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The Bees: A Novel Hardcover – May 6, 2014

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9,664 ratings

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The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.

Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive’s survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw but her courage and strength are an asset. She is allowed to feed the newborns in the royal nursery and then to become a forager, flying alone and free to collect pollen. She also finds her way into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where she discovers mysteries about the hive that are both profound and ominous.

But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all—daring to challenge the Queen’s fertility—enemies abound, from the fearsome fertility police who enforce the strict social hierarchy to the high priestesses jealously wedded to power. Her deepest instincts to serve and sacrifice are now overshadowed by an even deeper desire, a fierce maternal love that will bring her into conflict with her conscience, her heart, her society—and lead her to unthinkable deeds.

Thrilling, suspenseful and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees gives us a dazzling young heroine and will change forever the way you look at the world outside your window.

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Imagine a story similar to Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale but told from the perspective of an insect. That’s exactly the premise of Paull’s debut novel. Flora 717, a lowly sanitation bee, is born with unusual features and abilities that allow her to move fluidly between the strict hierarchies of her hive. Through this ability, she witnesses the brutality and beauty that the various castes of bees exhibit to keep the hive productive, all in service and loyalty to the queen. But when Flora discovers she is fertile and can produce an offspring, she must betray her instincts to worship the queen bee and follow an untrodden path that leads her away from her kin. Paull’s plot brings to mind films like the 1998 hit Antz, but her deft storytelling and her nod to scientific literature allow the story to avoid the cutesy trappings that sometimes characterize novels featuring nonhuman characters. A surprisingly compelling tale. --Heather Paulson

Review

“Fascinating… engrossing… Paull’s clear fascination with her source material brings humanity and warmth to a depiction of the remarkable social world of bees, which is no small achievement.” — ―Huffington Post

“The Bees is an extraordinary feat of imagination, conjuring the life of a beehive in gripping, passionate and brilliant detail. With every page I turned, I found myself drawn deeper into Flora’s plight and her immersive, mesmerizing world.” — ―Madeline Miller, bestselling author of The Song of Achilles ―Madeline Miller, bestselling author of The Song of Achilles

“This is a rich, strange book...convincing in its portrayal of the mind-set of a bee and a hive. I finished it feeling I knew...how bees think and live. This is what sets us humans apart―our imagination can...create a complete, believable world so different from our own.” — ―Tracy Chevalier, New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring

“Told with rapturously attentive imagination...Few novels create such a singular reading experience.” — ―The New York Times Book Review

“Riveting… evocative and beautiful.” — ―NPR

“Richly imagined” — ―Los Angeles Times

“[A] gripping Cinderella/Arthurian tale with lush Keatsian adjectives.” — ―Margaret Atwood, via Twitter

“THE BEES is one wild ride. A sensual, visceral mini-epic about timeless rituals and modern environmental disaster. Paull’s heart pounding novel wrenches us into a new world.” — ―Emma Donoghue, The New York Times bestselling author of Room

“It quickly became clear that in its basic facts, the novel sticks closely to real-world apian biology and behavior. That is fascinating enough, but Paull deftly wields this information to create an even more elaborately layered culture of beeness…Beautiful.” — Washington Post

“Brilliantly imagined…Paull’s use of human language to describe this tiny, intricate world is classic storytelling at its finest…The Bees boasts a refreshingly feminist spin on fairy tale-style plots….A wildly creative book that resonates deeply for quite a long time. — Austin Chronicle

“It’s rare to come across a book as mind-blowingly imaginative as Laline Paull’s The Bees. It’s even more rare for such works to be successful, well-written, gripping stories...The Bees is an utterly memorable wonder of a novel.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A marvelous work of fiction… The parallels to “1984” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” are numerous but this story is also its own.” — Florida Times-Union

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; First Edition (May 6, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062331159
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.13 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 9,664 ratings

About the author

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Laline Paull
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Laline Paull was born in England. Her parents were first-generation Indian immigrants. She studied English at Oxford, screenwriting in Los Angeles, and theatre in London, where she has had two plays performed at the Royal National Theatre. She is a member of BAFTA and the Writers’ Guild of America. She lives in England by the sea with her husband, the photographer Adrian Peacock, and their three children.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
9,664 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and an interesting read. They appreciate the unique perspective from the bees' point of view and the idea of bees having a religion. The writing quality is described as beautifully garnered and poetic. Readers praise the great character development and full portrayal of life. The pacing is described as fast and satisfying, with a satisfying ending.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

331 customers mention "Readability"317 positive14 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it interesting and a page-turner. Many readers appreciate its creativity and execution, describing it as refreshing to read outside their genre comfort zone.

