of the book's society could very easily come to pass (if they haven't already), with the end result being a very familiar yet believable future.
The thriller/sci-fi stuff is there and it's used very well to give the narrative some momentum, but the bulk of this work is trying to get you to think about more philosophical things. What is the nature of consciousness? What is the nature of the consciousness of another species? How can we understand or co-exist with beings who don't experience the world like we do? Why are we so afraid of beings that are different from us? There's a lot of really well written and thought-provoking discussion in here.
And I think the overall largest theme of the book is one of human indifference: not only indifference to other species or animals, but to each other as humans, and to our relationship with our environment. There's certainly easy applications here to our current climate change situation, but I think it aims beyond that; to the larger core reason of humankind's general lack of empathy.
It's a lot of take on, especially in a book marketed as a "sci-fi thriller," and one that is likely to be in contention for the Hugo this year. I hope people don't pick this up hoping for a mindless soft serve of sci-fi and leave disappointed that it's something different; there is a refreshing level of depth here (ha-ha).
So if you want to read a fun twist on an "alien encounter" story with a great mix of thrills and brains, I would strongly recommend this. And if you're really into octopi, this might become your favorite book.
This is very much Arrival, in that the core story is a scientist brought on board to try and understand and communicate with a hyperintelligent alien species. It just so happens that the "alien" species is a newly discovered, hyper-evolved community of octopi living in an archipelago off of Vietnam who are displaying a newly developed use of language. There are a LOT of octopus facts here and it's all incredibly interesting (and also seemingly part of a larger trend of octopi in movies/tv/books of late). Nayler himself is the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He knows his stuff and has clearly thought about this a lot, which really shows (to the book's benefit).
The other part of the book's approach is that it's very much a near-future sci-fi book, with world building that isn't particularly surprising or out of the ordinary, but it's all so incredibly well considered and plausible. To use another movie reference, it's a lot like Her, where things are very much the same in the near future but with lots of clever gadgets and tech that seems to make a lot of sense. Naylor also is clearly a citizen of the modern world, because all of this stuff is (of course) abused by governments and shadowy organizations. It seems depressingly accurate that a lot of the more spy/espionage aspects of the book's society could very easily come to pass (if they haven't already), with the end result being a very familiar yet believable future.
The thriller/sci-fi stuff is there and it's used very well to give the narrative some momentum, but the bulk of this work is trying to get you to think about more philosophical things. What is the nature of consciousness? What is the nature of the consciousness of another species? How can we understand or co-exist with beings who don't experience the world like we do? Why are we so afraid of beings that are different from us? There's a lot of really well written and thought-provoking discussion in here.
And I think the overall largest theme of the book is one of human indifference: not only indifference to other species or animals, but to each other as humans, and to our relationship with our environment. There's certainly easy applications here to our current climate change situation, but I think it aims beyond that; to the larger core reason of humankind's general lack of empathy.
It's a lot of take on, especially in a book marketed as a "sci-fi thriller," and one that is likely to be in contention for the Hugo this year. I hope people don't pick this up hoping for a mindless soft serve of sci-fi and leave disappointed that it's something different; there is a refreshing level of depth here (ha-ha).
So if you want to read a fun twist on an "alien encounter" story with a great mix of thrills and brains, I would strongly recommend this. And if you're really into octopi, this might become your favorite book.
October 16, 2022
Dr. Ha Nguyen goes to investigate the possibility that a species of octopus may have developed its own language and culture, but she is not the only one interested in the new discovery. Others are looking to how they might exploit the find. It certainly isn’t a pacey thriller and there were times I was frustrated by the slow development of the plot, but it came through in the end. It packs in the discussion of many modern and relevant issues such as AI, human treatment of animals and other humans, communication, and the nature of consciousness, and while there is little new or deep in those discussions, they do stimulate. Worth reading!
August 23, 2023
Esto es lo que yo llamo CF Filosófica, muchas reflexiones de fondo sobre que es ser consciente, sobre ecología, sobre contacto interespecies… los pulpos son una excusa para las reflexiones. O yo lo veo así, vamos.
Y no es para mí. Abandonado al 70%, conste que lo he intentado.
