What do you think?
Rate this book
Beasts
Painter is a leo - part man, part lion. The result of a genetic experiment, he is a powerful, beautiful creature deemed a failure and condemned to be hunted down. But he has two advantages: his own strength and integrity and the guile of Reynard, another experiment result and a kingmaker.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
14 people are currently reading
709 people want to read
About the author
John Crowley
131 books840 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did find work in documentary films, an occupation he still pursues. He published his first novel (The Deep) in 1975, and his 15th volume of fiction (Endless Things) in 2007. Since 1993 he has taught creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
His first published novels were science fiction: The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976). Engine Summer (1979) was nominated for the 1980 American Book Award; it appears in David Pringle’s 100 Best Science Fiction Novels.
In 1981 came Little, Big, which Ursula Le Guin described as a book that “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
In 1980 Crowley embarked on an ambitious four-volume novel, Ægypt, comprising The Solitudes (originally published as Ægypt), Love & Sleep, Dæmonomania, and Endless Things, published in May 2007. This series and Little, Big were cited when Crowley received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.
He is also the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Foundation grant. His recent novels are The Translator, recipient of the Premio Flaianno (Italy), and Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, which contains an entire imaginary novel by the poet. A novella, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines, appeared in 2002. A museum-quality 25th anniversary edition of Little, Big, featuring the art of Peter Milton and a critical introduction by Harold Bloom, is in preparation.
Note: The John Crowley who wrote Sans épines, la rose: Tony Blair, un modèle pour l'Europe? is a different author with the same name. (website)
John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did find work in documentary films, an occupation he still pursues. He published his first novel (The Deep) in 1975, and his 15th volume of fiction (Endless Things) in 2007. Since 1993 he has taught creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
His first published novels were science fiction: The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976). Engine Summer (1979) was nominated for the 1980 American Book Award; it appears in David Pringle’s 100 Best Science Fiction Novels.
In 1981 came Little, Big, which Ursula Le Guin described as a book that “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
In 1980 Crowley embarked on an ambitious four-volume novel, Ægypt, comprising The Solitudes (originally published as Ægypt), Love & Sleep, Dæmonomania, and Endless Things, published in May 2007. This series and Little, Big were cited when Crowley received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.
He is also the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Foundation grant. His recent novels are The Translator, recipient of the Premio Flaianno (Italy), and Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, which contains an entire imaginary novel by the poet. A novella, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines, appeared in 2002. A museum-quality 25th anniversary edition of Little, Big, featuring the art of Peter Milton and a critical introduction by Harold Bloom, is in preparation.
Note: The John Crowley who wrote Sans épines, la rose: Tony Blair, un modèle pour l'Europe? is a different author with the same name. (website)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
July 11, 2016
Una novela en extremo cautivante. No es de prosa liviana, por el contrario, a veces es bastante confusa, como si las ideas estuvieran al revés, sin embargo y sorprendentemente, le da un toque muy sugerente. Tampoco es un libro plagado de acción, pero el desarrollo de los acontecimientos llega en una forma tan hipnotizante, que uno desearía no tener que detener la lectura por ningún motivo. Un final demasiado abierto para mi gusto, pero que también tiene su atractivo.
Me llamó mucho la atención la habilidad del autor para, sin extensas descripciones, ambientar al lector en el escenario de una Norteamérica futurista, devastada por la guerra civil. El ambiente se percibe en los diálogos, en los pensamientos y recuerdos de los personajes, en su accionar, en sus posesiones. Muy destacable.
Ciencia ficción de la buena, de la extraña, de la sugerente, de la novedosa, de la que da para pensar.
Me llamó mucho la atención la habilidad del autor para, sin extensas descripciones, ambientar al lector en el escenario de una Norteamérica futurista, devastada por la guerra civil. El ambiente se percibe en los diálogos, en los pensamientos y recuerdos de los personajes, en su accionar, en sus posesiones. Muy destacable.
Ciencia ficción de la buena, de la extraña, de la sugerente, de la novedosa, de la que da para pensar.
August 31, 2014
John Crowley is the master at world-building through suggestion and intimation over exposition. The worlds in his stories are never revealed, clarified, or narrated, but simply emerge through a series of pseudo-magical experiences in the limited perspectives of his characters. This skill I think is what makes his books so unique and special, what allows him to so vividly invoke experiences that defy description.
Beasts doesn't have so much of a mystical undertone as other Crowley books. Its plot is extremely straightforward (I'm baffled that people couldn't follow the connections between different character arcs – each chapter seemed to overlap pretty clearly with the one before it). Thematically, it concerns some things I'm pretty interested in – nature and our role in it as a species, our species identity and how it contrasts with our ideas about other species and their value. This is explored quite subtly through the series of perspective shifts, from humans of contrasting ideologies to wild to domestic animals to the titular beasts, who embody a kind of mixed perspective that, it seems, might offer some novel answers.
The plot includes a couple noteworthy American and European nature story tropes. Caddie is a poor indentured servant who finds she's better off in a society clearly modeled after Noble Savage tropes of Native Americans. This time the Leos are the intruders, but this seems meant to be read as a kind of mirroring, closing a loop, as they return the (appropriate, measured) presence of humans to a landscape self-righteously abandoned by its uber-preservationist American inhabitants. Reynard the Fox is an old European nature myth made real by American scientists. He acts as the instigator of nearly every major plot development, matching wits with the human political system for survival, ideology, or mere fun.
These ideas don't seem to interact deeply, unless I'm just not bothering to put in the time to parse them. Crowley doesn't have an overt agenda, and he is subtle here as in all things. The resonance of these tropes and references adds to the book's perceived depth, though, and they play into its finely crafted character arcs.
Beasts didn't leave the same impression as Little, Big, or Engine Summer, but it's so well-crafted, both on a moment-to-moment level and in its conception and construction, that it's definitely worth a read. I'd love to be able to write something rather similar to Beasts one day, in its themes and its tight-fisted expository style.
