Rodrigo Istalindir
Explorer
I found myself with some time to kill the other day, waiting to meet a friend for lunch. There was a nearby bookstore, but one of the one's that typically has a piss-poor sci-fi and fantasy selection (Olsen's, for those of you in the area). They had none of the books that were on my list, so I was just idly perusing the shelves. I see a couple books by an author I'd not heard of before, one of which has a picture of a sailing ship and the blurb 'Dune meets Master & Commander'. An interesting combination, I think, and I'd been in the mood for some water-borne tales anyway, so I pick it up. Serendipity.
"The Skinner", by Neal Asher, really is part-Dune, less Master & Commander, but still one of the more original and intriguing books I've read recently. One of those books that contains enough really cool ideas for a dozen novels, all crammed into one. Sometimes that can be distracting, but here it really works. I was much reminded of 'Revelation Space' by Alistair Reynolds, especially in the way it just throws you into this exotic universe and leaves you to figure out how everything fits together.
It is a tale of epic scale, concerning the events of some seven centuries or more. A tale of long-sought revenge for crimes against humanity. One the principle characters has been dead for centuries, another a former indentured servant for a hornet hive. And thats on the first page or two.
The book strikes a nice balance between the horrific and the humorous, with amusing interactions between AI probes offsetting some brutal violence. The world is very detailed, especially in terms of fauna and the ecosystem. The political system of the universe at large is a little sketchier, but still provides enough to set the stage for the overall action.
The characters are a little two-dimensional, but not especially so considering the genre. The amazing setting and backstory makes up for any lack of character depth or development, and considering their biology, the fact that they are relatively unchanged makes sense.
The action scenes are vividly drawn, with a nice mix of up-close-and-personal melee combat, gunplay, and high-tech toys alongside good old fisticuffs. More space opera than hard sci-fi, but at least an attempt at some internal consistency and plausible reasoning behind why things are they way they are.
This was definitely one of those pleasant surprises. Few things are so pleasurable as a really good book that finds you out of the blue. Hopefully the authors other works are equally good, and that he has a long career ahead of him. I wouldn't mind visiting this world again, for that mattter.
"The Skinner", by Neal Asher, really is part-Dune, less Master & Commander, but still one of the more original and intriguing books I've read recently. One of those books that contains enough really cool ideas for a dozen novels, all crammed into one. Sometimes that can be distracting, but here it really works. I was much reminded of 'Revelation Space' by Alistair Reynolds, especially in the way it just throws you into this exotic universe and leaves you to figure out how everything fits together.
It is a tale of epic scale, concerning the events of some seven centuries or more. A tale of long-sought revenge for crimes against humanity. One the principle characters has been dead for centuries, another a former indentured servant for a hornet hive. And thats on the first page or two.
The book strikes a nice balance between the horrific and the humorous, with amusing interactions between AI probes offsetting some brutal violence. The world is very detailed, especially in terms of fauna and the ecosystem. The political system of the universe at large is a little sketchier, but still provides enough to set the stage for the overall action.
The characters are a little two-dimensional, but not especially so considering the genre. The amazing setting and backstory makes up for any lack of character depth or development, and considering their biology, the fact that they are relatively unchanged makes sense.
The action scenes are vividly drawn, with a nice mix of up-close-and-personal melee combat, gunplay, and high-tech toys alongside good old fisticuffs. More space opera than hard sci-fi, but at least an attempt at some internal consistency and plausible reasoning behind why things are they way they are.
This was definitely one of those pleasant surprises. Few things are so pleasurable as a really good book that finds you out of the blue. Hopefully the authors other works are equally good, and that he has a long career ahead of him. I wouldn't mind visiting this world again, for that mattter.
