Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book for an honest review.

This book is full of big ideas (So many big ideas) So much is going on, modern present day problems, future problems. Darkness and perhaps even some light.
Great for a book club or an afternoon discussion over a drink on your porch.
I want to go into detail but I don't want to take away from your experience.

Very interesting and thoughtful book, absolutely loved the premise! Thought the characters could use a bit more depth and it definitely did not feel like a thriller. Overall, very enjoyable and intriguing book.

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.

I don't think I've ever read anything like this, it was unique and my brain had to adjust to the newness of it all. It all centers on the study of a species of octopus along with artificial intelligence that's sentient. There were enough breaks in the story from the heavy science to add in a bit of humour. There is so much in this book we can relate to, especially when we think of how we as humans treat the environment and all non-human creatures within. Thought-provoking, smart and "new to me" Sci-Fy

I found The Mountain in the Sea to be a dense, intense read that was immensely satisfying. It held my interest but I had to read it in short bursts in order to digest the ideas and concepts. The book is an exploration of the difficulty and problems in trying to communicate and understand a totally alien species. The author does a superb job in exploring consciousness and how our perceptions of the world and how we communicate are so intricately driven by our physical and neurological structure as well as the external physical world. There are three main story lines, one primary and two secondary but equally important, that flow the book and I found to be difficult to tease apart. However, the author pulls them together beautifully at the end. Briefly, and not to reveal any spoilers, the book is set in the near, dystopic future and the "alien" species is a specific and well known ocean species living near a protected, environmental safe enclave. This book is well worth anyone's read and strongly recommend it.

I couldn't get into this no matter how I tried. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 18%. I tried several times to get into the story but couldn't. I may pick it up again later but for now, I did not finish.

I wanted to love this but I was only so-so on it. I'm here for a modern-day Crichton-esque science-action book and this had aspects of that while also being a near-future ethical-dilemma thinker, which I should've loved... but I never quite got into it like I wanted to.

I’m so sorry. I’ve tried four times to read this book and I never make it past 25% before I’m completely lost. I think I’m just truly not smart enough for this one.

I finished this book in October and am kicking myself for waiting two months to review it! It was so good and I remember going over all the good things I wanted to say about it and somehow I never got around to putting them down.

One of the ways I judge a good book is by whether or not it makes me want to learn more about the topic. It usually applies to non-fiction or historical fiction, but it definitely applied in this case. I was frequently googling things all about octopuses. I had not idea how intelligent octopuses were until I started reading and learning about them.

Such an interesting and thought provoking book. It’s sci-fi or near future, set on an island, where they are attempting to communicate with the octopuses.

It sets people who care about the environment and the animals against greedy companies still trying to make money out of a dwindling ocean. There’s a bit of - who’s here for right reasons and who can we trust type of vibe going on.

Beautifully written and totally unique. I received an ARC of the book.

2.6 stars

I think this wasn't the book for me but I'm sure other readers will enjoy it very much because of the themes it explore.

If you like sci-fi that explores themes such as the nature of "consciousness" and "intelligence", ecology, artificial intelligence and corporate power/world domination you will probably enjoy this book.... IF you don't mind too much that there is A LOT of telling and repetition and too many characters that didn't seem to add to the story so I think it would have benefit from some a much better editing.

This gripping science fiction debut paces itself, demanding thoughtful consideration as it develops characters' seemingly disparate storylines. These storylines touch on one another, but don't necessarily tie directly into one another. This supports the novel's exploration of consciousness and its grappling to define humanity. Author Ray Naylor has a unique and fascinating background that feeds the cultures and backdrops of this book set in the near-future, with its glimpses into octopus anatomy, behavior, and physiology; its consideration of sentience, interspecies communication, the prospects and limitations of language, the fraught human/AI relationship; and the consequences of isolation and indifference. This is one of my favorite books of the year.

[Thanks @fsgbooks and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

I received a copy of this as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

I love octupi. I like science fiction. I love marine biology. I like the idea and concepts of language and culture. I saw great reviews for this book and the premise seemed interesting so I read it. I wanted to like this so much, and the story itself is fine, the characters are okay. There are some beautiful quotes about life, culture, what it means to be human, and how we think of sentient beings. But every time I would pick this up, I would read 10-15 pages and it would make me fall asleep. It took me over 2 months to get through this book, and I'm not sure I'm glad I did.