Beasts doesn't have so much of a mystical undertone as other Crowley books. Its plot is extremely straightforward (I'm baffled that people couldn't follow the connections between different character arcs – each chapter seemed to overlap pretty clearly with the one before it). Thematically, it concerns some things I'm pretty interested in – nature and our role in it as a species, our species identity and how it contrasts with our ideas about other species and their value. This is explored quite subtly through the series of perspective shifts, from humans of contrasting ideologies to wild to domestic animals to the titular beasts, who embody a kind of mixed perspective that, it seems, might offer some novel answers.
The plot includes a couple noteworthy American and European nature story tropes. Caddie is a poor indentured servant who finds she's better off in a society clearly modeled after Noble Savage tropes of Native Americans. This time the Leos are the intruders, but this seems meant to be read as a kind of mirroring, closing a loop, as they return the (appropriate, measured) presence of humans to a landscape self-righteously abandoned by its uber-preservationist American inhabitants. Reynard the Fox is an old European nature myth made real by American scientists. He acts as the instigator of nearly every major plot development, matching wits with the human political system for survival, ideology, or mere fun.
These ideas don't seem to interact deeply, unless I'm just not bothering to put in the time to parse them. Crowley doesn't have an overt agenda, and he is subtle here as in all things. The resonance of these tropes and references adds to the book's perceived depth, though, and they play into its finely crafted character arcs.
Beasts didn't leave the same impression as Little, Big, or Engine Summer, but it's so well-crafted, both on a moment-to-moment level and in its conception and construction, that it's definitely worth a read. I'd love to be able to write something rather similar to Beasts one day, in its themes and its tight-fisted expository style.
September 25, 2014
-Otra forma de hacer género, pero lejana a los cánones entonces y ahora.-
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En un futuro indeterminado en el que los Estados Unidos de América están disgregados en diez grandes zonas independientes y otras más pequeñas que son casi ciudades-estado tras una guerra civil, son frecuentes los pequeños incidentes armados entre las diferentes comunidades y contra al gobierno federal venido a menos por la intervención cada vez más influyente del Sistema de Ingeniería Social que en realidad pretende lo contrario, flotando el fantasma de una nueva guerra civil. El doctor Lauren Casabon debe abandonar su trabajo, por influencias del SIS, en su tarea de recuperación de halcones en su hábitat natural pero verá como le ofrecen otro, Caddie es una empleada cuyo contrato es traspasado a Painter, un taciturno leo (hibrido de hombre y león fruto de las antiguas experimentaciones genéticas al respecto) que parece ser perseguido por algún tipo de fuerzas gubernamentales y Reynard es un híbrido de hombre y zorro que se mueve como pez en el agua en las intrigas políticas y tiene una extraña relación con Painter.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En un futuro indeterminado en el que los Estados Unidos de América están disgregados en diez grandes zonas independientes y otras más pequeñas que son casi ciudades-estado tras una guerra civil, son frecuentes los pequeños incidentes armados entre las diferentes comunidades y contra al gobierno federal venido a menos por la intervención cada vez más influyente del Sistema de Ingeniería Social que en realidad pretende lo contrario, flotando el fantasma de una nueva guerra civil. El doctor Lauren Casabon debe abandonar su trabajo, por influencias del SIS, en su tarea de recuperación de halcones en su hábitat natural pero verá como le ofrecen otro, Caddie es una empleada cuyo contrato es traspasado a Painter, un taciturno leo (hibrido de hombre y león fruto de las antiguas experimentaciones genéticas al respecto) que parece ser perseguido por algún tipo de fuerzas gubernamentales y Reynard es un híbrido de hombre y zorro que se mueve como pez en el agua en las intrigas políticas y tiene una extraña relación con Painter.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
January 27, 2026
3.5 – 4 stars
Until this re-read I would have ranked this as one of my least favourite Crowley novels. I still think that of his first three (_The Deep_, _Engine Summer_, and _Beasts_) that I would rank it third simply because I love the other two so much, but this proved to be an excellent read with a lot more to it than I had remembered. I never fully realized until this recent re-read of Crowley’s works just how many of them involve some kind of post-apocalyptic setting, or at the very least a society in significant decline. _Engine Summer_, his post-apocalyptic pastoral, is the obvious example, but the theme also features in _Little, Big_, _Ka_, and this novel. There’s also a definite autumnal feel to Crowley overall and even works like _The Deep_, _Flint and Mirror_, and _Lord Byron’s Novel_ have an elegiac air of decline and loss to them. Another recurrent theme I’ve come to notice in Crowley: communes and unconventional communities. _Engine Summer_ has both Little Belaire and the people of Dr Boots’ List, _Little, Big_ has both the community of family dependents of the Drinkwater clan and the literal commune of George Mouse’s inner-city farm, and _Beasts_ has Candy’s Mountain. Each of them is a half-hearted attempt to find utopia, all of them are flawed, yet they are also not without their charms and something to say about the desires and hopes of those who made them, desires and hopes that live within all of our hearts to one degree or another.
In _Beasts_ America has collapsed, splintering into different autonomies, with the remnant of “the Fed” anxious to claw back its lost power. In a moreau-ian twist genetic engineering has led to the creation of human-animal hybrids, the most prominent of which is the Leos (the only experiment that has proven able to reproduce), which at this time are a dwindling nomadic people led by the charismatic Painter. With a name like beasts, it’s not surprising that Crowley populates his novel not only with hybrid characters, but some that are fully animal in nature. He does an excellent job in entering into the perceptions of these characters and presenting them in a way that is, while understandable to the reader, somewhat alien to us as well. These aren’t simply people in animal costumes, they are creatures that are truly other from us.
The plot of the novel revolves around the byplay of decline and possible return. The most obvious case is Painter, the ‘King of the Beasts’, whose air of messianic power and charismatic sway over those he meets lends momentum to his bid to find true freedom for his people in the face of humanity’s opposition. There is also Sten Gregorious, the son of another charismatic leader, this time of the Northern Autonomy, portrayed as a true ‘golden boy’ heir-apparent upon whom the hopes and desires of his people are pinned as the Fed, and their scientific arm USE (Union for Social Engineering), make a power play to regain control of the Autonomy and also wipe out the Leos in one fell swoop.
