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A review by lykkes_laeserier
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
5.0
”The Mountain in the Sea” (2022) by Ray Nayler is a science fiction novel taking place an unspecified number of decades in the future when the world has undergone vast technological and geo-political changes. A new species of octopus has been discovered off the (former) Vietnamese coast, a species showing signs of intelligence possibly rivalling our own.
First contact novels are usually about humans encountering intelligent extraterrestrial life for the first time. Ray Naylor has written a first contact story between two species who both originate right here on Earth. Its main concern, however, is less the meeting in and of itself as much as the implications of such a meeting. How will humans respond to encountering a lifeform with intelligence potentially rivalling our own, especially considering what we have done to the planet they also call home? Will we understand them? Will they understand us? Is understanding even possible between species so vastly different from each other?
We follow several points of view throughout the novel but mainly that of scientist Ha Nguyen, who has been brought in to Iead the efforts to contact the octopuses. Many chapters are headed by an excerpt from her book “How Oceans Think”, and to great effect. This book, sadly, is entirely fictitious as I regularly found myself wishing to be able to read it. I have included an example of why above
First contact novels are usually about humans encountering intelligent extraterrestrial life for the first time. Ray Naylor has written a first contact story between two species who both originate right here on Earth. Its main concern, however, is less the meeting in and of itself as much as the implications of such a meeting. How will humans respond to encountering a lifeform with intelligence potentially rivalling our own, especially considering what we have done to the planet they also call home? Will we understand them? Will they understand us? Is understanding even possible between species so vastly different from each other?
We follow several points of view throughout the novel but mainly that of scientist Ha Nguyen, who has been brought in to Iead the efforts to contact the octopuses. Many chapters are headed by an excerpt from her book “How Oceans Think”, and to great effect. This book, sadly, is entirely fictitious as I regularly found myself wishing to be able to read it. I have included an example of why above