The motorbikes drifted past, outlines distorted by rain ponchos covering bikes and riders. The rain fell into Lawrence’s open, staring eyes. It didn’t matter. Maybe she was from DIANIMA, maybe she was from a rival company. The HCMATZ crawled with corporate spies, international conspiracies.

What did you see?” That was what they always asked him—the rangers, the police, the reporters. What did you see? An unfortunate side-effect of this, however, was that I kept finding myself wanting to love the book more than I actually did, despite coming away with a sense that I would greatly enjoy having a conversation with the author.

Book Summary

Obviously Nayler did not write the book with this in mind, just like those ‘eerily prescient’ Covid-19 novels rode a populist wave. But if you want a great fictional exploration of the issues facing the world now in terms of technological and social disruption, this is the novel for you. Con Dao had been his home—the first he had ever had. What happened at the ship took that from him. That was the story he had wanted to tell. But the woman from DIANIMA wouldn’t have understood anyway. It was very poignant that the "!" making octopuses and their development (evolution) impossible to ignore was a dead person. Because of course humans would associate the use of a tooll to kill as THE sign of intelligence. *sighs* Mientras Ha y sus compañeros investigadores trabajan para comprender a estos pulpos, se vuelven temerosos por la pequeña población cuando Dianima y el mundo descubren su existencia.

I enjoyed the story, but for me, this was not a book to zoom through. It reminds me of classic works from authors like Isaac Asimov and David Brin or David Walton's Three Laws Lethal. I kept stopping to muse about what was just said, and I am looking forward to recommending it to my science fiction book group so that I will have an excuse to read it again. I loved the quotes from the invented science book at the beginning of every chapter and almost all of them rang so true in their observations of the oceans and their inhabitants. I’ve been fascinated by octopuses (yes, that is the correct plural form, feel free to @ me) ever since doing a report on them in a grad school level course I audited a number of years ago. Exciting, cerebral, and surprisingly compassionate, The Mountain in the Sea shines a light on the importance of our fragile ecosystem. Read this riveting novel if you love fresh takes on science fiction or you’re just fascinated by the mysteries of nature.” Así pues, mientras la doctora Nguyen intenta comunicarse con la especie recién descubierta, entra en escena una facción más importante que Dianima para apoderarse de los pulpos. Sin embargo, nadie les ha preguntado a estas criaturas marinas qué opinan. Ni qué piensan hacer al respecto..En la isla se lleva a cabo una investigación secreta, a cargo de la Doctora Ha (bióloga especialista en cefalópodos), Altantsetseg (especialista en sistemas) y Evrim (un androide que es el mayor éxito de la empresa, un hito en tecnología, cuasi humano y cuya creación ha generado mucha polémica a nivel mundial). Thanks to Netgalley for an audiobook ARC of one of the best Sci-fi stories I've ever read. Granted, there haven't been many, but if they were all like this five star read, I'd be tempted...

The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses' advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves. Como he dicho, el riesgo está ahí. Esto puede sacaros de la lectura o estropearla. O todo lo contrario. Creo que lectores asiduos del género lo van a disfrutar. El libro fue y está siendo un exitazo, por algo será.. Son estos nuevos pulpos responsables de sus desapariciones? Los estudian, los analizan e intentan ver cuánto han evolucionado y si han creado una civilización.. It asks questions that I'm certain every scientist and frontier researcher asks themselves: what will come of your groundbreaking work in actuality - who can and will take advantage of it? How will it be used? And there was an absolutely chilling passage that really made me think about our brains, which are tissue isolated in the darkness of our skulls, bereft of light and experience without sensory input. If that does not sound like a particularly gentle or entertaining read, fear not: This is a no holds barred thriller, intertwining several narrative strands that eventually converge, rather violently, at the end.Whether you're new to Ray Nayler's work or a longtime reader, this book will keep you trying to work through its puzzle-box nature. Again, another book whose blurb is innacurate. This was not a thriller, and definitely humans have no idea about what breakthroughs octopuses might hold. In broad terms, the story depicts humanity grappling with two, brand-new types of intelligence: technological intelligence, built by humans (a true AI in the form of the android), and evolved intelligence, in the form of the octopuses who, due to the destruction of their habitat and other stressors, have begun to form complex societies. La trama se desarrolla en un futuro indefinido pero relativamente cercano en el que la línea entre los estados nación y las corporaciones casi ha desaparecido y las aplicaciones de la inteligencia artificial son amplias y variadas.

Good science fiction is imaginative entertainment, and The Mountain in the Sea certainly is entertaining. You CAN read it just for fun, but it is much more than a thriller. The best science fiction also makes you think, and that is where the book really excels. Each chapter begins with a quote from one of two books, How Oceans Think by Dr. Ha Nguyen or Building Minds by Dr. Arnkatia Minervudottir-Chan. These experts, who both are prominent characters in the book, present ideas about the nature of minds, consciousness, and culture that are the basis of the whole book. Ha does research on a possible octopus culture and what that means about their minds, but the ideas presented encompass the nature of minds of all sorts: human, animal, artificial, and augmented human . For once, a state of art research facility is not in Europe or in the US! Yay, we all remembered that rest of the world can do science in their native lands and thank you Ray Nayler for reminding that to people. I love that how Turkish language and culture played a part in the story. Evrim, the AI, got his/her/its name from Turkish and it means evolution as it was revealed in the book later.. Also like story says we have describe 3rd person with gender neutral "O", which would stopped me from saying "his/her/its" like I did above. Ray Nayler, you know how to describe a good kahvalti (breakfast) and Turkish coffee, and I couldn't appreciate you enough for that. On top of all of this, Istanbul being its own state?! :D I got him up to the surface. Son insisted on resuscitation. But I knew he was dead. He was dead when I found him.” Sabía en parte de lo que son capaces los pulpos unos seres increíbles que muchos no sabréis que son uno de los seres más inteligentes y llenos de recursos del mundo. Con una capacidad de camuflaje que deja pasmado.Plus, endless faux science monologues. Sometimes monologues about feelings thrown in for a change, which unfortunately still doesn’t make it any better. Me parece fascinante la inmersión del autor en las IA. Por no hablar de los pulpos que es lo que más me ha gustado. First off, I don’t think this is science fiction. It reads like fantasy. The “science” is basically all faux blabbering about AI and ridiculous tech, to an extent that I can’t even tell which parts of the blabbering relating to octopus intelligence are actually real science. Which is a shame, because octopuses are awesome in real life too. Una historia bien hilada, y por encima de todo, fascinante e interesante. Los capítulos son un bocadito. Esto hace que sea fácil devorar el libro. My heart already wants a sequel to The Mountain in the Sea, but my head says that maybe it's better as a stand-alone. This conflict will continue for some time, because I truly enjoyed The Mountain in the Sea.