Crowley plays with a lot of ideas in this novel. The saviour-king is certainly front and center. Painter comes across as an almost religious revelation to those who follow him: the human outcast Caddie, Meric a refugee from utopia, and Sweets the dog (the goodest boy of all). Sten, the golden child and heir-apparent of Jarrell Gregorius, is a symbol for his people thrust into a limelight he doesn’t desire; a semi-Arthurian figurehead set up as a figurehead against the tide of invaders intent on taking control. Crowley also explores the dichotomy of man and beast. Men, or “old Adam”, are the failed lords of creation constantly trying to gain the upper hand over their circumstances and the world around them, while the beasts have a perhaps more pure and ‘honest’ approach to the world, taking things as they come. Our main differences, according to Crowley, primarily reside in our differing consciousnesses. Beasts live in the ‘forever now’ and rely mainly on instinct, while humans are the ones that have been “…wounded into consciousness.” Our consciousness is what brings time and its ravages to the human psyche, not to mention the pain of memory, loss, and the unending hunger for more in a future that is perhaps as unattainable and unreal as the lost past. This dichotomy would seem to imply that the condition of humanity is blatantly worse, but without consciousness you can have no stories and I think, after reading much Crowley in the past year, I can say that to him it is Story that makes us what we are. Consciousness, and the burdens it puts upon us, is perhaps simply the price humanity pays for our stories; ultimately the price we pay for meaning. Are they truly just fictions, or is there something real, perhaps “realer” than stark reality, to them?
Until this re-read I would have ranked this as one of my least favourite Crowley novels. I still think that of his first three (_The Deep_, _Engine Summer_, and _Beasts_) that I would rank it third simply because I love the other two so much, but this proved to be an excellent read with a lot more to it than I had remembered. I never fully realized until this recent re-read of Crowley’s works just how many of them involve some kind of post-apocalyptic setting, or at the very least a society in significant decline. _Engine Summer_, his post-apocalyptic pastoral, is the obvious example, but the theme also features in _Little, Big_, _Ka_, and this novel. There’s also a definite autumnal feel to Crowley overall and even works like _The Deep_, _Flint and Mirror_, and _Lord Byron’s Novel_ have an elegiac air of decline and loss to them. Another recurrent theme I’ve come to notice in Crowley: communes and unconventional communities. _Engine Summer_ has both Little Belaire and the people of Dr Boots’ List, _Little, Big_ has both the community of family dependents of the Drinkwater clan and the literal commune of George Mouse’s inner-city farm, and _Beasts_ has Candy’s Mountain. Each of them is a half-hearted attempt to find utopia, all of them are flawed, yet they are also not without their charms and something to say about the desires and hopes of those who made them, desires and hopes that live within all of our hearts to one degree or another.
In _Beasts_ America has collapsed, splintering into different autonomies, with the remnant of “the Fed” anxious to claw back its lost power. In a moreau-ian twist genetic engineering has led to the creation of human-animal hybrids, the most prominent of which is the Leos (the only experiment that has proven able to reproduce), which at this time are a dwindling nomadic people led by the charismatic Painter. With a name like beasts, it’s not surprising that Crowley populates his novel not only with hybrid characters, but some that are fully animal in nature. He does an excellent job in entering into the perceptions of these characters and presenting them in a way that is, while understandable to the reader, somewhat alien to us as well. These aren’t simply people in animal costumes, they are creatures that are truly other from us.
The plot of the novel revolves around the byplay of decline and possible return. The most obvious case is Painter, the ‘King of the Beasts’, whose air of messianic power and charismatic sway over those he meets lends momentum to his bid to find true freedom for his people in the face of humanity’s opposition. There is also Sten Gregorious, the son of another charismatic leader, this time of the Northern Autonomy, portrayed as a true ‘golden boy’ heir-apparent upon whom the hopes and desires of his people are pinned as the Fed, and their scientific arm USE (Union for Social Engineering), make a power play to regain control of the Autonomy and also wipe out the Leos in one fell swoop.
Crowley plays with a lot of ideas in this novel. The saviour-king is certainly front and center. Painter comes across as an almost religious revelation to those who follow him: the human outcast Caddie, Meric a refugee from utopia, and Sweets the dog (the goodest boy of all). Sten, the golden child and heir-apparent of Jarrell Gregorius, is a symbol for his people thrust into a limelight he doesn’t desire; a semi-Arthurian figurehead set up as a figurehead against the tide of invaders intent on taking control. Crowley also explores the dichotomy of man and beast. Men, or “old Adam”, are the failed lords of creation constantly trying to gain the upper hand over their circumstances and the world around them, while the beasts have a perhaps more pure and ‘honest’ approach to the world, taking things as they come. Our main differences, according to Crowley, primarily reside in our differing consciousnesses. Beasts live in the ‘forever now’ and rely mainly on instinct, while humans are the ones that have been “…wounded into consciousness.” Our consciousness is what brings time and its ravages to the human psyche, not to mention the pain of memory, loss, and the unending hunger for more in a future that is perhaps as unattainable and unreal as the lost past. This dichotomy would seem to imply that the condition of humanity is blatantly worse, but without consciousness you can have no stories and I think, after reading much Crowley in the past year, I can say that to him it is Story that makes us what we are. Consciousness, and the burdens it puts upon us, is perhaps simply the price humanity pays for our stories; ultimately the price we pay for meaning. Are they truly just fictions, or is there something real, perhaps “realer” than stark reality, to them?
May 8, 2013
It appears as if I am one of those rare people who is capable of enjoying all of John Crowley's novels. This is shown by how much I enjoyed the extremely imaginative and ultimately jarring novel, Beasts.
Beasts is divided up in what can amount to a few story strands that eventually come together in the end. It takes place after a civil war has caused the United States to split up into several districts. The Federal still exists and is trying to reunite these districts together under its tyrannical rule through the operations and morals of USE (Union for Social Engineering). As the Fed attempts to coerce the largest of the districts to reunite under a Union, a mysterious leo enters the scene as a sort of messiah, inspiring people to live in a more anarchistic lifestyle.
