The Soul of an Octopus

Sy Montgomery’s encounters with octopuses unfold as a meditation on consciousness, curiosity, and connection across species. The book resists grand theory, instead offering intimacy—learning through relationship rather than distance.

For American Cyborg, December closed the year with empathy. After a long arc from cybernetic dreams to imperial critique, ethical expansion, and sensory plurality, The Soul of an Octopus offered something quieter: recognition.

The year ended not with conclusions, but with companionship. Intelligence, the reader was reminded, is not only about what a mind can do—but about how it meets another.