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Deathbeast
Six hunters and two official guides are going on the trip of their lifetime.Their destination? Earth as it was a hundred million years ago, long before human dominion, when the great hot-blooded dinosaurs ruled supreme.Each of the time travelers has a different motive. Some are on the strange safari for pay. Others are taking a psychological and sexual holiday from civilization. There are women who wanted to show themselves the equal of men-and men out to test and prove their manhood.But whatever their drives and desires, their strengths and weaknesses, the ultimate horror awaits them.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
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115 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 9, 2023
A book about dinosaur hunters might sound like a mindless action adventure, but from the previous books I’ve read from David Gerrold I knew that this would get more introspective. It took some time to really unfold its full potential in that department, but it had everything I wanted from it once it did. While there is spectacle and if you like action, you’ll have a lot of fun, the book is mostly a low key character study of two, at first glance, very different people: the guide Loevils, an empathic and reasonable man, and the hunter Ethab, an arrogant adrenaline junky. The side characters are interesting as well, though there is a bit of a body count, so don’t expect to have time to get into their psyche as much. Another thing that worked amazingly well in this book is the writing: the way nature and the prehistoric creatures are described makes them seem so majestic.
October 2, 2018
Very satisfying pulp sci-fi reimagining of Moby Dick.
For an old sci-fi book with a really cheesy cover, Deathbeast ended up offering quite a bit more than you would first assume. Right from the beginning, David Gerrold dumps you into the Cretaceous Period with a quick fight scene and some character introductions. Not to spoil too much, but before long the hunters are dropping like flies. Some of the action scenes are positively gruesome, and Gerrold does not shy away from describing both dinosaur and human deaths with stark and cruel imagery.
The plot manages to stay tense and exciting throughout the length of the book, up until the final page, as the hunters and their guides pursue the titular Deathbeast - a massive T-Rex. Each character is distinct and memorable, and have a strong enough personality to drive some decent inter-personal conflicts. Ethab, the charismatic Captain Ahab of the group, is the stand-out; he evolves throughout the novel into a fearsome leader who will let nothing stand in his way of killing the Deathbeast. The guides, Megan and Loevil, are the protagonists in a sense; they receive less development but are easily the most likeable and sympathetic of the bunch. Tril, Dorick, Nusa, Eese, and Kalen have smaller roles, but each provide both a unique flavor and an important contribution to the story.
The only negative thing about Deathbeast is the tendency for David Gerrold to get caught up in poetic waxings about humanity and the cosmos. There are a few passages that work nicely in a bit of a homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but there are some that drag on too long and/or give unnecessary character motivations. However, these are relatively infrequent and easy to skip, so I don't think they excessively hinder the reader.
Overall, Deathbeast is a short and easy read that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish and provides a surprisingly deep perspective into the minds of both the dinosaur hunters and their guides. There are some traces of the classic sci-fi perspectives on gender, sex, and morality, but for the most part it reads like an exciting prehistoric blend of Jaws and Moby Dick. 4/5 stars.
For an old sci-fi book with a really cheesy cover, Deathbeast ended up offering quite a bit more than you would first assume. Right from the beginning, David Gerrold dumps you into the Cretaceous Period with a quick fight scene and some character introductions. Not to spoil too much, but before long the hunters are dropping like flies. Some of the action scenes are positively gruesome, and Gerrold does not shy away from describing both dinosaur and human deaths with stark and cruel imagery.
The plot manages to stay tense and exciting throughout the length of the book, up until the final page, as the hunters and their guides pursue the titular Deathbeast - a massive T-Rex. Each character is distinct and memorable, and have a strong enough personality to drive some decent inter-personal conflicts. Ethab, the charismatic Captain Ahab of the group, is the stand-out; he evolves throughout the novel into a fearsome leader who will let nothing stand in his way of killing the Deathbeast. The guides, Megan and Loevil, are the protagonists in a sense; they receive less development but are easily the most likeable and sympathetic of the bunch. Tril, Dorick, Nusa, Eese, and Kalen have smaller roles, but each provide both a unique flavor and an important contribution to the story.
The only negative thing about Deathbeast is the tendency for David Gerrold to get caught up in poetic waxings about humanity and the cosmos. There are a few passages that work nicely in a bit of a homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but there are some that drag on too long and/or give unnecessary character motivations. However, these are relatively infrequent and easy to skip, so I don't think they excessively hinder the reader.
