The Inferior (The Bone World Trilogy, #1) by Peadar Ó Guilín

Nov 01, 2011 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopian-utopian-apocalyptic, ya-children-s, library-books, science-fiction, read-2010

I read this last year after noticing my flatmate had left it lying around on the coffee table and was intrigued by it.

I adored this book when I read it - I found it compelling and utterly disturbing. I still think about some of the creatures that O'Guilin describes and it gives me shivers. Think I'll reread it this year to see if it is actually as good as I remember.

I've just noticed that there is now a sequel so will definitely be rereading it.

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Jul 26, 2012 Rachel Brown rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: did-not-finish, young-adult, science-fiction

The most disgusting book I've ever dipped into, and I'm not even talking about the cannibalism. Would make a good emetic.

Don't click the spoiler unless you have a strong stomach. There were many, many incredibly disgusting scenes, but this one struck me as emblematic:

(view spoiler)...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Krys rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of Dystopia and dark plots

Shelves: own, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, young-adult, monster-hunting, horror-thriller, fantasy, autographed, medium-length-book, series-i-love, series

There is an International Giveaway here for this book. Ends 9-20-12. Come enter!

http://www.bibliopunkk.net/2012/09/in...

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This was my favourite book of 2008. Hands down. It's an absolutely thrilling read that did something books never do to me... I was unable to read anything else for another week following. That's a feat. Truly. Brilliant. Utterly. I wait for more of Peadar with great anticipation.

*upon a re-read in May of 2009, gearing up fo...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Karin Librarian for TeensReadToo.com

Stopmouth isn't the most respected hunter in the village, but he is the fastest. His speed makes him a valuable member of any hunting team because every team must come back with flesh. Lives depend on it. The consequences of a failed hunt don't just mean the possibility of starvation.

In Stopmouth's world, if there isn't enough flesh, members of the Tribe must volunteer to sustain their neighbors. If there aren't enough volunteers, the Tribe leaders...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Arith rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is not for just anyone, and I wasn't even sure it was for me when i came to the section of the novel where the tribe would eat the flesh, or sell the flesh of their fellow members, or family.

I was truly repulsed, and a little freaked out - about to put that book down - when it sort of dawned on me that their was a strangely human reason behind this freakish cannibalism; and that was what kept me reading.

This story pushes readers to the most extreme forms of survival - forget foraging...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Ravenous Biblioworm rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rating: 4.5/5

Cave men! Read cave men! Caveman kills! Cave… man? O’ Guilin’s The Inferior book is pretty interesting. If you’re thinking why would I want to read a book about cavemen? Well, you just proved the title’s point… you egotist, elitist, selfish son of a … okay I won’t go there. But still just because you deem them inferior to us… doesn’t mean they aren’t worth reading. What could possibly be interesting about cave people? Apparently a lot. They are human after all. Something interesting...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Katrina Patton rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of the Hunger Games or Sci-Fi

Shelves: 2012-book-challenge, favorites

I have to say, this book took me completely by surprise.

I initially picked it up because I won the sequel in the Goodreads Giveaway, and wanted to read the first one before diving into the second. I hadn't read much about it, so I didn't know what it was about at all. From the cover of the second book, I thought it might be about an advanced society (more about that later) but it's the complete opposite.

This book (and I'm sure the series as a whole, when it's finished) has a *lot* going for it....more I have to say, this book took me completely by surprise.

I initially picked it up because I won the sequel in the Goodreads Giveaway, and wanted to read the first one before diving into the second. I hadn't read much about it, so I didn't know what it was about at all. From the cover of the second book, I thought it might be about an advanced society (more about that later) but it's the complete opposite.

This book (and I'm sure the series as a whole, when it's finished) has a *lot* going for it. The writing style is interesting and the plot is well paced. I thought the society that Guilin created was very believable and genuine. Even with the horror (from my point of view) of cannibalism it wasn't too hard to understand and to accept once you are in the mindset of the Tribe.

From the beginning, you get the sense that there's something more to this world than what is shown to you, but as a reader you aren't given many facts. This is frustrating at times because for 3/4 of the book you feel like there's more to it that you aren't hearing about, you're always on the cusp of something bigger than hunting and killing beasts for flesh but, like Stopmouth, you aren't given any of that information.

The last 1/4 of the book moved so fast (not distractedly so) that I really couldn't put it down for the last 100 pages. I hope it isn't giving too much away to say that it's reminiscent of the Truman Show or the Hunger Games. The farther you get into it, the more the reader picks up on that thread of the plot anyway.

The only thing that I can say was negative is the descriptions of some of the surroundings and beast species. I couldn't always get a clear picture of what was going on or what certain things looked like, but in the end, it really didn't matter.

I am surprised by how much the book grabbed onto me. It kind of sneaks up on you, which is often what happens with the books I love the best, and you find yourself completely enthralled with this world. I can't wait to finally read the sequel, which is what drew me to this series, although I might read a book in between to have a bit of a change of pace. Highly recommend this. It's fabulous.(less)

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Feb 21, 2012 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Ok I notice from the title page on goodreads that this is listed as book one of a trilogy - that was not apparent when I bought the book, so the air was rather blue when I raced to the end, only to be left on a cliffhanger (almost literally). However the second volume is now out - it is downloading to my kindle as we speak so I will be a happy bunny once again.

