The accolades keep rolling in for Beasts of the Sea: the title has been awarded the Book Beat Newcomer Award for the best debut of the past year on their platform. The award is given to the most listened title with the best reader reviews.
The Book Beat statements highlights that “Beasts of the Sea has charmed readers and listeners throughout the entire year. […] The reader of the audiobook is Marcus Bäckman.”
Author Iida Turpeinen has commented as follows:
“I’m happy and impressed with every listener, who followed along with enthusiasm the story of the sea cow. A particularly warm thank you to Markus Bäckman, whose insightful reading brought the book to life with a skill and sensibility that I can’t help but admire. A warm thank you for this fantastic recognition”
Beasts of the Sea is a literary achievement and a breathtaking adventure through three centuries. Approaching natural diversity through individual destinies, it’s a story of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what humankind in its ignorance has destroyed. Steller’s sea cow, a sirenian lost to extinction centuries ago, is revived on the pages and is the red thread that ties together the individual fates of a group of people throughout the centuries.
The novel is an international hit, already sold to 27 language territories, and has been celebrated as the hot book of 2023.
Iida Turpeinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based literary scholar currently writing a dissertation on the intersection of the natural sciences and literature. As an author, she is intrigued by the literary potentials of scientific research and by the offbeat anecdotes and meanderings from the history of science.
Warmest congratulations to the author!