A leo, by the way, is the result of earlier genetic experimentation crossing the genes of humans with lions. This results in a creature that is neither and acts and has its own mindset. Crowley is able to convey this otherness to his genetically created characters, and though a lot of focus is given on the leo, the real monstrosity that steals the show is a human-fox hybrid who is always delightful to have on screen... even if you start dreading it, because that damn fox is always.....
But I'm giving too much away. Suffice it to say, this was a terrific ride... but do not expect a traditional resolution. Yeah, when I said it was 'jarring' I meant the novel just kinda stops suddenly. It almost seems like Crowley may have, at one time, been toying with the idea of having this book be the first in a series and never got around to writing a sequel. Then again, with the exception of the Aegypt Cycle, Crowley writes nothing but solo novels. It is actually just as likely that Beasts is about the journey of several of its characters and not about the bigger conflict they have had the misfortune to be born into.
A fantastic glance into an alternate future, Beasts is full of insights to the nature of human interaction as it looks at the various doings of both human, partly human, and none human characters. Its creative setting and moral dilemmas will not be soon forgotten.
Beasts is divided up in what can amount to a few story strands that eventually come together in the end. It takes place after a civil war has caused the United States to split up into several districts. The Federal still exists and is trying to reunite these districts together under its tyrannical rule through the operations and morals of USE (Union for Social Engineering). As the Fed attempts to coerce the largest of the districts to reunite under a Union, a mysterious leo enters the scene as a sort of messiah, inspiring people to live in a more anarchistic lifestyle.
A leo, by the way, is the result of earlier genetic experimentation crossing the genes of humans with lions. This results in a creature that is neither and acts and has its own mindset. Crowley is able to convey this otherness to his genetically created characters, and though a lot of focus is given on the leo, the real monstrosity that steals the show is a human-fox hybrid who is always delightful to have on screen... even if you start dreading it, because that damn fox is always.....
But I'm giving too much away. Suffice it to say, this was a terrific ride... but do not expect a traditional resolution. Yeah, when I said it was 'jarring' I meant the novel just kinda stops suddenly. It almost seems like Crowley may have, at one time, been toying with the idea of having this book be the first in a series and never got around to writing a sequel. Then again, with the exception of the Aegypt Cycle, Crowley writes nothing but solo novels. It is actually just as likely that Beasts is about the journey of several of its characters and not about the bigger conflict they have had the misfortune to be born into.
A fantastic glance into an alternate future, Beasts is full of insights to the nature of human interaction as it looks at the various doings of both human, partly human, and none human characters. Its creative setting and moral dilemmas will not be soon forgotten.
August 9, 2017
Un romanzo suggestivo, profondo, di grande fascino. Uno scenario post-apocalittico con poca azione, in cui l'attenzione si concentra sui personaggi (umani e semi-umani) e le loro interazioni. Uno scenario di cospirazioni personali e politiche, verso la ricostruzione di una nuova società. Un libro che offre tantissimi spunti di riflessione sulla natura umana e sulla nostra società. Un libro speciale e unico, da leggere, rileggere, assaporare.
June 21, 2015
stop being racist against yourself!
April 17, 2023
This was a peculiar book, which seems to be the norm for Crowley, at least of what I've read anyway. As with his Engine Summer, what I enjoyed most was reading it for how it's written. Reading what others had written about this book was also a strange experience, because many seemed to have a significantly different experience.
About fifty years ago in 1972 major breakthroughs were made in genetic engineering which allowed for creating hybrids of all sorts, including of humans. Ten years prior to the start of the story the second American Civil War had ended and the United States was splintered into ten large autonomies, several smaller ones, and various city-states. The federal government still existed and was trying to claw back its supremacy. Those two concepts are a backdrop rather than the focal points. Most of what this book may be about is presented similarly. Its themes are passively persistent in their presentation so it may be easy for them to remain unnoticed or be misconstrued. They aren't obscured, but it may be a case of being hidden in plain sight.
Although this is a short novel, there are a number of viewpoints and it isn't strictly linear. The chapters overlap to greater purpose, though what that may be, may not be immediately evident. There's the ethologist who doesn't care much for people, but loves animals and wants more than anything to repopulate various species. Another is a teenage girl in indentured servitude, who doesn't care much for people, and is sold to a lion-human hybrid, a leo, and yes, they have sex. He's the greatest among his people. Unfortunately for him, it has been has declared that all hybrid humans were a mistake and must be eradicated. The other hybrid is a fox-human who excels at intrigue and manipulation because he enjoys doing so. There are also two bourgeoise children who must adapt to their changing status. One chapter is from the perspective of a genetically modified dog, mostly to complete the spectrum of emphatic experience.
One of the communities depicted has 100,000 people and are isolationist, conservationist, vegan, smug, and assured of their self-righteousness. They believe themselves to be attuned with nature, though they don't shun technology. One member of the community chooses to embrace what he sees as natural even further. This may seem like the idea of the noble savage, and that character certainly seems to think that, but he's misunderstanding and a reader would who takes him at his word would be as well. The leos are neither noble, nor savage, they're just an unwanted and persecuted people trying to survive.
The ending was consistent with what came prior. If it seemed abrupt and/or inconclusive, you may want to consider again what the fox-human had said, especially what he believed it meant to be a fox. I'm being generous with this rating relative to how I believe it would be for many others.
Rating: 3.5/5
About fifty years ago in 1972 major breakthroughs were made in genetic engineering which allowed for creating hybrids of all sorts, including of humans. Ten years prior to the start of the story the second American Civil War had ended and the United States was splintered into ten large autonomies, several smaller ones, and various city-states. The federal government still existed and was trying to claw back its supremacy. Those two concepts are a backdrop rather than the focal points. Most of what this book may be about is presented similarly. Its themes are passively persistent in their presentation so it may be easy for them to remain unnoticed or be misconstrued. They aren't obscured, but it may be a case of being hidden in plain sight.
