"A novel that is alert, intelligent, open."
-Nicole Flattery, The New York Times
"[A] staggering book . . . In all my years as a science journalist, I could never quite get my head around the so-called hard problem of consciousness . . . It wasn't until I read Ray Nayler's The Mountain in the Sea that I truly understood it in my bones . . . [The Mountain in the Sea] has the clothes of a futuristic, eco-punk or cyberpunk thriller, the guts of a philosophy seminar and the soul of a religious tract."
-Phillip Ball, New Scientist
"Exciting, cerebral, and surprisingly compassionate, The Mountain in the Sea shines a light on the importance of our fragile ecosystem. Read this riveting novel if you love fresh takes on science fiction or you're just fascinated by the mysteries of nature."
-Apple Books Review
"Nayler's masterful debut combines fascinating science and well-wrought characters to deliver a deep dive into the nature of intelligent life . . . As entertaining as it is intellectually rigorous, this taut exploration of human-and inhuman-consciousness is a knockout."
-Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Less a science-fiction adventure than a meditation on consciousness and self-awareness, the limitations of human language, and the reasons for those limitations, the novel teaches as it engages." -Kirkus Reviews
"With a thriller heart and a sci-fi head, The Mountain in the Sea delivers a spooky, smart read. 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. Truly a one-of-a-kind story."
-Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviors
"I came to The Mountain in the Sea for the cephalopods (I love cephalopods), but I stayed for the fascinating meditation on consciousness and personhood. I loved this book."
-Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
"Ray Nayler has taken on the challenge of a near future that's less certain than ever and made it gleam-not only with computer terminals and sentry drones (we love those, sure) but also polished coral and cephalopod eyes. From these pages, I got the sense of William Gibson, and Paolo Bacigalupi-and Donna Haraway, and Octavia Butler. This is a planetary science fiction and a profound new kind of adventure, featuring-among so many other wonders-the best villain I've read in years. In the end, the enormity and possibility of this novel's vision shook tears loose. What a ride; what a feeling; what a future."
-Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough
"The Mountain in the Sea is a first-rate speculative thriller, by turns fascinating, brutal, powerful, and redemptive. The book poses profound questions about artificial and nonhuman intelligence, and its answers are tantalizing and provocative."
-Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation
"I loved this novel's brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building, and purity of commitment to luminous ideas."
-David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas
"The Mountain in the Sea is a wildly original, gorgeously written, unputdownable gem of a novel. Ray Nayler is one of the most exciting new voices I've read in years."
-Blake Crouch, author of Upgrade and Dark Matter
