So, I was given the opportunity to read an ARC (advance reader’s copy) of Beasts of Prey, The Preservation of Species series book 3, by Geoff Jones. Having read the first and second books in the series (Rule of Extinction and Struggle for Existence), I was very excited to … wow, hold on, are these all 2025 books? Looks like it. Damn, Jones! Anyway I was delighted to get the chance to read the next one in the series.

Beasts of Prey is the third book in The Preservation of Species series, and the series feels like it ends here, but who knows? I feel like we’ve seen a single weird little corner of a very strange universe, and there may be more to talk about. For now, though, I will call this a satisfying trilogy and look forward to whatever’s next.

As a quick refresher on the plot, the Earth has been hammered by a comet called the Ender. Just before it hit, a bunch of rather slapdash alien pods got dropped on the USA and a collection of people – good, bad and Randall – got on board. The pods took most of the people to cold storage and some of them to a strange alien menagerie where there were also dinosaurs, and a lot of human nature and dinosaur murders occurred. Or human murders and dinosaur nature. It’s all a rich interwoven tapestry.

Bit by bit, the unexpectedly intelligent (to the aliens) humans figured out where they were and that they were on a mostly-automated caretaker ship and a hundred or so years had passed while they were in the pods. Without spoiling too much of the story, they learned more about the aliens and their plans for Earth, and in this book started to make attempts to reclaim their home planet. The damage from the Ender had been enough to stagger Earthbound humanity but not necessarily wipe it out (the gorgers needed something to eat, after all). Full credit for humanity’s doom can be shared equally between the gorgers and that age-old and bitter enemy of humanity, humanity.

Anyway, in this “final” book we get the closure of a lot of story arcs, as well as (thanks to a really clever and endlessly impressive storytelling gimmick) the opening to a lot of arcs as well. By dropping the reader in the middle, then filling out what happens next and then putting in stories from the days leading up to the Ender’s impact, we are constantly forced to reframe our good guys and bad guys (except Randall), rethink our own knee-jerk reactions (except Randall), and God damn it, Reggie’s arc, I swear I was Team Reggie for a while in the middle there but wow.

We get some highly satisfying conclusions to Kevin’s storyline (fuck Kevin), Randall’s (Jesus fucking Christ fuck fucking Randall), and a whole buffet of great moral questions as the remains of the human race attempt to rebuild. Then Tyrell figures out there might be survivors down on Earth hidden in a deep, secure underground compound full of resources, and … let me tell you my friends, you think you know. You think, “I’ve read Wool. I’ve seen my share of Fallout content. I think I’m pretty familiar with the shit that happens in post-apocalyptic bunker scenarios, thank you very much.”

You might even treat yourself to a smug, knowing little smile as the characters just amble on in there. You think you know but you don’t.

Anyway, it’s fine. You know what you’re doing, just go ahead. Nothing bad happens. Why would Geoff Jones put something awful in his story? Sure, sure; thematic and narrative consistency. Why else though?

Yikes.

Sex-o-meter

There’s, let’s say a certain amount of sexes. Some people, I feel compelled to say after three of these books, need to actually see their spouse’s body and keep it in their fucking pants until they do (it, that is, not their spouse’s body … although maybe keeping that in their pants as well would be a good reminder for them, I don’t know). Sierra and Tyrell have a near-zero-gee alien-Zoom-call fuck, and Randall continues to be gross and rapey as only Randall can. There are C.H.U.D.s in the story and they’re not known for their social delicacy (that’s not a cannibalism joke … or is it?), so they do give Randall a run for his money. Frank, the fucked-up cocaine bro we are additionally blessed with in this book, is also rapey (but not as rapey as the dudes he was human trafficking for … he still doesn’t come out of it looking good though). All in all, this is as sexually charged as one would expect or reasonably want a post-apocalyptic alien invasion story to be. Three and a half manky C.H.U.D.-boners out of a possible five and a half. What can I say, the half is important.

Gore-o-meter

As always, we have plenty of gore to enjoy. The arc of Stewart the Homophobe was very therapeutic. I bet he did a lot of “just asking questions” and his closing defence was “why won’t anyone debate me?”. The healing goo introduced in this book does somewhat lower the stakes but not too much. I remain uncertain as to whether I approve of the death fake-out, but Jones has got me so many times by now I would feel as if he didn’t like me anymore if he didn’t do a death fake-out. The gore-o-meter gave this five gobbets out of a possible five, but then I put the meter into some alien goo and it came out at three and a half. Let’s call it four, there’s plenty of gore in this. It’s a Geoff Jones book.

WTF-o-meter

Well, we learn more about the gorgers and their life cycle and every new piece of information just makes the whole thing more confusing. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was making notes as I read, wondering if there was some reason criminals couldn’t just be torpored, and it seemed as though they did solve that issue at some point. Zap-implants can be removed or put back in, and act as birth control as well as a handy way to get Voight out of everyone’s faces. Feels like a human rights headache that would turn into a full-blown migraine by the next book, and definitely by the next generation. Can they make more? Does everyone get one? Is it voluntary until they become a Voight? This all raises a lot of questions but none of them are necessarily “WTF”. Also, with as much biomass devoured as the Earth seemed to have had done to it, would the atmosphere still be breathable? Could it sustain (human) life, let alone dinosaur … you know what? It doesn’t matter. Evidently it could, and this whole gorger thing has been going on for a while. It was actually confirmed at some point that this was how the dinosaurs died out, right? The logistics of ten billion gorgers being picked up like kids from a soccer camp is another big question mark, but not one I feel really detracted from my enjoyment. Aliens are weird. This book gets a The Cage out of a possible Lost on the WTF-o-meter.

My Final Verdict

I loved it! The preservation of species that the series is named for is also a bit of a mystery, since I suppose any number of species represented in the series could be struggling to survive and preserve themselves, but all in all this was good alien megaengineering and apocalyptic human grossness at its paradoxical finest. Heartily recommend this whole trilogy. Five stars!