Although this is a short novel, there are a number of viewpoints and it isn't strictly linear. The chapters overlap to greater purpose, though what that may be, may not be immediately evident. There's the ethologist who doesn't care much for people, but loves animals and wants more than anything to repopulate various species. Another is a teenage girl in indentured servitude, who doesn't care much for people, and is sold to a lion-human hybrid, a leo, and yes, they have sex. He's the greatest among his people. Unfortunately for him, it has been has declared that all hybrid humans were a mistake and must be eradicated. The other hybrid is a fox-human who excels at intrigue and manipulation because he enjoys doing so. There are also two bourgeoise children who must adapt to their changing status. One chapter is from the perspective of a genetically modified dog, mostly to complete the spectrum of emphatic experience.
One of the communities depicted has 100,000 people and are isolationist, conservationist, vegan, smug, and assured of their self-righteousness. They believe themselves to be attuned with nature, though they don't shun technology. One member of the community chooses to embrace what he sees as natural even further. This may seem like the idea of the noble savage, and that character certainly seems to think that, but he's misunderstanding and a reader would who takes him at his word would be as well. The leos are neither noble, nor savage, they're just an unwanted and persecuted people trying to survive.
The ending was consistent with what came prior. If it seemed abrupt and/or inconclusive, you may want to consider again what the fox-human had said, especially what he believed it meant to be a fox. I'm being generous with this rating relative to how I believe it would be for many others.
Rating: 3.5/5
December 2, 2008
day and night she followed him
her eyes so bright did shine
and he led her over the mountain
did the sly bold Reynardine
and no, actually the Fox in this book is not about seducing fair maids, but he completely won my heart. And he is not even the main character - he is, hmm, a Consigliere...? This a book of valiant desperate hearts: each looking for loyalty that will make them whole and give them agency, each wary of or bruised by love, each confused or constricted. Well, all but the Fox.
(edit: i just realized it's Crowley in the song - that's who i follow, eyes shining ;->!
Crowley's first three books are like strands being gathered for the tour de force that was Little,big. Beasts is the second - more accessible than The Deep, less mature than Engine Summer. But "maturity" is not an issue for me with this writer. There is perfection everywhere if no one else has brought you your dreams. and he does, again and again.
Also - cats hold a lot for Crowley and he wrote two books where they stand in for a great deal of what we are and might be. This is the first cat book.
her eyes so bright did shine
and he led her over the mountain
did the sly bold Reynardine
and no, actually the Fox in this book is not about seducing fair maids, but he completely won my heart. And he is not even the main character - he is, hmm, a Consigliere...? This a book of valiant desperate hearts: each looking for loyalty that will make them whole and give them agency, each wary of or bruised by love, each confused or constricted. Well, all but the Fox.
(edit: i just realized it's Crowley in the song - that's who i follow, eyes shining ;->!
Crowley's first three books are like strands being gathered for the tour de force that was Little,big. Beasts is the second - more accessible than The Deep, less mature than Engine Summer. But "maturity" is not an issue for me with this writer. There is perfection everywhere if no one else has brought you your dreams. and he does, again and again.
Also - cats hold a lot for Crowley and he wrote two books where they stand in for a great deal of what we are and might be. This is the first cat book.
August 2, 2025
My thoughts on Beasts by John Crowley::::::::::
In about a hundred years from now the second American civil war has come and gone. The US is fractured into Autonomous zones. A governmental organization is experimenting with genetics to create new foods sources and animal/human hybrids. Famine is eradicated. New breeds of animals are created. The most successful is a lion/human called the Leo. The Leos have established themselves as new members of society. They are not like us. They are quickly segregated into a reservation. They live nomadic lives within this area. They are not violent. They're just different. They are willing to work with humans. The humans want to exterminate them.
A revolutionary leo rises from their group. He doesn't want this responsibility. He simply stands up to the inequity heaped on them from the US government. He becomes an icon. A plot forms to help save the Leos from extinction.
I want to get a few negatives out of the way because I really did enjoy this book. The pacing is strange. It jumps in time and place a bit too harshly from chapter to chapter. It feels like a much longer book that has been edited heavily. It's dense so you have to read a bit more closely then you normally would. It's a short book but it took me a while to finish.
All of that being said, the sum of its parts make an amazing whole. It's a story about a group of marginalized people being horribly treated by elitist pigs. It's about the respect for animals we all should have. It's about communication. It's about empathy for all beings.
And there's a talking fox.
There's a chapter about a dog with heightened memory retention. In this chapter you're experiencing everything from the dog's point of view. It's so good.
The prose is perfect for what I want out of my reads. Exact yet beautiful. Deep yet comprehensible. I loved it.
In about a hundred years from now the second American civil war has come and gone. The US is fractured into Autonomous zones. A governmental organization is experimenting with genetics to create new foods sources and animal/human hybrids. Famine is eradicated. New breeds of animals are created. The most successful is a lion/human called the Leo. The Leos have established themselves as new members of society. They are not like us. They are quickly segregated into a reservation. They live nomadic lives within this area. They are not violent. They're just different. They are willing to work with humans. The humans want to exterminate them.
A revolutionary leo rises from their group. He doesn't want this responsibility. He simply stands up to the inequity heaped on them from the US government. He becomes an icon. A plot forms to help save the Leos from extinction.
I want to get a few negatives out of the way because I really did enjoy this book. The pacing is strange. It jumps in time and place a bit too harshly from chapter to chapter. It feels like a much longer book that has been edited heavily. It's dense so you have to read a bit more closely then you normally would. It's a short book but it took me a while to finish.
All of that being said, the sum of its parts make an amazing whole. It's a story about a group of marginalized people being horribly treated by elitist pigs. It's about the respect for animals we all should have. It's about communication. It's about empathy for all beings.
And there's a talking fox.
There's a chapter about a dog with heightened memory retention. In this chapter you're experiencing everything from the dog's point of view. It's so good.
