Beast Born is the story of a young boy, living a rough home life. He is bullied at school and home with no bright light at the end of his tunnel. Until one night, when he is attacked by a mysterious creature in the dark, Arthur is saved by a man with inhuman abilities and powers Arthur had never seen before. After meeting the man once again, the boy discovers the man who saved him is a Werewolf and he is locked in a never-ending war with Vampires, hiding away from the sight of humanity. While reeling from that realization, Arthur is then given the chance to join the war and become a Werewolf himself. Through brutal trials and challenges, and near-death battles, Arthur discovers an entirely new world he never knew existed right under his nose. Under the watchful eye of his new mentor, Cratos Mane, Arthur will battle through impossible odds to become the greatest Werewolf the world has ever known.
Jesus. What a book, not what I expected it to be at all, I don't usually read anything to do with werewolves or vampires, but this was a great journey to read. Arthur's life and his relationship with the other main character, Crantos, was very well thought out and written.
This book was well worth my time and money. It goes beyond the action-packed story I expected to have heart, characters about which I cared, and unexpected depth that deepens as the story progresses. Horror may not be everyone’s Christmas wish, yet Book 2 will be part of my Christmas break so that I have time to devour instead of only a few chapters per day.
What Really Works in this Book
The action is banger and the pacing is excellent among the various aspects of the story to let us get to know the characters, see Arthur’s training, and learn about the world. The training aspects are very effective in showing what Arthur’s new reality means and how minute-by-minute is unpleasant as he hates his very effective mentor while definitely getting better every day.
Arthur, Cratos, and Delfer are real people to me. The teen angst that starts the book deepens into more than I expected, and it was fairly quickly. I gasped at the early betrayal of trust by friends and that’s before we get to the supernatural aspects.
The horror in this book is not the supernatural aspects; the horror is the psychological aspects of getting to realize that actions have consequences that go far deeper than A Very Special Angsty Moment. This is well executed depth of what it means to truly accept reality of hard choices and no one getting out of life alive, yet we are alive right now and what we do matters right now. This is full out show of what consequences mean and the cost of doing the right thing while being part of something larger than oneself. No preachy tell, yet the ethics and morality come shining through to give the characters depth that matters.
Why Only 3 Stars
This book would be at least 4 stars with a good editor because the ideas are here. However, this book has enough flashes of greatness that lack of polish in other parts of the book is highlighted. The execution is uneven at times with depth that then pulls back to popcorn-level predictable YA werewolf instead of continuing in the author’s unique voice that builds an interesting world. This novel has a lot of evident effort to get the plot right and continuity across the whole novel, yet the number of typos, incorrect homophones, and clunky paragraphs is noticeable.
What Prospective Readers May Want to Know
This is a good book that bridges the genres of fun werewolf fiction with true psychological horror. It’s great action with well-developed characters in an interesting world.
However, it is a book setting up for a series, so this book is Arthur’s introduction into the world without all the details of the bigger political schemes happening, although the allusions and hints are sprinkled through the book. The ending of this book is a cliffhanger and very effective at getting me to buy the next book immediately to see what happens.
I really enjoyed this book. I was quickly drawn into the life of the main character, Arthur and his entry into the world of werewolves. This kid has it rough but he still holds onto a good heart as he is thrust into this new world of werewolves, vampires and copious other supernaturals. You just can’t help but admire this kids ferocious desire when it comes to wanting to help or save the ones he cares for. His mentor, Cratos holds this kind of love and respect from Arthur. Also, he might just be the best big brother any sister could hope for. Arthur isn’t perfect by any means, but you can’t fault him because he works hard to make up for his mistakes.
There is of course, a lot of room for character growth that I can’t wait to see. Especially for The Beast, Arthur’s werewolf (I won’t go into details because this dynamic is my favorite part and I’d hate to spoil ). The Beast is a very intriguing character as it becomes clear that Arthur is an exceptional werewolf and his Beast isn’t run of the mill.
I love the refreshing take on werewolf lore and can’t wait to learn more about its history. Beast Born holds the promise of great things to come in the series and I for one am addicted.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
From the first page, this is an action-packed story. It’s full of unpredictable twists, great world building and original ideas. The main character, Arthur, is fantastically written. His struggles, as both human and Werewolf, are very believable, yet he is so much more than just a victim of his bullies. He’s funny, brave and what’s important, determined to change his future.
Two things that I absolutely loved in this story were Artur’s relationship with his family and his relationship (almost dependence) with his mentor, Cratos. These two added such a great dimension to the MC’s thoughts, reasoning, and decision-making process.
