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A review by motherhorror
Skinwrapper by Stephen Kozeniewski
3.0
3 Stars!
Thank you to Sinister Grin Press and the author for helping our Night Worms Review Team get plenty of copies for our Book Party!
I've said it before but Science-Fiction is a hard sell for me. Typically, extensive world-building, space travel, and unfamiliar settings/creatures are too much of a stretch for my tastes so I usually avoid Sci-Fi altogether. However, Sci-Fi/Horror hybrids still manage to catch my attention, as this one did.
This is a prequel to a book called, HEMATOPHAGES, but can be read as a standalone novella. SKINWRAPPER does not waste time. A slick 80 pages of high-octane, action-fueled space opera involving a young girl living on a space freighter with her parents. The ship is attacked by pirates called, SKINWRAPPERS who steal blood and organs.
Pretty terrifying. Just the name alone, SKINWRAPPERS is enough to evoke shudders.
The storytelling here is accessible for readers like me who are not seasoned Sci-Fi fans. There are a few brief introductions of some advanced technological "contraptions" (for lack of a better term) where I was a little confused as to their function but I just kept going and they eventually explain themselves (looking at you, 'glowing orb that acts like a pet').
I think the temptation here would be for readers to demand more substance and length to this story because not everything is extensively fleshed out but to be honest, I might not read a novel-length horror/Sci-Fi so this was the perfect size for me--a compact, dark, brutal story set in deep-space with an intelligent female protagonist trying to survive formidable, savage enemies.
3 stars simply because I like Science Fiction but I find it a rare thing to fall in love with it. Space is not my Jam.
I will definitely read more Kozeniewski and possibly go back for HEMATOPHAGES.
Thank you to Sinister Grin Press and the author for helping our Night Worms Review Team get plenty of copies for our Book Party!
I've said it before but Science-Fiction is a hard sell for me. Typically, extensive world-building, space travel, and unfamiliar settings/creatures are too much of a stretch for my tastes so I usually avoid Sci-Fi altogether. However, Sci-Fi/Horror hybrids still manage to catch my attention, as this one did.
This is a prequel to a book called, HEMATOPHAGES, but can be read as a standalone novella. SKINWRAPPER does not waste time. A slick 80 pages of high-octane, action-fueled space opera involving a young girl living on a space freighter with her parents. The ship is attacked by pirates called, SKINWRAPPERS who steal blood and organs.
Pretty terrifying. Just the name alone, SKINWRAPPERS is enough to evoke shudders.
The storytelling here is accessible for readers like me who are not seasoned Sci-Fi fans. There are a few brief introductions of some advanced technological "contraptions" (for lack of a better term) where I was a little confused as to their function but I just kept going and they eventually explain themselves (looking at you, 'glowing orb that acts like a pet').
I think the temptation here would be for readers to demand more substance and length to this story because not everything is extensively fleshed out but to be honest, I might not read a novel-length horror/Sci-Fi so this was the perfect size for me--a compact, dark, brutal story set in deep-space with an intelligent female protagonist trying to survive formidable, savage enemies.
3 stars simply because I like Science Fiction but I find it a rare thing to fall in love with it. Space is not my Jam.
I will definitely read more Kozeniewski and possibly go back for HEMATOPHAGES.