Title: Beasts of the Sea
Author: Iida Turpeinen
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company.
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
Format: Kindle ARC
Category: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Finnish Literature, Nature Fiction
Spanning three centuries and the vast, indifferent sea, Beasts of the Sea captures how wonder, ambition, and obsession ripple through time, reminding us that nature always writes the final chapter.
Iida Turpeinen’s Beasts of the Sea launches its story in 1741, as naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller joins Captain Bering’s Great Northern Expedition to chart the sea route from Asia to America. The voyage is perilous, the Arctic winds merciless, yet Steller’s curiosity burns bright enough to outlast them all, leading to the extraordinary discovery of the creature that will bear his name—the Steller’s sea cow.
Turpeinen tells this story of the sea cow, and of humanity’s uneasy relationship with nature, in clear and deliberate prose that feels almost documentary in its precision. Written in third person with shifting points of focus, the narrative moves like a camera lens, tightening on a character’s small gestures before pulling back to reveal the vast, indifferent sea. The descriptions are spare yet vivid, and the characters appear in deft, economical strokes, much like the quick field sketches of the naturalists themselves. Through this restraint, the novel quietly explores the tension between human curiosity and the limits of control, reminding us how easily wonder can slip into hubris and how even the act of preservation carries its own moral weight.
That same precision extends to Turpeinen’s portrayal of those who inhabit the story. Learning about these people and this extraordinary creature feels like a reward in itself. The characters are tangible and believable, yet there’s a certain distance to them, as if their full depth lies just beneath the surface. That distance mirrors the gulf between human ambition and nature’s indifference, a theme that echoes through each century the novel touches. Turpeinen threads questions of extinction, legacy, and authority through her portrayals of scientists, artists, and collectors, all driven by equal parts reverence and obsession. The result is a meditation on what we choose to preserve, what we allow to vanish, and how memory itself becomes a form of inheritance.
While learning about these lesser-known historical events and this fascinating creature has been rewarding, I recognize that Beasts of the Sea will not appeal to every reader. Turpeinen has clearly poured tremendous research and care into crafting this novel, yet it forgoes the drama, romance, and action many fiction readers expect. For those who enjoy exploring new places, overlooked corners of history, and the natural world, however, this book will be a quiet triumph that deserves every bit of appreciation and respect it earns.
Nerd Rating: 🤓🤓🤓– A quiet, intricately researched novel that rewards patience more than passion.
Let’s discuss: Do you enjoy novels that blend science and history, or do you prefer stories that lean more on emotion and drama?
Find out more about Beasts of the Sea on Little, Brown, and Company’s web site.
I received a digital copy of Beasts of the Sea from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.