Beasts Beyond the River
By Scott Sigler
- Beasts Beyond the River
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Author: Scott Sigler
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Publisher: Titan Books
- ISBN: 9781835415276
- Published: September 2026
- Pages: 432
- Format reviewed:
- Review date: 22/09/2026
- Language: English
As a writer for SF Book Reviews, you may think that my life revolves around science fiction, fantasy and horror, but one of my fiction loves is historic fiction. At a younger age I read all of Bernard Cornwall’s Sharpe novels; a historic fiction series about Richard Sharpe and his company of Rifleman. The series was exceptional and few authors have managed to capture that sense of historic accuracy and fictional elements, especially not in the genre space. Beasts Beyond the River by Scott Sigler does achieve this, evoking Sharpe with its troop of Rogers’ Rangers, a precursor to the Rifleman.
The Rangers are a special type of solider used by the British during the French and Indian War. They were used for scouting and quick movement, often made up of irregulars. In the case of the Mongrels, it is a haphazard troop of indigenous warriors, Irishmen, freed slaves, Portuguese and more. Led by Lieutenant Geoffrey Rapelje, the Rangers are tasked with returning to Geoffrey’s home tribe to assure their allegiance. It is just that Geoffrey has not been back for over a decade and is unsure of his welcome, and the fact that none of the animals in the woods seem to be behaving naturally the closer he gets to home.
How do you like your fiction? Nice and light, or laced with information? I am usually a fan of a light novel that sticks to the action, a story that delves into too much detail often gets bogged down in the ephemera. However, if done well, those paragraphs of background and detail are as good as any action scene of dialogue. Micheal Connelly can make a police procedural story run smooth; Bernard Cornwell does it in historic fiction. Sigler achieves this in the opening half of Beasts, a gorgeous trip into a nuanced world of pitched battles and movement through enemy territory.
For the longest time I was unsure if Beasts was a genre book at all. It stays true as it can to a realistic depiction of the era, you feel that Sigler has done their research. There is talk of a powerful entity being released, but is this superstition or reality? As the tale progresses the supernatural elements come to fore leaving you in no doubt that something is protecting the forest, attacking all humans, no matter what side they are.
The book feels like it is two novels in one; an earnest historic fiction book, followed by a sinister creature feature. It is very possible to enjoy both parts, but some people will like one more than the other. I for one adored the historic element, it was so interesting and had enough suspense and action to sustain the novel, without the supernatural. The second part had more thrills but is almost too intense and action packed. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, the wonderful character creation and world building of the first act helped inform the action of the second.
Written on 22nd September 2026 by Sam Tyler .
Topics and themes
Key Tropes
Tone & Pace
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