Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus.
@jiujensu@appassionato@bookstodon There's an indie game called HROT that has an episode called War with the Newts. It has all sorts of references but I never thought to look for an actual book (assuming that's the origin)!