Bon's Reviews > The Mountain in the Sea

HAPPY RELEASE WEEK!

"It lived through trickery, concealment and guile.
It lived through creativity."

Thanks to Netgalley for an audiobook ARC of one of the best Sci-fi stories I've ever read. Granted, there haven't been many, but if they were all like this five star read, I'd be tempted...

Listen. I was nervous to start this because sci-fi isn't usually my thing, but I am incredibly glad to have been wrong here. The prose was completely immersive and approachable despite the philosophical, scientific and existential questions of the plot, and the story was fascinating, a blend of exciting genres like sci-fi, mystery, and political intrigue.

This was a story told in three points of view; firstly that of Ha Nyugen, scientist on a mission to study some unique marine life off the coast of an island steeped in lore and mystery. There was also Eiko, a man trapped onboard a slave-manned fishing ship that is run by unexpected forces, and Rustem, a genius hacker hired by shadowy entities. The multiple POVs worked for me, resulting in tension, a layering of complementary genres occuring at once, and also necessarily fleshing out the main complex story with things happening before and after on the sidelines.

I loved our main trio of misfits who are on the mission to study the octopuses. Ha is a scientist insecure in herself in all ways but surrounding her work; she's written trailblazing work on marine life, and quickly befriends the android on their mission as well as the prickly Altantsetseg, a Mongolian security agent who is completely badass and loves macarons (she was my favorite). The cast and settings, heavily Asian but diverse under that umbrella, drew me right in. Undertones of ecological morality and conservation, overfishing, and interesting political messaging all rounded out this intriguing plot, set in what I think is fairly near-future.

It asks questions that I'm certain every scientist and frontier researcher asks themselves: what will come of your groundbreaking work in actuality - who can and will take advantage of it? How will it be used? And there was an absolutely chilling passage that really made me think about our brains, which are tissue isolated in the darkness of our skulls, bereft of light and experience without sensory input.

I found the audio production excellent, as well, with Eunice Wong skillfully maneuvering tricky names and technical jargon with her clear voice. Some complained about breathy narration but, uh, I regularly listen at 2.5 speed and noticed nothing off-putting besides the compulsion to look up how characters' names were spelled. The book was only comprised of like five or six large chapters, and those began with really neat, eerie musical interludes reminiscent of 1970s and 80s documentaries.

In summary I found The Mountain in the Sea a clever, delightful book that made me think a lot while not bonking me over the head with thickly-worded science and philosophy. Full five stars for my rounded enjoyment.