What do you think?
Rate this book
The Beasts of Success
In a dog-eat-dog world, three friends find themselves getting nowhere in their careers despite their education and work skills. They decide to make their own rules to the game of life and play dirty to get ahead. Each of them concoct schemes to sabotage colleagues and clear the path for their swift advancement.
Through a journey of deception and personal discovery, they find that life at the top isn’t what they imagined it would be. All the while, they’re not aware that they’re part of a much larger game being played by a world-controlling group that doesn’t have their best interests in mind. And with a physical manifestation of karma on the loose, their futures are uncertain.
In this fast-paced, entertaining ride, readers will confront a cache of arcane truth and thought-provoking situations by means of satire. The Beasts of Success lifts the veil on a hidden world of which few are aware. Welcome to the methodical illusion. How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?
The more meaningful and accurate reviews that have been removed from Goodreads due to censorship can be read on the author's website: jasunetherbooks
Through a journey of deception and personal discovery, they find that life at the top isn’t what they imagined it would be. All the while, they’re not aware that they’re part of a much larger game being played by a world-controlling group that doesn’t have their best interests in mind. And with a physical manifestation of karma on the loose, their futures are uncertain.
In this fast-paced, entertaining ride, readers will confront a cache of arcane truth and thought-provoking situations by means of satire. The Beasts of Success lifts the veil on a hidden world of which few are aware. Welcome to the methodical illusion. How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?
The more meaningful and accurate reviews that have been removed from Goodreads due to censorship can be read on the author's website: jasunetherbooks
445 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2020
About the author
Jasun Ether
2 books109 followersJasun Ether is a later 6th density wanderer/starseed who incarnated onto planet Earth with the mission to assist humanity in graduating to the 4th density by bringing through the course: The Cosmic Experience of One : An awareness-expanding course for human beings. Pertaining to Ether’s truth in fiction books, his interest as an author is to produce entertaining novels that are filled with truth, meaning, and empowering ideas, and which help humanity raise its consciousness, one reader at a time.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 17, 2021
Fast read
An interesting and humorous book. The plot is intriguing enough to keep you engaged. All was good until the vomit part. Over all , this book is highly recommended . I won’t be surprised if I, in the future, watch it on the big screen.
An interesting and humorous book. The plot is intriguing enough to keep you engaged. All was good until the vomit part. Over all , this book is highly recommended . I won’t be surprised if I, in the future, watch it on the big screen.
April 1, 2020
I was very excited to read this book. It had so much potential in the summary, I thought. After reading the prologue, I was still feeling great! It was punchy and I loved it.
I very quickly lost my excitement in the first chapter. As I read, I left that the point of view (POV) was confused. Whenever there was a POV, the narrator didn't have a clear voice and was often unreliable, contradicting themselves within a single chapter. And I never really did care for the characters, just became more and more irritated with them.
The book was also very difficult to read. The sentences felt overly complicated for no reason. Often descriptions and thoughts broke the "show don't tell" rule, and I felt like most of the thick dialogue wasn't even needed for the story. Overall, the book had a habit of reading like some blend of an economics and sociology textbook.
Finally, I wasn't okay with all the offensive language and topics in the book. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate some of it if there is a reason. But I couldn't find one here. We just kept getting slammed with it. Unnecessary violence, crude language, sexual references, and appropriating culture. The most notable moment to me was a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Everything from the description of the waitress, how the author wrote her dialogue, and the topics she discussed was a gross misrepresentation of the Chinese waitress, and it frankly disgusted me.
Maybe this book just wasn't for me, I couldn't say. If you are fine with crude language, dense text, and plot moving at only a click up from stationary, then maybe this is the book for you. It did have a lot of potential for the plot to be interesting.
I very quickly lost my excitement in the first chapter. As I read, I left that the point of view (POV) was confused. Whenever there was a POV, the narrator didn't have a clear voice and was often unreliable, contradicting themselves within a single chapter. And I never really did care for the characters, just became more and more irritated with them.
