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A review by storyorc
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoy this book more for its science, philosophy, and sociology than its characters and story.
The near-future setting strikes a good balance between plausible, with its autonomous trading zones and megacorps, and sci-fi, with its .5-of-a-person AIs future humans find more convenient to partner than each other. The concept of uncovering a species of octopus capable of language is gripping, and the author takes it in different directions to similar stories like Arrival/This is the Story of Your Life. Humanity has abused marine life too much for the typical joy of first contact stories.
I had read before about the theory that octopuses think with their arms and was delighted to see Naylor run with this idea. Alongside more typical, though still thoughtful, discussion of whether the android character is truly conscious, the characters must grapple with various instances of an octopus-like distributed identity - one pilots a fleet of drones, one is a member of an enslaved fishing ship crew, one owns a company that has grown to make products she disapproves of, the core cast forms a small unit operating their research station and, ultimately, everyone must reckon with their role in and responsibility for, humanity's actions as a whole. Or at least, how the octopi see it. I was surprised to find a strong thread of the need to care for the rest of your little (or large) distributed identity too, and expressed in a way quite devoid of cheesiness too.
The story itself has characters who are relatable (in theory, at least) and interesting twists but I was unable to buy those characters as fully fledged people and the pace was just too slow for my taste. The entire slave fishing ship narrative should have been stripped out in my opinion, perhaps relegated to a companion novella or released on a blog or something. Its themes resonated with the whole but it didn't contribute anything vital to the plot.
Would love to read the fictional popular science book on octopus intelligence quoted at the start of each chapter though - I'm off to check if this author writes nonfiction.
The near-future setting strikes a good balance between plausible, with its autonomous trading zones and megacorps, and sci-fi, with its .5-of-a-person AIs future humans find more convenient to partner than each other. The concept of uncovering a species of octopus capable of language is gripping, and the author takes it in different directions to similar stories like Arrival/This is the Story of Your Life. Humanity has abused marine life too much for the typical joy of first contact stories.
I had read before about the theory that octopuses think with their arms and was delighted to see Naylor run with this idea. Alongside more typical, though still thoughtful, discussion of whether the android character is truly conscious, the characters must grapple with various instances of an octopus-like distributed identity - one pilots a fleet of drones, one is a member of an enslaved fishing ship crew, one owns a company that has grown to make products she disapproves of, the core cast forms a small unit operating their research station and, ultimately, everyone must reckon with their role in and responsibility for, humanity's actions as a whole. Or at least, how the octopi see it. I was surprised to find a strong thread of the need to care for the rest of your little (or large) distributed identity too, and expressed in a way quite devoid of cheesiness too.
The story itself has characters who are relatable (in theory, at least) and interesting twists but I was unable to buy those characters as fully fledged people and the pace was just too slow for my taste. The entire slave fishing ship narrative should have been stripped out in my opinion, perhaps relegated to a companion novella or released on a blog or something. Its themes resonated with the whole but it didn't contribute anything vital to the plot.
Would love to read the fictional popular science book on octopus intelligence quoted at the start of each chapter though - I'm off to check if this author writes nonfiction.