Esperaba un libro de CF de esos de “primer contacto” que suelen ser muy efectivos pero me he encontrado con un libro en el que ese tema se desarrolla poco o nada hasta este 70%. Reflexiones sobre el hombre, la sociedad, la ecología y el futuro se imbrican en todas y cada una de las líneas de la novela.
No, gracias.
Todo vuestro.
Y no es para mí. Abandonado al 70%, conste que lo he intentado.
Esperaba un libro de CF de esos de “primer contacto” que suelen ser muy efectivos pero me he encontrado con un libro en el que ese tema se desarrolla poco o nada hasta este 70%. Reflexiones sobre el hombre, la sociedad, la ecología y el futuro se imbrican en todas y cada una de las líneas de la novela.
No, gracias.
Todo vuestro.
October 6, 2022
HAPPY RELEASE WEEK!
"It lived through trickery, concealment and guile.
It lived through creativity."
Thanks to Netgalley for an audiobook ARC of one of the best Sci-fi stories I've ever read. Granted, there haven't been many, but if they were all like this five star read, I'd be tempted...
Listen. I was nervous to start this because sci-fi isn't usually my thing, but I am incredibly glad to have been wrong here. The prose was completely immersive and approachable despite the philosophical, scientific and existential questions of the plot, and the story was fascinating, a blend of exciting genres like sci-fi, mystery, and political intrigue.
This was a story told in three points of view; firstly that of Ha Nyugen, scientist on a mission to study some unique marine life off the coast of an island steeped in lore and mystery. There was also Eiko, a man trapped onboard a slave-manned fishing ship that is run by unexpected forces, and Rustem, a genius hacker hired by shadowy entities. The multiple POVs worked for me, resulting in tension, a layering of complementary genres occuring at once, and also necessarily fleshing out the main complex story with things happening before and after on the sidelines.
I loved our main trio of misfits who are on the mission to study the octopuses. Ha is a scientist insecure in herself in all ways but surrounding her work; she's written trailblazing work on marine life, and quickly befriends the android on their mission as well as the prickly Altantsetseg, a Mongolian security agent who is completely badass and loves macarons (she was my favorite). The cast and settings, heavily Asian but diverse under that umbrella, drew me right in. Undertones of ecological morality and conservation, overfishing, and interesting political messaging all rounded out this intriguing plot, set in what I think is fairly near-future.
It asks questions that I'm certain every scientist and frontier researcher asks themselves: what will come of your groundbreaking work in actuality - who can and will take advantage of it? How will it be used? And there was an absolutely chilling passage that really made me think about our brains, which are tissue isolated in the darkness of our skulls, bereft of light and experience without sensory input.
I found the audio production excellent, as well, with Eunice Wong skillfully maneuvering tricky names and technical jargon with her clear voice. Some complained about breathy narration but, uh, I regularly listen at 2.5 speed and noticed nothing off-putting besides the compulsion to look up how characters' names were spelled. The book was only comprised of like five or six large chapters, and those began with really neat, eerie musical interludes reminiscent of 1970s and 80s documentaries.
In summary I found The Mountain in the Sea a clever, delightful book that made me think a lot while not bonking me over the head with thickly-worded science and philosophy. Full five stars for my rounded enjoyment.
"It lived through trickery, concealment and guile.
It lived through creativity."
Thanks to Netgalley for an audiobook ARC of one of the best Sci-fi stories I've ever read. Granted, there haven't been many, but if they were all like this five star read, I'd be tempted...
Listen. I was nervous to start this because sci-fi isn't usually my thing, but I am incredibly glad to have been wrong here. The prose was completely immersive and approachable despite the philosophical, scientific and existential questions of the plot, and the story was fascinating, a blend of exciting genres like sci-fi, mystery, and political intrigue.
This was a story told in three points of view; firstly that of Ha Nyugen, scientist on a mission to study some unique marine life off the coast of an island steeped in lore and mystery. There was also Eiko, a man trapped onboard a slave-manned fishing ship that is run by unexpected forces, and Rustem, a genius hacker hired by shadowy entities. The multiple POVs worked for me, resulting in tension, a layering of complementary genres occuring at once, and also necessarily fleshing out the main complex story with things happening before and after on the sidelines.