The Werewolf-Vampire war was far from being stereotypic. I thought that placing Vampires at the top of society and using modern technology to their aid was a wonderful idea. There is a lot of history around that war (centuries!), but author did an excellent job with a pace at which the information was given (it didn’t feel overwhelming at any point).
Unfortunately, I couldn’t give 5 stars because of issues with editing and formatting. In the copy that I bought the book was missing page numbering. Chapter V was oddly small (as if the page was zoomed out to make it to the 20% of page size). I found a good deal of punctuation/misspellings errors and repeating words. This was something that distracted me from the story on more than one occasion.
Nevertheless, I definitely recommend this book for readers of urban fantasy / werewolf books. While some errors were bothering to me, I will be still looking to read book 2 when it comes out, because the story really hooked me in!
It’s a familiar concept: a weak, young protagonist gains power and must learn how to work with it. From there, it takes a less traditional route. Beast Born eschews a traditional structure, taking no interest in a singular end goal and instead taking the reader on a series of unexpected twists and turns. Nearly every chapter contains action and excitement. In the end, however, the story is built off its characters and their interactions. It’s a coming-of-age tale that maintains focus on setup. There are as many questions as answers throughout the novel, setting the reader up for the following books. A solid read that I’d particularly recommend for young readers interested in a relatable male protagonist.
Great premise and story idea! We follow Arthur as life kicks him down, and gives him a couple more kicks just to be sure. And then one night his whole life is changed. You really feel for this character and what he has gone through! I did subtract one star due to some grammatical errors and formatting. But I don’t think it takes away from the overall story. Especially wants it really gets going!
Pros: -Beautiful imagery. Altoft expertly crafts his scenes so they're easy to slip into. He's the indie author that has done it best. -Awesome action. The fight scenes were easy to follow as well as tense. I especially enjoyed the final fight in this book. -Arthur is a likable protagonist. I enjoyed his enthussiam and determination to succeed. He shows signs of growth as well during his journey which I appreicate. -Target audience is clear and will likely enjoy the story for what it is (if they're not daunted by the size of the book) -There was one dream sequence that actually did a great job at capturing Arthur's remorse. I very rarely approve of dream sequences but there was 1 out of the 2 in this book that I actually enjoyed. -Altoft's writing style is consistent. If you like how he writes from the first few pages then you'll likely enjoy it all the way through. He stays true to how he tells his tale. -Altoft pays attention to details in his book. He keeps a close eye on what his Werewolves can do. Cons: -It needs a proofread. A lot of inconsistenies with capitlization, puncuation, and spelling. -Cratos takes a bit of a nasty turn at the end of the book and I ended up questioning a lot of his choices as a teacher. -The plot came to a bit of a halt after the first 2/3 of the book (shortly after Siren's scenes) -There are a few Point of View issues starting at about halfway (when it switches to a vampire spying on the werewolves). I personally would have preferred if it stuck with Arthur's POV as he is the main focus of the story and it would have provided more suspense -I felt as if I was left a lot more questions than answers at the end of the book which doesn't feel very rewarding considering its length. -There was an excessive use of adverbs. A lot of these adverbs aren't needed as the dialgoue already implies the emotions expressed. -The incident with the plane was the one action scene he slipped up a bit. It's arguably the weakest chapter in the entire book due to how absurd the vampires acted.
Overall I liked the book for what it was. It suffers a few techinical issues but it is still the best indie book I have read so far. Its target audience should find it enjoyable if they don't find it too big to take on and if they're really craving some werewolf lore.
This is the story of a young man named Arthur Thorn, who is thrown into the middle of an ancient war between Werewolves and Vampires. After accepting an offer to join the side of the Werewolves, he undergoes a transformation and journeys across the world with his new teacher, Cratos Mane, a veteran in the war. First off, this is definitely not your generic Werewolf/Vampire tale. Arthur and Cratos are great characters with amazing chemistry between them as the student and teacher respectively. Arthur is the new kid on the block with a lot to learn but with great potential. Cratos is the grizzled warrior Werewolf, but is not one-dimensional. He’s funny and slightly quirky and a lot of fun. The other characters introduced in the story such as the Werewolf doctor Siren and the elite Vampire group known as the Hunters are interesting and mysterious, leaving the reader with wanting to know everything about them. Also, the world of the Werewolves and their war with the Vampires are so detailed, and not everything is revealed at once. You really want to throw yourself into this world and explore every nook and cranny for yourself. The only reason why this story doesn’t get five stars is that it does need some polishing with the writing. There are some typos and grammar errors that may be distracting for some readers. That being said, the author clearly displays talent with world building, and this is a series I’m excited to read more about.
