The Mountain in the Sea

4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
The Con Dao archipelago has a troubled history. Long intended as a sanctuary for marine species, it has been substantially poached by residents and rangers who face their own difficulties. Now, it's owned by the mysterious DIANIMA corporation, headed by an enigmatic scientist focused on the evolution and development of minds. But in a largely corporate-owned world focused on profit, DIANIMA has its own foes. In the meantime, Dr. Ha Nguyen has accepted an offer...

Review
I've seen Ray Nayler's name float around for a while, but for a long time I confused him with a completely different Ray. (This seems to be a recurring theme; I guess I just don't invest in names on the periphery of my awareness.) In any case, when I saw this, I thought it would be a good opportunity to clear things up for good. And it did confirm that Nayler is new to me.

Nayler's writing is very good, but also on the distant and clinical side. I found it hard to feel fully engaged by his characters. There are several core actors, and the shifts between them are smooth and well signaled. But I just didn't care as much about them as I felt I should have.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, for most of its length, the book lacks direction. It wasn't until quite close to the end that I felt I really understood what it was meant to be about (first interaction with another sapient Terran species and the nature of sapience). While Nayler takes trouble to lay out the elements of developed world, it all still felt vague and quite separate from action surrounding the characters themselves. An epilogue that brings together two strands of the story felt tacked on and unnecessary; there just isn't as much to bring the strands together as Nayler seems to wish, aside from both being commentaries on humanity and its failings (but two quite separate failings).

The science is fairly firm. It doesn't get terribly explicit, but this is definitely in the tradition of SF based on reasonable extrapolation of solid evidence. You get the feeling (backed up by an afterword) that Nayler has done his research, but without it obtruding too much into the story itself.

Overall, this had a Clarke-ian feeling, in Clarke's more reserved moments – more Fountains of Paradise than Imperial Earth. Nayler's clearly (as many people apparently already knew) a talented author, and I look forward to trying other stories from him that bring in a little more personality.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.