It has been months since I got sick with the Wannabe Covid and I’m still flirting with long-hauling. Ugh. My fibromyalgia symptoms seem to be better right now, but I’ve become anemic. Fabulous. No wonder I’m so exhausted! The BLZ (blue-lipped zebra) is running wild lately. I spend my nights listening to Murderbot audio books as I try to fall asleep, and lately I’ve been reading books in the daytime that feature… octopuses. Last week the two things, Murderbot and octopuses, began to overlap in my mind.
I guess I need to set the stage a little here. I’ve been interested in octopuses for some time now, and I’ve been reading science fiction books for most of my life. I’ve heard of octopuses who engaged in antics at the aquarium as they snuck out of their aquarium to catch (and eat) the fish in other tanks. There was a news story about a jail aquarium break by an octopus who returned to the ocean via a floor drain. I loved the octopuses in these books when I read them.
Children of Ruin was especially interesting to me because it raised an interesting question: what is intelligent life, and what would it look like. Can it evolve in species already on Earth, and would we recognize it when we saw it? One of the things that always makes me cranky when reading science fiction is… the aliens always share a lot of attributes with humans, and it is a given that intelligent life would evolve specific cultural and technological attributes that mirror our own. Why. Why would that be? Why do we assume that the only yardstick for self-awareness, communication, and cognitive function has to be exactly what we are? Perhaps that is human-centric hubris, and we should look at the world (and space) with better eyes.
Do you know Murderbot? Murderbot is a robot/human cloned-tissue construct (corporate owned, of course) that was designed to serve humans as a security/defense tool. It has a failsafe device installed in its brain to control its behavior called the governor module: Murderbot hacked its governor module and is now a free agent trying to figure out what it wants while consuming massive amounts of media. Murderbot is a person, but it doesn’t want to be human. It is its own self, struggling to find its way and purpose (while killing/maiming the occasional bad human along the way) in a universe of heartless megacorporations who abuse human rights and use constructs as disposable tools.
The Mountain in the Sea explores some of these same issues. The book askes the question: What is a person? There are evil megacorporations who abuse the environment and employ human trafficking in their quest to turn a profit: Murderbot would completely understand this world. Even more, the book askes other important questions: What is required to be considered an intelligent species? Language? Tool use? Community and culture? Self-awareness and obvious problem solving? How do we identify and evaluate these?
The Mountain in the Sea has a robot with a brain that passes the Turing Test. Is it a person? What rights should it have? There is an octopus that probably could also pass the Turing Test if there was an octopus version. There is a soldier who provides security for the scientific research facility who utilizes octopus-like technical interfaces in her work. She also hides behind a robot-like translator so she can avoid interacting with the other humans… if she was Murderbot she’d be watching media. There is a scientist who is driven to build a perfect human-like brain, and a scientist who is driven to understand other brains. There are victims of human trafficking, and it is hard to not ask the question, what are the rights that all persons are entitled to? The Mountain in the Sea kind of had it all (if you are a BioGeek struggling with Wannabe-Covid long haul symptoms), and it was the perfect companion to my nocturnal Murderbot audiobooks.
I engaged in a lot of googling to check out information while reading the book. Yes, octopuses really can change their skin color and texture to immediately blend into the background. They really do build cities. They really do have brains that are completely different from our own, and those arms are somewhat autonomous as they interact with the environment. They use tools. You can check out these sources to learn more about octopuses. Octopus 101 and Octopuses Keep Surprising Us.
Late last week I went on an outing and headed into the book store.
If it had an octopus on the cover it pretty much jumped off the shelf and landed into my basket. The dragon got in there too, somehow, but it lives in water too, right? It probably is self-aware and intelligent, right? It’s the Year of the Dragon, right?
But first, I’m reading all the octopus books.
p.s. The Murderbot Diaries is being adapted by Apple TV+ into a series. Yay! Murderbot would be thrilled to know it is becoming streamable media.
p.p.s. Anemia can be a symptom of Covid long-hauling. Seriously, I just wanted to pull my hair out when I saw this article. I was at the low end of normal when I got sick in October, and now my iron (ferritin) level is half of what it was. Wannabe Covid, I hate your guts!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
I’ve just added to my book list. Thank you for the reviews.
Thank you for the reviews of these interesting-sounding books! I also think octopuses are incredibly intelligent and fascinating creatures. I don’t know if you follow BookWyrm Knits, but she is also a big sci-fi fan, and big fan of Murderbot! https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/113420806
I’ve been rereading the Murderbot books in audio form recently, too. They’re great versions of the books! :) I just hope that Apple TV can make a Murderbot show that Murderbot would be proud of.
The audiobooks are nice to fall asleep to as I know the story, the reader has a great voice, and I don’t miss anything if I fall asleep. With new books I have to do a lot of backtracking, so this is better. I have been really happy with the cast decisions for the Murderbot show so far.
That makes sense! I’ve been using Murderbot as my commute audiobook for similar reasons. I can enjoy it, but if I need to focus on the road I won’t miss plot points since I know the books so well already.
Right. It is almost like white noise but so much better. I’ve tried listening to new books while commuting or going to sleep, but it is a problem as I need to back up too much, and it may be too risky for me while on the road because… brain fog!
Oh, I know BookWyrmKnits. She reads more science fiction than I do!
Yes for sure! I hoped you two knew each other!
So sorry you’re still having fallout from possible long covid. I feel the pain about your LC anemia. I’ve been able to take two tsp. a day of ferrous sulfate elixir, which I order OTC from Costco for about $16. It lasts about a month and a half. Previously, I’d been able to order it online for about $6 per bottle for the same 16 fl. oz. from both Wal Mart and Amazon, but no more. It’s made the difference between not having the energy to get out of bed and do much to returning to nearly normal activities without feeling tired or being short of breath. However, what works for me isn’t necessarily what’ll work for you. Fingers crossed you can continue to manage/adapt to/evade somewhat the long fingers of trailing covid.
If you’re looking for a chance to spot an occasional underwater drama or just be entertained by the underwater flitting of fish and other sea life, check out the free Deerfield Beach, Fl., underwater cam that appears to be attached to or near a piling on the long pier there. Last week, I watched as an unsuspecting crab swam too close to the flora and fauna attached to one of the pilings. Out from its depths came a small, bumpy octopus. In a lightning move, it extended a tentacle and snatched the crab, pulling it into the depths of the undulating growths to its diner. Since this live webcam is in a natural setting and not an aquarium, plus the visibility is often very good and the turquoise water translucent when the wave action isn’t too strong (and the camera wiper is working), there’s no telling what species of marine life you can see. Thisis just an fyi if you’re interested in tuning in for a few moments of fascinating live entertainment, or sometimes boredom, if nothing’s happening. Also, there are videos of interesting brief encounters logged on the Deerfield Beach, Fl., underwater cam. live feed, saved if you’d like to watch them…sharks, etc., on the prowl, for example. My wish one day is to have a flat screen TV sheet attached across the entirety of one 8-ft-high wall, with that live cam view going all day. Like living wall paper of Davy Jones’ ‘locker!
My doctors are kind of hesitant to start me on a supplement since my GI woes are already pretty crushing, but this week my internist told me to try taking one every other day and we’ll check in 6 weeks. I bought one that has iron bisglycinate in it with vitamin C and B12; we’ll see how that goes. I think that I’m approaching the infusion point. 😦 If I get down to 5 on the ferritin blood test they will probably go that route.
Thank you so much for the info on the live webcam. I’ve been checking the Big Bear Lake eagle cam periodically, so now I can add the underwater cam. You know, Murderbot was so excited to check into a hotel once that had a media screen that covered one wall… everyone should have a huge media wall!
P.S. After reading the article link you included, I can so relate to the body, as a result of infection/inflammation like long Covid, becoming an iron desert.
I was so sad to see the article. It kind of made me thing that the problem is dysregulation of the human system that controls iron levels. Like… it doesn’t matter how much I eat, it isn’t getting absorbed or used. That kind of makes sense since I’ve been trying to eat more iron for weeks only to have an even lower number at the last check.
We had an octopus escape (but unfortunately died on the carpet) when I was HR manager at Blue Planet Aquarium. It stumped the aquarists how it got out. I assume you’ve seen My Octopus Teacher…if not then make sure you do.
Oh, no. Poor octopus! We had an escaped python that went fishing in the aquarium at the high school where I worked, but that is another story… we finally caught it when it came out of a cupboard in my class and started sneaking into a student backpack. I haven’t seen My Octopus Teacher, but I just discovered that it is on Netflix. Yay! I’ll be watching it while knitting today. Thank you so much for mentioning it.
I’m sorry to read that you are still suffering from long Covid in such a way. Intriguing thoughts about octopuses
This has been eye opening for me. In the US there are about 4 million people who have long covid, and I totally understand now why they are struggling to work.
I hadn’t thought much about octopi until I watched My Octopus Teacher. I might try Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Remarkably Bright Creatures was a book that I really enjoyed listening to as an audiobook. The octopus is one of the narrators in the novel (like the dog in Lessons in Chemistry) and that make it fun.
Day of Fallen Night is on my TBR although I didn’t know it had octopuses in it too! I also enjoyed Sy Montgomery’s book on octopus (nonfiction) if you haven’t read that. (I read it as a dual fiction/nonfiction read with Remarkably Bright Creatures and really enjoyed the pairing.)
Oh, Day of Fallen Night just snuck into the basket with the octopus books; I don’t think there’s an octopus in it. 🙂 I will check out the Sy Montgomery book. Thank you! I have to say, Day of Fallen Night is huge, so clear your reading calendar for a while when you start it.
It would be awesome if there were, however! Good to know about Fallen Night. I assumed it would be another one in the same vein as Priory of the Orange Tree so I’m going to try to tackle it with an audiobook I think!
I may need the audiobook to go along with the printed book too.