The prose is perfect for what I want out of my reads. Exact yet beautiful. Deep yet comprehensible. I loved it.
March 13, 2025
Ich las mal in einem SF-Magazin aus den 80ern den Begriff "Humanistische SF". Dies scheint sich nicht durchgesetzt zu haben, ich finde ihn aber ganz passend, um Werke einiger Autoren aus der Zeit zu kategorisieren. So auch "Geschöpfe".
Zur Handlung: Die hochtechnisierte Industriegesellschaft ist passé. Ein Übrigbleibsel sind die gentechnisch hergestellten Mensch-Tier-Hybriden, die einen schweren Stand haben.
Die USA ist in Kleinstaaten zerfallen. Die autoritäre Bewegung USE versucht - auch mit unfeinen Mitteln - die Wiedervereinigung zu erzwingen. Den "Geschöpfen" gegenüber ist sie feindselig eingestellt.
Die Handlung ist originell. Zuerst laufen die diversen Handlungsfäden eher unzusammenhängened nebeneinader her. Gegen Ende fügt sich alles zusammen.
Gut gefallen haben mir die "Leos", Mensch-Löwenhybride, die überzeugend fremdartig beschrieben werden.
Leider hat mir das Buch aber letztendlich über weite Strecken nicht so richtig gefallen. Ich mochte Crowleys Art zu erzählen nicht sonderlich. Die Technikfeindlichkeit und Back-to-Nature-Attitude sprachen mich auch nicht sonderlich an.
Leicht zu lesen war es allerdings.
Zur Handlung: Die hochtechnisierte Industriegesellschaft ist passé. Ein Übrigbleibsel sind die gentechnisch hergestellten Mensch-Tier-Hybriden, die einen schweren Stand haben.
Die USA ist in Kleinstaaten zerfallen. Die autoritäre Bewegung USE versucht - auch mit unfeinen Mitteln - die Wiedervereinigung zu erzwingen. Den "Geschöpfen" gegenüber ist sie feindselig eingestellt.
Die Handlung ist originell. Zuerst laufen die diversen Handlungsfäden eher unzusammenhängened nebeneinader her. Gegen Ende fügt sich alles zusammen.
Gut gefallen haben mir die "Leos", Mensch-Löwenhybride, die überzeugend fremdartig beschrieben werden.
Leider hat mir das Buch aber letztendlich über weite Strecken nicht so richtig gefallen. Ich mochte Crowleys Art zu erzählen nicht sonderlich. Die Technikfeindlichkeit und Back-to-Nature-Attitude sprachen mich auch nicht sonderlich an.
Leicht zu lesen war es allerdings.
January 7, 2021
Written in 1976, this is Dystopian SF with a genetic engineering theme that has alot in common with The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells. A bit dated, but still interesting.
September 23, 2023
3.5 stars
October 5, 2014
In his opening chapters, Crowley sets several stories in motion that show little chance of coming together. But he pulls it off. His near future dystopia has benefited greatly from genetic modifications in agriculture (Sorry, all you anti GMO types), but genetic tampering with animal subjects has been less successful. The one triumph are the leos, a species everyone tends to describe as “half man, half lion.” But as one human character makes clear
Political intrigue and straight out adventure scenarios propel Crowley’s plot, but his themes of the ethics of scientific experimentation and the necessity of taking on the responsibility of its results are what move his novel into classic status.
…there are no such things as half-beasts. Painter was not half-anything, but wholly leo, as complete as a rose or a deer.
Political intrigue and straight out adventure scenarios propel Crowley’s plot, but his themes of the ethics of scientific experimentation and the necessity of taking on the responsibility of its results are what move his novel into classic status.
May 3, 2008
A good read, particularly if one likes stories about moreaus (moreaux ?), as in The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells. More strongly than S. Andrew Swann does in his Moreau Seies, in this novel John Crowley focuses on the non-human psyches of his human-animal hybrid characters. These traits are, admittedly, based on our historical, cultural interpretations of the personalities of lions, foxes and dogs. Still, the author's portrayal of these personalities, and their interactions with humans, is particularly well done.
There is not a lot of action in the story. The focus is on the characters and their interactions. Some scenes are possibly too strong for younger readers. This is no Watership Down!
There is not a lot of action in the story. The focus is on the characters and their interactions. Some scenes are possibly too strong for younger readers. This is no Watership Down!
April 13, 2022
Quizás la novela más catalogable de ciencia ficción de Crowley, una distopía donde la ingeniería genética ha logrado mezclar genes humanos con animales (los llamados "leos") para fines militares (debido a una guerra civil), para luego abandonarlos a su suerte. Los dos bandos humanos de la guerra civil los odian y se genera una suerte de caza donde el hombre es el lobo del hombre, muy bien narrada por Crowley y donde podemos empatizar con las decisiones de los perseguidos. Una vez más el mundo está en ruinas, pero los híbridos permanecen.
July 3, 2013
The plot of this sci-fi novel is rather difficult to describe. At first, I thought it was short stories because none of the chapters had the same characters or even seemed to have much to do with each other, except possibly being set in the same world, although that was even difficult to discern. Reaching the end, when everything starts to link up, I sort of feel like I understand what's going on, but to say so might be considered a spoiler. My conundrum is that I really don't know how to review this book except to say that I found it confusing and with not much of a message or a payoff.
August 8, 2025
This is my first John Crowley, but on this basis alone it will not be my last.
Beasts is a bit of a strange book in that it doesn't have a clearly defined story and weaves together various narratives that converge throughout and are told from different perspectives of the main characters involved, all the while avoiding much exposition. The main setting is a future America which has broken down from civil unrest into large city autonomies which the Federal Government is trying to unify. This separation has caused progressive stagnation, isolationism and the recovery of the natural environment, with some help from various projects within the autonomies.
At the centre of all this are the Leos - a genetic experiment which bred a hybrid species from humans and lions - and another more mysterious creature manipulating events known as Reynard (it doesn't take much to guess what he is if you know your fables). The Leos wish to live in peace, but the Federal Government finds them a self-made aberration to be removed from society as part of their reunification and clean up programs, which intend to reassert human dominance over the country and natural resources; all enforced by an eerily prescient federally endorsed enforcement unit.
