*WINNEROF2023LOCUSAWARDFORBESTFIRSTNOVEL*FINALISTFORTHENEBULAAWARD,andTHELOSANGELESTIMESRAYBRADBURYPRIZE“TheMountainintheSeaisawildlyoriginal,gorgeouslywritten,unputdownablegemofanovel.RayNaylerisoneofthemostexcitingnewvoicesI’vereadinyears.“--BlakeCrouch,authorofUpgradeandDarkMatterHumankinddiscoversintelligentlifeinanoctopusspecieswithitsownlanguageandculture,andsetsoffahigh-stakesglobalcompetitiontodominatethefuture.ThetransnationaltechcorporationDIANIMAhassealedofftheremoteConDaoArchipelago,whereaspeciesofoctopushasbeendiscoveredthatmayhavedevelopeditsownlanguageandculture.ThemarinebiologistDr.HaNguyen,whohasspentherliferesearchingcephalopodintelligence,willdoanythingforthechancetostudythem.ShetravelstotheislandstojoinDIANIMA’steam:abattle-scarredsecurityagentandtheworld’sfirst(andpossiblylast)android.Theoctopusesholdthekeytounprecedentedbreakthroughsinextrahumanintelligence.AsDr.Nguyenstrugglestocommunicatewiththenewlydiscoveredspecies,forceslargerthanDIANIMAcloseintoseizetheoctopusesforthemselves.Butnoonehasyetaskedtheoctopuseswhattheythink.Orwhattheymightdoaboutit.Anear-futurethriller,ameditationonthenatureofconsciousness,andaneco-logicalcalltoarms,RayNayler’sdazzlingliterarydebutTheMountainintheSeaisamind-blowingdiveintothetreasureandwreckageofhumankind’slegacy.
