The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

By: Patricia A. McKillip

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Sixteen when a baby is brought to her to raise, Sybel has grown up on Eld Mountain. Her only playmates are the creatures of a fantastic menagerie called there by wizardry. Sybel has cared nothing for humans, until the baby awakens emotions previously unknown to her. And when Coren--the man who brought this child--returns, Sybel's world is again turned upside down.

©1974, 2002 Patricia A. McKillip (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

World Fantasy Award, Best Novel, 1975

Sooooooo thrilled to have it (finally) at Audible

Wecome , welcome, Patricia Mckillip!
I was blown away with the mind altering creativity in FBE when I first read it while still in school. It impacted the way I thought from that point on , I loved the flawed characters and the story line also. I was one of those kids that read everything , I mean everything, I read fast, furious, and obsessively. I'd guess around the ages of 14-16, there where only four books that were enormous enough in their impact then to actually stop me in my tracks. They were: To Kill A Mockingbird ; Fahrenheit 451 ; Crime and Punishment; and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.

Listening to it on audible has been so much fun I finished it listening continuously to the end.

I withheld the fifth star because by the second or third chapter I felt this emphatic quality creeping in, the narrator was wearing on me . Although she has a very nice clear voice and the audio quality is terrific, her voice slowly seemed to morph into employing a overly dramatic - precariously close to melodramatic- presence. The protagonist's immature, judgmental and naive quality gets covered up with this type of narration. By the end of the book I realized I had been mocking Ms. Pearlman to myself with visions of what she must look like speaking this "epoch" into the mike. Yes I made it rather distracting for myself. I had to repeat several of the sections and make myself focus. You however may love it. I hope you do!
Thank you Audible, after years of checking in for FBE here it is!

Long Awaited

I was so happy to finally see this one in audio. I have loved this book since I was a teenager, and enjoyed the audio version very much. Dina Pearlman does a great job, and her voice seems fitting for this book - an ethereal quality about it. Lovely book, lovely narration.

Enjoyable listen

What did you love best about The Forgotten Beasts of Eld?

This was not my favorite book by Patricia A. McKillip, but it does not take a great story to enjoy her writing. The words in her books have a cadence and poetry to them that often feels like you are listening them from a song in a dream. The narrator does an excellent job of capturing this rhythm in her reading.

Like dreams, the imagery of McKillip's books can often be vivid and full of feeling, but it can also be difficult to track in a coherent story. I feel like I was missing some deeper meaning/metaphor of the Liralen and the Blammor, and so came away from the book feeling slightly dissatisfied.

I would still recommend listening to this book based on the beauty of the writing and the great narration.

Magical, lyrical, wonderful

This is my favorite book of all time. I have no complaints about the story or writing. I’ve always found it to be a wonderful and thoughtful story about love and hate and how each can change you. I do not have too many complaints about the narrator. She is not my favorite, but she isn’t the worst I’ve listened to. In another review, someone mentioned her speaking loudly when the story calls for a whisper and quietly when it calls for a shout and that is true sometimes. But her voice in general for the narration as opposed to the dialogue is well suited to the flow of the story. My one big complaint as a person who has read the book in print, is that a pivotal line that is Sybel’s is read as Ter Falcon and it takes away from the importance of the moment and I feel from the drive of the rest of the story. You understand what is going on as it continues, but it really is a part that should have been read correctly. All in all, it was lovely to listen to enjoy this book through a new medium. And I will be listening to it again. - Jael

Not at all what I expected

I was suggested this book from a friend, and what I thought I was going to read was a high fantasy and epic story jam packed with lighting bolts and sword battles.

What I got instead was an intimate story about a person trying to find their way. The emotional impact it's had on me has lasted a good amount of time, and if that isn't a sign of good writing I don't know what is.

Forgotten beasts of eld

This is a wonderful book. It combines a tight plot, good characters and beautifully written prose. I love Patricia McKillip’s early books especially. The language is so poetic and magical. Its a fantasy that stands on its own; no book 2 and book 3, etc. and it not in the least a copy of lord of the rings or the hobbit which so many fantasy books are. Its original, lovely and ive listened and read her books over and over and I discover new things with each reading. I don’t much care for her newest things. They’re too modern and care ridden for me. But i love the older books, such as Atrix wolfe. Her descriptions of food makes me think she is a cook, they’re so very graphic and detailed. Her descriptions of the magical animals are great and the way she brings them to life, especially the boar. And in the middle of the action and the magic she even has a nice love story, which usually i don’t care for, but she melds it into the end in a very pleasing way.

Romantic near tragedy

full of lovely imagery and long slow visuals. This would make a nice "Willow" like movie. I'm pleased my husband talked me into listening.

What does it mean?

What dose it mean to be human? What dose it mean to have power? What dose it mean to forgive?

One of the Greatest Fantasies

A cold sorceress and her mythic beasts become involved in the affairs of mankind and she learns of hate, love, betrayal, forgiveness, of being human.
Lyric, beautiful.

Along time I have known them, but it burns new.

I have loved this story for 40 yrs and remember reading back in unior high school for a paper. A captivating tale of one self, and that which came to serve hidden in a reflection of one self, for both evil and good. worth the read. Only negative comment she said Mike when the story was written Myk (Mick), so that drove me nuts but to each their own.