2024 the best sci fi novels review

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*WINNER OF 2023 LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL * FINALIST FOR THE NEBULA AWARD, and THE LOS ANGELES TIMES RAY BRADBURY PRIZE

“The Mountain in the Sea is a wildly original, gorgeously written, unputdownable gem of a novel. Ray Nayler is one of the most exciting new voices I’ve read in years.”
―Blake Crouch, author of Upgrade and Dark Matter

Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.

The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed off the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where a species of octopus has been discovered that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them. She travels to the islands to join DIANIMA’s team: a battle-scarred securityagent and the world’s first (and possibly last) android.

The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. As Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves.

But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. Or what they might do about it.

A near-future thriller, a meditation on the nature of consciousness, and an eco-logical call to arms, Ray Nayler’s dazzling literary debut The Mountain in the Sea is a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.

From the Publisher

Praise for The Mountain in the Sea: A Novel by Ray Nayler

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador (May 30, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250872278
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250872272
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 1.2 x 8.2 inches
Reviewer: Matt Bille
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Original, brilliant, profound novel of first contact - on Earth
Review: Nayler, an author of acclaimed short fiction, delivers a first novel that’s original, superbly written, and profound, showing extensive research and a fearless approach to the largest of themes – consciousness, sentience, and life.We’re in a world set just far enough in the future for the creation of Evrim, the world’s first and only sentient android (such creations were immediately outlawed). The world has been reshaped by wars but remains functional, with greater roles for international authorities (governmental and corporate) plus a powerful cyber empire based in Tibet. Transport is largely AI-driven, and advanced drones and other gadgets are ubiquitous. Nayler chillingly depicts life on an AI-driven fishing vessel where the crew are slaves, never setting foot ashore and unable to communicate. On one such ship, fisherman Eiko learns from his Vietnamese friend Son the legend of a shapeshifting sea monster at the Con Dao Archipelago. This is where Dr. Ha Nyguen has just been hired to investigate what may be a sentient octopus species. Nayler works through the factors that have kept octopuses from having a civilization: short lives, no parent-child bond, and lack of symbolic communication. The author repeatedly and effectively shows how hard it may be for humans to understand the thinking of any alien species, as theory after theory goes bust.With Ha on the remote atoll are only Evrim and Altantseteg, the enigmatic guard who commands an array of automated defenses. Also in the cast are Ha’s long distance friend Kamran, the cybergenius Rustem, the DIANIMA corporation’s scientist Arnkatia Minervudotter-Chan, and a mysterious woman hidden by an AI facemask who ruthlessly manipulates people for DIANIMA’s benefit. Nayler introduces the “point five,” an AI companion sophisticated enough to have discussions, arguments, and pass almost any Turing test, and we’re not always sure who is actually human. One of Nayler’s fascinating explorations concerns what tips the scale to sentience: why Evrim is an autonomous intelligent being and other constructs, cyber or physical, are not.The octopuses are not what you’d expect. They are trying to understand us, as Ha and Evrim try to understand them. There are echoes here of other interesting works: Star Trek TNG (although the gap between android and human is greater than Data showed us), Alien, and the film A Cold Night’s Death are a few. The various stories collide, literally, at a point where we find out what’s really happening on the island, who’s in charge, and key characters’ real motivations, all of which come as revelations.This isn’t a novel you can read casually. Nayler’s prose is inventive and highly effective without ever becoming flowery. Every paragraph is there for a reason, and the reader needs to pay attention. The technical and philosophical details are well thought out and often provocative. Excerpts from the books of Drs. Nyguen and Minervudotter-Chan give essential insights into the characters’ thinking as well as their world. The result is a masterpiece of suspenseful and thoughtful storytelling.My last thought is that Nayler needs to keep tight control when this book is optioned for a film. A studio’s first instinct will be to make it a monster movie, which is like making Moby Dick an Ahab-vs-whale contest while ignoring the many layers that make the tale profound and unique. I wish him luck.

