THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA
RAY NAYLER'S LITERARY DEBUT FROM MCD x FSG (US) and Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK)
THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA WINNER: LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARDS' RAY BRADBURY PRIZE, THE NEBULA AWARD, AND THE KITSCHIES
“I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas." ―David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas
"As entertaining as it is intellectually rigorous, this taut exploration of human—and inhuman—consciousness is a knockout."―Publishers Weekly starred review
"A novel of ideas… [a] cerebral but not self-satisfied book that also features welcome episodes of comic relief and tightly choreographed action… It is successful entertainment as well as a warning."―The Guardian
"(A) poignant, mind-expanding debut"―The Washington Post
"(A) wondrous novel"―Slate
"Readers of Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds and Eduardo Kohn's How Forests Think will delight in an Anthropocene adventure that brings their ideas so vividly to life."―The Times Literary Supplement
RAY NAYLER'S LITERARY DEBUT FROM MCD x FSG (US) and Weidenfeld & Nicolson (UK)
THE MOUNTAIN IN THE SEA WINNER: LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARDS' RAY BRADBURY PRIZE, THE NEBULA AWARD, AND THE KITSCHIES
“I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas." ―David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas
"As entertaining as it is intellectually rigorous, this taut exploration of human—and inhuman—consciousness is a knockout."―Publishers Weekly starred review
"A novel of ideas… [a] cerebral but not self-satisfied book that also features welcome episodes of comic relief and tightly choreographed action… It is successful entertainment as well as a warning."―The Guardian
"(A) poignant, mind-expanding debut"―The Washington Post
"(A) wondrous novel"―Slate
"Readers of Peter Godfrey-Smith's Other Minds and Eduardo Kohn's How Forests Think will delight in an Anthropocene adventure that brings their ideas so vividly to life."―The Times Literary Supplement
U.S. Paperback Edition June 2023
Order from Lost City Books (signed and personalized copies available)
Order from Amazon
Order from Barnes & Noble
Order from Lost City Books (signed and personalized copies available)
Order from Amazon
Order from Barnes & Noble
“The Mountain in the Sea is a wildly original, gorgeously written, unputdownable gem of a novel. Nayler is one of the most exciting new voices I've read in years.” ―Blake Crouch, author of the Wayward Pines trilogy and Upgrade
“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
"This compelling sf debut is impossible to put down, a delightful embroidery of the rush of scientific discovery and the pain of isolation, asking hard questions about what society is and what it means to truly understand another creature."―Booklist starred review
“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
"This compelling sf debut is impossible to put down, a delightful embroidery of the rush of scientific discovery and the pain of isolation, asking hard questions about what society is and what it means to truly understand another creature."―Booklist starred review
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"At a time when we are oversaturated with dystopian narratives, Nayler’s distinguishes itself by being almost devoid of cynicism. The only unforgivable sin here is indifference. The Mountain in the Sea suggests all our apocalyptic fantasies are only fantasies. We’re not afraid the world will end — we’re afraid it won’t, and that we will finally have to deal with the consequences of our own destruction." ― The New York Times
"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
“Ray Nayler has taken on the challenge of a near future that's less certain than ever, and made it gleam . . . 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
"I came for the cephalopods, but I stayed for the fascinating meditation on consciousness and personhood . . . I loved this book." ―Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
A high tide of ideas and emotion. A compelling vision of other minds sharing our world - a vision you will long to be true -- Stephen Baxter, author of Time
"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
“Ray Nayler has taken on the challenge of a near future that's less certain than ever, and made it gleam . . . 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
"I came for the cephalopods, but I stayed for the fascinating meditation on consciousness and personhood . . . I loved this book." ―Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
A high tide of ideas and emotion. A compelling vision of other minds sharing our world - a vision you will long to be true -- Stephen Baxter, author of Time
Ray Nayler is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, published in the US by MCDxFSG and in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The Washington Post called Mountain "(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut" and Slate called it "(a) wondrous novel." David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, said: "I loved this novel’s brain and heart, its hidden traps, sheer propulsion, ingenious world-building and the purity of its commitment to luminous ideas." Positively reviewed in the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Publisher's Weekly (starred review) and many others, and a best book of the year at Amazon and Slate, The Mountain in the Sea is a finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and for the LA Times Book Awards' Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction.
Called "One of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction" by Locus, Ray Nayler's critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice, and Nightmare, as well as in many "Best Of" anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. His story "Yesterday's Wolf" won the 2022 Clarkesworld Readers' poll. In the same year, his story, "Muallim" won the Asimov's Readers' Award, his story "Father", in French translation, won the Bifrost readers' award, and his novelette "Sarcophagus" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He is currently international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ray is represented by Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company.
Full bio here
Called "One of the up-and-coming masters of SF short fiction" by Locus, Ray Nayler's critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice, and Nightmare, as well as in many "Best Of" anthologies, including The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. His story "Yesterday's Wolf" won the 2022 Clarkesworld Readers' poll. In the same year, his story, "Muallim" won the Asimov's Readers' Award, his story "Father", in French translation, won the Bifrost readers' award, and his novelette "Sarcophagus" was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award.
For nearly half his life, he has lived and worked outside the United States in the Foreign Service and the Peace Corps, including a stint as Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. He is currently international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ray is represented by Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company.
Full bio here
Read "Yesterday's Wolf", winner of the 2021 Clarkesworld Reader's Choice Poll
Read "Sarcophagus", Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalist
Read "Sarcophagus", Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalist
CURRENT AND UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS
The Mountain in the Sea from MCD x FSG (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) October 4, 2022 (hardback) June 2023 (paperback)
The Tusks of Extinction from Tor.com out January 16, 2024 and available for preorder
"Berb by Berb" in Asimov's November/December 2023
"The Job at the End of the World" Tor.com 2023
"The Case of the Blood Stained Tower" in Asimov's March/April 2023
"The Empty" in Asimov's November/December 2022
“Año Nuevo” (originally in Asimov's) in The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 6
"A Rocket for Dimitrios” (originally in Asimov's) in The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 2
"Fostering" in VICE / Motherboard / Terraform July 2022
"Rain of Days" in Clarkesworld March 2022
"The Summer Castle" in Nightmare February 2022
Full bibliography here
The Mountain in the Sea from MCD x FSG (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) October 4, 2022 (hardback) June 2023 (paperback)
The Tusks of Extinction from Tor.com out January 16, 2024 and available for preorder
"Berb by Berb" in Asimov's November/December 2023
"The Job at the End of the World" Tor.com 2023
"The Case of the Blood Stained Tower" in Asimov's March/April 2023
"The Empty" in Asimov's November/December 2022
“Año Nuevo” (originally in Asimov's) in The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 6
"A Rocket for Dimitrios” (originally in Asimov's) in The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 2
"Fostering" in VICE / Motherboard / Terraform July 2022
"Rain of Days" in Clarkesworld March 2022
"The Summer Castle" in Nightmare February 2022
Full bibliography here