The book was also very difficult to read. The sentences felt overly complicated for no reason. Often descriptions and thoughts broke the "show don't tell" rule, and I felt like most of the thick dialogue wasn't even needed for the story. Overall, the book had a habit of reading like some blend of an economics and sociology textbook.
Finally, I wasn't okay with all the offensive language and topics in the book. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate some of it if there is a reason. But I couldn't find one here. We just kept getting slammed with it. Unnecessary violence, crude language, sexual references, and appropriating culture. The most notable moment to me was a dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Everything from the description of the waitress, how the author wrote her dialogue, and the topics she discussed was a gross misrepresentation of the Chinese waitress, and it frankly disgusted me.
Maybe this book just wasn't for me, I couldn't say. If you are fine with crude language, dense text, and plot moving at only a click up from stationary, then maybe this is the book for you. It did have a lot of potential for the plot to be interesting.
June 26, 2025
I read it, and I think I could read it several more times and get more out of it each time. There are so many layers to this book. It came very close to being preachy but never crossed over or annoyed me. It was very entertaining the whole time, dark but bizarre enough to make me smile. I loved it.
June 15, 2026
The Beasts of Success captivated me from the beginning and never let go. It's a fast paced roller coaster ride. The ride was entertaining, satirically humorous, eye-opening, terrifying, thought-provoking, and occasionally philosophical.
May 8, 2026
I had no expectations going into this book and was delightfully impressed by the time I finished it. What was at the start a chance I took on a book I thought I might not even finish became a book I want to keep and read again sometime in the future. I wish this kind of thing happened more often, but it seems the bulk of novels are getting worse every year, just like movies.
May 11, 2026
Ether uses words to illicit impact and imagery. The storyline’s message is nicely done and revealing. Hidden truths are brought to light to ruminate over whether they are believed or not. If it weren’t for some of the minor scenes, that temporarily derailed the pace of the main story, this would be an unstoppable train ride. The minor scenes conveyed messages, I am not obtuse enough to see this, but regardless, I thought it would’ve been better sticking to the story and the main message he wished to convey. Overall, very delightful
and meaningful read.
and meaningful read.
May 6, 2026
I liked the author’s writing style. I found the sentence structure easily conjuring
up imagines in my mind as I read the story. The author doesn’t get lost in
detailed descriptions as some writers who try to wax poetic to the point where
the read becomes tidies and bothersome just so they can seem literary and
pompous. The story runs well here because such details are only used when it
assists the story or mental imagery. This book read like a movie in my head.
up imagines in my mind as I read the story. The author doesn’t get lost in
detailed descriptions as some writers who try to wax poetic to the point where
the read becomes tidies and bothersome just so they can seem literary and
pompous. The story runs well here because such details are only used when it
assists the story or mental imagery. This book read like a movie in my head.
June 26, 2026
The story kept me interested from start to finish, but the real strength of the book lies in its message. It challenges conventional ideas about success and encourages readers to look beyond money, status, and recognition. I found that incredibly refreshing!
Want to Read
August 25, 2021 I received an advanced digital copy of this book, courtesy of the author and publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
RTC
RTC
June 15, 2026
The Beasts of Success by Jasun Ether is a darkly humorous and thought-provoking novel that explores the clash between ethics and ambition in the modern workplace. Through the experiences of three friends, particularly the cunning and manipulative Dale, the story questions whether hard work alone is enough to succeed or if people must bend the rules to get ahead. For example, Dale devises an elaborate scheme to remove a colleague who gained a promotion through connections, forcing readers to consider how far they would go to achieve success. Overall, the book is an engaging satire that challenges conventional ideas about morality, power, and achievement.
August 11, 2022
*I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
This feels like two books in one. The first is a gory, gross-out shocker, courting controversy and edged with dark humour, like a Farrelly brothers’ film set in the world of business and dirty dealings. The second is a moralistic, ‘mass awakening’, ‘do your own research, sheeple!’, conspiracy theory tome. Unfortunately, neither of this is really my cup of tea, and I suspect that I am simply not an edgy enough audience.
