

Disappointed with this considering its Locus award & Clarke nomination. It tantalised early with the promise of a good sci-fi crossover. It‘s a story of first-contact with “alien” minds & sub plots of ecology, espionage, hacking, modern-day slavery, cyborgs & AI. Sadly, it starts off great & races to its conclusion but its middle is flabby & treads water (‘Scuse the pun). There‘s no underwater mountains in this novel: I may have missed a metaphor