War with the Newts starts with captain van Toch finding some strange ugly creatures in the Pacific Ocean who the locals used to think were devils. One day Van voch confronted public fear and went to meet the so called demons. Gradually he started interacting with the newts until he learned that he could teach them how to fetch pearls from the bottom of the ocean for him. This way he managed to make a small fortune selling pearls so van Toch sought further financing from a G. H. Bondy and prominent businessman, to help him start using the newts for other jobs. This venture was successful and the newts started being used by different countries to help in marine related jobs like building dams and building other submarine structures leading to the building of full blown underwater cities.

The cute ones never want to do anything

The good thing about War with the Newts is that it can be enjoyed at different levels. The main storyline of the book is very readable and enjoyable and can be read as a bedtime story to children. On another level there's lots of underlying satire woven in the events that happen in the story. Underneath the main storyline of the book one can easily notice references to mass production, low cost labour and slavery, mass destruction, dystopia and international politics. The satire is not really subtle but at the same time quite humours and adhering to the main storyline of the book.

As one can see, fame demoralizes even the newts

I admit that if it were not for my literary mentor who gave me this book I would have never dreamt to read it. Now that I've read the book I'm glad that I did and I'll recommend it highly. The book can be enjoyed even if you don't get the satire behind it, but then again if you're alive and go out from home once in a while you'll be able to get most of the satirical references. 4.5/5

There is an ebook version of this book at Adelaide University (translated by David Wyllie)