Quick Facts
Gemini
Biography
Ray Nayler is an American and Canadian science fiction writer. His works engage with humanist themes and questions of AI and animal ethics. His 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. His second novel, The Tusks of Extinction, centers on the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth and was published in 2024. His third novel, a "near-future thriller" titled Where the Axe is Buried is set to be released on April 1, 2025.
Nayler previously served in the Peace Corps and was a US Foreign Service officer, working in Russia and Central Asia. He also served as 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.
Bibliography
Novels
- The Mountain in the Sea (2022)
- The Tusks of Extinction (2024)
- Where the Axe is Buried (2025)
Short fiction
- Stories
| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Mutability" | 2015 | Nayler, Ray (June 2015). "Mutability". Asimov's Science Fiction. 39 (6): 48–57. | ||
| "Fire in the Bone" | 2019 | Nayler, Ray (January 2019). "Fire in the Bone". Clarkesworld. Issue 148 | Direct link | |
| "Beyond the High Altar" | 2019 | Nayler, Ray (September 2019). "Beyond the High Altar". Nightmare. Issue 84 | Direct link | |
| "The Death of Fire Station 10" | 2019 | Nayler, Ray (October 2019). "The Death of Fire Station 10". Lightspeed. Issue 113 | Direct link | |
| "Albedo Season" | 2020 | Nayler, Ray (May 2020). "Albedo Season". Clarkesworld. Issue 164 | Direct link | |
| "The Swallows of the Storm" | 2020 | Nayler, Ray (July 2020). "The Swallows of the Storm". Lightspeed. Issue 122 | Direct link | |
| "Outside of Omaha" | 2020 | Nayler, Ray (September 2020). "Outside of Omaha". Nightmare. Issue 96 | Direct link | |
| "Sarcophagus" | 2021 | Nayler, Ray (April 2021). "Sarcophagus". Clarkesworld. Issue 175 | Direct link | |
| "Yesterday's Wolf" | 2021 | Nayler, Ray (September 2021). "Yesterday's Wolf". Clarkesworld. Issue 180 | Direct link | |
| "The Summer Castle" | 2022 | Nayler, Ray (February 2022). "The Summer Castle". Nightmare. Issue 113 | Direct link | |
| "Rain of Days" | 2022 | Nayler, Ray (March 2022). "Rain of Days". Clarkesworld. Issue 186 | Direct link |
- Bibliography notes
- ^ Short stories unless otherwise noted.