Marine scientist Ha is whisked away to a remote island to study a population of octopuses that live there. Once she arrives, she discovers that her only human (or human-equivalent) companions are a war-hardened security officer and her fellow researcher Evrim, an android that actually passed Turing's final test of artificial intelligence. As they begin studying the octopuses, however, Ha and Evrim realize that this population is much more advanced than anything humans have ever seen — they have a discernable visual language, as well as what appears to be culture beyond family dynamics. Interspersed with Ha's storyline are plots that focus on Rustem, a hacker who has been tasked with finding a pathway into the most complex system he's ever seen; and Eiko, a man who was relocating to seek a high-tech job when he was captured and enslaved on an AI-controlled fishing boat.
While the three storylines certainly give context to the world in which Ha is working, jumping back and forth between the plots is a bit jarring and confusing, particularly combined with the (fake) book excerpts that start each chapter. While I enjoyed this hard science look at consciousness and environmental impacts, I think it would have been better if it was structured slightly differently. Still, I'll happily recommend it to those people who are convinced that one day the octopus will rule us all (that's not just me, right?).
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