"...Paull weaves a unique and compelling world which is equal parts beautiful and brutal...." Read more

"...a good job of creating sympathy for Flora, and such a good job of portraying a vibrant if vanishing natural world, that the book is worth reading,..." Read more

"...But it was way better than most science fiction novels I have read in the last few decades...." Read more

"I really enjoyed reading this book. There are a couple of reasons why it's still a 3 star book for me than a 4 or a 5...." Read more

328 customers mention "Story quality"317 positive11 negative

Customers find the story compelling and interesting. They appreciate the author's narrative gifts and the world-building. The book contains many quasi-magical elements that create wonder, enchantment, and adventure.

"...The book contains also many quasi-magical elements which serve to create foreshadowing and advance the plot...." Read more

"...spite of this, the story is engaging because the author's poetic, narrative gifts make the relentless focus on Flora 717 come off without becoming..." Read more

"...But this book is nothing like those at all! There is more wonder and beauty in this book than horror...." Read more

"...operates, and even though it is fiction, it is a fun way to get into the beekeeping mindset. Very creative and kept me interested." Read more

189 customers mention "Insight into bees"181 positive8 negative

Customers find the book fascinating. They enjoy the descriptions of the hive, including the message tiles, Dance Hall, and towers. The unique perspective from the bees' point of view intrigues them. Readers learn about hive culture and the idea of bees having a religion. The characters are carefully anthropomorphized, giving readers a chance to understand the bees' world.

"...draws inspiration from the natural world, most of the animals in the book are anthropomorphic and engage in very human behaviors...." Read more

"...I was fascinated by the descriptions of the hive: the message tiles, the Dance Hall, the towers of honey, the devotion pheromone of the Queen...." Read more

"...My major issue with this book is that Paull does such a great job at world building and givin you a sense of the scale but it was all just fluff...." Read more

"...I am a new beekeeper, and this book personifies the bees, and gives you a picture of what goes on inside the hive...." Read more

177 customers mention "Writing quality"143 positive34 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find the prose beautifully crafted, engaging, and poetic. The author does a good job ascribing personality and emotion to bees' behavior. The vivid descriptions allow readers to visualize the story clearly in their minds' eye.

"...In spite of this, the story is engaging because the author's poetic, narrative gifts make the relentless focus on Flora 717 come off without..." Read more

"...The descriptions are extremely vivid that I can have a detailed picture, in my mind's eye, of all the different bees from the Flora to the hilarious..." Read more

"...5 stars for creativity, 3 stars for readability." Read more

"...I liked how the author wrote, including the vocabulary she used...." Read more

81 customers mention "Character development"77 positive4 negative

Customers appreciate the well-developed characters in this book. They find the bee characters realistic and humanlike. The story portrays life as a hierarchical organization suffused with human emotions. Readers become empathetic to the bees' troubles and stressors. The author explores society, expected roles, and defying norms.

"...This is it. The writing was excellent, the characters true and visible and most not to be trusted...." Read more

"...For spending several days reading this amazing and emotional story, I was devoted to the success of the hive, of creatures who at best were a minor..." Read more

"...A mini-series! I was so enchanted with the characters, I felt I knew them all, personally...." Read more

"...It's imaginative and heartfelt, although even for me the ending was a bit much." Read more

51 customers mention "Pacing"37 positive14 negative

Customers find the book's pacing engaging. They describe it as well-paced, with a satisfying ending. The book is described as brutal, frightening, and surprising.

"...a unique and compelling world which is equal parts beautiful and brutal. I'm certain that I'll never look at a bee in the same way again." Read more

"...It's educational, entertaining, sweet, quick and moving...." Read more

"...It is brutal. But that is the nature of nature, isn't it? I highly recommend this book...." Read more

"...to understand the differences of those around you, life under an oppressive regime, and the lengths one will go to for love...." Read more

40 customers mention "Science content"40 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's science content. They find it nice to read about nature instead of people. The story is riveting and rich, with enough scientific facts to delight bee lovers. The blending of fiction and science opens up a thrilling world for readers. Readers appreciate the factual nature of the book, saying it's a great book akin to Animal Farm.

"...As it is, the author does such a good job of creating sympathy for Flora, and such a good job of portraying a vibrant if vanishing natural world,..." Read more

"...Easily the best novel about nature I have read. (I'm 61 years old.) An emotional, exhilarating, sad, honest, and stupendous ride through a year(?)..." Read more

"...The behavior of the bees is, I think, scientifically accurate, and then the author does a very good job of ascribing personality and emotion to fit..." Read more

"...Combining excellent research with incredible imagination and a touch of mysticism makes for an outstanding read." Read more

85 customers mention "Plot"47 positive38 negative

Customers have different views on the plot. Some find it satisfying and engaging with enough suspense to keep them turning pages. Others feel the story is simplistic and juvenile, with a cartoonish feel.