It's the consequences of all this that plays out through the surface level of the story. But Crowley's writing is intricate and far deeper in terms of layered subjects and symbolism. He portrays the Leos with a beautiful and uncanny grace that accentuates them as being spiritually apart from the humans around them; their "king of the beasts" personality affects all who come into contact with them - man or animal. It's easy to find sympathy with their plight as they are persecuted by the authorities, even more so when you draw parallels between the written events and what is happening with ICE in the real world. The fact that they feel a genuinely unique race is also a testament to Crowley's writing and is something not enough SF writers seem to capture.
The Leos are fulcrum for everything and as they draw others players in, we get to see and feel their individual stories as they become whipped up into it all. Within that, there's a uniquely thought out city state of zero resource waste, a pack of dogs affected by the civil unrest, and a group of humans whose story of friendship, family and (queer) love is beautifully told; albeit there were some uncomfortable moments between two of different generations (it's not quite Heinlein, but it wanders close enough to at least call it out, even if only implied). Oh and some very cool, authentic falconry scenes whose connection is a lot more subtle and plays into the symbolism prevalent throughout the book.
This symbolism and suggestion underlies the carefully constructed passages in the book and there's metaphors for racism, natural world destruction, messianic religion, monarchism etc everywhere. Without a straight story and no clear timeline, it leaves a lot open to explore and interpret for oneself; it forces a more thoughtful approach. One also wonders by the end who the title is aimed at; are the "Beasts" the carefree, harmonious Leos or the more chaotic humans who are driven by their impulses - often to the destruction of others and themselves? It's perhaps not a hard question to answer, yet Crowley does work hard to blur it at times.
Overall, this is a slow, yet brilliant and cerebral piece of literature which I am surprised isn't talked about more, but perhaps the lack of exposition and leaving the reader to decide the narrative being told is not one that is going to attract a lot of people; I admit there were times I wondered if this was going anywhere or if a singular point was trying to made. In the end though, it's the powerful writing and the magnetic charm of the Leos that lift this above the pack and make it something I will think about for a while.
Beasts is a bit of a strange book in that it doesn't have a clearly defined story and weaves together various narratives that converge throughout and are told from different perspectives of the main characters involved, all the while avoiding much exposition. The main setting is a future America which has broken down from civil unrest into large city autonomies which the Federal Government is trying to unify. This separation has caused progressive stagnation, isolationism and the recovery of the natural environment, with some help from various projects within the autonomies.
At the centre of all this are the Leos - a genetic experiment which bred a hybrid species from humans and lions - and another more mysterious creature manipulating events known as Reynard (it doesn't take much to guess what he is if you know your fables). The Leos wish to live in peace, but the Federal Government finds them a self-made aberration to be removed from society as part of their reunification and clean up programs, which intend to reassert human dominance over the country and natural resources; all enforced by an eerily prescient federally endorsed enforcement unit.
It's the consequences of all this that plays out through the surface level of the story. But Crowley's writing is intricate and far deeper in terms of layered subjects and symbolism. He portrays the Leos with a beautiful and uncanny grace that accentuates them as being spiritually apart from the humans around them; their "king of the beasts" personality affects all who come into contact with them - man or animal. It's easy to find sympathy with their plight as they are persecuted by the authorities, even more so when you draw parallels between the written events and what is happening with ICE in the real world. The fact that they feel a genuinely unique race is also a testament to Crowley's writing and is something not enough SF writers seem to capture.
The Leos are fulcrum for everything and as they draw others players in, we get to see and feel their individual stories as they become whipped up into it all. Within that, there's a uniquely thought out city state of zero resource waste, a pack of dogs affected by the civil unrest, and a group of humans whose story of friendship, family and (queer) love is beautifully told; albeit there were some uncomfortable moments between two of different generations (it's not quite Heinlein, but it wanders close enough to at least call it out, even if only implied). Oh and some very cool, authentic falconry scenes whose connection is a lot more subtle and plays into the symbolism prevalent throughout the book.
This symbolism and suggestion underlies the carefully constructed passages in the book and there's metaphors for racism, natural world destruction, messianic religion, monarchism etc everywhere. Without a straight story and no clear timeline, it leaves a lot open to explore and interpret for oneself; it forces a more thoughtful approach. One also wonders by the end who the title is aimed at; are the "Beasts" the carefree, harmonious Leos or the more chaotic humans who are driven by their impulses - often to the destruction of others and themselves? It's perhaps not a hard question to answer, yet Crowley does work hard to blur it at times.
Overall, this is a slow, yet brilliant and cerebral piece of literature which I am surprised isn't talked about more, but perhaps the lack of exposition and leaving the reader to decide the narrative being told is not one that is going to attract a lot of people; I admit there were times I wondered if this was going anywhere or if a singular point was trying to made. In the end though, it's the powerful writing and the magnetic charm of the Leos that lift this above the pack and make it something I will think about for a while.
August 14, 2024
Planet of the Apes, Lions, and Foxes. A subtle SF tale of genetic manipulation.
Crowley's second novel, 1976's "Beasts" takes place in a near future where America has broken apart into various semi-autonomous zones and genetic engineering of animals was commonplace. The story focuses on Painter, a human/lion hybrid called a "Leo" and Reynard, a modified fox with exceptional intelligence. The leos have been targeted for extermination so much of the tale is Painter on the run while Reynard engages in political machinations and manipulations for his own murky ends.
The strength of Beasts is its subtlety. You're not beat over the head with exposition or lore, the world exists as it does and the reader is invited to come along. The world and society feels broken or nearly so as there's not quite enough connective tissue between and among these disparate city-states/regions. Crowley does an outstanding and inventive job with Painter especially in that he is appropriately different. He isn't a man so he doesn't act like one nor interact with other characters like one. He is at times bestial, at times humane, but all the while he stands just off to the side of "normal." Reynard is cunning (like a fox, naturally) and watching manipulations with the clearly less intelligent human political leaders he advises is particularly enjoyable.