My favorite character is Evrim, an Android who comes across as the most human character of them all. Dr. Ha is pretty good too. But I wish we had more time with the actual octopus and more about their culture than what we got. I'm not an idiot, but some of this was a little too cerebral for me, and I did not enjoy this book. Oh well!

This is one of those books that fills my cup. Idk what to call this type of genre--bending novel, but it's EVERYTHING I WANT IN A BOOK. If you ask me what genre I would choose if I could only read one genre for the rest of my life, it would be whatever this book is.

Beautifully written. Both entertaining and sends a message. Ridiculously creative!!!!! Not to mention, if you check of Nayler's author bio, he seems really neat!

He mentions that he read The Soul of an Octopus in his research, so if you loved that book and enjoy sci-fi, definitely check out this novel!

Thanks to @netgalley and @fsgbooks for an arc to read and review.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a feast! It's dense and delicious, offering up thoughts on a vast array of topics. It's the kind of book you could read multiple times and still get more out of it with each read. There's plenty to chew on here: the nature of communication, defining consciousness, what it means to be human, exploring the AI-human relationship, loneliness and indifference. But the biggest question it posits is: what would it look like if another intelligent species on Earth evolved alongside us?

The cover is what initially drew me in. I love octopi and so the synopsis pulled me in further. I wasn't expecting it to be as heavy as it is but I still really enjoyed reading it. I especially love that Evrim was allowed space to exist outside of the gender binary.

My biggest complaint is the almost casually-graphic depictions of violence. It makes sense, now that I understand the world of this story more, but it was very startling when it first happened. That said, this book is absolutely worth the time and effort.

Go read it!

Wow, I am thoroughly impressed with this book. I knew absolutely nothing about this book going in, but found the summary on NetGalley to be interesting. I did not know what to expect going in, but the start of it was rough and a bit hard to follow. It was a bit boring I thought in the beginning, but having finished it, I can safely say this book was so interesting and so very well done with every little bit tied into something else to have the big picture at the end. I loved the octopus, the octopi and all of the characters that made this book so enjoyable. I loved the meaning behind it all and the fact that as a species we will always have to do better than where we are.

Highly recommend this book for the science, the writing, the fiction, and the whole story and plot in general! So well done!

I like sci-fi books but this one was too far out for me to even follow. It was too technical and all over the place. I couldnt keep up with the story.

Very good novel. It talks about some things that I really love in scienci fiction, as language, comunication, AI. Great job. Review coming soon.
https://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-mountain-in-sea-ray-nayler.html

THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA, by Ray Nayler, is a near future sci-fi/thriller about the recent discovery that octopuses are smarter than was ever previously known. Countries and corporations are trying to find out how to leverage this new information to make them stronger at the expense of treating the octopus humanely. Dr Ha Nguyen is attempting to communicate with the octopuses and try to understand what is it to be an octopus, not just how their talents can be exploited. Will Dr. Nguyen make a breakthrough before the higher powers lose patience and approach the octopus without any compassion and more like a commodity?
There is certainly a sci-fi slant the story, but really the book is about acceptance, patience, and respect. Different sides of humanity and compassion (or lack thereof) are constantly considered and reconsidered throughout. The science in the book is logical and believable, while also unique compared to other near future novels. There is a mix of personalities that are working on interactions with the octopuses while the novel also follows a programmer/hacker and a man enslaved to be a fisherman by a mysterious and faceless company. Each character is compelling to read about and eventually finding out how they all connect is woven together is done well and a rewarding, albeit long, wait for the reader, although I did occasionally wish the purpose of each storyline was hinted at or partially revealed a little earlier because I found myself caring less about the groups not on the island until their connection was revealed.
THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA leaves the reader to ponder humanity and how we treat other living beings. A book that lingers in my brain long after completion as I ponder many of the issues that the book touched on.

What a fascinating story. There are two main and complementary themes to it: (1) The impossibility of understanding minds other than our own, both individually and as a species, and (2) the linked yet decentralized nature of actions and consequences (as symbolized by the decentralized nature of the octopus mind - each arm has its own "brain," and the "head," as it were, appears to only roughly coordinate them)

I was reminded throughout of an excerpt from Aldous Huxley's _Doors of Perception_:

“We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies—all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

The author chooses to let the "aliens" of this book - octopuses who appear to have achieved sentience and self-awareness and have formed a "society" - remain largely a mystery and offstage. Which is fitting for the theme of the book - that communicating across lines of species may be near-impossible.

I received a ARC of this book from NetGalley.