I loved our main trio of misfits who are on the mission to study the octopuses. Ha is a scientist insecure in herself in all ways but surrounding her work; she's written trailblazing work on marine life, and quickly befriends the android on their mission as well as the prickly Altantsetseg, a Mongolian security agent who is completely badass and loves macarons (she was my favorite). The cast and settings, heavily Asian but diverse under that umbrella, drew me right in. Undertones of ecological morality and conservation, overfishing, and interesting political messaging all rounded out this intriguing plot, set in what I think is fairly near-future.
It asks questions that I'm certain every scientist and frontier researcher asks themselves: what will come of your groundbreaking work in actuality - who can and will take advantage of it? How will it be used? And there was an absolutely chilling passage that really made me think about our brains, which are tissue isolated in the darkness of our skulls, bereft of light and experience without sensory input.
I found the audio production excellent, as well, with Eunice Wong skillfully maneuvering tricky names and technical jargon with her clear voice. Some complained about breathy narration but, uh, I regularly listen at 2.5 speed and noticed nothing off-putting besides the compulsion to look up how characters' names were spelled. The book was only comprised of like five or six large chapters, and those began with really neat, eerie musical interludes reminiscent of 1970s and 80s documentaries.
In summary I found The Mountain in the Sea a clever, delightful book that made me think a lot while not bonking me over the head with thickly-worded science and philosophy. Full five stars for my rounded enjoyment.
June 25, 2023
Este es el tipo de ciencia ficción que a mí me gusta. Nada de naves espaciales y luchas interestelares. Sino una sociedad muy avanzada tecnológicamente en nuestra Tierra, en un futuro no muy lejano y "creíble", aunque quizá no muy deseable y más bien aterradora.
Estamos en el Archipiélago Con Dao, en las costas de Vietnam y concretamente en la isla de Con Son: playas, arrecifes de coral y manglares. En una época futura indeterminada.
La empresa tecnológica DIANIMA, dirigida por la Doctora Arnkatla, compró todo el archipiélago, evacuo e indemnizo a los habitantes y blindo la zona, que se quedó desierta, excepto por los investigadores trasladados allí.
En la isla se lleva a cabo una investigación secreta, a cargo de la Doctora Ha (bióloga especialista en cefalópodos), Altantsetseg (especialista en sistemas) y Evrim (un androide que es el mayor éxito de la empresa, un hito en tecnología, cuasi humano y cuya creación ha generado mucha polémica a nivel mundial).
Los nativos de la isla llevaban tiempo hablando de un monstruo marino, pues aparecían pescadores golpeados y ahogados en el mar. Lo cierto es que DIANIMA está detrás de investigar el comportamiento de los pulpos en el archipiélago, pues hay evidencias de que han alcanzado un nivel superior de consciencia y una inteligencia que les hace capaces de organizarse, comunicarse, planificarse, defenderse o atacar. Han conseguido mayor longevidad, lo cual hace que puedan transmitir conocimientos a sus descendientes y desarrollar una cultura.
La novela está tan bien construida que es espectacular.
Al inicio de cada capítulo tenemos un extracto de las investigaciones realizadas anteriormente por las dos doctoras. Concretamente de " Cómo piensan los océanos", de la Doctora Ha y "Edificando mentes", de la Doctora Arnkatla.
Con estos ingredientes y otros cuantos más, tenemos una trama bien armada y con una crítica a la condición humana y su despiadado camino en el avance tecnológico y el uso de la IA, las grandes empresas enfocadas exclusivamente en los beneficios, el perfil de las personas en una sociedad tecnológica, que cada vez son más solitarias y necesitadas de tecnología a su medida, etc
Una lectura que me ha gustado muchísimo y la recomiendo 👌 👍
Gracias, Over, por tu recomendación 😉
Estamos en el Archipiélago Con Dao, en las costas de Vietnam y concretamente en la isla de Con Son: playas, arrecifes de coral y manglares. En una época futura indeterminada.
La empresa tecnológica DIANIMA, dirigida por la Doctora Arnkatla, compró todo el archipiélago, evacuo e indemnizo a los habitantes y blindo la zona, que se quedó desierta, excepto por los investigadores trasladados allí.
