Mountain in the Sea - Iridescent Reads for Aotearoa Bookwyrms

Hardcover, 646 pages

English language

Published Feb. 1, 2023 by W&N.

ISBN:: 9781399600460

(2 reviews)

There are creatures in the water of Con Dao. To the locals, they're monsters. To the corporate owners of the island, an opportunity. To the team of three sent to study them, a revelation.

Their minds are unlike ours. Their bodies are malleable, transformable, shifting. They can communicate. And they want us to leave.

When pioneering marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen is offered the chance to travel to the remote Con Dao Archipelago to investigate a highly intelligent, dangerous octopus species, she doesn't pause long enough to look at the fine print. DIANIMA- a transnational tech corporation best known for its groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence - has purchased the islands, evacuated their population and sealed the archipelago off from the world so that Nguyen can focus on her research. But the stakes are high: the octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence and there are vast …

There are creatures in the water of Con Dao. To the locals, they're monsters. To the corporate owners of the island, an opportunity. To the team of three sent to study them, a revelation.

Their minds are unlike ours. Their bodies are malleable, transformable, shifting. They can communicate. And they want us to leave.

When pioneering marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen is offered the chance to travel to the remote Con Dao Archipelago to investigate a highly intelligent, dangerous octopus species, she doesn't pause long enough to look at the fine print. DIANIMA- a transnational tech corporation best known for its groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence - has purchased the islands, evacuated their population and sealed the archipelago off from the world so that Nguyen can focus on her research. But the stakes are high: the octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence and there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of their advancements. And no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.

5 editions

Will reviewed Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

Amazing

5 stars

This is one of my favorite books from 2022. It investigates how difficult communications will be when the two parties have almost no common reference. It takes a swipe (perhaps not intentionally) at the books and movies where alien communication moves rapidly from no commonality to complete sentences conveying complex abstract topics. Along with language, the book also explores consciousness and what makes a person a person.

The environmental message never feels heavy handed, and while it often paints a disturbing picture, it also offers a hopeful outlook.

As I neared the end I worried that it would take a sloppy shortcut to wrap up so much, but the ending was quite satisfying, although perhaps not in the ways I was expecting.

Gossamerchild@bookwyrm.social reviewed Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

The Mountain in the Sea

3 stars

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.