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lemonsaurus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Trafficking
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, and Deportation
Minor: Self harm, Torture, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
tkroeker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of my favorite books in recent memory- I found it hard to put down. Enjoy philosophically reflecting on consciousness in both carbon and silicon lifeforms and the unanticipated consequences of near-future AI. Getting too heady? Take action-packed breaks to observe the (semi-ish) automated future of techno warfare and the unanticipated violence of Earth creatures so absurd they can only be described as aliens. I found it extremely refreshing and humbling to have a cast that is not entirely anthrpocentric- and where the dominance of human mind isn’t so much as called into question as it is a foregone byproduct of the reality of inevitable “progress”.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide
ehwesson's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I really wanted to like this book. It had a good plot premise. But all that was lost in the ramblings of the author. Long bouts of world building and descriptions that left me confused. "Did we notice this for a reason?" Is something I had to think every other line and the answer was usually no.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
bites_of_books's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The Mountain in the Sea is a really well constructed speculative novel. We follow a couple of different characters in the not so far future where AI and technology have evolved into day-to-day tools. Along with technology, capitalism and major corporations have continued to profit and take over a lot of the world at the expense of natural resources and indigenous communities.
Ray Nayler explores the topic of humans communicating with a different species, in this case the octopus, and in the process learning a lot about ourselves. Who are we in the octopus' eyes? Are we fellow living beings or are we invaders threatening their environment?
There are so many topics discussed in this book that it's hard for me to put it all into coherent thoughts. A big one was human to human interactions. Today a lot of us live our lives mostly online, communicating with people via text, video calls, etc., and have lower face to face interactions. In this book we see what might happen if we end up replacing humans with AI as part of therapy or just because it's convenient to have someone who is just there to listen to us without us having to reciprocate the energy.
Another big topic is that of individuals choosing a path of least resistance vs the path that leads to something good. It is about individuals being brave and making choices, choosing to live and stop being indifferent to fellow people and things going on in the world.
In one of the sub-plots we follow a man who ends up as a slave on a fishing vessel that is controlled by AI. The vessel's only goal is to get as much of the scarce protein left in the ocean and the interactions in this sub-plot really left me thinking. We accept that the things we consume have to come from somewhere but we rarely actually think and acknowledge the labor that each component requires and how ethical it all is or isn't.
All in all, I highly recommend this book for everyone. If you enjoy reading about science and where it might take us this is a must read. If you care about our world and our place in it definitely read this. This is not an easy read but it's definitely necessary, it should make you think and question what is happening around us all, and hopefully convince you to make the choices that will lead us all in a better direction.
PS. For me this was like a zombie film, not really about the zombies. This is not about the octopus, it's about the humans.
Ray Nayler explores the topic of humans communicating with a different species, in this case the octopus, and in the process learning a lot about ourselves. Who are we in the octopus' eyes? Are we fellow living beings or are we invaders threatening their environment?
There are so many topics discussed in this book that it's hard for me to put it all into coherent thoughts. A big one was human to human interactions. Today a lot of us live our lives mostly online, communicating with people via text, video calls, etc., and have lower face to face interactions. In this book we see what might happen if we end up replacing humans with AI as part of therapy or just because it's convenient to have someone who is just there to listen to us without us having to reciprocate the energy.
Another big topic is that of individuals choosing a path of least resistance vs the path that leads to something good. It is about individuals being brave and making choices, choosing to live and stop being indifferent to fellow people and things going on in the world.
In one of the sub-plots we follow a man who ends up as a slave on a fishing vessel that is controlled by AI. The vessel's only goal is to get as much of the scarce protein left in the ocean and the interactions in this sub-plot really left me thinking. We accept that the things we consume have to come from somewhere but we rarely actually think and acknowledge the labor that each component requires and how ethical it all is or isn't.
All in all, I highly recommend this book for everyone. If you enjoy reading about science and where it might take us this is a must read. If you care about our world and our place in it definitely read this. This is not an easy read but it's definitely necessary, it should make you think and question what is happening around us all, and hopefully convince you to make the choices that will lead us all in a better direction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
snazzy10101's review against another edition
5.0
i have only praise for this book.
it is perfect.
no notes.
it is perfect.
no notes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Deportation
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Classism
spiralbound89's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
pvp_niki's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Suicide, and War
jacquatch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book has such high catharsis. I will be thinking about it for a long time. Might honestly read it again in three months. So well written and edited. WOW.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Colonisation
mercapto's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This book was always going to remind people of Arrival with the symbolic language and linguistic interpretation, but it definitely had its own flavour that worked to separate it from this comparison early on.
It’s an interesting book. I’m not sure if I liked the concept more than the actual execution; it skims the surface of going in a certain direction and then changes to another, like the philosophy of consciousness and humanity and then drone fight scenes and people getting graphically killed. I felt like the scenes where they interpreted the language were too immediate, and too off-screen. They would see the symbol, sleep on it, then suddenly know what it meant, and just seemed too convenient. It would work better as a movie, I can picture exactly how they would film it and maybe that was the problem - it was dying to be a screenplay.
That being said, it did delve into some interesting concepts of humanity, collective judgment, the worth of different species. I loved the AI fishing boat storyline, and the final reveal in the epilogue was such a nice addition (although I felt it was unnecessary to have Eiko essential be SA’d when he was already becoming a slave. It wasn’t really mentioned again as relevant to his trauma so didn’t add anything extra).
I like the three separate narratives, and they did eventually come together, but I think it was a lot of build up only for the conclusion to be quite abrupt, especially on Rustem’s part. It all felt a bit rushed in the last 100 pages. I liked Ha, but I would have loved it to be from Evrim’s point of view - I loved them as a character! Maybe the sequel (which it definitely set up as a possibility) will delve a bit more into them post-freedom.
However, we needed more octopuses! We needed more than shadows of them on a beach and myths! Again, this would work much better as a movie, as it risked repeating the same imagery that fails to have the ‘wow’ impact with each interaction. A flash of something, did you see it?, a moment of recognition when there was doubt if they were intelligent.
Mostly unrelated to above, but I’d love to be a robot monk saving turtles. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the artificial characters were the most likeable.
I know I’ve said a few negatives here, but ultimately I liked this book a lot despite the flaws. I actually finished reading it while walking down the street which I never do because I needed to know how it ended! I would enjoy a film adaptation if one was ever made.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Sexual assault
miniingrid's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War