En la isla se lleva a cabo una investigación secreta, a cargo de la Doctora Ha (bióloga especialista en cefalópodos), Altantsetseg (especialista en sistemas) y Evrim (un androide que es el mayor éxito de la empresa, un hito en tecnología, cuasi humano y cuya creación ha generado mucha polémica a nivel mundial).
Los nativos de la isla llevaban tiempo hablando de un monstruo marino, pues aparecían pescadores golpeados y ahogados en el mar. Lo cierto es que DIANIMA está detrás de investigar el comportamiento de los pulpos en el archipiélago, pues hay evidencias de que han alcanzado un nivel superior de consciencia y una inteligencia que les hace capaces de organizarse, comunicarse, planificarse, defenderse o atacar. Han conseguido mayor longevidad, lo cual hace que puedan transmitir conocimientos a sus descendientes y desarrollar una cultura.
La novela está tan bien construida que es espectacular.
Al inicio de cada capítulo tenemos un extracto de las investigaciones realizadas anteriormente por las dos doctoras. Concretamente de " Cómo piensan los océanos", de la Doctora Ha y "Edificando mentes", de la Doctora Arnkatla.
Con estos ingredientes y otros cuantos más, tenemos una trama bien armada y con una crítica a la condición humana y su despiadado camino en el avance tecnológico y el uso de la IA, las grandes empresas enfocadas exclusivamente en los beneficios, el perfil de las personas en una sociedad tecnológica, que cada vez son más solitarias y necesitadas de tecnología a su medida, etc
Una lectura que me ha gustado muchísimo y la recomiendo 👌 👍
Gracias, Over, por tu recomendación 😉
August 19, 2022
When a book affects my emotions and stimulates my mind on a number of levels, I have to wait a few days before reviewing it, as new insights and synchronicities surface upon further reflection. "The Mountain in the Sea" is such a book. It shouldn't work to stuff a novel with this much technical background about artificial intelligence, human consciousness, and octopus behavior, but it does work, brilliantly. That's because the information is always presented through its effects on characters we are made to care about.
On the surface, it's a hard-science thriller set in a reshaped geopolitical environment, where humankind's aggressive harvesting of the oceans for protein may have put evolutionary pressure on octopuses to develop a civilization of comparable intelligence as ours. But the story doesn't go in the cosmic-horror or man-against-nature direction you might expect. The octopuses are still quite mysterious by the book's end...but no more or less mysterious than we are to one another.
What it's really about, I think, is the isolation of individual consciousness and what it takes to break out of it. The main characters--a marine scientist, the world's only conscious android, and their chief of security--are confined (somewhat by choice, but irrevocably so) to the AI company's research island, from which the natives have been evacuated. Meanwhile, there's a parallel plotline about enslaved workers trying to escape from an automated fishing trawler, and another about a computer hacker whose work is so secret that people are murdered for getting close to him.
These external forms of solitary confinement parallel the problems that our researchers obsess over: How do we ever *know* someone else's internal experience sufficiently to assess whether they're "alive" and "self-aware," let alone communicate with them? The growth arc of the characters leads to the conclusion that the colonialist quest for knowledge-as-control must yield to empathy across the mysterious divide of self from other.
I received a free ARC e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
On the surface, it's a hard-science thriller set in a reshaped geopolitical environment, where humankind's aggressive harvesting of the oceans for protein may have put evolutionary pressure on octopuses to develop a civilization of comparable intelligence as ours. But the story doesn't go in the cosmic-horror or man-against-nature direction you might expect. The octopuses are still quite mysterious by the book's end...but no more or less mysterious than we are to one another.
What it's really about, I think, is the isolation of individual consciousness and what it takes to break out of it. The main characters--a marine scientist, the world's only conscious android, and their chief of security--are confined (somewhat by choice, but irrevocably so) to the AI company's research island, from which the natives have been evacuated. Meanwhile, there's a parallel plotline about enslaved workers trying to escape from an automated fishing trawler, and another about a computer hacker whose work is so secret that people are murdered for getting close to him.
These external forms of solitary confinement parallel the problems that our researchers obsess over: How do we ever *know* someone else's internal experience sufficiently to assess whether they're "alive" and "self-aware," let alone communicate with them? The growth arc of the characters leads to the conclusion that the colonialist quest for knowledge-as-control must yield to empathy across the mysterious divide of self from other.
