"Following a mysterious murder on an island off the coast of Vietnam, a research team convenes to study an octopus community that seems to be developing its own language and culture. Humans, AIs, and animals are swept up in the machinations of governments and corporations in this near-future thriller about the nature of intelligence"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

On the remote island of Con Dao Archipelago, marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen studies a highly intelligent, dangerous octopus species that could hold the key to extra-human intelligence and must protect them from powerful forces who want to use them for their own nefarious means. 100,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)

*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.

Ray Nayler’s critically acclaimed short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as the environment, science, technology, and health officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He currently serves as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. - (McMillan Palgrave)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* In a near-future world haunted by capitalist greed and environmental exploitation, marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen has been summoned to the remote island of Con Dao to join a top-secret research project. Ha, the first-ever true android, Evrim, and their reticent security agent must look into the mysterious sea monster that has long plagued this coast in the hopes of discovering the first hyperintelligent octopuses who may have evolved to the point of language creation and culture. Nayler's novel lands as some combination of Arrival and Mira Grant's Into the Drowning Deep (2017): a suspenseful story of scientific discovery, first contact, and the dark unknown of the oceans. As humans are ruled by computerized profit-loss calculations and link themselves to communities of drones, as Ha gets to know Evrim and thinks about the octopuses, the characters must consider what it means to be human, to have consciousness, to have language. In the Anthropocene, what must hyperintelligent creatures do to survive—whether human or otherwise? This compelling sf debut is impossible to put down, a delightful embroidery of the rush of scientific discovery and the pain of isolation, asking hard questions about what society is and what it means to truly understand another creature. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

DEBUT A community of intelligent octopuses has been discovered off the southern coast of Vietnam. Access to the animals is tightly controlled by the international corporation DIANIMA, which hopes to study and exploit the octopuses for their development of artificially intelligent androids. They hire Dr. Ha Nguyen, an expert on cephalopods, to lead the research into the octopuses' language and culture. It quickly becomes clear that DIANIMA's plans to cash in on the results of Dr. Nguyen's efforts is not something the octopuses agree with—and no one can foresee what the octopuses will do to make their resistance understood. VERDICT Drawing on decades of experience in overseas service (including time with the United States Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Nayler infuses his debut novel with fantastic elements grounded in real contemporary topics and tackles moral issues related to artificial and animal intelligence without sacrificing plot or pacing. This is a classic sci-fi thriller that's easy to read and will have broad appeal for fans of speculative fiction.—Lydia Fletcher

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Nayler's masterful debut combines fascinating science and well-wrought characters to deliver a deep dive into the nature of intelligent life. Marine biologist Ha Nguyen gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she's invited to study a recently discovered society of intelligent octopuses in Vietnam's Con Dao archipelago. Aiding her are Evrim, the world's first android, and Altantsetseg, a human expert drone operator, both of whom add nuance to Nayler's thematic exploration of consciousness through their vivid personalities and backstories: Evrim's programming gradually breaks down, leaving them contemplating the nature of self, meanwhile drones enhance Altantsetseg's natural awareness as she uses them to both observe the octopuses in their natural habitat and defend the archipelago from rivals eager to capitalize on Nguyen's research. Throughout, Nayler provides a tightly focused framework for the challenges Nguyen faces as she attempts to decipher octopus language and culture, which will especially please science-minded readers. Subplots featuring genius hacker Rustem and Eiko, a man trafficked into slavery aboard a fishing vessel, expertly weave into the narrative while also offering readers a broader understanding of the political and technological state of this near-future world. As entertaining as it is intellectually rigorous, this taut exploration of human—and inhuman—consciousness is a knockout. (Oct.)