"The Mountain in the Sea" by Ray Nayler (BR)

[Silvana]

Come and join Joelle, Tesseract, and yours truly for reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler starting from August 20th October 5th (but if you start earlier it's fine too)

I just found out about this book when it's on sale recently and glad I grabbed it since the premise is intriguing and I love marine SF, two of my fave things in one!

[DivaDiane]

Oh, I'm sad I missed that sale. Or at least I assume I have. Yes, a quick check on Amazon UK, shows it's not on sale there, at least. Never mind, it is on hold on Libby and as I said in the Buddy Read thread, if I get it and read it in time, I will join you. I've been wanting to read this for the better part of this year.

[Silvana]

Hope you could join us, Diane!

[Sarah]

I'd like to join y'all! I have the audiobook on hold through Libby, and could possibly get it from the library as another option!

[Cheryl]

I just read it for another group, enjoyed and found a lot of potential for discussion, so I'm easily in!

[Cailin]

This has been on my TBR so I'll gladly join!

[Feliciana]

I may join in on this. I bought the ebook when it was on sale.

[Silvana]

The more the merrier, see you all on August 20 more or less.

[Silvana]

We have one week before the BR starts!

[Silvana]

Hi all, sorry I want to focus in my Hugo reading now that the packet has arrived so I can only start in early October (Maybe Oct 5?). If anyone does not mind I will change the title.

[Sarah, The Unsettled]

I don’t remember if I signed up at all but October would be better for me too. (I think 😂)

[DivaDiane]

October or even November would be better for me too.

[Silvana]

DivaDiane wrote: "October or even November would be better for me too."

perfect. But then if anyone wants to start earlier it is okay too, feel free to post here under spoiler tags....

Sarah wrote: "I don’t remember if I signed up at all but October would be better for me too. (I think 😂)"

No worries, you are ofc welcome :D

[Silvana]

Hello, want to check everyone's availability here. I will start reading if there's at least one reading with me :D

[Sarah]

I listened to the audiobook in August and really enjoyed it!

[Carolina]

Silvana wrote: "Hello, want to check everyone's availability here. I will start reading if there's at least one reading with me :D"

I'd love to start reading it. It's been in my tbr for so long.

[Tesseract]

I’m excited to start too! can’t promise I’ll be always up to date since school will be pretty busy soon, but I’ll try my best to jump in on any discussion :)

[Silvana]

Sarah wrote: "I listened to the audiobook in August and really enjoyed it!"

feel free to chime in when the discussion starts :D

[Silvana]

Tesseract wrote: "I’m excited to start too! can’t promise I’ll be always up to date since school will be pretty busy soon, but I’ll try my best to jump in on any discussion :)"

Carolina wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Hello, want to check everyone's availability here. I will start reading if there's at least one reading with me :D"

I'd love to start reading it. It's been in my tbr for so long."

Thanks, both. I have a book to finish but can start next Monday. Feel free to start whenever and post your thoughts here :)

[Cheryl]

I read it not too long ago and would love to see discussion, possibly participate.

[Silvana]

Yikes, sorry everyone, I have been a terrible BR buddy. Busy with life, universe, and now the Worldcon (which has been great!). Anyway, I should be able to start this on the 22nd.

[Ellen]

I recently read that book and would like to be in this discussion as well

[Joelle.P.S]

I'm finally starting this 1 tonight! :-)

[Silvana]

In the fourth chapter now. Kinda intriguing, but then I love anything underwater. So will there be many diving stuff I could expect? I have forgotten the synopsis so (view spoiler)[I feel like there would be some interesting creature down there. Maybe some kind of cuttlefish. (hide spoiler)]

[Joelle.P.S]

This book really captured my interest and I'm speeding through it! About to start Part 4 / Chapter 37 😮

[Silvana]

In the middle of chapter 14. I like the mystery vibe of this. (view spoiler)[very interesting concept about deep octopus evolving into some kind of vigilante. I read some books about wreck diving and being a scuba diver myself I feel giddy reading this. (hide spoiler)]

[Silvana]

Joelle you are quick! Can't wait to see what you think of it at the end.

[Silvana]

The POV of Eiko was also (view spoiler)[disturbing since as mentioned in the book, there are many of my countrymen (Indonesian) got abducted and enslaved in these ships (hide spoiler)]

What does anybody think about Evrim?

[Silvana]

I finished this during a very long flight. Overall I liked it, it was more 3.7 for me but can rounded up to 4 stars. I like everything with (view spoiler)[the octopus and communication/language stuff, kinda reminded me of that Ted Chiang novel that was made into a movie. (hide spoiler)] yet I also think the (view spoiler)[Rustem POV was underdeveloped, despite the last reveal about him being this super AI hacker. (hide spoiler)]

Eiko's POV (view spoiler)[was interesting but it does not really connect with the Con Dao plot isn't it? It could be its own story set in the same world. The ending with the ship AI was interesting I wish we knew more about the AI and its thought process with the slaves. (hide spoiler)]

Another thing about the book (view spoiler)[there are many explanatory dialogues that I found at times too overbearing as in I as a reader would love the chance to build my own thinking. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, thoughts?

