It is of note that this series was originally released in Japan in four different books. This one covers the first two of those books so you have the first half of the series here, which is what is covered in the anime adaption. I believe a rerelease of the novels in Japan also did the first half in one book, the second half in the next.
For those of you unfamiliar with any version of this, The Beast Player is a story centered on Elin, who is 10 years old at the start of the story. She's a young girl of mixed blood who grew up with her mother who helps care for creatures called toda, large reptilian creatures used in battle. She dreams of learning to take care of them like her mom when she gets older, but instead she's pushed on a different path which leads her to learn to care for the Royal Beasts (large creatures with the head of a wolf, a pair of wings, and a pair of legs based visually off the wolf/dog headed depictions of the senmurv) instead. By the end of the first half of the novels she's already grown into a young woman.
Her story is set against a backdrop of politics and questioning the morals of how the captive toda and Royal Beasts are cared for. For not all is well in the land. Split in two since its founding, the Grand Duke's people raise toda and ride them in battle to keep it safe from neighboring countries, while the people in the True Queen's section of the country view the Grand Duke's people as unclean and take the protection they afford them for granted. Elin upon caring for an injured young Royal Beast and forming a bond with them is drawn in to the political unrest by one who would use her bond with the Royal Beast. Because while the toda are the symbol of the might of the Grand Duke and his people, a faction of which want the True Queen overthrown and the Grand Duke put into power, the Royal Beasts are symbols of the divine right of the True Queen as they are predators who can easily take down the toda.
As a fan of the anime adaption (available legally streaming on Crunchyroll under the title of Erin, which is the romanization they use for her name in the anime's translation, the novel translation uses Elin instead) I've been wanting to read the novels for this series for a while. I was not disappointed by it either. There are some notable differences between the adaption and the source material, some of which I was already aware of some which were a little more surprising. I greatly enjoyed the anime adaption and I found the novel a wonderful read as well. I will admit I felt some of the changes made when adapting it to anime were good choices, some giving the story more impact than the novel, other changes weren't as great. Two characters were added for comic relief and in some cases detracted from the story, however, the addition of another character to the story in the second half of the anime adaption added something extra to the story that did add more to it in a positive way. In the end I'd say I like both the novel and the anime adaption equally well.
I'm looking forward for the chance to read the second half, and hope this sells well enough they'll publish the short story collection that accompanies the series as well.
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Top reviews from other countries
Jaanaki Design(Jaanu)
Recommended for all fantasy lovers who are looking for something different🤩
Reviewed in India on July 29, 2018David in Sussex
Brilliant and Enthralling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2018