"That was before, back when Arthur had the muscle strength of a jellyfish."
The number of inspiring quotations was one of the things I liked best about this book. I was glad I purchased the ebook so that everyone could read some of my favorite quotes that I had highlighted. The above brings out the humor I love from the main character, Arthur. He is fun, and throughout the book, we can see that he cares for people, especially his family. He loves his sister and mother unconditionally, and I admired the character for taking risks. It's fascinating to watch how he improves and becomes more courageous over time. Altoft stays true to his writing, which means the scenes are imaginative. Every scene is vividly envisioned, and Arthur's personality only adds to the fun.
I must say that I enjoyed this book until about halfway through. Following that, the pace of events slows a little in comparison to the beginning of the book. I started having trouble keeping up with the reading because I was bored. Another issue with this book was that it required proofreading/editing. The number of grammar and spelling errors bothered me and occasionally prevented me from reading.
Other than that, I believe this author has great potential to continue the series. I hope to see more of Arthur's world sometime soon.
Beast Born is a captivating and action-packed novel that will appeal to fans of supernatural fiction and coming-of-age stories. Arthur's transformation from an ordinary boy into a werewolf, guided by the enigmatic mentor Cratos Mane, is the heart of the story. This narrative takes readers on a thrilling journey as Arthur's life is forever altered when he crosses paths with a mysterious creature in the dark. The author masterfully weaves together elements of fantasy, supernatural creatures, and the timeless struggle between werewolves and vampires. The pacing is relentless, with every chapter filled with intense trials, challenges, and near-death battles. While "Beast Born" excels in many aspects, there are moments where the plot can become somewhat predictable, adhering to some classic fantasy tropes. However, the engaging characters and the well-crafted supernatural world compensate for this minor drawback. Readers will be eagerly anticipating the next installment in this exciting series.
"Arthur desperately wanted to work past what had happened and fight on as a creature of strength that doesn't let tragedy defeat him but evolves him"
This was a really enjoyable read, and definitely a book that doesn't hold back when it comes to action and grit. It starts off a bit slow and mundane, but the story quickly takes off after Arthur's transformation. Though it's not necessarily Arthur's werewolf awakening and new found abilities that made this story interesting in my opinion, but rather Arthur's growth as a character under the patient, but firm, mentorship of Cratos. I absolutely loved the dynamic between these two, and found Arthur's character arc refreshing to witness. It was satisfying watching his journey from powerless to protector, all while confronting a lurking, inner beast of his own.
A splash of Underworld meets Blade with overcoming childhood trauma, we follow Arthur Thorn as he enters the world of the Supernatural and becomes a werewolf. But, our boy Arthur's got some anger he's gotta work out. TWs for anyone sensitive to domestic violence - as a survivor myself Dylan handled it with care given the heaviness of the subject matter.
Dylan's writing is for the kids that loved Underworld, Queen of the Damned and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Maybe a hint of Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman. Shit's gory. The world building is very reminiscent of those movies and shows and me being a werewolf nerd LOVED that. There's a couple of typos that threw me off in some places - not often enough to not enjoy the story, but noticeable. A beta reader is the only thing I'd recommend for the author's future works to help catch this.
It's a long one in an even longer saga. Out follows a bit who, down nodded finds himself on a long soon to be violent course. I look forward to the others in this series. Gave four stars for the formatting. Long paragraphs made a wall of text on the Kindle and was difficult to keep track.
Apart from the proofreading issues and some inconsistencies, the book is very enjoyable overall. It is not a genre I usually read, but it kept me interested to the end. The story is imaginative and works very well indeed, and the characters are believable and well cast.
A fun book with wildly wonderful characters! Anyone who wants to know about werewolves, then Mr. Altoft is the man to go to! It opens with a bang and leaves the reader breathless, waiting to see what is lurking on the next page.
Liked this story. Completely different from my other reads. More urban fantasy. A story about a young man turning into a werewolve. Together with his mentor to teach the ways. The interaction with his wolve, his beast is very interesting. Liked it.
This book is good! I really like the relationship between Cratos and Arthur although Siren is my favorite character. It’s not your typical werewolf story either so if you’re looking for mates and romance this book isn’t it. It’s more of a brotherhood and training for a war kind of book but it leaves a little on a cliffhanger. Can’t wait to start book two!!
This book is well-written and is what I consider a fantastic addition to the werewolf/vampire genre.
Packed with action, gore and plenty of interesting and likable characters, especially Arthur, this is one I highly recommend and is a promising start to what I think will be a great series.