Preview

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Beggars in Spain

By: Nancy Kress
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.35

Buy for $21.35

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Nebula Award Winner, Novella, 1991

In a world where the slightest edge can mean the difference between success and failure, Leisha Camden is beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent, and one of a growing number of human beings who have been genetically modified to never require sleep.

Once considered interesting anomalies, now Leisha and the other "Sleepless" are outcasts, victims of blind hatred, political repression, and shocking mob violence meant to drive them from human society and, ultimately, from Earth itself.

But Leisha Camden has chosen to remain behind in a world that envies and fears her "gift," a world marked for destruction by a deadly conspiracy of freedom and revenge.

©1993 Nancy Kress (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Superb....An exquisite saga of biological advantages." ( Denver Post)
"A depth of imagination unusual even among science fiction writers." ( Analog)
"[T]hrilling drama, compelling dialectic." ( Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about Beggars in Spain

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    344
  • 4 Stars
    191
  • 3 Stars
    85
  • 2 Stars
    35
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    315
  • 4 Stars
    132
  • 3 Stars
    44
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    279
  • 4 Stars
    139
  • 3 Stars
    59
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    15

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good, recommended, though at times iffy!

This was a very listenable audiobook with some interesting ideas. It certainly held my attention and kept me involved. At the same time, it constantly seemed to be channeling other, similar books. Most frequently, "Atlas Shrugged", with many long-winded and somewhat repetitive passages about makers and takers, in the one-dimensionality of many of the characters, and in the (SPOILER?) decision of the makers to separate themselves (unlike Ayn Rand's, however, Kress does not seem to making a political statement with one "side" clearly in the right; this is a much more balanced examination of the societal split). Then we have similarities to Ender's Game, and other books about super children. And other similarities that have drifted from my mind... sorority stories? Animal Farm?

And yet it remains readable and enjoyable. The premise is interesting. I often wished that the author had limited the extra abilities of the sleepless to just not sleeping, and gone into more detail about that. I mean, the brief touching upon parents who couldn't deal with babies that never slept was a glimpse into what could have been a really fascinating exploration; and I would have liked to see more of the psychological effects on adults of not sleeping - of no downtime, of no escape, of solitary nights, etc. In the book it's pretty much all up side, and augmented by several other "super powers"... I'd rather have seen more detail and more realistic balance of benefits and deficits of sleeplessness.





Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kress is always great

Such a philosophical study in the individual and the specific and the speed of change.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Chapter breaks

I think that authors use chapters to allow themselves and their readers a chance to dwell on a cliff edge or contemplate recent events. This reading steps all over that sacred space. As for content-maybe a low-key Ayn Rand except Kress seems more human.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Mostly very good

The first part is great, but the court room dialog can get quite tedious in the second part.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Atlas Shrugged meets Gattaca, but less believable

Beggars in Spain is an interesting thought experiment, but unfortunately, the follow through was unsatisfying. The world and characters felt very limited and I don't think the subject portrayal aged well, in terms of elitism, ableism, 1%ers, etc. I did finish the story, but I jumped to 1.75 speed or higher to get through some of the longer diatribes. It has its good moments, but felt just okay overall.

The book will most likely appeal to people who like Atlas Shrugged esque premises and social science fiction (i.e. without starship battles or time travel).

I think the biggest obstacle for my enjoyment was the main character Leisha Camden, whose fixed perspective, naivete, and (painfully) slow realizations make her an unreliable poster child of the "super smart" sleepless group. I had trouble buying the degree of separation between sleepers and sleepless anyway, and Leisha's portrayal compounded my skepticism.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Nancy Kress is something like a genius

this was my first book of
Nancy Kress but it is absolutely not my last

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A promising start

The first two thirds of this book was pretty good. The premise was interesting and how The two societies of sleepless and sleepers grew and came into conflict was very well developed. However it is not very exciting and after 12 hours of listening I was just bored. I did not finish this book.


A similar idea of super intelligent and competent people and what they owe or do not owe the lesser mortals is more interesting and exciting in books by Ayn Rand

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic!!! Can't wait to read the sequal.

This was a well read and well written book. The characters grew throughout and were not stagnant boring, 2-d people. The premise was creative and thought provoking. I liked all the references to actual historical events and people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book but not a great series imo

Yes, this book is great...but I returned the second one...too technical, skips around/odd speech and jumps. Just my opinion, but I'm not going past the first book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a great book!

There is a reason this book won a Nebula Award. Do not let the date fool you. This work is, perhaps, more relevant in 2022.
The narrator makes the story even better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!