Reviewer: susie
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Will stay with me
Review: This is an amazing novel that I think (sadly) many readers will not experience due to its structure. In many ways it is beautiful and thought provoking. But it can be a difficult journey to get there and to fully absorb the joy and meaning that lies within. I struggled along the way. I think it should possibly have been 3 different wonderful books rather than one wonderful yet difficult book. One theme that is explored is AI and what defines consciousness, what makes one "human". Another theme is the care of our oceans, our world and all species within. Then we have the exploration of loneliness, empathy, connection and community. Mixed in with all these hefty themes is a huge dose of science but also a vast amount of wisdom. I really liked Ha's character and her interactions with Evrim. Evrim will always have a place in my heart! This is a book that takes some patience so if you are reading and struggling to get through-the pay off IS worth it-hang in there. The final sprint to the extraordinary ending is an experience not to be missed. I will go back and reread on kindle at some point in order to highlight and savor the wisdom. Until then I will be pondering this book often.

Reviewer: Septimus MacGhilleglas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Not my genre but what an excellent novel!!
Review: This was one of those books you find that has every element of fascination, adventure, science and an unsettling philosophy. I enjoyed it immensely. I have always been fascinated by the elegance and alien appearance of the octopus. This was as good as it gets in my mind of science fiction coupled with our species parent course of corporate profits over people, resources and land rights. I recommend this book.

Reviewer: SamNuke
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The conundrum of a good book
Review: The book is thoroughly enjoyable. It’s thought provoking, well written, feasible to the imagination… It’s that love/hate relationship you develop with a really good book you have truly settled into. You’re invested in the characters and have empathy for them. You’re enveloped in the story and what is happening within it. Then, like reality, it derails and you’re left wondering. Projecting your anger and frustration at the author for allowing it to end. At yourself for getting so involved…so invested. But you’re a reader, and you know it is why you loved it and would love it again. Your anger is only for fleeting for the author. Knowing if you didn’t love it, you wouldn’t hate them for ending it.

Reviewer: Offer Kuban
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I'm sad to say that I won't get the chance to experience this remarkable novel for the *first* time again!From the first page until its very last one, this amazing near-future SF debut captured my attention and held it through every beat! This is an impressive work of writing, with compelling and thought-provoking questions and exploration of so many things: the meaning of humanity, the intersection of sentience and consciousness, the possibility of meaningful and supportive interaction between two species of life entirely alien to one another. The list goes on!Ray Nayler's "The Mountain in the Sea" has such a strong narrative pulse, and a cast of characters with a life and story of their own, each of whom spoke with their own unique and natural voices. The book, in asking and imagining these deep and complex questions, paints these against an exciting, almost cinematic backdrop. It is a story filled with intrigue, scientific achievement, the wonders of nature amid or in spite of corporate greed, and the balance between merely surviving and thriving onwards.I can't say enough good things about this novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed from the perspective of both a reader captivated by a great story, as well as by a fledgling writer taking inspiration from what is certainly great craft here.(Spoiler: Look for more about "The Mountain in the Sea" in discussion with its fabulous author, Ray Nayler, in the podcast called The Speakeasy: Conversations with the Writing Community.Oh, if anyone asks, you didn't hear that from me. Cheers!)

Reviewer: Linda Russell Archer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This environmental and AI thriller is difficult to put down but also as the author challenges the reader to attempt to think from outside of one's own embodied reality, one finds oneself pausing to reflect.

Reviewer: Cheryl
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Enjoying it a lot.

Reviewer: jane j
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Wow! What an adventure! I’m no writer, I can’t begin to do justice in this review for The Mountain in the Sea. All I can say is if you like a good story, beautifully written, set on Earth in the near (dystopian) future about AI and octopuses - read it. You’ll be enthralled!

Reviewer: Oscar
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Uno de los mejores libros de ciencia ficción.Te reta a pensar cómo sería una sociedad inteligente y nuestra relación con ella.