Fiction Books Featuring Octopi 🐙

Greetings folks,

Today’s post is frankly the peak of my book blogging journey. It will be downhill from here on out. I have decided to give people what they want; fiction books featuring octopi. *everyone cheers*

All jokes aside, fiction is a place to explore anything you want and Octopi are truly one of the most fascinating creatures. The non-fiction books are just as delicious as the fiction ones. (There are many awesome non-fiction ones but “If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity” immediately appeals due to its epic name). It does not surprise me that Octopi feature in a fair few books. I am currently in love with them, so I am sending lots of books for your fiction-loving heart. Enjoy!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Genre: literary fiction, mystery, magical realism

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

This is the book that inspired this post. I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews for this story focusing on grief and exploring the past. It even sounds like the book has the perspective of the Octopus, Marcellus. This fact alone proves the uniqueness of it. Add in the charm with emotional layers, and I’m so curious to experience this story.

Goodreads

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The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

Genre: historical, steampunk

In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton returns to his tiny flat to find a gold pocketwatch on his pillow. But he has worse fears than generous burglars; he is a telegraphist at the Home Office, which has just received a threat for what could be the largest-scale Fenian bombing in history.

When the watch saves Thaniel’s life in a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori—a kind, lonely immigrant who sweeps him into a new world of clockwork and music. Although Mori seems harmless at first, a chain of unexpected slips soon proves that he must be hiding something.

Meanwhile, Grace Carrow is sneaking into an Oxford library dressed as a man. A theoretical physicist, she is desperate to prove the existence of the luminiferous ether before her mother can force her to marry.

As the lives of these three characters become entwined, events spiral out of control until Thaniel is torn between loyalties, futures and opposing geniuses.

Utterly beguiling, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street blends historical events with dazzling flights of fancy to plunge readers into a strange and magical past, where time, destiny, genius—and a clockwork octopus—collide.

The octopus in this book is not like the others on this list. For a start, it’s mechanical. But it still counts (thank you Naemi). A historical fiction following three different characters in London in 1883. I love it when you witness different characters being pulled together, especially with the mention of magic, science… and a clockwork octopus, of course.

Goodreads

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The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Naylar

Genre: sci-fi, speculative

Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.

Rumors begin to spread of a dangerous species of hyperintelligent octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. The marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.

The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed off the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, from the rest of world. Dr. Nguyen travels to the islands to join DIANIMA’s team: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android.

The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves.

But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. Or what they might do about it.

A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.

Even though this book is set in a reimagined world after discovering hyperintelligent octopi, it is not hard to draw how close to home this novel wants to hit. Humans immediately after discovering something new, tend to find out how they can best use it to benefit themselves and only themselves. It sounds like this book is going to circle everything wrong with this mindset and I love it.

Goodreads

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Sea Change by Gina Chung

Genre: literary fiction

A novel about a woman tossed overboard by heartbreak and loss, who has to find her way back to stable shores with the help of a giant Pacific octopus.

Ro is stuck. She’s just entered her thirties, she’s estranged from her mother, and her boyfriend has just left her to join a mission to Mars. Her days are spent dragging herself to her menial job at a mall aquarium, and her nights are spent drinking sharktinis (mountain dew and copious amounts of gin, plus a hint of jalapeno). With her best friend pulling away to focus on her upcoming wedding, Ro’s only companion is Dolores, a giant Pacific octopus who also happens to be Ro’s last remaining link to her father, a marine biologist who disappeared while on an expedition when Ro was a teenager.

When Dolores is sold to a wealthy investor intent on moving her to a private aquarium, Ro finds herself on the precipice of self-destruction. Wading through memories of her youth, Ro has one last chance to come to terms with her childhood trauma, recommit to those around her, and find her place in an ever-changing world. 

Author of Green Frog, I know this book will be a thoughtful emotional piece told in a less-than-typical way. The creative decisions will most likely explore the character’s past and emotional reactions beautifully. The addition of an Octopus is a wonderful bonus. I very much look forward to reading this book.

Goodreads

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The Last Guest by Tess Little

Genre: mystery

A glamorous birthday dinner in the Hollywood Hills ends with the famous host dead and every guest under suspicion in this dark, cinematic suspense debut reminiscent of an Agatha Christie page-turner crossed with David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.