Overall, Deathbeast is a short and easy read that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish and provides a surprisingly deep perspective into the minds of both the dinosaur hunters and their guides. There are some traces of the classic sci-fi perspectives on gender, sex, and morality, but for the most part it reads like an exciting prehistoric blend of Jaws and Moby Dick. 4/5 stars.
September 17, 2025
This is a fun time-travel adventure about a dinosaur safari. It's similar to familiar works from David Drake and L. Sprague de Camp and a dozen others that come to mind (and especially Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder, of course), but Gerrold adds an interesting Moby Dick-spin to it. It came out a dozen years before the novel Jurassic Park, fifteen years before we got to see it on the screen, and is a fun story with some interesting and quirky characters. If you knew the name of the Sinclair mascot was Dino, check it out. You've got to love the Michael Mariano cover; he did some good ones in a ten-year span 1976 - '86, and this is one of his best.
October 9, 2021
Time travel. Dinosaurs. A Captain Ahab-like hunt for a Moby Dick-like tyrannosaurus rex.
A group of six hunters and two guides "flash back" to 100 million years ago, to hunt dinosaurs. And specifically, the lead hunter, Ethab, is determined to bag a T. Rex. And he's not interested in the advice of the guides, Meghan and Loevil, that the hunters who have died on previous expeditions, have been the ones who insisted on going after T. Rex.
Things start to go wrong immediately upon arrival, when they arrive practically on top of a deinonychus, a roughly man-sized predator who responds to their sudden intrusion by attacking. It loses the fight, but not by much, and a significant portion of their gear is damaged or destroyed.
Much of what follows is Ethab's determination to get a T. Rex, the personal conflicts amongst the expedition members, and the reality that T. Rex isn't the only dangerous critter in the Cretaceous, even ignoring the newly arrived humans. We are apparently supposed to see Ethab as very charismatic, and certainly two of the three women, Nusa, and the rather smarter and more sensible Meghan, see him that way. I, on the other hand, found him just arrogant, self-absorbed, and with an unhealthy obsession with proving his manhood through killing. The violence, and its effects on both the dinosaurs and the humans, is fairly realistically described, but I thought not excessively so.
It's worth noting that this book was originally published in 1978, we did not yet know that the an asteroid killed off most of the dinosaurs (all except the avian dinosaurs), or that dinosaurs had feathers. Those are things that might look like inaccuracies to a current reader, but reflected what science knew at the time.
There's action, excitement, and internal character development, though I can't say I liked where all of that character development went. Overall, it's a fairly fast-paced and exciting read or listen, and I enjoyed it. I don't see it as a likely reread, though.
I bought this audiobook.
A group of six hunters and two guides "flash back" to 100 million years ago, to hunt dinosaurs. And specifically, the lead hunter, Ethab, is determined to bag a T. Rex. And he's not interested in the advice of the guides, Meghan and Loevil, that the hunters who have died on previous expeditions, have been the ones who insisted on going after T. Rex.
Things start to go wrong immediately upon arrival, when they arrive practically on top of a deinonychus, a roughly man-sized predator who responds to their sudden intrusion by attacking. It loses the fight, but not by much, and a significant portion of their gear is damaged or destroyed.
Much of what follows is Ethab's determination to get a T. Rex, the personal conflicts amongst the expedition members, and the reality that T. Rex isn't the only dangerous critter in the Cretaceous, even ignoring the newly arrived humans. We are apparently supposed to see Ethab as very charismatic, and certainly two of the three women, Nusa, and the rather smarter and more sensible Meghan, see him that way. I, on the other hand, found him just arrogant, self-absorbed, and with an unhealthy obsession with proving his manhood through killing. The violence, and its effects on both the dinosaurs and the humans, is fairly realistically described, but I thought not excessively so.
It's worth noting that this book was originally published in 1978, we did not yet know that the an asteroid killed off most of the dinosaurs (all except the avian dinosaurs), or that dinosaurs had feathers. Those are things that might look like inaccuracies to a current reader, but reflected what science knew at the time.
There's action, excitement, and internal character development, though I can't say I liked where all of that character development went. Overall, it's a fairly fast-paced and exciting read or listen, and I enjoyed it. I don't see it as a likely reread, though.
