Ray Nayler

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Ray Nayler
Born
Quebec, Canada
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (BA)
SOAS University of London (MA)
Websitewww.raynayler.net
Ray Nayler photographed by Anna Kuznetsova

Ray Nayler is a Hugo and Locus Award-winning American and Canadian writer.[1] His works engage with ecology, systems theory, and questions of consciousness and intelligence, including animal and artificial intelligence.[2][3][4]

Career

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Nayler's debut novel, The Mountain in the Sea, focuses on the discovery of a society of intelligent octopuses off the coast of Vietnam, and was the winner of the 2023 Locus Award for Best First Novel as well as being a finalist for the Nebula Award and the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Award. It was declared one of the best Science Fiction novels of all time by Esquire.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Ray Nayler's second book, the novella The Tusks of Extinction, centers on the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth and was published in 2024. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella and was a finalist for the Nebula Award and the Locus Award[11][12][13][14][15]

His third book, a "near-future thriller" titled Where the Axe Is Buried, was released on April 1, 2025 and tells the story of a rebellion against the status quo in a near future dominated by AI and authoritarian regimes.[16] His fourth book, Palaces of the Crow, is a speculative novel of the recent past, in which four young teens caught between the Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the help of a flock of highly intelligent crows. It will be published May 19, 2026. [17]

Nayler previously served in the Peace Corps and as a US Foreign Service officer, working in Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Balkans.[18] He was Press Attaché at the United States Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.[19][20] He was international advisor for the Marine Protected Areas Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and was a visiting scholar and diplomat in residence at George Washington University's Institute of International Science and Technology Policy and Space Policy Institute. [21][22]

Bibliography

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Novels

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Short stories

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Year Title[a] First published Reprinted/collected Notes
2015 "Mutability" Nayler, Ray (June 2015). "Mutability". Asimov's Science Fiction. 39 (6): 48–57.
2016 "Do Not Forget Me" Nayler, Ray (March 2016). "Do Not Forget Me". Asimov's Science Fiction. 40 (3): 60–69.
2019 "Fire in the Bone" Nayler, Ray (January 2019). "Fire in the Bone". Clarkesworld. Issue 148 Direct link
"Beyond the High Altar" Nayler, Ray (September 2019). "Beyond the High Altar". Nightmare. Issue 84 Direct link
"The Death of Fire Station 10" Nayler, Ray (October 2019). "The Death of Fire Station 10". Lightspeed. Issue 113 Direct link
2020 "Albedo Season" Nayler, Ray (May 2020). "Albedo Season". Clarkesworld. Issue 164 Direct link
"The Swallows of the Storm" Nayler, Ray (July 2020). "The Swallows of the Storm". Lightspeed. Issue 122 Direct link
"Outside of Omaha" Nayler, Ray (September 2020). "Outside of Omaha". Nightmare. Issue 96 Direct link
2021 "Sarcophagus" Nayler, Ray (April 2021). "Sarcophagus". Clarkesworld. Issue 175 Direct link
"Yesterday's Wolf" Nayler, Ray (September 2021). "Yesterday's Wolf". Clarkesworld. Issue 180 Direct link
2022 "The Summer Castle" Nayler, Ray (February 2022). "The Summer Castle". Nightmare. Issue 113 Direct link
"Rain of Days" Nayler, Ray (March 2022). "Rain of Days". Clarkesworld. Issue 186 Direct link

Bibliography notes

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  1. ^ Short stories unless otherwise noted.

References

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  1. ^ Tor.com (May 2, 2023). "Revealing The Tusks of Extinction, a Tense Eco-Thriller From Author Ray Nayler". Reactor. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  2. ^ "AI and the Rise of Mediocrity". TIME. November 27, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Harris, Marlene. "'The Tusks of Extinction' by Ray Nayler | SFF Pick of the Month". Library Journal. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  4. ^ Nayler, Ray (October 4, 2022). "How to Dive with Octopuses from 5,000 Miles Away: An Unlikely Craft Essay". Literary Hub. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Best 75 Science Fiction Novels of All Time". Esquire. Esquire Magazine. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  6. ^ Flattery, Nicole (November 10, 2022). "Which Is More Terrifying: Nature or Other People?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  7. ^ Poole, Steven (February 18, 2023). "The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler – how to speak octopus". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (February 7, 2023). "Review | 4 science fiction and fantasy books mine a real issue: Climate change". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. ^ Miller, Laura (October 3, 2022). "Among the Octopuses". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Yorker, The New (January 9, 2023). "Briefly Noted". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  11. ^ El-Mohtar, Amal (February 27, 2024). "The War Orphan and the Warmongering Alien". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "Review | These books prove it's easy to fall in love with super competent heroes". Washington Post. January 19, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  13. ^ "The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  14. ^ Johnstone, Doug (March 1, 2024). "The Tusks Of Extinction by Ray Nayler review – the risks of playing God with nature". The Big Issue. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  15. ^ "2025 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Award. April 10, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  16. ^ "Revealing Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler". Reactor. October 9, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  17. ^ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374620752/palacesofthecrow/
  18. ^ "Ray Nayler". Literary Hub. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  19. ^ "US Consulate's fair on dugong attracts young citizens". Tuoi Tre News. August 9, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  20. ^ "'The Mountain in the Sea' Is a Meditation on Myths, Monsters, and the Mind | Saigoneer". www.saigoneer.com. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  21. ^ https://divemagazine.com/scuba-diving-news/review-the-mountain-in-the-sea-by-ray-nayler
  22. ^ https://www.mbari.org/event/ray_nayler/
  23. ^ "2025 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Award. April 10, 2025. Retrieved July 2, 2025.