When actress Elspeth Bell attends the fiftieth birthday party of her ex-husband Richard Bryant, the Hollywood director who launched her career, all she wants is to pass unnoticed through the glamorous crowd in his sprawling Los Angeles mansion. Instead, there are just seven other guests–and Richard’s pet octopus, Persephone, watching over them from her tank as the intimate party grows more surreal (and rowdy) by the hour. Come morning, Richard is dead–and all of the guests are suspects.

In the weeks that follow, each of the guests come under suspicion: the school friend, the studio producer, the actress, the actor, the new partner, the manager, the cinematographer, and even Elspeth herself. What starts out as a locked-room mystery soon reveals itself to be much more complicated, as dark stories from Richard’s past surface, colliding with Elspeth’s memories of their marriage that she vowed never to revisit. Elspeth begins to wonder not just who killed Richard, but why these eight guests were invited, and what sort of man would desire to possess a creature as mysterious and unsettling as Persephone.

The Last Guest is a stylish exploration of power–the power of memory, the power of perception, the power of one person over another.

This octopus, Persephone, is a murder suspect, so she wholeheartedly deserves a place on this list. A party murder mystery is always a stylish, fun way to look at suspects and power, say no more.

Goodreads

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The Octopus and I by Erin Hortle

Genre: literary fiction, contemporary

A stunning debut novel set on the Tasmanian coast that lays bare the wild, beating heart at the intersection of human and animal, love and loss, and fear and hope.

Lucy and Jem live on the Tasman Peninsula near Eaglehawk Neck, where Lucy is recovering from major surgery. As she tries to navigate her new body through the world, she develops a deep fascination with the local octopuses, and in doing so finds herself drawn towards the friendship of an old woman and her son. As the story unfolds, the octopuses come to shape Lucy’s body and her sense of self in ways even she can’t quite understand.

The Octopus and I is a stunning debut novel that explores the wild, beating heart at the intersection of human and animal, love and loss, fear and hope.

A title with correct grammar, I could never. This book sounds like a deeply emotional story about recovery. The tranquil location, heartwarming friendships and connection between humans and animals make it sound like a transformative, hopeful read. Personal stories, like this, have the best chance of touching readers.

Goodreads

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Beasts of Sonara by Shawn C. Butler

Genre: sci-fi

They can save millions of lives, if she doesn’t kill them first.

Tourist Raymond Molina finds the body of a young biologist in a Costa Rican bay—apparent victim of a shark attack—but no one knows how she got there. As Ray searches for what really happened to her, he stumbles onto the best kept secret in the natural world.

This is a secret hidden for centuries by residents of the coastal town of Sonara, protected by intelligent but violent animals unknown anywhere else on earth, and coveted by a massive biotech company that will do anything to discover the truth—no matter the cost.

And behind it all is a creature with the power to cure disease, all disease…or kill everyone on earth.

A mysterious creature in the deep blue. It can offer life or death. Oh, the possibilities, but what would truly be the fairest outcome? Do you have to kill it to save all the lives? It certainly sounds like an intriguing approach to hunting down a powerful beast.

Goodreads

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Kraken by China Mieville

Genre: fantasy, thriller

A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre.

Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears?

For curator Billy Harrow it’s the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he’s been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it’s a god.

This book technically features a squid rather than an octopus. I’m sorry, but given the magical undercurrent, I think we can be more ambiguous about what the creature in this book is. After all, didn’t the Kraken start off crab-like? Regardless this book promises a Natural History Museum adventure with cults, assassins, magic and a god. A combination I never knew I needed!

Goodreads

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The Octopus Has Three Hearts by Rachel Rose

Genre: short stories, contemporary

To the outside world, Roxanne seems terribly lonely: her husband Earl has passed away, and her daughter Linda was murdered. What people don’t understand is that Earl and Linda are still keeping Roxanne company, reincarnated in the forms of a wiener dog and standard poodle. But this relationship—not idyllic, it’s true, but at least relatively harmonious—is disrupted when Roxanne accidentally hits a pit bull with her car. On the precipice of having the dog put down, she recognizes the eyes of her daughter’s killer, Helmut. Should she choose retribution, or forgiveness?

This is the highly original set-up of “You’re Home Now,” the opening story in Rachel Rose’s debut work of fiction. These are clever, engaging stories with a compelling link: the characters, generally living on the fringes of society for some reason or another, all have better relationships with animals than with other humans. There’s a diverse range of creatures, with stories featuring a parrot, an octopus, rats, a chameleon, a pig (Francis Bacon), deer and bats, as well as the more traditional dogs and a pair of kittens named Yin and Yang.