I bought this audiobook.
February 3, 2022
Classic David Gerrold, with hugely over the top writing style that's particularly suitable for big game hunting with T-Rex as the prey. Seems not many people understand necessity for such a style in a book like this, which I still find strange because there seem to have missed all the intelligence of metaphors and insights. Yes, there's place for that too, amidst all the chaos and action. But one needs to maintain focus not to miss those gems, especially if the reader is of a kind that skims through fast scenes thinking there's nothing of a substance there.
May 10, 2019
So yeah...Moby Dick redux. Moby Rex. Someone posted about this on a science fiction/fantasy page and I'd never read it. Took a bit to track down a copy to read, and it was the revised one. I understand originally, Gerrold had a T-rex in the Triassic, and the dinos were cold-blooded...he updated it to Cretaceous and warm blood with colors for the later printing. I imagine if he revised it again, there'd be feathers. Anyway, dated sexism time travel story with human condition commentary waxed on and off. Good, but not great.
March 26, 2022
Four-stars because it was one of my favorites as a kid - sort of an r-rated anti-butterfly-effect version of Ray Bradbury's Sound of Thunder - a hyper-violent Time-traveling T. rex hunt, which forward-thinking for its time with its 'hot-blooded dinosaurs', and was one of the first to feature sickle-clawed theropods.
On the flip side, it's every bit as purple-over-written as Bradbury's own stories were (sorry - not a Bradbury fan), to the point that sometimes it's difficult to tell exactly what's going on.
Four stars from an admitted T. rex fan who was an easy sell.
On the flip side, it's every bit as purple-over-written as Bradbury's own stories were (sorry - not a Bradbury fan), to the point that sometimes it's difficult to tell exactly what's going on.
Four stars from an admitted T. rex fan who was an easy sell.
August 14, 2018
I wanted to love this book, I really did.
The concept seemed so cool, I jumped this all the way to the top of my tbr.
But I found literally nothing to like.
It looked promising at first, jumped right into a cool action scene. And then... Blah.
The plot seems pointless. None of the characters interest me. Even the prose leaves much to be desired.
It isn't often I abandon a book without finishing it, but this time I had to.
The concept seemed so cool, I jumped this all the way to the top of my tbr.
But I found literally nothing to like.
It looked promising at first, jumped right into a cool action scene. And then... Blah.
The plot seems pointless. None of the characters interest me. Even the prose leaves much to be desired.
It isn't often I abandon a book without finishing it, but this time I had to.
May 3, 2019
Vista l'idea intrigante del libro e la partenza dello stesso (dritti in una scena d'azione), mi sarei aspettata qualcosa di più da questo libro.
La narrazione è scorrevole, la trama e la conclusione soddisfacenti, le scene d'azione realistiche, immersive e crude al punto giusto... il "machismo" e la mancanza d'etica, però, mi hanno totalmente bloccata.
La narrazione è scorrevole, la trama e la conclusione soddisfacenti, le scene d'azione realistiche, immersive e crude al punto giusto... il "machismo" e la mancanza d'etica, però, mi hanno totalmente bloccata.
July 11, 2022
In un futuro lontano l'umanità potrà, attraverso una navicella chiamata "Nexus", tornare al tempo dei dinosauri per una "caccia grossa" preistorica.
Questa è la storia di una spedizione di otto persone, comandata dal cinico Ethab e di ció che gli accadde.
"Superbestia", scritto da David Gerrold e pubblicato nel 1978 è un romanzo di fantascienza dove il lontano futuro lascerà spazio ad un passato remoto.
Il romanzo che purtroppo si presenta particolarmente debole a livello di trama, è un susseguirsi, spesso ripetitivo, di atti violenti verso animali e a volte fra gli stessi membri della spedizione che a lungo andare giungono ad infastidire il lettore.
I personaggi, non particolarmente ispirati ne particolareggiati, a parte solo la figura di Ethab, uomo cinico, collerico e individualista, non riescono a far presa sul lettore anche a causa, come detto prima, della debolezza stessa della storia narrata ma altrettanto per la cattiva caratterizzazione e inconsistenza delle loro personalità.
