The Mountain in the Sea: Winner of the Locus Best First Novel Award (Paperback) - Ray Nayler

David Mitchell meets Arrival in a breathlessly entertaining and awards-shortlised literary thriller exploring men's fraught relationship with nature.

'I loved this novel's brain and heart'
DAVID MITCHELL, AUTHOR OF CLOUD ATLAS

'A first-rate speculative thriller, by turns fascinating, brutal, powerful, and redemptive'
JEFF VANDERMEER, AUTHOR OF ANNIHILATION

There are creatures in the water of Con Dao.
To the locals, they're monsters.
To the corporate owners of the island, an opportunity.
To the team of three sent to study them, a revelation.

Their minds are unlike ours.
Their bodies are malleable, transformable, shifting.
They can communicate.
And they want us to leave.

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 and there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of their advancements. And no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it.

Locus Award 2023 - Winner of First Novel award
Nebula Award 2023 Finalist.
Ray Bradbury Prize 2023 Finalist.

About the Author

Ray Nayler's short fiction has appeared in multiple 'Year's Best' anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction. As Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer at the United States Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, he led a series of environmental conservation projects on the Con Dao Archipelago, the setting for The Mountain in the Sea. He dove its reefs daily, working with an international team of scientists, park rangers, and local youth on a project to preserve the archipelago's biodiversity.