The stories in The Octopus Has Three Hearts combine vivid characters and original premises with Rose’s trademark combination of whimsy and irony to explore universal elements of the human condition, from parenthood to sexuality, identity to fidelity. It is a collection that will appeal to animal lovers, readers of literary fiction and anyone looking for their place to belong.

This short story collection follows different pet owners each handling their own life. Their close bonds to their pets are an easy way to make me fall for them and I appreciate any story that shows how much animals (including an octopus) can mean to us. This tender exploration of emotions promises a heartfelt read.

Goodreads

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Stories for Nighttimes and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

Genre: short stories, fantasy

Loory’s collection of wry and witty, dark and perilous contemporary fables is populated by people–and monsters and trees and jocular octopi–who are united by twin motivations: fear and desire. In his singular universe, televisions talk (and sometimes sing), animals live in small apartments where their nephews visit from the sea, and men and women and boys and girls fall down wells and fly through space and find love on Ferris wheels. In a voice full of fable, myth, and dream, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day draws us into a world of delightfully wicked recognitions, and introduces us to a writer of uncommon talent and imagination.

Contains 40 stories, including “The Duck,” “The Man and the Moose,” and “Death and the Fruits of the Tree,” as heard on NPR’s This American Life, “The Book,” as heard on Selected Shorts, and “The TV,” as found in The New Yorker.

Fantasy can be very effective in short stories as they tend to focus on a specific message or revelation. The fantasy allows these moments to be achieved in the most unique and intriguing ways. Sometimes the magical aspects allow emotions to be clearly explained in an approach you wouldn’t have considered before. This dark and witty collection promises to deliver on this!

Goodreads

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Suction Cup Dreams: An Octopus Anthology

Genre: short stories, sci-fi, horror

A romance in an ancient temple. A mysterious stranger in a dusty Western town. A confrontation beneath the waves. Tropical islands and ancient mysteries. Merchants of alien pearls. Desolate futures and mystical pasts.

Take a dive into these twelve original tales of the noble octopus and drift into suction cup dreams. From science fiction over horror to heartbreaking love story, each tale offers a unique perspective of one of our planet’s most intelligent and curious lifeforms.

In this anthology are works by Camille Alexa, Brenda Anderson, T.E. Grau, Ives Hovanessian, Joe Jablonski, Jamie Lackey, Claude Lalumière, D. Thomas Minton, Karen Munro, Danna Joy Staaf, Elizabeth Twist, and Henry W. Ulrich. Each story is lovingly accompanied by an illustration by the talented Natasha Aldred.

An anthology all about octopi! Huzzah! A chance to see how different authors tackle the inclusion of an octopus in their story. Each one seems very different from their settings alone. What an intriguing project!

Goodreads

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Repeat After Me by Jessica Warman

Genre: contemporary, magical realism, young adult

Palm Springs meets Booksmart meets 50 first dates. Emma Davidson thought meeting an immortal octopus was the weirdest part of her Friday—until the day starts playing on a loop, relives the day she lost her virginity over and over again in this fresh, hilarious, subversive, and thought-provoking YA.

This 2024 release is a very creative way to discuss the life of a teenager, in particular losing your virginity. I don’t see many books discussing this topic and forcing you to relive it will be a curious way to face the music (so to say). I have no idea how the immortal octopus fits into this story, but again, I’m very curious about it!

Goodreads

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Bonus: Octopi can be metaphors

These books talk about octopi but without there actually being a real-life (or mechanic) octopus in the story. Therefore I thought they deserved their own section so as not to disappoint reading seeking out the creatures, but if you are interested in using them as a bridge to another theme or simply a unique read then look no further.

Following a young girl handling the problems in her life, and how perhaps life would be easier if she were, in fact, an octopus. Young people often seek escapism from life and I love that this story doesn’t dismiss this emotion. It takes a hard look at why this is and how to, hopefully, address it.

A semi-autographical story about a man whose closest companion in his life is his dog, Lily. Sadly, her health is compromised and this is the story of how he deals with this looming fact. From how it feels to love fiercely to how difficult it can be to let things go. A funny, emotional read. You may be wondering where the octopus in this story is, you will just have to find out. I can only say, it probably isn’t what you expect.

A law student has ended up in a mental hospital after talking to a voice only he can hear. Malamock, the Octopus God. An experimental drug is offered to quiet the voice but Malamock responds to this threat. A moving story about mental illness and belief. I am most curious to see how this story concludes and discover the message along the way.

Are octopi your favourite creatures? If not, why? WHY NOT. Have you heard of these books before? Do any take your interest?