Ad una prima parte molto più lenta e non particolarmente avvincente, se ne contrappone una seconda, in cui la lotta spietata fra il protagonista e il "mostro" che li bracca fa risvegliare l'interesse del lettore anche se la stessa lotta e la sua esagerata durata pare abbastanza inverosimile anche per un libro di fantascienza.
Unica nota positiva, oltre alla poco sopra menzionata lotta, è l'ambientazione, decisamente poco sfruttata nei romanzi, specie di fantascienza ma interessante e sufficientemente ben descritta.
Un romanzo incapace di lasciare il segno e che a tratti si presenta poco degno di interesse.
Questa è la storia di una spedizione di otto persone, comandata dal cinico Ethab e di ció che gli accadde.
"Superbestia", scritto da David Gerrold e pubblicato nel 1978 è un romanzo di fantascienza dove il lontano futuro lascerà spazio ad un passato remoto.
Il romanzo che purtroppo si presenta particolarmente debole a livello di trama, è un susseguirsi, spesso ripetitivo, di atti violenti verso animali e a volte fra gli stessi membri della spedizione che a lungo andare giungono ad infastidire il lettore.
I personaggi, non particolarmente ispirati ne particolareggiati, a parte solo la figura di Ethab, uomo cinico, collerico e individualista, non riescono a far presa sul lettore anche a causa, come detto prima, della debolezza stessa della storia narrata ma altrettanto per la cattiva caratterizzazione e inconsistenza delle loro personalità.
Ad una prima parte molto più lenta e non particolarmente avvincente, se ne contrappone una seconda, in cui la lotta spietata fra il protagonista e il "mostro" che li bracca fa risvegliare l'interesse del lettore anche se la stessa lotta e la sua esagerata durata pare abbastanza inverosimile anche per un libro di fantascienza.
Unica nota positiva, oltre alla poco sopra menzionata lotta, è l'ambientazione, decisamente poco sfruttata nei romanzi, specie di fantascienza ma interessante e sufficientemente ben descritta.
Un romanzo incapace di lasciare il segno e che a tratti si presenta poco degno di interesse.
April 7, 2025
Overall this was an enjoyable read. There were a few things that made me roll my eyes and detract from my experience. One was the description of the dinosaurs talking. One such instance was early in the book, the hunters meet a deinonychus that screeches, and I'm paraphrasing here, "the dinosaur word for lunch!" Another sees the Deathbeast murmuring "naughty dinosaur words". There was also a part towards the end of the book about faeries in the moon and this unnamed city that totally lost me.
However, the scenes with the dinosaurs, particularly those with the Deathbeast were action packed and full of Jurassic Park gore! We see a clear comparison between one of the hunters, and one Captain Ahab who viciously pursued the whale that crippled him (Ethab? Ahab?!? Sperm Whale? Tyrannosaurus?) that made the story fun. I do wish the characters had been fleshed out a little more. I enjoyed this and will be reading more Gerrold.
However, the scenes with the dinosaurs, particularly those with the Deathbeast were action packed and full of Jurassic Park gore! We see a clear comparison between one of the hunters, and one Captain Ahab who viciously pursued the whale that crippled him (Ethab? Ahab?!? Sperm Whale? Tyrannosaurus?) that made the story fun. I do wish the characters had been fleshed out a little more. I enjoyed this and will be reading more Gerrold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2021
Group of people, ridiculously acting, talking and thinking like a characters from some Shakespearian parody, impossible to identify with, just senselessly running around from beginning to the end...
May 8, 2019
A decent time travel dinosaur safari tale. The ending is fantastic.
February 17, 2021
This story of a hunting expedition sent back in time, and its encounter with a tyrannosaurus rex, is a great adventure story as well as a character study. Faced paced and insightful!
June 29, 2023
scifi horror. good book with kooky characters and a big scary dinosaur!
March 10, 2026
Action and adventure as hunters travel into the past to bag a T-rex--and they run into the biggest and baddest of the T-rexes.
I would've loved it as a kid.
3 stars.
I would've loved it as a kid.
3 stars.
July 19, 2015
Deathbeast by David Gerrold is a fun book!
What happens when a guided hunting excursion to the Cretraceous gets hijacked by one of the members of the tour? Ethab, who chartered the tour, wants to bag a T.Rex. The trip goes wrong at the start when they are set down practically on top of a Deinonychus, a man-sized predator, that for some reason doesn't show up on the tour guides' sacanners. One of the members of the chart5er panics and as a result, the predator destroys much of their equipment.
