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A review by kynaeus
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Most of the negative reviews seem to surround what your expectations are for this book - the folks who DIDNT like this book all seemed to want more examples of the octopus culture. Really getting your head into the details and learning about this alien culture -,from-earth, and instead, those folks ended up with a great entry in the speculative subset of sci Fi.
This book feels exemplar of what sci fi was like at its ince tion - where we change something technologically and see how the human condition is reflected back at us through that lens of self examination.
Without that in mind, I can easily see why people disliked this book but I'm thankfully not in their camp, I enjoyed this a lot! The book excerpts between chapters made me feel like I was playing SM: Alpha Centauri, a dear game from childhood, where something interesting and deep would be said while waxing poetic on the human nature.
If you don't like the sound of that- you may not like this book either. But for those who can get through the sometimes dense paragraphs of biology, philosophy, and traumatic events, you're in for a treat
I found this book mainly covered these broader strokes,
-examines how we as a species look at the value of a mind of our own design (frequent critiques of AI and the uses we employ them for, the dangerous lengths those minds can go when left in charge like the fish boat, reporting the news, etc)
-examines how we would treat the first conscious mind we created (not well)
-goes into a lot of fascinating points about just how difficult it would be to establish first contact with a new species who has an entirely alien way of looking at the world but how knowing that world can help.us imagine how those same aliens see the world - and how to work toward communicating with them
If those two main themes don't really pique your interest then this may not be for the one for you.
The only negative I had in my experience of enjoying this was that it was too philosophical and speculative - too much theory, not enough on the applied end of things. Would have been great to end the novel on starting to learn more about their culture or octopus gardens
Instead the ending feels kind of tacked on in a hurry and resolves all the plotlines at once without much cathartic payoff: 1) Ruustem's harrowing moral choice was not concurrent with the events on çon daō; the heelturn; the seeming lack of relevance of the B plot fishing boat to the main point of studying the octopuses/octopi; dealing with a maternal creator figure; the corporate takeover, the shadowy disguised woman, etc etc.
All these threads didn't feel like they got any type of satisfying ending. But I DID think a lot about how our senses, bodies, and environments would have helped shape the advance of our sapience. And THAT- that I did enjoy. Thank you audio book for helping make the names easy to listen to so I could just get lost in the story
This book feels exemplar of what sci fi was like at its ince tion - where we change something technologically and see how the human condition is reflected back at us through that lens of self examination.
Without that in mind, I can easily see why people disliked this book but I'm thankfully not in their camp, I enjoyed this a lot! The book excerpts between chapters made me feel like I was playing SM: Alpha Centauri, a dear game from childhood, where something interesting and deep would be said while waxing poetic on the human nature.
If you don't like the sound of that- you may not like this book either. But for those who can get through the sometimes dense paragraphs of biology, philosophy, and traumatic events, you're in for a treat
I found this book mainly covered these broader strokes,
-examines how we as a species look at the value of a mind of our own design (frequent critiques of AI and the uses we employ them for, the dangerous lengths those minds can go when left in charge like the fish boat, reporting the news, etc)
-examines how we would treat the first conscious mind we created (not well)
-goes into a lot of fascinating points about just how difficult it would be to establish first contact with a new species who has an entirely alien way of looking at the world but how knowing that world can help.us imagine how those same aliens see the world - and how to work toward communicating with them
If those two main themes don't really pique your interest then this may not be for the one for you.
The only negative I had in my experience of enjoying this was that it was too philosophical and speculative - too much theory, not enough on the applied end of things. Would have been great to end the novel on starting to learn more about their culture or octopus gardens
Instead the ending feels kind of tacked on in a hurry and resolves all the plotlines at once without much cathartic payoff: 1) Ruustem's harrowing moral choice was not concurrent with the events on çon daō; the heelturn; the seeming lack of relevance of the B plot fishing boat to the main point of studying the octopuses/octopi; dealing with a maternal creator figure; the corporate takeover, the shadowy disguised woman, etc etc.
All these threads didn't feel like they got any type of satisfying ending. But I DID think a lot about how our senses, bodies, and environments would have helped shape the advance of our sapience. And THAT- that I did enjoy. Thank you audio book for helping make the names easy to listen to so I could just get lost in the story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual violence