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A review by kaiyakaiyo
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
I’ll admit to having walked into this expecting something like Arrival(2016) meets Kaiju blockbuster meets alien first contact; this is not that at all but I enjoyed this immensely nonetheless.
This book is a FASCINATING look at what it would look like if imagined aliens/othered creatures were *actually* alien: not vaguely human shaped, not monkeys you could teach to sign, not beings with languages that you could easily learn in school, etc. These creatures are fundamentally different based on where they live and grow, & it was soooo cool. I learned some really cool shit about octopuses, and also potentially gave myself nightmares looking at pics of their eyes. Look them up at your own risk
Underneath the speculative layer was the larger exploration of human consciousness, what it means to feel “alive” and what it means to lose that feeling. it’s a deeply emotional book, and reminds me a lot of Sea of Tranquility in its “yeah there’s cool shit going on but what does it mean for the soul of humankind?” vibes
All around jolly good show, I really enjoyed reading this and would love more from this author. I would also like recommendations to books that are the giant squid go smash Independence Day-style blockbuster i thought this would be, bc that would be cool to read too. I contain multitudes
This book is a FASCINATING look at what it would look like if imagined aliens/othered creatures were *actually* alien: not vaguely human shaped, not monkeys you could teach to sign, not beings with languages that you could easily learn in school, etc. These creatures are fundamentally different based on where they live and grow, & it was soooo cool. I learned some really cool shit about octopuses, and also potentially gave myself nightmares looking at pics of their eyes. Look them up at your own risk
Underneath the speculative layer was the larger exploration of human consciousness, what it means to feel “alive” and what it means to lose that feeling. it’s a deeply emotional book, and reminds me a lot of Sea of Tranquility in its “yeah there’s cool shit going on but what does it mean for the soul of humankind?” vibes
All around jolly good show, I really enjoyed reading this and would love more from this author. I would also like recommendations to books that are the giant squid go smash Independence Day-style blockbuster i thought this would be, bc that would be cool to read too. I contain multitudes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Death and Murder