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.

Plot: 5
Characters: 4.75
Writing Style: 5
Cover: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Buyable/Re-readable?: Yes!

I connected with this novel so very much, from octoupi/octopuses being a favorite animal, to being extremely empathetic, to adoring animals period, to giving a shit about the earth, etc, AND because I was fortunate enough to meet a lovely lady octopus. I had the honor of meeting her (nameless, in compliance with an olde seafaring superstition that giving names equates death) at the Houston Zoo for a birthday. Because I would visit her every time I went to the zoo - and this was often, because we lived within walking distance and purchased passe - she came to know my face (it's true what the book says that they remember faces). Upon doing the behind-the-scenes encounter, she recognized me! It was beyond words and when she died, I was heartbroken. Needless to say, I pictured her throughout this amazing, unique, fun, emotional, relevant novel. The passion and research put into Nayler's work is so very obvious and I appreciate everything. We get multiple, third person POV chapters, nearly all of which have their own voice. It wasn't 100% at all times, but it was certainly close enough. The chapters are broken by two articles/essays; one written by a main character and the other by an important secondary character. I personally enjoyed them both enough to read the entire essay, so if you feel like releasing that, Ray, I'm down. The passages are, of course, pertinent to the following scenes. Also, ummmm, does this mean we're getting a sequel??? Gimme.

Along with "Kaikeyi", Ray Nayler's "The Mountain in the Sea" makes my Top Ten of 2022.

P.S. I see what you did with the cover. Clever.

The Mountain in the Sea mixes facts with this sci-fi story making it a fascinating read. Ray Nayler dives into the world of the octopus and gives us a compelling "what if" story. I found it difficult to follow some of the storyline with the ship of slaves, wondering why it was even part of the plot. I would have enjoyed more of the underwater octopus and their dwellings. I want to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an early copy to review.

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is a philosophical and scientific new book.
In this book, Ha Nguyen, an octopus marine biologist, is taken to an island where a new species of octopi has been found. Here, she not only meets these smart octopi, but meets the most realistic android built. Throughout, this book discusses consciousness, language, and humanity and its dislike of anything different.
I found this book very interesting. I loved what it discussed, and how it discussed them. The book takes place in the future, and yet it does not seem very alien. With humanity's current trajectory, this seems very possible. I like how octopi were chosen, instead of more popular animals like chimpanzees or dolphins. Nayler clearly put a lot of research into this book, learning the language of the octopi felt very realistic, discussing how words are often based on environment, or how their brain is completely different than ours and we can't really equate their speech to ours. Another thing I liked was how there was no romance. I think that would have really taken away from the story.
In conclusion, I think this book was spectacular. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in consciousness or language, or who just likes octopi.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

When the transnational tech corporation DIANIMA buys [and sequesters] Con Dao Archipelago, Doctor Ha Nguyen comes to the island to study the intelligent cephalopod population discovered there. It seems that the octopuses have developed their own culture and language. Joining her is a unique android, Evrim, and DIANIMA’s security agent, Altantsetseg.

DIANAMA believes there is a fortune just waiting for whoever can take advantage of being able to communicate with the intelligent and possibly sentient octopuses.

But will the octopuses allow DIANAMA to use them for their own greedy plan? And what can they do about it?

=========

Communication, contact, and connection play equally relevant roles in this compelling [but occasionally bothersome] narrative. Strong world-building, interesting characters, and a fascinating plot all combine to make this near-future science fiction tale of first contact both intriguing and thought-provoking.

Loneliness and exploitation each have a place in the telling of this tale as they shape characters and define events that will ultimately have far-reaching consequences. With the first contact theme relating to the cephalopods [rather than extraterrestrials], the understanding of their “alien” culture, tools, and language takes on a particular urgency.

Corporate greed serves as the ominous link between the characters in three distinct plotlines that spin out germane tales of relationships, identity, and communication, coming together in a denouement that many readers may find a bit abrupt and a bit disappointing for those who’d hoped for something more than “Stay away.” Nevertheless, there is much to consider as the reader explores intelligence, individuality, and integrity with the various characters.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD and NetGalley
#TheMountainintheSea #NetGalley

This was a really fun read! I wasn’t sure what to expect with the “first-contact” sci-fi plot, they’re not always my favorite, but this one exceeded expectations! The story pulled me in right away and I couldn’t put it down. I definitely still don’t love the whole “first-contact” story, but I’d be willing to read more if Ray Nayler is writing it!

This was phenomenal. Naylor’s first novel walks that fine line between thought-provoking science fiction and exciting, plot-based action. He introduces the world in such interesting ways, weaving three seemingly unrelated plotlines into his multifaceted look at consciousness and first contact. He uses a great deal of his characters’ interactions to discuss the ways in which we view the world and how another animal (or AI) on earth would view the world in so radically a different way that they could be considered just as alien as if they arrived from space. And yet, I couldn’t stop reading due to the way the plot and action was structured, revealing more and more of what was happening in such a way that I could barely believe I had finished. While I had a few issues with characterization, and the sometimes-seemingly-abrupt transitions in characters’ motivations, I still recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys a careful, fictional exploration of consciousness and first contact. For readers who enjoy first contact stories, philosophical science fiction, or nonfiction about consciousness and the animal world (Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus, the most obvious example).