I received a free ARC e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 15, 2022
Octopuses are fascinating and intelligent creatures. Unfortunately, their genetics, aggressive behavior, and short life spans don’t allow them to build a culture or pass on knowledge. Otherwise, we could see them thrive and rule the oceans!
Nayler’s sci-fi debut, The Mountain in the Sea, is about the discovery of intelligent life. It’s multi-layered: plot, action, and mystery intertwine with philosophy and a detailed look at believable interspecies communication. The last point is crucial: Nayler tries (and succeeds) to explain the linguistic mechanism of a being that’s alien (to us). In a way, it’s the first encounter story between humans, androids, and octopuses.
Minor spoiler, but it shouldn’t decrease your enjoyment of the story: octopuses don’t have spines, and their shape is more malleable than a human one. They can change shape, do bizarre things with their skin, and even imitate a shadow running across their skin to startle their prey. In Nayler’s story, the octopuses’ communication is based on a passing cloud. They communicate by displaying symbols derived from their environment on their skin. It was a fascinating mental exercise.
The plot layer revolves around a marine biologist, Dr. Ha Nguyen, who agrees to study an octopus colony in the remote Vietnamese archipelago of Can Dao. She can't leave the place because it's owned by a big tech company that wants to monetize discovery and expects Ha to help them. Ha is too fascinated by the octopuses to leave, anyway. Impressed by their beauty and otherness, she tries to understand them and their "culture." She has an ally - Evrim, the world's first true android, who thinks like a human and believes it is conscious.
There's also Dr. Arnkatla Mínervudóttir-Chan, the Icelandic head of the corporation obsessed with freeing the human mind from its limitations. She's the antagonist of the story but definitely not your typical bad guy. She's way too complex and intelligent for that.
The Mountain in the Sea is fascinating but uneven. Its techno-thriller parts have pacing and suspense issues that would normally decrease my enjoyment. However, the more cerebral parts dealing with the limits of human language and the reasons behind it thrilled me. It may lack edge-of-your-sit thrills, but it more than makes up for it in the themes and thought-provoking ideas. The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating book that's worth a try.
Nayler’s sci-fi debut, The Mountain in the Sea, is about the discovery of intelligent life. It’s multi-layered: plot, action, and mystery intertwine with philosophy and a detailed look at believable interspecies communication. The last point is crucial: Nayler tries (and succeeds) to explain the linguistic mechanism of a being that’s alien (to us). In a way, it’s the first encounter story between humans, androids, and octopuses.
We are shaped and limited by our skeletons. Jointed, defined, structured. We create a world of relationships that mirrors that shape: a world of rigid boundaries and binaries. A world of control and response, master and servant. In our world, as in our nervous systems, hierarchy rules.
Minor spoiler, but it shouldn’t decrease your enjoyment of the story: octopuses don’t have spines, and their shape is more malleable than a human one. They can change shape, do bizarre things with their skin, and even imitate a shadow running across their skin to startle their prey. In Nayler’s story, the octopuses’ communication is based on a passing cloud. They communicate by displaying symbols derived from their environment on their skin. It was a fascinating mental exercise.
The plot layer revolves around a marine biologist, Dr. Ha Nguyen, who agrees to study an octopus colony in the remote Vietnamese archipelago of Can Dao. She can't leave the place because it's owned by a big tech company that wants to monetize discovery and expects Ha to help them. Ha is too fascinated by the octopuses to leave, anyway. Impressed by their beauty and otherness, she tries to understand them and their "culture." She has an ally - Evrim, the world's first true android, who thinks like a human and believes it is conscious.
There's also Dr. Arnkatla Mínervudóttir-Chan, the Icelandic head of the corporation obsessed with freeing the human mind from its limitations. She's the antagonist of the story but definitely not your typical bad guy. She's way too complex and intelligent for that.
The Mountain in the Sea is fascinating but uneven. Its techno-thriller parts have pacing and suspense issues that would normally decrease my enjoyment. However, the more cerebral parts dealing with the limits of human language and the reasons behind it thrilled me. It may lack edge-of-your-sit thrills, but it more than makes up for it in the themes and thought-provoking ideas. The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating book that's worth a try.