"...On the whole, however, the plotline was clever and engaging...." Read more

"...That's not to say the story was not compelling, it was, but only up to a point. It could have been a lot shorter, like 100 pages shorter...." Read more

"...The authors' style of writing pulled me in immediately. The plot is very well written with a lot of twists...." Read more

"...It is important to note that this is no children's story, and I doubt we will ever see it made into a movie for the Disney channel. It is brutal...." Read more

My Dear Lord, What A Fantastic Book!
5 out of 5 stars
My Dear Lord, What A Fantastic Book!
I have loved honey bees since I was five years old. Since that time I have taken pictures of them, talked to them, read every scrap of information I could find on them and done all that I can to promote their honey, propolis, wax and very existence. This is the most detailed, intense, and well written book I have ever read on my beloved honeybees. The plot is plausible and scientifically sound and done with such loving precision and respect for its subject that it takes your breath away and brings tears to your eyes.I cannot not even explain why this moved me so much other than to say that I got the mind set of Sanitation Worker 717 and I cheered her on from start to finish. You will do if you read this book.I think I will tell the author how much I loved this book and if you do too, please let her know.God bless her and God bless the Hive.+T
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2016
    At first glance, The Bees seems like a fairly standard dystopian novel, albeit with a rather unusual protagonist. The heroine of the story, a bee called Flora 717, is a member of the lowest caste in the hive. The hive is ruled by an all-powerful leader referred to as the Holy Mother, who evokes fervent and occasionally fanatical devotion from her offspring. The Sage sisters, her coterie of priestesses enforce the laws of the hive, often through brutal tactics. It doesn't take much insight to foresee that Flora will rise up and challenge the powers-that-be.

    Yet the plot of this novel refuses to be confined to a standard dystopian story. Even identifying a primary antagonist is difficult. Though she holds ultimate authority in the hive, the Holy Mother does not appear to directly orchestrate the Sage's brutal peacekeeping methods. On the contrary, she shows genuine affection for her numerous progeny; she is one of the few bees in the hive who doesn't discriminate against Flora based on her caste. Though the Sages collectively can be said to act as an antagonist, most of the most nail-biting moments in the book occur in their absence. Predators, starvation and the elements prove just as deadly as hive politics. In a way, nature itself acts as an antagonist.

    Occasionally, I found that I had difficulty suspending my disbelief; in one scene a newly hatched bee is destroyed because she has a bent wing, yet Flora is allowed to live even after repeatedly arousing the ire of the Sages. On the whole, however, the plotline was clever and engaging. What makes this novel so enticing is that it finds the sweet spot between fact and fantasy. Though Paull draws inspiration from the natural world, most of the animals in the book are anthropomorphic and engage in very human behaviors. The book contains also many quasi-magical elements which serve to create foreshadowing and advance the plot.

    In The Bees, Paull weaves a unique and compelling world which is equal parts beautiful and brutal. I'm certain that I'll never look at a bee in the same way again.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2015
    The book is described as The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games, but really it is more like Animal Farm meets Watership Down, with a hefty twist of classic individualistic Romanticism. Flora 717 is born into the lowliest cast of worker bees, but somehow has remarkable individual powers unlike any other in her caste, an unaccountable fact that leads her into all sorts of caste-spanning adventures that make for a great story, but one hardly close to nature. In fact, the author's strong desire to fictionally elevate Flora at the expense of all other species (wasps, spiders, mice, crows, in short, "the myriad," all come in for authorial/honeybee denigration), and other bee castes turn the book away from a strongly imagined anthropomorphic tale into a fantasy where literally anything can happen. The problem with fantasy literature, and why to many of us it is so unsatisfying, is that the author can pull a trait or circumstance or event out of her hat any old time without regard to what we, the reader, had thought was possible. Where there are no fixed rules, there is no authorial responsibility to an imagined verisimilitude: the rules of what can actually happen in the story keep changing.

    In spite of this, the story is engaging because the author's poetic, narrative gifts make the relentless focus on Flora 717 come off without becoming tedious or bogging down in sentimentalism. Since the story is ultimately a fantasy, criticisms of emotional and instinctual verisimilitude, or parallels to the human world seem beside the point. Flora is both racked with guilt and driven to behave in certain ways--except when she is not and a sort of overwhelming spirit of self carries her above it all. In the end, the heroic individual triumphs, as in all good romanticism.