[Cheryl]

The author was a little earnest, it's true. He made sure we knew what the themes were, and his position on them.

[Silvana]

Yeah he sure did...

I now want to read the octopus mind book that he used as reference. Such a fascinating animal.

[Cheryl]

I don't remember which, but I can recommend The Soul of an Octopus by the incomparable Sy Montgomery.

[Cynda]

The audiobook will be available on Scribd on Nov 21st. I will read then. Being that I still think of the experience of octopuses after having read The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery, I might be interested in this book. I will give it a try late in November.

[Silvana]

Thanks Cheryl. Oh and if anyone has not watched the Netflix documentar My Octopus Teacher you should do it now. Scenes from it really painted various pictures in my mind when reading this novel.

@Cynda: please do join us!

[Oleksandr]

I've read this book twice already (it was published just in 2022 so I guess my shortest period between re-reading) and I like the story. I discovered the author a few years back, when I subscribed to Analog SF and his short prose just captivated me

[Silvana]

Oleksandr wrote: "I've read this book twice already (it was published just in 2022 so I guess my shortest period between re-reading) and I like the story. I discovered the author a few years back, when I subscribed ..."

What did you like about this story?

I think I did read one of his shorter works but can't remember which one. I do remember his name often appears in Locus recommended reading list.

[Oleksandr]

Silvana wrote: "What did you like about this story?
"

First and foremost that russia fell apart and China it seems as well (we have Tibet coders) :)
Only half-joking.

I liked that the corp (Dianima) is both shown as inhumane (which is usual for modern SF) but not with inherently evil managers (which isn't common). The quotes at the start of each chapter are great. Octopuses are always a plus :)

[Cheryl]

thumbs-up, on all counts, Oleksandr

[Bonnie]

The Mountain in the Sea book, came in from the library. How's tricks over here, should I read it?
:-)

[Oleksandr]

Bonnie wrote: "The Mountain in the Sea book, came in from the library. How's tricks over here, should I read it?
:-)"

I personally read it twice, but I'm Nayler's fan from his short stories days

[Cheryl]

Bonnie, I found it pretty darn good, well worth my time.

[Bonnie]

The Sea Wolf by Jack London


Mentioned in Chapter 7; Wolf Larsen was captain of the ship in the book The Sea-Wolf.

A blurb about the 1958 movie adaptation, Wolf Larsen:
A mean-spirited ship captain keeps his crew under his autocratic thumb while indulging his more refined side. But when his men rise up in mutiny, Larsen forces the cultured Van Weyden to help him quash the uprising.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052402/...

[Bonnie]

Chapter 16, 28%

Is anyone else worried about (view spoiler)[Dr. Ha, Evrim etc walking around on the beach? This is the same beach, isn't it, where the octopus walked upright and sliced up the ranger with a sharpened shell? If the Mask lady works for DIANMA (I don't think we know yet who she is working for) then they would definitely have that information (hide spoiler)]
Is this like a horror movie

[Bonnie]

Chapter 17, 33%

Wow, that is exactly what I was hoping for, some more names starting with A!
-Abglanz (lady who wears mask)
-Altantsetseg (defense)
-Arnkatla Mínervudóttir-Chan (author of book)
-Aynur
-Altyn
plus, Automonks

Okay I have a thought now that (view spoiler)[a character we have seen is one these (hide spoiler)] point-five AI things.

Breakfast discussion with spouse: How popular would point-five people in real life? Conclusion: probably Very.
See the 2013 movie Her

[Bonnie]

Chapter 42, 85%

We are going to need to start connecting these stories soon

Rustem's chapters
are the only ones that (view spoiler)[feel like an "Eco-thriller" (which I have seen this book referred to as). His chapters have spies, fly-bots, murders, secret meetings, hacking, fake ID papers (hide spoiler)]

[Cynda]

I am just now getting into the book.

Years ago my younger brother who works in IT talked about artificial intelligence creating memory banks that would provide something of the essence of the human. He said that fear of death and fear of being forgotten drove the technology being built to create these androids and automonks.

I wonder if the narrator will describe the dangers of this manifestation of fear.

[Cynda]

About three-fourths through the book. This is sizing up to be a masterpiece. . . . Those reading from the hardback copy, read the backflap. When Ray Naylor describes himself, he gives us a clue as to why this book is so complex and true.

For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and Peace Corps, including a stint as the environment, science, technology, and health officer to the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.

This work experience and his commitment shine through in this novel.

[Cheryl]

I missed that; thanks for letting us know! That does give it a depth....

[Stephen]

Cynda will back full time 2024 wrote: "About three-fourths through the book. This is sizing up to be a masterpiece. . . . “

For me this was a 5 star read, and one of the better new science fiction books I’ve read in recent years.

[Cynda]

My pleasure Cheryl :-)

Stephen, I strongly suspect I will finalize my star rating at 5. While I don't have much experience reading science fiction, I do have plenty reading novels.

The complexity is the thing: Technological, Social, and Ecological elements. Naylor doesn't dabble . He explores.