September 5, 2023
I'm part of the minority of folks who found this underwhelming. It gets lost in long-winded and repetitive philosophical conversations about consciousness. Chapter after chapter become vessels for the same discussions. To me, it reads as self-important in its own ramblings.
October 22, 2023
I read this book while travelling to Belize, and for a short period of time it utterly consumed me.
At a basic level, MITS is about a human scientist working with the world's only android assistant on a protected island, both of them attempting to study and understand a new species of octopus. As introduced to us, the scientist is a recluse, the android is socio-political exile, and the octopuses are a local myth.
In broad terms, the story depicts humanity grappling with two, brand-new types of intelligence: technological intelligence, built by humans (a true AI in the form of the android), and evolved intelligence, in the form of the octopuses who, due to the destruction of their habitat and other stressors, have begun to form complex societies.
That alone makes it a fascinating premise and an unexpected comparison. The android has perfect recall, unlike humans, meaning intelligence and memory are intersecting for them in ways which quickly deviate from standard human norms. The octopuses, meanwhile, have intelligence which is totally reframed by their different biology, origins, needs, and perceptions.
At its heart, though, MITS is a book about communication and loneliness, and this is the emotional soul of the novel that draws me in. Every single character is deeply, resonantly lonely. For the whole of her life, Ha (the scientist in question) is both driven to try and connect with other people, even as she finds repeated psychological barriers.
As a girl, she is heartbroken when the boy she is obsessed with does not even really register her existence, has no concept that she is her own person with thoughts and feelings; a classic case of cognitive empathy failure on his part, though a common enough experience:
Throughout the story, we are shown snippets of a controversial nonfiction book which Ha, the MC, was infamous for writing. Her thoughts support and surround the rest of the story, anchoring its dramatic elements in its philosophic themes.
One such quote which stayed with me a long time:
How starkly the author speaks to us, through a mirror darkly - fictional words attributed to a fictional character, folded inside a fictional story. If I could sum up THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA in a single quote, it would be that one.
At a basic level, MITS is about a human scientist working with the world's only android assistant on a protected island, both of them attempting to study and understand a new species of octopus. As introduced to us, the scientist is a recluse, the android is socio-political exile, and the octopuses are a local myth.
In broad terms, the story depicts humanity grappling with two, brand-new types of intelligence: technological intelligence, built by humans (a true AI in the form of the android), and evolved intelligence, in the form of the octopuses who, due to the destruction of their habitat and other stressors, have begun to form complex societies.
That alone makes it a fascinating premise and an unexpected comparison. The android has perfect recall, unlike humans, meaning intelligence and memory are intersecting for them in ways which quickly deviate from standard human norms. The octopuses, meanwhile, have intelligence which is totally reframed by their different biology, origins, needs, and perceptions.
But what could be more illusory than the world we see? After all, in the darkness inside our skulls, nothing reaches us. There is no light, no sound—nothing. The brain dwells there alone, in a blackness as total as any cave’s, receiving only translations from outside, fed to it through its sensory apparatus.
—Dr. Arnkatla Mínervudóttir-Chan, Building Minds
At its heart, though, MITS is a book about communication and loneliness, and this is the emotional soul of the novel that draws me in. Every single character is deeply, resonantly lonely. For the whole of her life, Ha (the scientist in question) is both driven to try and connect with other people, even as she finds repeated psychological barriers.
As a girl, she is heartbroken when the boy she is obsessed with does not even really register her existence, has no concept that she is her own person with thoughts and feelings; a classic case of cognitive empathy failure on his part, though a common enough experience:
“It was the indifference of the world—the indifference of the boy I loved to me, the indifference of the guards to the suffering of the people in the cages, the indifference of all of it, that made me crazy. I couldn’t accept it. I couldn’t stand to be a part of it. I felt cut off from people. How could they just ignore what was going on around them? The suffering of others? The striving of others? Their feelings? It was like they were clad in armor, and I didn’t have that armor."
Throughout the story, we are shown snippets of a controversial nonfiction book which Ha, the MC, was infamous for writing. Her thoughts support and surround the rest of the story, anchoring its dramatic elements in its philosophic themes.
