Mountain in the Sea

On the surface, this is a future sf book about discovering sentient octopuses and trying to communicate with them. But, this is no Children of Ruin or even a Feed Them Silence; it hinges less on plot and characters, and feels more about worldbuilding in service to philosophy.

I quite enjoyed this book, and the strongest part was just how tightly the book's themes and ideas intertwined through the book's different point of views and the worldbuilding. It's a not-so-far future book with sentient octopuses, overfished waters, AI boats that drive themselves in search of profit, drones driven by humans in tanks, and the first android (but one reviled by humanity). It's a book about language and communication, memory and forgetting, what it means to be human and exist in community, and about fear of others.

I am torn. On one hand, the story is exciting to read and entertaining. On the other hand, the author only scratches the surface of the themes presented in this book and does not discuss them conclusively. Which is a pity, because it would have been nice to read a fresh interpretation.

If you want more sci-fi in the sea, I recommend "The Swarm." For androids and discussions about humanity and androids, you can turn to Asimov or Blade Runner. If you're just looking for an interesting book, this one is a good choice.

Good read, works out some interesting ideas about consciousness, communication, consumer society, and AI. The book didn't manage to really 'suck me in' me though.

Another one I'm not sure what to say about, but this time for negative reasons. The premise is amazing, and I adore every scene with the octopuses themselves. But pretty much nothing else-plot, characters, dialogue, writing style-worked for me. However, it's a debut novel so perhaps the next one will be better.

This book is precisely what I yearn for in science fiction as a whole. Deeply hopeful and carefully crafted. The entire story felt like a puzzle that fit together in a precise way, all the way to the very end.

It does the thing all good sci-fi should do: use the sci-fi setting.to examine and interrogate questions of ethics and society.

The narrative is fairly engaging, even if the characters' dialogue leaves them with very little in the way of distinct voices — perhaps for reasons that are maybe explained in-world.

Overall, it's a fun summer read that raises a lot of interesting ideas about what it means to be a person and how our actions impact those around us.

For parents of sci-fi readers, there's enough casual (but not really described in detail, thankfully) sex in the book that it's probably not one to hand to teenagers — so be aware of that.