The book starts with three disenfranchised, disillusioned outsider men – Dale, Jeremy and Tim – who decide to try to get ahead in their chosen careers by playing a series of career-ending pranks on their colleagues. Then follows the progress of their pranks, involving lots of drugs and bodily fluids (and solids), loads of profanity and some shameful treatment of women, the overweight and ‘foreigners’. There is not one likable character here, by the author’s design, which is by no means a deal-breaker, but can make it hard to engage with the characters’ journeys.
The plot is interspersed with rants about government control, alien control, corporate evil, obesity and junk food, brainwashing, subjugation of the masses via economics, the poisoning of the water supply, GM foods, vaccinations, and so on and so on. (Wake up, sheeple!) It is pretty hard to tell which, if any, views are endorsed by the author as all come from highly immoral or amoral sources, and there are some interesting ethical pointers found in the main character’s dreams, as their subconscious minds attempt to steer them away from the damaging courses they are on.
There is a moral shift towards the end of the book, for some of the main characters, but it is a little hard to buy into their ‘enlightenment’, as they only change when it suits them to do so, and it is hardly redemptive when they showed zero empathy for others throughout and, in fact, took great pleasure in cruelty and in ruining the lives of others.
I can definitely see this being a fun and/or interesting read for those who believe in a malevolent global agenda and enjoy gross-out dark humour tinged with horror, but this one just wasn’t for me.
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
This feels like two books in one. The first is a gory, gross-out shocker, courting controversy and edged with dark humour, like a Farrelly brothers’ film set in the world of business and dirty dealings. The second is a moralistic, ‘mass awakening’, ‘do your own research, sheeple!’, conspiracy theory tome. Unfortunately, neither of this is really my cup of tea, and I suspect that I am simply not an edgy enough audience.
The book starts with three disenfranchised, disillusioned outsider men – Dale, Jeremy and Tim – who decide to try to get ahead in their chosen careers by playing a series of career-ending pranks on their colleagues. Then follows the progress of their pranks, involving lots of drugs and bodily fluids (and solids), loads of profanity and some shameful treatment of women, the overweight and ‘foreigners’. There is not one likable character here, by the author’s design, which is by no means a deal-breaker, but can make it hard to engage with the characters’ journeys.
The plot is interspersed with rants about government control, alien control, corporate evil, obesity and junk food, brainwashing, subjugation of the masses via economics, the poisoning of the water supply, GM foods, vaccinations, and so on and so on. (Wake up, sheeple!) It is pretty hard to tell which, if any, views are endorsed by the author as all come from highly immoral or amoral sources, and there are some interesting ethical pointers found in the main character’s dreams, as their subconscious minds attempt to steer them away from the damaging courses they are on.
There is a moral shift towards the end of the book, for some of the main characters, but it is a little hard to buy into their ‘enlightenment’, as they only change when it suits them to do so, and it is hardly redemptive when they showed zero empathy for others throughout and, in fact, took great pleasure in cruelty and in ruining the lives of others.
I can definitely see this being a fun and/or interesting read for those who believe in a malevolent global agenda and enjoy gross-out dark humour tinged with horror, but this one just wasn’t for me.
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
October 5, 2020
This was a good book, and I desperately wanted to give it five stars. I’m not all hung up on whether characters are “likable” or not, I just want them to be real. And these characters were definitely real. The premise of the book was good and it had specific twists and turns that made you want to know what was coming next. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five was because of some of the absolutely preposterous scenes that, in my humble opinion, did not contribute to the story at all.
I won’t do spoilers, but the scene in the Chinese restaurant, and the scene where the two Mormon boys knock on the door, for instance: they were just outlandishly silly and unbelievable. No one would act that way unless they were on drugs. There was also a particularly revolting scene that would make anyone retch and added nothing to the story. It was almost like the book veered off into weird, absurd scenes for the sake of veering off into weird, absurd scenes. I’m not sure how they contributed to the book other than making readers think that the characters were having temporary bouts of insanity throughout.