The title remains a puzzle for this thoroughly interesting future fiction about “first contact” with an intelligent alien species with 8 arms - the octopus. Detailed with enough science facts to make the narrative plausible, the author makes use of his international background to sustain the characters as they attempt to survive in a world fraught with personal and environmental danger as they cope with the knowledge that humans are not the only ones with tools, language, culture and consciousness. This book will prompt me to read other works by Mr. Nayler.

This book was a thoughtful and thought-provoking take on the classic sci-fi “first contact” theme: what if intelligent non-human creatures came not from above our skies, but from below our seas? From this premise, the book invites readers to consider what makes a person a person, through several interlocking storylines. 4 stars, definitely recommended, and I suspect I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Let’s start with the good things about this book, which are numerous. I loved, and found myself absolutely fascinated by, the premise. the characters (especially the team on Con Dao) were really interesting and well-developed. This felt very hard sci-fi, in that I do think a lot of research and thought went into the book, and Nayler seemed very concerned with doing the “science” half of “science fiction” justice. The story was extremely engaging, and I had a hard time putting it down once I got going.

I did feel like the pacing was a bit uneven, and Rustem and Eiko’s storylines felt much less compelling than the “main” storyline following Ha and the Con Dao team, at least up until the end; though they were all very clearly thematically related, and the intertwining worked, I thought that Ha’s storyline was the most compelling and interesting.

All in all, definitely recommended, especially for fans of hard sf, and anyone who is alternately entranced and terrified by the ocean. Thanks so much to Netgalley and FSG for the e-ARC!

A good, stimulating read -- but here are some things that would make it better.
Cut back the amount of navel-gazing by about 3/4.
Give us some history. How did the world get this way? What IS this way?
Give us a better ending than the cobbled-together deus ex machina... and at least some clue about where it might go from there.

I will give a book the first 150 pages or so to see if it keeps my interest and to continue reading it. I wanted to like this book based on the description and the cover but I just couldn't get into it, One of the things that really distracted me were the "interludes" between each chapter. I get the purpose of them but I found that the interrupted the flow of the book for me. I lasted about 100 pages but did not finish the book.

I loved this story about communication and connection. Cephalopod intelligence is fascinating, and this speculative exploration of what it could mean to meet a non-human intelligence in our oceans was a very interesting variation on a first contact story. I thought that the various characters, although often slightly flat, were still compelling.; I particularly liked Dr. Ha's narration and the way she realizes her disconnection from others throughout the course of the narrative.

I just couldn’t get into this one :/ based on the description I thought it was made for me, I love sci fi that’s a little more scientific, but I found myself having to push myself to make time to read it. The three separate storylines while interesting in theory were so disconnected from eachother, and didn’t come together until the last 5 minutes. It also felt like the ending was very abrupt, after all that time the only word they learned from the octopus was “stay away” I wanted to go deep into the communication and learn more about their language, history, etc

DAZZLING is a word that has been used to describe this book and I completely agree!

In The Mountain In the Sea we meet Dr. Nguyen Ha, a well known researcher of cephalopod intelligence who is still nursing a major failure. Ha has been called to the Vietnamese island Con Dao which has been purchased by the DIANIMA corporation. DIANIMA is infamous for their realistic droid (the only one in existence) and Ha will be working with them to determine whether a group of octopi are indeed "Intelligent."

This novel has it all - there is science, espionage, piracy and multiple discussion on the meaning of being human and of consciousness. Multiple interesting characters bring levels of understanding and complexity to the themes. This novel is perfect and will leave you with a better understanding of what it means to be a being. If you like speculative fiction, love octopuses (who doesn't???) or just want an exciting sci-fi novel that isn't too far from reality, The Mountain in The Sea is for you!
#FarrarStrausandGiroux #MCD #TheMountaininTheSea #RayNayler #NetGalley

(Disclaimer: I received a ARC of this novel in return for an honest review. Also, I am cephalopod obsessed.) Wow! This is ONE phenomenal novel. It is deeply thoughtful and engrossing. I needed a few days after finishing to process and digest what I had just read. The world building and characterization are top shelf. The plot deftly moves between viewpoints. The complex science is clearly explained at a level that is educational, accessible, and entertaining. I enjoyed this novel even as it made me consider my existence and the often damaging effects of humanity on the planet we call home.

This is the perfect blend of science and fiction, a poignant story about first contact that is not about extraterrestrials. I read a lot of books about animal consciousness and know that, incredible as it seems, the events at the heart of this novel are based on scientific fact. The author even mentions some of these nonfiction volumes in the afterword, and I’ve read all but one. So approaching this novel as purely entertaining fiction will have readers turning pages because the plot is so good. But for those of us who want to understand animals better, it’s a gem. It is not just because of the wonderful, flawed characters, and the excellent world-building, but also because it will make you think. Ha, a scientist who’s devoted her life to studying the ocean, comes to a secret island to study what could possibly be a new race of intelligent octopuses. On the island she meets a warrior and an AI that may be more human than many people. The way Ha approaches contact with the creatures and what she finds is incredible but all too plausible. The side stories don’t really add too much to the main plot and I’m not sure that I understood the ending, but I still enjoyed it. This is a novel that will make you think. It’s well written, entertaining and profound and anyone who likes animals more than people will have to root for Ha.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD!