Svetlana Sharedelskaya:
One of the most unusual and exciting books I've read.
Rina is an atypical heroine: a grown woman, a scientist-hydrologist. She is attracted by the depths and the underwater world, but even here she is distinguished by her scientific approach: any interesting life Rina is ready to ruthlessly spirate and save for the collection. She is commissioned by an oil company to explore an inhabited underwater canyon. Together with her friend and colleague Honer they dive into the "abyss" and in the caves fall into a trap set by... octopuses. This is how the scientists get acquainted with a new species - octopus sapiens.
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We will see a stunning world, an octopus metropolis, whose fragile microclimate is nevertheless threatened by human civilization. The octopuses themselves are as intelligent as humans, and in some ways even superior: they have invented an intercom system to understand the speech of strangers, an organic oxygen generator underwater, and means of transportation. And the very images of giant octopuses, changing their color depending on their emotions, turned out to be bright, even episodic ones were remembered. Their physiology, habits, tactile sensations are described by the author with great sympathy and good knowledge of biology.
The action of the novel will take place both underwater and on the water. The noble and trusting octopus Fewt, who has taken the people upstairs to the ship, is himself trapped by insurmountable circumstances and cannot return home to the bottom to warn his own of the danger. And his new scientist friends try to help him in this. They will have to find an abandoned underwater city and find out the mystery of the origin of a race of intelligent octopuses.
The book is fantastic, but with inclusions of other genres. There are adventures, chases, and pirates. But the ideas of the book are much deeper than seen on the surface of the vast water surface. The problem of pollution of the ocean and the planet is touched upon, and a number of questions are put before us.
Can one betray a friend for the sake of preserving one's species? How does it feel to doom another civilization in the name of dominating one's own? Yes, reasonable, but is it the right thing to do? And are the octopuses right in thinking humans are "Unalash," demons? It was interesting to watch Rina's curiosity as an explorer and sympathy for Fiut struggling. And the octopus Fewt himself, the educator of the younger generations, the "Ray of Knowledge", turns out to be more human than many people. He is naive, funny in some ways and very selfless - however, this is in the blue blood of all octopuses. You might feel sorry to eat sashimi for a while. I remembered eating octopus stew in Galicia and shuddered😆
I read the book in a day and a half and in one breath! Penetrated absolutely all the characters, I understood their mental metamorphosis and agony of choice. And the denouement in every sense turned out fantastic! 💥Recommend to all lovers of sea adventures and the beauty of the underwater world🐙🐚🐠