So for me, it was like reading this really good, engaging story that was rolling along with believable characters and an interesting plot and then suddenly all the characters are in some kind of a drug-induced, psychedelic dream or something. I found myself constantly having to slog through these foolish, unrealistic scenes to get back to the main story and it was very distracting. If not for those weird parts that continuously interrupted a great plot, this would be a five+ for me. Maybe someday the author would consider editing out some of those bizarre and disgusting sections and just stick with this really great story. If so, I would certainly read it again.
I won’t do spoilers, but the scene in the Chinese restaurant, and the scene where the two Mormon boys knock on the door, for instance: they were just outlandishly silly and unbelievable. No one would act that way unless they were on drugs. There was also a particularly revolting scene that would make anyone retch and added nothing to the story. It was almost like the book veered off into weird, absurd scenes for the sake of veering off into weird, absurd scenes. I’m not sure how they contributed to the book other than making readers think that the characters were having temporary bouts of insanity throughout.
So for me, it was like reading this really good, engaging story that was rolling along with believable characters and an interesting plot and then suddenly all the characters are in some kind of a drug-induced, psychedelic dream or something. I found myself constantly having to slog through these foolish, unrealistic scenes to get back to the main story and it was very distracting. If not for those weird parts that continuously interrupted a great plot, this would be a five+ for me. Maybe someday the author would consider editing out some of those bizarre and disgusting sections and just stick with this really great story. If so, I would certainly read it again.
July 23, 2026
The Beasts of Success takes the corporate ladder literally enough to expose its teeth. Jasun Ether follows three educated friends who decide that competence and patience are not moving them quickly enough, so they begin sabotaging colleagues and rewriting the rules in their favor. The premise has satirical potential because professional life often rewards behavior that institutions publicly condemn and privately incentivize.
The early sections work best when the schemes remain close to recognizable ambition. Small acts of dishonesty accumulate, friendship becomes competition, and success changes from an aspiration into a justification. Ether has an energetic imagination and a taste for dark comedy. He also understands that the fantasy of reaching the top depends on pretending the top is a stable place. The characters discover that advancement does not cure insecurity. It gives insecurity a larger office. The book is most persuasive when success is treated as a relationship rather than a trophy. Ambition changes friendships, families, self-perception, and the amount of attention available for other people. That is fertile ground,
particularly for readers balancing aspiration with care. The less persuasive passages rely on declaration where a more developed human example would carry greater weight.
The novel becomes less controlled as conspiracy, occult ideas, metaphysical explanation, and a physical manifestation of karma compete with the workplace satire. The larger hidden system is meant to reveal that the characters are players inside someone else's game, but it sometimes reduces the moral interest of their choices. Satire is sharpest when the ordinary world is sufficient evidence. Once every cruelty connects to a secret architecture, responsibility becomes easier to displace. The women in the story also deserve more interior room than the machinery of plot consistently allows them.
Three stars. The Beasts of Success is ambitious, fast, strange, and often entertaining. I admired its refusal to treat professional success as proof of personal worth, and some of its jokes land because they recognize how institutions rename predation as drive. The book needed a firmer editorial hand and more trust in its original premise. Corporate life already contains enough concealed incentives, ritual language, and moral compromise to qualify as a conspiracy without assistance from the cosmos.
The early sections work best when the schemes remain close to recognizable ambition. Small acts of dishonesty accumulate, friendship becomes competition, and success changes from an aspiration into a justification. Ether has an energetic imagination and a taste for dark comedy. He also understands that the fantasy of reaching the top depends on pretending the top is a stable place. The characters discover that advancement does not cure insecurity. It gives insecurity a larger office. The book is most persuasive when success is treated as a relationship rather than a trophy. Ambition changes friendships, families, self-perception, and the amount of attention available for other people. That is fertile ground,
particularly for readers balancing aspiration with care. The less persuasive passages rely on declaration where a more developed human example would carry greater weight.
