Karel Čapek's chillingly prescient 1936 novel, War with the Newts, imagines a world where a new, intelligent species of giant newts is discovered near Sumatra. Initially exploited by humanity for cheap labor and military purposes, these docile creatures rapidly evolve and multiply, eventually turning the tables on their human masters. Čapek masterfully blends satire, social commentary, and science fiction to critique fascism, colonialism, and humanity's inherent greed and destructive tendencies, offering a grim, yet darkly humorous, warning about technological progress without moral compass.