Hardcover, 456 pages
English language
Published Oct. 4, 2022 by MCD.
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 …
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.
Every Ray Nayler book is a philosophical conundrum wrapped in an ecological tragedy wrapped in a rad scifi story.
The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating dive into a near-future world shaped by runaway technology, stark class divides, and the question of what it means to be human. While it promises to be about octopuses, the book is more a philosophical exploration of first contact with an intelligent species hidden in plain sight—and of humanity’s messy, complicated place in the universe.
The story begins with Dr. Ha Nguyen, who arrives at a forcibly “abandoned” archipelago, now owned by a mega-corporation. The local residents have been relocated for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Ha is tasked with studying a uniquely intelligent colony of octopuses living off the coast of the islands. She isn’t alone on the archipelago—there’s Everim, the world’s first (and only) human-like AI, outlawed shortly after its creation, and Altanstetseg, a security officer who oversees the island’s systems remotely. Meanwhile, Eiko, a slave laborer aboard the AI-controlled …
The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating dive into a near-future world shaped by runaway technology, stark class divides, and the question of what it means to be human. While it promises to be about octopuses, the book is more a philosophical exploration of first contact with an intelligent species hidden in plain sight—and of humanity’s messy, complicated place in the universe.
The story begins with Dr. Ha Nguyen, who arrives at a forcibly “abandoned” archipelago, now owned by a mega-corporation. The local residents have been relocated for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Ha is tasked with studying a uniquely intelligent colony of octopuses living off the coast of the islands. She isn’t alone on the archipelago—there’s Everim, the world’s first (and only) human-like AI, outlawed shortly after its creation, and Altanstetseg, a security officer who oversees the island’s systems remotely. Meanwhile, Eiko, a slave laborer aboard the AI-controlled fishing vessel Sea Wolf, is trapped in a dystopian maritime industry where automation dominates, and pirates repurpose slave-manned ships for profit. His story is one of survival, navigating a brutal AI-driven system designed for maximum efficiency at any cost. Then there’s Rustem, a master hacker, roped into a conspiracy that leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. His mission? Access the untouchable Everim. These seemingly disparate narratives weave together into a rich tapestry of science, philosophy, and deeply human stories.
Earlier this year, I read Remarkably Bright Creatures, a book that was marketed as being about an octopus but turned out to be more of a small-town soap opera about relationships and romance. I was disappointed—I wanted a book about octopuses! In some ways, The Mountain in the Sea follows a similar pattern. I came for the octopuses, and while they’re here, they’re more of a thematic backbone than a constant presence. That said, the main storylines—the ones that aren’t about octopuses—are so engaging that I couldn’t hold it against the book too much.
At its core, this is speculative science fiction at its best: novel, thought-provoking, and disturbingly plausible. Yes, the narrative has a lot of moving parts, and it isn’t always clear how they connect, but the ride was worth it. I found myself wishing for more octopus-centric scenes, but the intriguing world-building and layered storytelling made up for it.
On the technical side, the book mostly succeeds. The pacing dragged occasionally, especially in some of the Sea Wolf chapters, but most of the beats felt necessary for the story. The characters were compelling, with relationships that were dynamic, if a little predictable. The writing was accessible and painted a vivid world, though a few names—like “Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan”—were a mouthful. (Shoutout to Eunice Wong, the audiobook narrator, for nailing it repeatedly!)
So, if you’re looking for a book that’s about octopuses, this might leave you wanting a little more. But if you’re in the mood for a fascinating, speculative sci-fi story with octopuses as a thematic thread running through it, this is absolutely worth your time.
On the surface, this is a future sf book about discovering sentient octopuses and trying to communicate with them. But, this is no Children of Ruin or even a Feed Them Silence; it hinges less on plot and characters, and feels more about worldbuilding in service to philosophy.
I quite enjoyed this book, and the strongest part was just how tightly the book's themes and ideas intertwined through the book's different point of views and the worldbuilding. It's a not-so-far future book with sentient octopuses, overfished waters, AI boats that drive themselves in search of profit, drones driven by humans in tanks, and the first android (but one reviled by humanity). It's a book about language and communication, memory and forgetting, what it means to be human and exist in community, and about fear of others.
So much to love about this book, how it weaves together unanswerable questions about consciousness and computation, together with a much more didactic message about humans' consumptive relationships with, well, everything including each other, and enough of a mystery story to keep the plot moving along. Also some great evocations of places (ahhh, multiple key scenes on Istanbul ferries), and of the ways peoples' reputations misrepresent their selves.
It's not a strongly character driven book - every character that is fleshed out seems to be a variant of "loner who wishes for connection" and largely a vehicle for the author's ideas - but there's enough depth to the characters to keep me reading. My one real criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. Not in the sort of too convenient, story-undermining way, but not quite satisfying either. It doesn't feel like a set up for a sequel, but …
So much to love about this book, how it weaves together unanswerable questions about consciousness and computation, together with a much more didactic message about humans' consumptive relationships with, well, everything including each other, and enough of a mystery story to keep the plot moving along. Also some great evocations of places (ahhh, multiple key scenes on Istanbul ferries), and of the ways peoples' reputations misrepresent their selves.
It's not a strongly character driven book - every character that is fleshed out seems to be a variant of "loner who wishes for connection" and largely a vehicle for the author's ideas - but there's enough depth to the characters to keep me reading. My one real criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. Not in the sort of too convenient, story-undermining way, but not quite satisfying either. It doesn't feel like a set up for a sequel, but I kind of want Nayler to write a few short stories filling out the characters a bit more and picking up some of the loose ends - perhaps something like Sofia Samatar did with The Winged Histories.
Another one I'm not sure what to say about, but this time for negative reasons. The premise is amazing, and I adore every scene with the octopuses themselves. But pretty much nothing else-plot, characters, dialogue, writing style-worked for me. However, it's a debut novel so perhaps the next one will be better.