The book meanders a bit in the middle and the sections that don't fully feature Painter or Reynard are inherently less interesting. And while Painter is "on the run" -- this is not a chase novel so the pacing can feel a bit staid at times.
Ultimately, what "Beasts" does well, it does very well and makes it a thoughtful and rewarding piece of speculative fiction.
Crowley's second novel, 1976's "Beasts" takes place in a near future where America has broken apart into various semi-autonomous zones and genetic engineering of animals was commonplace. The story focuses on Painter, a human/lion hybrid called a "Leo" and Reynard, a modified fox with exceptional intelligence. The leos have been targeted for extermination so much of the tale is Painter on the run while Reynard engages in political machinations and manipulations for his own murky ends.
The strength of Beasts is its subtlety. You're not beat over the head with exposition or lore, the world exists as it does and the reader is invited to come along. The world and society feels broken or nearly so as there's not quite enough connective tissue between and among these disparate city-states/regions. Crowley does an outstanding and inventive job with Painter especially in that he is appropriately different. He isn't a man so he doesn't act like one nor interact with other characters like one. He is at times bestial, at times humane, but all the while he stands just off to the side of "normal." Reynard is cunning (like a fox, naturally) and watching manipulations with the clearly less intelligent human political leaders he advises is particularly enjoyable.
The book meanders a bit in the middle and the sections that don't fully feature Painter or Reynard are inherently less interesting. And while Painter is "on the run" -- this is not a chase novel so the pacing can feel a bit staid at times.
Ultimately, what "Beasts" does well, it does very well and makes it a thoughtful and rewarding piece of speculative fiction.
stopped-reading
December 4, 2025My first barrier to continuing io read this book was the sudden change of character perspective. I had just gotten into the groove of the main character that starts this book off, Loren, when the second chapter changed perspective. I was fine with that but then the third chapter changed to a new character, and then we continue to change character perspectives, until I lost all interest. What's even worse is that Loren, who I had invested my interest in through the first chapter, was now acting in the background like an unimportant side character to the new third character perspective. Very jarring.
February 25, 2025
Beasts is from Crowley's early sci-fi period, although he was already inclining towards what would later be his overriding interests (myth and fable, magic, transformation, nature). It doesn't quite have the Biblical intensity of his debut, The Deep, but also doesn't have its touches of high-fantasy stiffness. With Crowley, my favorite living writer, I find myself grading on something of a reverse curve: if this was by any other author I would be praising it to the skies for its wonderful prose, its strange melancholy, its psychological deftness, its rich allusions to literature, myth, and religion (Crowley probably writes more astutely about religion than any other contemporary fiction writer - see the Ægypt Cycle). Here, I mostly see things that he'd do better later: there's just a hint of the neatly schematic in its thematic concerns (Man And Beast) that I don't find in his later books, and a couple sections that don't entirely work (the dog pack, imo). Still, I don't think he ever wrote a bad book, and like I said, on its own terms this is quite an accomplishment.
Read
January 31, 2020In a broken America, a leonine crossbreed becomes a symbol for humanity's redemption. At once a striking and original adventure story and a brilliant allegory for our increasing divorce from the natural world. Crowley is a master.
June 10, 2025
4.5 rounded up. Unique, sparse but rich prose and full of implication
December 14, 2025
Crowley good
March 1, 2019
I enjoyed the approximation of “in media res”, with a future where the United States is fragmented into hostile territories, where the status quo is one of brutish xenophobia about genetically altered animals, in particular a single fox and a large pride of lions, who are more human than animal. The fox is a Reynard sort, pulling strings, a puppet master playing all sides, towards an end no one properly knows, and the lion men are simply trying to survive outside of human society. The novel is short, almost fragmentary, as it feels the showdown between animals and men only comes to a head but is not resolved, all seemingly part of that in media res sensation. Crowley gives the impression of allowing us a glimpse only into an alternate reality, one where questions about what or who should be the earth’s rightful heirs. Intelligent and intriguing.
August 1, 2022
An early novel by John Crowley, the third and arguably weakest of the immortal trilogy along with the intricate The Deep and the elegiac Engine Summer. The book is built around Wittgenstein's quote "If a lion could talk, we would not understand him". True to the quote, and despite valiant efforts, Crowley proves unable to make his lions sufficiently incomprehensible and they turn into analogues of the Indians; it is well worth reading nonetheless. But your word-association with "beasts" will likely be very different to mine; the alternate title for this review was "Peace". More here.
July 4, 2023
My third Crowley novel, Beasts has thematic similarities to H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau, in that it explores the idea of Hybrid experiments, and the latent beasthood found in man; or conversely, the latent humanity found in beasts. It also expounds upon man's relationship with nature, and it's inescapable qualities.
While not as engaging or enchanting as Little, Big or as strange and enigmatic as The Deep, Beasts still displays the hallmarks of Crowley's masterful writing and his minimal, yet incredibly effective sense of world building.
While not as engaging or enchanting as Little, Big or as strange and enigmatic as The Deep, Beasts still displays the hallmarks of Crowley's masterful writing and his minimal, yet incredibly effective sense of world building.
March 1, 2015
La forma de narrar es confusa incluso cuando te acostumbras a ella, y quizá por eso, a pesar de que la trama me resultaba interesante, no logró atraparme salvo en contadísimas ocasiones.
No me dejaba con ganas de continuar leyendo y estaba deseando terminarlo, por si el final me quitaba la razón, pero tampoco fue así.
No me dejaba con ganas de continuar leyendo y estaba deseando terminarlo, por si el final me quitaba la razón, pero tampoco fue así.
November 8, 2007
Sci Fi from one of my favorite authors. Saying it has half man/lions in it--and a half man/fox makes it sound pretty lame, but Crowley powerfully delivers the unique kinds of minds these creatures might have.
October 8, 2014
Señoras y señores, esto es un coñazo.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews