Superb

This was my favourite audible listen of 2023. I thought the novel was compelling, the performance, dynamic and emotive.

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Beautifully written

An unusual and captivating listen. You need to listen hard but it is well worth it. Lots of interesting ideas.

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Fantastic

Highly original multi layered science fiction that surprises at every turn. The narration is good and adds to the story.

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Very thought provoking

As someone already fascinated by octopuses, i started this book with relish. The story is good, the narration excellent. It's very thought provoking, causing the reader to think about our own intelligence and our arrogance that humans are the only real intelligence on Earth. I wish the octopuses had featured more though, more details of how they thought and lived. It's still very human focused. However, it does bring up thoughts of although humanity CAN do things, should we actually do them? Overall a good listening experience, if you like your fiction a little more cerebral

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Incredibly tense and yet beautiful

A mash up of AI, environment and human dislocation is a dystopian world that’s our future unless we reverse course

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.

⭐ 3/5 ⭐

A complex sci-fi. There is an archipelago where the octopuses may have evolved advanced intellect. A scientist goes to research them and figure out their society.

- This book was pretty confusing. I like a good complex sci-fi but this was more convoluted. I also couldn't decide what the actual plot or message of the book was. There were overlapping themes of environmentalism, non-human and AI intelligences, the ethics of AI, human-caused planetary destruction and consequences, what it means to be human and honestly a few others. None particularly dominate or guide the narrative.

- The characters I didn't particularly care about for the most part. The exceptions being Evrim, who I found to be the most relatable oddlly, and the octopuses which a million times more personality and interesting interactions than most of the rest of the book.

- The octopuses and the study of their society was awesome and I would have loved the book if it was more focused on this. However, the author seems to have used this novel as a "sci-fi ideas I think are cool" dumping exercise and most of them do not add anything of value. More focus on one or two themes or ideas would have been much more interesting.

Sadly disappointed with the lack of cephalopod offerings. However, a reader may like this book if they enjoy exploring many sci-fi concepts superficially or wandering narratives.

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1 person found this helpful

A reckoning of the mind and human nature

This really is a story of mind over matter, And that matter might be human or machine or sea creature. It's science over science fiction, care over indifference and hope over fear that seem to drive the real life and death and the more more philosophical conflicts that pose themselves throughout this thought provoking tale set mostly on an island and the oceans surrounding it. It's both classic sci-fi and yet not. Told through the lens of a scientist, a sailor and a spy, the writing is framed by passages from the books of two of the characters. There are twists and revelations and lots of human stories, but the most human of these of all are the those of the AI beings who reside alongside their human counterparts, each experiencing this world in distinctive ways, From android monks, to shape shifting octopus, this story feels part allegory, part thriller but is always moving whilst thinking.

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Great concept, too much philosophy

I really wanted to love this book. the descriptions of octopus intelligence combined with a society that may not be too far on our future we're enough to keep me going.
The characters were a bit one-dimensional though, and the philosophical ramblings were too long and too preachy. it would have been nice if the author had trusted their reader to reach some conclusions themselves.
Good narrator.

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Amazing

I couldn’t put this down. It was beyond amazing. Ugyan itt bojler eladó. 15 words are needed.

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Listen carefully

As an AI professional and an avid reader of science fiction, I often find there is often a mismatch between science fiction and real science with regards AI. While it still has some tropes characterisation of AI, this probably the best book that manages for deal with all the subtleties and possibilities of a generally poorly understood area. Ideas like explainable AI, perception, Turing tests and semi-automated AI are dealt with in an understandable way. Alien consciousness and intelligence is similarly well done and works as a perfect compliment.

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