Mountain in the Sea
by Ray Nayler · first published 2022
72% recommend28% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Near-future Vietnam sci-fi about octopus intelligence, inter-species communication, AI, and corporate power. Suits cephalopod fans and readers of Children of Time who want thoughtful ideas about consciousness.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
When pioneering marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen is offered the chance to travel to the remote Con Dao Archipelago to investigate a highly intelligent, dangerous octopus species, she doesn't pause long enough to look at the fine print. DIANIMA - a transnational tech corporation best known for its groundbreaking work in artificial intelligence - has purchased the islands, evacuated their population and sealed the archipelago off from the world so that Nguyen can focus on her research. But the stakes are high: the octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence
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> the plausible, strange, not-too-distant future in which AI models are autonomously running things in the real economy. A plot line in Ray Naylers great book The Mountain in the Sea that plays in a plausible, strange, not-too-distant future, is that giant fish trawler fleet are run by AI connected to the global markets, fully autonomously. They relentlessly rip every last fish from…
on “Proof of Corn” ↗some recent speculative sci-fi on same subject, The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler set in near future Vietnam.
on “Octopuses caught on camera throwing things at each other” ↗Check out the new science fiction novel The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler https://www.raynayler.net/ It's about minds and intelligence (octopus and otherwise).
on “The mysterious inner life of the octopus” ↗I really enjoyed Children of Time, and I just started the latest entry in the series a couple of days ago. Speaking of octopuses though, I highly recommend The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. It was a riveting read and dealt just as much with artificial intelligence (timely considering all the hubbub around LLMs lately) as it did with the rise of consciousness in octopuses in…
on “We’re one step closer to reading an octopus’s mind” ↗For what it's worth, "AI partner as amoral echo chamber" was also a plot line in the excellent Ray Nayler novel, "The Mountain in the Sea." "I'm going to do something terrible." "OMG wow you're the best hon!"
on “AI girlfriend encouraged man to attempt crossbow assassination of Queen” ↗2022 books? Sure. "The Mountain in the Sea" by Ray Nayler. "Beyond the Burn Line" by Paul MacAuley. "Eversion" by Alastair Reynolds. "The Thousand Earths" by Stephen Baxter. (Who, surprisingly, has never won a Hugo. This fact alone reflects…
on “2023 Hugo Awards” ↗…books I cannot help but recommend: Non-Fiction: - Sy Montgomery: The Soul of an Octopus - Peter Godfrey-Smith: Other Minds Fiction: - Shelby Van Pelt: Remarkably Bright Creatures - Ray Naylor: The Mountain in the Sea They are each fantastic, and anyone curious or a fan of cephalopods should read 'em.
on “Cuttlefish and Their Technicolor Dreamcoats” ↗Small tangent, but I first learned of the "What is it like to be a bat?" question via the book The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. Really good book that deals with the ethical problems of emerging sentience in a species of octopus, while set to the backdrop of climate change, sentient AI and overfished oceans.
on “Deaf girl is cured in world first gene therapy trial” ↗…you're interested in this subject, modern tusk hunters and science-fiction, then let me recommend the book "Tusks of Extinction" (2024) by Ray Nayler [0]. Very interesting read (his previous book "The Mountain in the Sea" (2022) is, however, much better and IMHO one of the best sci-fi books I've read in a long time). [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127284214-the-tusks-of-e...
on “Siberia's 'mammoth graveyard' reveals 800-year human interactions with mammoths” ↗A solid series, with descriptions of thought process feeling truly alien. I'm currently enjoying "The Mountain in the Sea" by Ray Nayler for more octopus based speculative fiction
on “Octopuses seen hunting together with fish” ↗…David Brin A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks Semiosis by Sue Burke Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward Solaris by Stanisław Lem The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Translation State by Ann Leckie Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle House…
on “Sins of the Children (Adrian Tchaikovsky)” ↗I am working through Paradise Lost right now for something to read studiously. For reading before bed, I recently finished "The Mountain In the Sea" by Ray Nayler. I found it very good, with primary themes centered around the nature of consciousness, robots, AI, and corporatism. Highly recommended.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗In the sci-fi novel "The Mountain in the Sea" (highly recommended btw) there is a piece of tech called "abglanz" which is an identity shield mask that flickers in iridescent blurry patterns to protect a person's privacy from camera surveillance.
on “Ray-Ban Meta next generation of smart glasses” ↗Obligatory reference to a sci-fi novel: The Mountain in the Sea. It rides all the zeitgeists to great effect.
on “The World’s First Known Deep-Sea Octopus Nursery” ↗Ah, interesting - I did like The Mountain in the Sea, I forgot about that one. Eversion was decent too. I am going to get Beyond the Burn Line as a result of this comment's recommendation. So thanks!
on “2023 Hugo Awards” ↗