One such quote which stayed with me a long time:
I want to help my readers imagine how we might speak across an almost unbridgeable gap of differences, and end forever the loneliness of our species—and our own loneliness.
How starkly the author speaks to us, through a mirror darkly - fictional words attributed to a fictional character, folded inside a fictional story. If I could sum up THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA in a single quote, it would be that one.
Currently reading
June 23, 2022Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture?!! A high-stakes global competition to dominate the future? A glorious blurb by David Mitchell?! YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
(I apologize for the numerous exclamation & question marks. But honestly, can anyone blame me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?)
(I apologize for the numerous exclamation & question marks. But honestly, can anyone blame me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?)
May 31, 2023
DNF
I don’t care. I never cared. Halfway through this book I can’t even tell you anyone’s name. I’m donezo with her trifling ass. You gonna make me wait until halfway for me to see the octopuses? That’s rude as hell. Bye bitch.
I don’t care. I never cared. Halfway through this book I can’t even tell you anyone’s name. I’m donezo with her trifling ass. You gonna make me wait until halfway for me to see the octopuses? That’s rude as hell. Bye bitch.
October 3, 2022
For once, a state of art research facility is not in Europe or in the US! Yay, we all remembered that rest of the world can do science in their native lands and thank you Ray Nayler for reminding that to people. I love that how Turkish language and culture played a part in the story. Evrim, the AI, got his/her/its name from Turkish and it means evolution as it was revealed in the book later.. Also like story says we have describe 3rd person with gender neutral "O", which would stopped me from saying "his/her/its" like I did above. Ray Nayler, you know how to describe a good kahvalti (breakfast) and Turkish coffee, and I couldn't appreciate you enough for that. On top of all of this, Istanbul being its own state?! :D
I cannot put my finger on exact thing that kept me in this story and made me finish in one sitting, but I think whole idea of sense and awareness played a big role. Every move, every calculated action displays a difference between AI, human, and animal awareness (don't @ me I know humankind is under animal kingdom). First I was debating if it's like the movie Arrival. After focusing bit more on the interactions and what it actually means to develop and language, this was way beyond ability to use language to communicate with others.IT was about building a culture and history through this ability
Most of the Sci-Fi books I read limits the human interactions either only with higher intellects or only with lower intellects. This was special in a way that you could find all three levels in one place. It expands the perspective. I can go on and on about this book, but I would recommend that all sci-fi and sea lovers read this. Also SAVE THE OCTOPUS!
I cannot put my finger on exact thing that kept me in this story and made me finish in one sitting, but I think whole idea of sense and awareness played a big role. Every move, every calculated action displays a difference between AI, human, and animal awareness (don't @ me I know humankind is under animal kingdom). First I was debating if it's like the movie Arrival. After focusing bit more on the interactions and what it actually means to develop and language, this was way beyond ability to use language to communicate with others.IT was about building a culture and history through this ability
Most of the Sci-Fi books I read limits the human interactions either only with higher intellects or only with lower intellects. This was special in a way that you could find all three levels in one place. It expands the perspective. I can go on and on about this book, but I would recommend that all sci-fi and sea lovers read this. Also SAVE THE OCTOPUS!
April 17, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up.
This Nebula finalist focuses a lot on communication, philosophy, and biosemiotics. It was a fascinating speculative fiction looking into the near future. The quotes at the beginning of the chapters (which come from the main character's book) were profound and were a big takeaway for me. I enjoyed the sections dealing with the octopuses, and appreciated that the author made the hacking storyline not attempt to explain the semantics of it all but rather focus on character development. My only minor gripe is the parts with action were not as engaging as I would have liked, but that could have just been me.
This Nebula finalist focuses a lot on communication, philosophy, and biosemiotics. It was a fascinating speculative fiction looking into the near future. The quotes at the beginning of the chapters (which come from the main character's book) were profound and were a big takeaway for me. I enjoyed the sections dealing with the octopuses, and appreciated that the author made the hacking storyline not attempt to explain the semantics of it all but rather focus on character development. My only minor gripe is the parts with action were not as engaging as I would have liked, but that could have just been me.
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