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shawniebooks's review
3.0
I found it too much work figuring out who/what everyone was and where I was in the story. Otherwise, I really liked the planet life, dangerous creatures, and Keech.
pikminguy's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
konain's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
arachnichemist's review
4.0
This book is a little slow to get rolling. About the 1/3 mark it starts to pick up and really gets rolling. I have not read any other polity universe books so I went into this one blind. I came out loving it and wanting more polity. The drones are a hoot and the creatures of this world are savage. The virus that infects everything on this world makes for a very interesting addition to the setting that I really enjoyed. Everything combined to make a dam good creature feature and had me ordering the next two books in the trilogy.
Slow beginning knocks it down to a 4 star read.
Slow beginning knocks it down to a 4 star read.
shwaa's review
1.0
I really wanted to like this book, but the author failed to grab my interest and make me care for the characters.
The world of was intricately detailed, maybe at the expense of the story and the characters it was there to support.
The first half of the book left you feeling confused and disorientated, you're dropped in without points of reference thrown detail after interesting detail.
Generally I like to get to know the characters and see the fantasy worlds through their eyes, This book had all the right ingredients for a great read and possibly captivating series. I just felt the story didn't fit together smoothly enough and lacked an engaging narrative.
The world of was intricately detailed, maybe at the expense of the story and the characters it was there to support.
The first half of the book left you feeling confused and disorientated, you're dropped in without points of reference thrown detail after interesting detail.
Generally I like to get to know the characters and see the fantasy worlds through their eyes, This book had all the right ingredients for a great read and possibly captivating series. I just felt the story didn't fit together smoothly enough and lacked an engaging narrative.
siriuschico's review against another edition
5.0
Tak Stahovače jsem přečetl na doporučení Good reads a musím říct že tak drsnou psychedelickou jízdu jsem naposledy zažil u Vurtu Jeffa Noona. Jedná se o náhled na budoucnost galaktické civilizace, konkrétně na jednu planetu Spatterjay, kde velmi podivní virus zajišťuje lidem zdánlivou nesmrtelnost. Kniha obsahuje velmi rozdílné hlavní postavy – služebníka úlu, vzkříšenou mrtvolu, planetární UI nebo například tisíce let staré kapitány. I když je hlavních i vedlejších postav přehršel jsou všechny velmi výrazné a osobité. Autorovi také nedělá problém psychologii postav náležitě obhájit a uvěřitelně vysvětlit jejich chování. Prostě kdo jenom trochu měl rád Vurt je pro něho Stahovač jasná volba.
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I have find Neal Asher by goodreads recommendation and I was blown away. Last time I experienced a similar psychedelic ride it was when I read Vurt from Jeff Noon. In The Skinner we can peek at a big galactic civilization but main story happens on the edge of this civilization on the planet Spatterjay where a peculiar virus make his inhabitants almost immortal. The book has several main and minor characters but all of them pulse with live and their motives are very clear. If you like Vurt a little bit then you would love The Skinner.
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I have find Neal Asher by goodreads recommendation and I was blown away. Last time I experienced a similar psychedelic ride it was when I read Vurt from Jeff Noon. In The Skinner we can peek at a big galactic civilization but main story happens on the edge of this civilization on the planet Spatterjay where a peculiar virus make his inhabitants almost immortal. The book has several main and minor characters but all of them pulse with live and their motives are very clear. If you like Vurt a little bit then you would love The Skinner.
disastrouspenguin's review
5.0
The other reviews say it all. Beautiful writing, believable characters, unbelievable world where it all takes place. A new favorite.
wiseard's review
2.0
Interesting concept at play however there's just too much drab for it to be effective.
There were good parts, don't get me wrong, but the bad parts are so overwhelming in this book.
While I can understand from a philosophical point of view the attempt at establishing the local fauna in an interesting way the reality is that it's just too badly described. All the chapter epigraphs are ridiculous in this respect.
And in the last part of the book Asher discovers the word "dingle" and just doesn't let go. At least his use of obscure words is somewhat more diminished since his first book.
The only reason I don't rate this as 1 star is the relationship between Sniper and SM13. Actually Sniper turns out a really nice character. It also had a more decent ending than the first 2 Cormac books.
There were good parts, don't get me wrong, but the bad parts are so overwhelming in this book.
While I can understand from a philosophical point of view the attempt at establishing the local fauna in an interesting way the reality is that it's just too badly described. All the chapter epigraphs are ridiculous in this respect.
And in the last part of the book Asher discovers the word "dingle" and just doesn't let go. At least his use of obscure words is somewhat more diminished since his first book.
The only reason I don't rate this as 1 star is the relationship between Sniper and SM13. Actually Sniper turns out a really nice character. It also had a more decent ending than the first 2 Cormac books.
david_agranoff's review
4.0
My first time reading Neal Asher was a far future bizarro science fiction short novel called Africa Zero. This is a longer more epic tale, but it is also one of the most bizarro modern Sci-fi novels I have read. It has sold me on Asher as a bold new voice. Entertainment weekly called it Dune meets Master and Commander and I can't disagree with that. The plot and and setting are so strange that I struggled a little bit trying to explain it to others.
It takes place in the same “universe” as Asher's first novel Grindlinked, I have not read that yet, but I don't think I suffered much for it. This is a stand alone novel.
Not since Dune has the landscape and ecosystem of a world come to such vivid life. What is most exciting about that is Spatterjay, the planet where skinner takes is what a horrible place to be the planet is. It makes the novel feel icky in a way. This is not a world where you want to take a vacation. SpatterJay, named after Jay Hooper the human who found the planet is mostly ocean. But the planet is teaming with life, including leeches both giant and small. The ecosystem is so interactive after a few bites from the leeches human are integrated in way that makes them almost immortal. Jay was using this unique ecosystem to take murdered humans, re-animated and devoid of life to be sold to the Prador, a crab like race the humans were at war with.
Humans who live on the planet are called Hoopers, and most have lived hundreds of years constantly being rebuilt by the leeches. This is explained well as two hoopers in one part fight in a tearing each other up, their bodies keep repairing themselves.
The book opens following a few humans as they arrive on the planet. My favorite of the characters are Sable Keech And Janer. Keech is A monitor (Basically a cop) who has been hunting a this planet's funder for 700 years after his death. How is that you ask? He is cybernetic his dead body linked to computer that stored his mind. His target is not doing much better, Jay Hooper's (known also as the Skinner) body has been living with out his head. Spatterjay seas captains have been keeping it alive in a box.
As for Janer he is a human who was punished for killing a hornet after he served his time as host to a hive mind of sentient hornets. After his time is up he stayed with the hive mind and is traveling the universe looking for adventure.
At the same time the human race is in a time of peace after years of war with the Prador,but They also want to kill the skinner and any other witness to the war crimes they committed together. The only part of the novel I did not enjoy were the seemingly endless battles between the Polity A.I. Who oversaw the planet and the Prador. That stuff wore me down a bit in the last 100 pages.
None the less I loved this inventive, brutal and super fucking weird science fiction epic. Asher made a fan out of me with this novel and I'll check out his other work for sure. Along with Richard K. Morgan, Neal Asher and China Mieville it seems the most exciting speculative fiction belongs to england.