This book was another venture into a genre of my youth - fantasy/SF (not sure where this fits on that particular spectrum). I really enjo...more

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May 18, 2009 Shawna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Survival of the fittest is understood by Stopmouth and his tribe either kill or be someone else¿s meal although his people expect him to be fodder because his stupidity makes them believe Stopmouth is inferior to them. Expediting his demise is his brother who betrays Stopmouth.--- In this dangerous environs of the law of eat or be eaten, Indrani falls from the sky landing in the midst of Stopmouth¿s tribe. They debate what to do with the intruder as some want to trade her to those who relish fre...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Stopmouth has always deeply admired and envied his older brother, Wallbreaker, for his hunting skills, his ability to speak without stuttering, and the love of Mossheart, one of the prettiest girls in the Human Tribe. Stopmouth's chances of a good match are low, because everyone assumes something's wrong with him because of his stutter. He didn't mind so much when he had the love of his mother and brother, but, after his mother Volunteers herself to be traded to rival creatures for food so that...more Stopmouth has always deeply admired and envied his older brother, Wallbreaker, for his hunting skills, his ability to speak without stuttering, and the love of Mossheart, one of the prettiest girls in the Human Tribe. Stopmouth's chances of a good match are low, because everyone assumes something's wrong with him because of his stutter. He didn't mind so much when he had the love of his mother and brother, but, after his mother Volunteers herself to be traded to rival creatures for food so that Stopmouth may live, and his brother becomes jealous of Stopmouth's friendship with Indrani, Wallbreaker's second wife, a mysterious woman who came from a Globe, Stopmouth's world begins to change.

Okay, I did my best to summarize this book, but, honestly, it's a really difficult book to explain, because it's so much not like anything else I've read. Basically, somehow the human race has descended to the level of cannibalistic monsters that live off of no food but flesh. Not only do they eat all of the creatures that live within hunting distance of them (Armourbacks, Hairbeasts, Hoppers, etc.), but they also eat other humans. To be eaten by one's family after death is seen as an honor.

Weirder still is the fact that none of these different kinds of creatures can understand the language of any other. Even more curious is the fact that, even if they try, they cannot learn to understand these other methods of communication. All of the different tribes of creatures live in the same ways the humans do, hunting and trading the species nearby.

On the plus side, this is very original. On the downside, I found it nigh impossible to relate to the characters, because they're just so incredibly different from anything I know as 'human.' The way their society functions is completely awful, with the death lottery and the role of females. Caring about Stopmouth and Rockface and Indrani was difficult at the best of times.

Up next on my tbr pile is the second book in the series, which is finally being published five years after book one (weird!). I'm not particularly excited about it, but I'm not giving up on it either. I would like to learn more about how the heck humanity became like this. There were some hints in The Inferior and I think a lot more should be learned in The Deserter about the Roof and the history of humans.(less)

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Feb 24, 2009 Karin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-reads, youngadult, post-apocalyptic

Stopmouth isn’t the most respected hunter in the village, but he is the fastest. His speed makes him a valuable member of any hunting team because every hunting team must come back with flesh. Lives depend on it. The consequences of a failed hunt doesn’t just mean the possibility of starvation. In Stopmouth’s world, if there isn’t enough flesh, members of the Tribe must volunteer to sustain their neighbors. If there aren’t enough volunteers, the Tribe leaders choose people for this “honor”. Stop...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Tara Hall rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teens, Boys

Shelves: reviewed, recommended-for-teens

I picked up the sequel to this book first, and at first I was very confused. Then I realized it was book number two, so I came back to the first one. At first glance, this story was very strange. It's so far from reality, it took a bit of getting used to. But I kept reading because I was intrigued with the world-building. I am so glad I did.

The world is nothing short of fascinating. There are enough original cultures, religions, politics, and characters to make J.R.R. Tolkien jealous. It is, in...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Mathgenius8 rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was all right. But the describing skills of the writer really stink. This book is about a tribe of humans trying to live and many numerous twists. But their are so many other creatures that you don’t know what they are. Like the armourbacks, all you know about them is they are tall and have a hard shell. Plus you don’t know if this book is in the past or future. I thought the past but boy was I wrong. But I liked the storyline a lot. It had a ton of action. But this is not for people w...more

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Mar 19, 2011 William rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book’s portrayal of a world which is literally kill (and eat) or be killed (and eaten) is memorable and imaginative and at times gruesomely disturbing. It has a fast-paced story that throws the reader directly into an alien and vividly-described world and it manages to pack a lot of plot and quite a few surprises into a relatively short book. There are still a number of mysteries remaining at the end of the book, but hopefully the sequel with provide some answers for it. There are some memo...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: hey-i-know-you

I finished reading Peadar's book last week and I've been...ahem, digesting it.