The novel becomes less controlled as conspiracy, occult ideas, metaphysical explanation, and a physical manifestation of karma compete with the workplace satire. The larger hidden system is meant to reveal that the characters are players inside someone else's game, but it sometimes reduces the moral interest of their choices. Satire is sharpest when the ordinary world is sufficient evidence. Once every cruelty connects to a secret architecture, responsibility becomes easier to displace. The women in the story also deserve more interior room than the machinery of plot consistently allows them.
Three stars. The Beasts of Success is ambitious, fast, strange, and often entertaining. I admired its refusal to treat professional success as proof of personal worth, and some of its jokes land because they recognize how institutions rename predation as drive. The book needed a firmer editorial hand and more trust in its original premise. Corporate life already contains enough concealed incentives, ritual language, and moral compromise to qualify as a conspiracy without assistance from the cosmos.
June 15, 2020
The pace started out moderately as the Ether developed the characters and created a world all too familiar for those who have not been invited to the "big boys' table. Jeremy, Dale & Tim, who met in college, were tired of being the underdogs. The story progressed using some pretty descriptive language to describe the lengths each would go to in order to come out on top. There were times as I read that the language choices felt a bit off to me and that women were simply a tool to be used.
I'll be the first to say that the author's writing style was new to me and while I think some of the humor or satire may have gone over my head, I can appreciate the fact that those who are fans of dark humor will thoroughly enjoy this tale.
I'll be the first to say that the author's writing style was new to me and while I think some of the humor or satire may have gone over my head, I can appreciate the fact that those who are fans of dark humor will thoroughly enjoy this tale.
December 4, 2024
The guy can't write, the book doesn't reveal any profound secret about our world and the story about being shadow-banned and an underdog is bullsh*t (see the overinflated rating here on Goodreads).
I feel stupid to have spent 12 bucks on this dud. Don't fall for the scam of this charlatan.
I feel stupid to have spent 12 bucks on this dud. Don't fall for the scam of this charlatan.
July 5, 2025
I got through 60% and couldn’t take anymore. The characters do nothing but complain. There were a few times I giggled. Love the Mormon scene. But in all of that was nothing but irritated people bitching about their crappy lives. Too long winded and no real substance.
May 8, 2026
How to describe this book? If you took Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fight
Club and mixed it with Machiavelli, perhaps you could assemble the mixed
cocktail that is The Beasts of Success. It’s light and funny at times and serious
and revealing at other times, but somehow it works together.
Club and mixed it with Machiavelli, perhaps you could assemble the mixed
cocktail that is The Beasts of Success. It’s light and funny at times and serious
and revealing at other times, but somehow it works together.
May 11, 2026
This is a unique read. This is for sure. After finishing it, I couldn’t think of another book to really compare it to. Comparing books to other books is a good way to let people know what the books is like, but sorry, I can’t help you out by doing this because my mind draws a blank. Give this book a try if you want something different.
May 24, 2026
A thrilling and psychological read with gothic parts from the Ken Karver character who thinks of himself as the embodiment of karma. Ideas are sprinkled throughout the story in hopes that the reader will recognize the seedlings.
June 18, 2025
Read it, gift it to friends and continue down the rabbit hole.
December 16, 2025
This is the dumbest book I have ever read. It’s basically a very long South Park episode.
January 18, 2026
This book was ridiculous, unrealistic, and silly...great satire!
May 11, 2026
This book had me thinking and laughing all the way through. I have never read an author who so tactfully uses satirical fiction to deliver deep messages through humorous situations. It kept me laughing and pondering at the same time.
Read
May 11, 2026horrid cover (didn't read it)
May 21, 2026
Nicely written. Reads like a movie screenplay at parts where the fluff is cut out and the meat is the only thing left on the bone. Quite a tasty read.
May 29, 2026
Full of punches and packed with pomp and zest. Kept me glued to the pages till the end of this literary ride.
June 6, 2026
A delightful surprise. The Beasts of Success is one of those books I’ll read again in the future. Like a classic movie, I think this book could be re-read many times and not get old.
September 9, 2026
Did not finish. Poorly written, misogynistic and homophobic humour, characters were deeply unlikeable. Hard to believe the positive reviews are all genuine tbh.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews