I decided to buy this book based on the scores from Goodreads and multiple recommendations from Reddit, but I just finished the book and it felt very… bland.
The whole premise had me interested from start to finish. Intelligent octopuses that have developed a society and have been keeping tabs on humans to determine if they could be friend or foe. Like, from a sci-fi standpoint it’s unique. But MY GOD every character except Altantsetseg and Evrim is either cringey or one-dimensional. And the plot never reached a climax for me. The octopuses assault the hotel and then everyone just is like “Okay, let’s get back to work trying to communicate with them” as if caution is thrown to the wind. Even Dr. M-C is murdered and the group is basically saying “that’s octopuses for ya lol”.
I don’t know. I wonder if I was expecting too much. What are your thoughts?
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Check out Children of Ruin (after reading Children of Time) for all your Octopus Civilization needs.
I was expecting more of the rumination on consciousness etc., unlike other replies, but what ruined it for me was the cartoony thriller vibe. I liked the intros to each chapter way more than the shadowy group that murders everyone who is aware of the island. I was expecting something much more sci fi than paperback thriller.
I found myself far more interested in the slave fishing ship subplot than I did the main plot. Ultimately the book was okay, but bland is a good descriptor.
i liked the book overall but i agree with you
to me, most of the book seemed masturabatory almost. i feel like i went in expecting some scientists learning and interacting with conscious octopuses, but most of the book consisted of characters making revelations like ‘actually humans are so violent! we are so indifferent to the world!’. it does not do this subtly at all.
parts of the book, especially at the climax of the story (spoiler alert) where Ha says something along the lines of ‘the guy I loved took my virginity and then never looked at me again!’ made me roll my eyes heavily, especially considering what’s happening in the background.
Ha I felt was too whiny and self deprecating to find relatable and enjoyable to read about. she is a scientist. her strongest skills that carry her through the book should be her research training and knowledge of biology/zoology. but we never really see this happen, and the revelations about the octopus seem to occur just out of nowhere and never really lead to anything. at some point Ha is like, “I just wanna talk to them!” and it’s like… me too… i wish the author wrote more the interactions and communication instead of spending a bit too much time talking about ai and consciousness lol. i don’t really feel like the end was satisfying but i did think the book was well written and thoughtful at points. solid 6/10-7/10 for me