    Within the hive the author's account of the drones is hilarious, and the cynicism practiced by the groupthink manipulating Sage priestesses is reminiscent of Orwell. The author also imagines a devotional unity in the hive in tension with individual expression of self which without the fantasy elements, would have made for a great anthropomorphic story. As it is, the author does such a good job of creating sympathy for Flora, and such a good job of portraying a vibrant if vanishing natural world, that the book is worth reading, romanticism and all.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2021
    Yes, I finally found a genuine 5-star book...one that absorbed me totally and that I was sorry to finish!

    I was reluctant to even start reading this...I usually read my Kindle at 4 am when I have insomnia, and I figured it would be horrifying & depressing. After all, it was compared to Hunger Games and Handmaids Tale. But this book is nothing like those at all! There is more wonder and beauty in this book than horror. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the hive: the message tiles, the Dance Hall, the towers of honey, the devotion pheromone of the Queen. Even more enchanting were the passages about foraging, flying, visiting flowers. While gardening, I have often watched bees gathering pollen into their leg pouches. They are wondrous little creatures.
    Some have categorized this book as "science fiction". Well, sort of. This depiction of the hive was like reading about an alien society. But it was way better than most science fiction novels I have read in the last few decades. SF has degenerated into "space wars" and "aliens" that are "humans with bulbous heads". I think life on Earth is as 'alien' as any fictional planet and I wish there was more fiction about the wondrous ecosystems underlying this world. ( For instance, it is known that trees can signal to each other.) Why isn't there a genre called "Nature Fiction"?

    One thing I would have liked was an afterward, describing which parts of the book were based on real bee behavior. Can a sterile worker bee give birth to an egg?

    It's rare that I want to re-read a book right after I finish it. I'm going to look for a paper copy of The Bees so my daughter can read it.
    7 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Rodrigo
    3.0 out of 5 stars Llegó rápido
    Reviewed in Mexico on June 7, 2023
    El libro llegó bien, pero la historia no me pareció tan buena.
  • K B
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Bees 🐝
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2021
    I've been thinking about this book for a few weeks now since I finished it. There's no doubt about it that this is an unusual book, but at 99p I thought it was worth a shot.

    And, I think I was right.

    The Bees is a story about Flora 717 - a bee born into the lowest group in society as a sanitation bee. And yes, it is a story about literal bees, but you would be wrong to think that there's nothing more to it.

    The Bees talks about free will, societal hierarchies, the power of gender, being an outcast, overcoming the hive mind etc. It really manages to touch on a lot of topics and knits them in really well with the story.

    At first, I found it hard to grasp. The book is about bees in the most literal sense possible and trying to decipher some of the behaviour and thought patterns of the main character is a little tricky at times. However, if you allow yourself to go with the flow, it's a really fun read and I'm glad I pushed through. Anyone calling this book childish literally saw that it was about bees and couldn't wrap their heads around that long enough to appreciate the layers within the story.

    It won't be for everyone, I admit that, but I genuinely enjoyed this book and I still think about it now and then since I finished it. Well worth a read.
  • Fluffynymph
    5.0 out of 5 stars All you want to know about bees.
    Reviewed in Australia on June 14, 2020
    This is an extraordinary and wonderful book - one of the most effective I have read. It very cleverly uses narrative form to describe life in a beehive over about a year, from the point of view of one worker bee that finds itself with various jobs. The reader learns in detail all that goes on in a bee colony, and is also made aware of the almost mystical communication that exists among them, including how the queen's happiness is so essential to the well being of the hive. The book gave the reader not only knowledge of how a hive works, but also, importantly, the feeling of how it works. Only narrative form could have done this. (And I thought the personification of the drones as dandies was very clever.) The author must have a very deep understanding of bees.
  • Gerard Aldridge
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beelieve it to bee the best novel I've read so far in 2014
    Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2014
    Written with tremendous perspective on the apiary and its bees. The physiological and psychological effect bees have on each other as well as how they are affected by their environment, all written in a fantastical way. Sometimes sad, sometimes exhilarating, a great read from cover to cover, and you don't have to be a beekeeper to enjoy it thoroughly!
  • πxie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book
    Reviewed in Germany on August 24, 2015
    Well researched, beautifully written.
    A book that can be read by all ages and all preferences. It doesn't really fit into one specific genre, I think.
    I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and almost couldn't put the book down. It was not at all, what I expected.
    I also didn't expect, that the life of a bee could be so interesting, so gripping!
    It's definitely a good read and it made me regard bees differently after I finished it. (I didn't especially like or even notice them very much, before I read this book...)