Ethab will not anything stand in the way of his killing a T.Rex. He quickly takes over the group, reducing the legally required guides to little more than warning beacons, which Ethab ignores. He also ignores the mishaps which result in the death of one of the members of the group and the severe PTSD of another member.
The action is fast and constant in this book, and the interplay between the various characters is very interesting as the members of the charter try to retain their status in Ethab's eyes, while the two guides try to keep the members of the charter alive despite Ethab's disregard of their expertise.
There are a couple of spots where it drags a little. Gerrold gets caught up in philosophizing, but I just skimmed through those until the action started up again. The ending was too abrupt for my taste, but then I'm one of those people who likes long, lord of the Rings type endings.
If you like action, dinosaurs and science fiction, you will enjoy this book!
What happens when a guided hunting excursion to the Cretraceous gets hijacked by one of the members of the tour? Ethab, who chartered the tour, wants to bag a T.Rex. The trip goes wrong at the start when they are set down practically on top of a Deinonychus, a man-sized predator, that for some reason doesn't show up on the tour guides' sacanners. One of the members of the chart5er panics and as a result, the predator destroys much of their equipment.
Ethab will not anything stand in the way of his killing a T.Rex. He quickly takes over the group, reducing the legally required guides to little more than warning beacons, which Ethab ignores. He also ignores the mishaps which result in the death of one of the members of the group and the severe PTSD of another member.
The action is fast and constant in this book, and the interplay between the various characters is very interesting as the members of the charter try to retain their status in Ethab's eyes, while the two guides try to keep the members of the charter alive despite Ethab's disregard of their expertise.
There are a couple of spots where it drags a little. Gerrold gets caught up in philosophizing, but I just skimmed through those until the action started up again. The ending was too abrupt for my taste, but then I'm one of those people who likes long, lord of the Rings type endings.
If you like action, dinosaurs and science fiction, you will enjoy this book!
April 8, 2014
Despite a cheesy cover, David Gerrold's "Deathbeast" is actually a good, fun, thrilling read. The story involves a group of eight time travelers who venture back into the Cretaceous Era to hunt dinosaurs - specifically, a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's an interesting concept that Gerrold handles very well. The details and method of time travel is vague, but that's okay given it's not an essential part of the tale. What the story focuses on are the travelers and their hunt and interpersonal relationships, which David portrays in an interesting and exciting manner.
Surprisingly, none of the tech shown in the book is really all that dated. It all still seems sufficiently advanced and ahead of modern technology. Thus, one isn't distracted by a hokey science fiction device that we would find obsolete today. (Possibly the only scientific annoyance is Gerrold's use of the word "brontosaurus" for what we now call an "apatosaurus". But then, "bronto" was, in those days, the proper name of that particular species of lizards.)
And while this isn't in the same league as any of David Gerrold's classic books ("When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One", "The Man Who Folded Himself" and "A Matter For Men"), it is still a very entertaining thrill ride, tense right down to the last couple of pages.
Surprisingly, none of the tech shown in the book is really all that dated. It all still seems sufficiently advanced and ahead of modern technology. Thus, one isn't distracted by a hokey science fiction device that we would find obsolete today. (Possibly the only scientific annoyance is Gerrold's use of the word "brontosaurus" for what we now call an "apatosaurus". But then, "bronto" was, in those days, the proper name of that particular species of lizards.)
And while this isn't in the same league as any of David Gerrold's classic books ("When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One", "The Man Who Folded Himself" and "A Matter For Men"), it is still a very entertaining thrill ride, tense right down to the last couple of pages.
July 5, 2008
Pretty cool so far. It's very clearly an early work of David Gerrold and the writing is a bit raw compared to his later works. But he still manages to find some excellent characters and an interesting story given the framework of "time travelling to hunt dinosaurs".
April 16, 2015
Totally kick ass pulp sci fi thrills!An exploration of identity as much as a dinosaur story with a touch of Moby Dick.This seems tailor made for transfer to film. I'd definitely check it out.
August 23, 2011
I remember this as an enjoyable pre-Jurassic Park trip to dino-land. Am going to re-read and give it a thorough review.
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November 23, 2014
1979 grade B+
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