Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. Hatchling sea turtles are helped from beach to water by a tribe of robotic Automonks from Tibet, now a hi-tech power. 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.

Reflexiones sobre el hombre, la sociedad, la ecología y el futuro se imbrican en todas y cada una de las líneas de la novela. The last point is crucial: Nayler tries (and succeeds) to explain the linguistic mechanism of a being that’s alien (to us). It's a lot of take on, especially in a book marketed as a "sci-fi thriller," and one that is likely to be in contention for the Hugo this year. Lo cierto es que DIANIMA está detrás de investigar el comportamiento de los pulpos en el archipiélago, pues hay evidencias de que han alcanzado un nivel superior de consciencia y una inteligencia que les hace capaces de organizarse, comunicarse, planificarse, defenderse o atacar. At the end of the day, your enjoyment of this one might hinge on whether you like to read books that are about biology and the earth’s marine ecosystems if not language and communication.It reminds me of classic works from authors like Isaac Asimov and David Brin or David Walton's Three Laws Lethal. The Mountain in the Sea is a novel best meant for fans of VanderMeer for sure and anyone interested in the intersection of marine biology and linguistics. The mega-corporation DIANIMA has purchased and isolated the Vietnamese archipelago of Con Dao, defending it's marine sanctuary with lethal force.

Artificial intelligence, nascent animal sentience, murderous flying drones: like the best of Gibson or Atwood, it brings all of the plot without forgetting the bigger questions of consciousness, ecocide, and scientific progress. Ray Nayler is slavishly faithful to the available information on these enigmatic and astonishing animals, but the result is curiously lifeless, a philosophical thought experiment rather than red (or green! And I think the overall largest theme of the book is one of human indifference: not only indifference to other species or animals, but to each other as humans, and to our relationship with our environment.It packs in the discussion of many modern and relevant issues such as AI, human treatment of animals and other humans, communication, and the nature of consciousness, and while there is little new or deep in those discussions, they do stimulate. Especially because none of this is needed to make the actual story work, all it did was make me cringe to hell and back. The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. This book probably isn't for everyone, as it's not as plot-driven as space-opera sci-fi as much as food-for-thought, philosophical sci-fi.