The Beast Master Audiobook By Andre Norton cover art

The Beast Master

Beast Master Chronicles, Book 1

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The Beast Master

By: Andre Norton
Narrated by: Richard J. Brewer
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About this listen

Left homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm - Navaho commando and master of beasts - is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met.

On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war was over - but was it?©2009 Brilliance Audio (P)2005 Andre Norton
Adventure Science Fiction Fiction Solar System War

Critic reviews

"Miss Norton endows this story of a homeless, revenge-driven man with her own inimitable touch. The result is a compelling and compassionate tale." ( The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Beast Master

Highly rated for:

Engaging Storyline Absorbing Journey Complex Hero Spellbinding Narrative Intriguing Plot
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

one of Norton's best

One of the best of sci-fi of the late 50s. probably not on everybody's reading list but that's a shame.

Looking back on Norton's work, even long time readers might be surprised to realize that her abiding theme was the aftermath of War. whether the hero was a veteran or a refugee or a displaced veteran with PTSD, as this novel concerns, most of her work, up to the first novel of the Witch World Series, spoke to the recovery and new beginnings of victims of war.

This book is one of the very few recordings where Audible gives the Norton books a professional reader that her work deserves. I gave him a four instead of a five because they should have selected a Native American reader. most of the rest of Andre Norton offerings on Audible suffer from well meaning but underperforming amateurs.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely Top Notch

Every bit as enthralling as when I first read it some 45 years ago! Actually, hearing it read improved the experience, enormously.
Andre Norton is just as spellbinding a wordsmith now as she was then.
Thank you to Audible Books and the extraordinarily skilled reader for bringing this truly fascinating story to life. I can hardly wait to get to her other stories.

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2 people found this helpful

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Outstanding Sci-Fi

I class this book with Frank Herbert's "Dune" series. Fantastic storyline, considering when it was written, with Richard Brewer drawing the listener in with his narration.

If you are fans of Frank Herbert, Clive Barker and even Isobelle Carmody, and enjoy sci-fi with a difference then this download is for you! I will certainly be downloading the sequel for this...

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Nostalgic Childhood Story

The narrator was good, though not terribly distinctive - he certainly didn't detract at all. The story is a SF Western. Good fun, especially if you discovered it when you were young. Had fun encountering it again.

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Classic since fiction

Being born in 1979 I feel like I missed out on the golden age of science fiction and as such can not truly know what that is. This book personifies it for me tho. It's not to fussy or complicated. Less is more on this one.

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A Story for Storytelling

Loved hearing The Beast Master read to me again, wondering as did my father did to me in Albuquerque, New Mexico, year's ago.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good story. Marginal performance.

A fair story. Not as good as I remember it from my youth 55 years ago, or so. But an enjoyable stroll down memory lane. Norton has always been an exceptional story teller.

That brings us to the marginal performance. Why does the narrator, and his director, feel a monotone delivery with underlying tones of despair makes this as an enjoyable read. I felt totally drug down throughout the whole book. It was like struggling down the bottom a narrow, dark ravine in thigh deep thick, sticky mud. There was no life in the narration. I dearly hope this is not Mr. Brewer's normal style. If so, he has missed his true calling, professional reader is not it.

On to book two.

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I really enjoyed the first book in the series!!

I really enjoyed this first book of the Beast Master Series. I have already bought the next book in the series Lord of Thunder. I really wish 🤞that I could find the rest of the books i this great series.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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So much better than the movie

What did you love best about The Beast Master?

Beastmaster had all the familiar Norton strengths, a young man trying to make his place in the adult world, an empathic animal team, a quest through an exotic (this time wild western-ish) alien world, and, of course, caves. What I liked the best? I suppose it was the caves.

What did you like best about this story?

Did I mention the caves?.

What about Richard J. Brewer’s performance did you like?

Brewer gave a straight forward, well inflected performance, with a voice that worked well for a young protagonist.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Norton doesn't make you laugh or cry, usually; she just takes you for an absorbing, even spellbinding -- if you let yourself be in the mood -- journey.

Any additional comments?

This is one I missed from my youth (when they were being written!) though I remember the fuscia and yellow cover of the original well. It's much better than and much different from the movie of the same name. I'll reread it again, and if I like it as much a second time, it may move up onto my very favorite Norton list with Catseye, Galactic Derelict, and The Stars are Ours. Not high art, but great reading.

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9 people found this helpful

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Beastmaster

I read this book when I just shy of my 11th birthday. Gramma bought as an early birthday present. That was in 1962. I'm a little older now and must have read it 50times and you know, I always hear something new every time. I've had many copies over the years but gave the away

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2 people found this helpful