I really liked it. It was definitely different. I've never read a book by someone I know and that was an interesting experience. I guess I've been talking to Peadar online for close to a year now, so I have this Peadar image/impression in my head from different comments that he's made on posts. And, as I was reading, I kept getting knocked out of the story because it was so Peadar. I'd have to stop, laugh, then contin...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, genre

The setting of "The Inferior" is very original. On a world, where the vegetation seems to be mostly poisonous, a tribe of savage humans fights intelligent non-humans for their meat in order to survive. The plot takes a lot of unexpected turns, with a number of very nice action scenes, tons of dismemberment and cannibalism, and even a love story. The ending was a bit unsatisfactory, but there is a lot of world building going on and the story would probably have been too big for a standalone volum...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, fiction, ya, science-fiction

Cannibals, cannibals, cannibals!

Now that I've got your attention... Yes, this book does contain cannibalism. It takes place in a world that, at first glance, seems like a combination of alternate sci-fi world with a stone-age human society. What does that mean, you ask? Well, there are plenty of alien-like creatures living in the ruins of a long-past civilization, and the humans are all stone-age level, with lots of tools made of stone and bone. No one on the planet eats anything but flesh, and...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Keenan E rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book had a fascinating new look on life. I mean you couldn't even tell when it was taking place until halfway through. In the book "The Inferior" it is eat or be eaten. Where a tribe of humans live in a city with four sections containing completely different species. The tribe is not new to killing to survive and must hunt the other species for their flesh which is food. This book gives a grim sort of reality to about life and nature. Then you learn how there are these floating globes that...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Saphrina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 25, 2013 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star-loved-it

better than the hunger games!

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Jun 28, 2009 Dionne rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 07, 2012 Tina (yAdultReview) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-books, dystopia, ya, arc-netgalley

Originally posted at Nose in a Book

The beginning of this one was, in my opionion, boring and slow, and the writing felt more like middle-grade than YA, and the story was flimsy. Stopmouth has a brother who’s a lying liar, supposedly a “great warrior” but really a pathetic coward, and Stopmouth–called that because of his stutter–is ignored even though his hunting skills outweigh his brother’s. Things pick up when a woman the Tribe can’t understand falls from the sky, but things don’t start to get...more Originally posted at Nose in a Book

The beginning of this one was, in my opionion, boring and slow, and the writing felt more like middle-grade than YA, and the story was flimsy. Stopmouth has a brother who’s a lying liar, supposedly a “great warrior” but really a pathetic coward, and Stopmouth–called that because of his stutter–is ignored even though his hunting skills outweigh his brother’s. Things pick up when a woman the Tribe can’t understand falls from the sky, but things don’t start to get truly interesting until some creatures show up and start killing all the humans. When Stopmouth is hurt in a hunt, Indrani, the woman from the sky, tends his wounds and he teaches her his language. She is a catalyst in this novel.

She is also a point of obsession for Stopmouth’s brother, Wallbreaker, which pisses off his wife, Mossheart, but Indrani has no interest. This creates some conflict between Stopmouth and Wallbreaker, which leads us to discover that Wallbreaker is a jerk who is willing to sacrifice his brother for a woman who doesn’t even like him. I grew to really hate Wallbreaker, and it all started when he sent Stopmouth off on an impossible quest, all because of Indrani. I rolled my eyes a lot.

I love Stopmouth though. You literally see his ideas change before your eyes. He grows up, learns to survive on his own, and becomes someone truly worthy of respect, unlike Wallbreaker. When Wallbreaker betrays Stopmouth in a huge way, Stopmouth leaves the village, something that is completely unheard of in his Tribe, and strikes out on his own, all while dealing with the idea that his older brother probably wishes Stopmouth were dead. Stopmouth grows like no other character I’ve seen in a YA novel, and it’s partly out of necessity. His world has changed so quickly and keeps changing too fast for him to keep up mentally. Indrani goes through a transformation as well, because this new world is familiar but also alien, and her prejudices are constantly challenged.

I didn’t realize that the different tribes in the novel were all cannibals. It didn’t occur to me, because Stopmouth’s tribe is presented as humans, while the others have different names (Hairbeasts, Bloodskins, etc). It becomes really apparent later on, however, and causes some discomfort and fighting later on in the story. Those from the Roof, like Indrani, believe that killing anything, animal or human, is murder and vile, so watching Indrani reconcile what she’s been taught with her body’s survival instinct is very interesting. It’s what made the novel for me, to be honest. Indrani was one of my favorite characters.

I liked this one, with conditions. The beginning was slow and I wasn’t sure what the point was, but once Stopmouth leaves the Tribe, the story picks up nicely. Rockface is an unexpected source of humor and awesomeness even while Indrani becomes distant and afraid. This is a dypstopia like none other, and it works well once it gets its ideas off the ground. I have the sequel to this one ready to go, and I will definitely be reviewing it here! I recommend this one, with reservations, to those who like male narrators, third person limited POV, cavemen and dystopia mixed into one.(less)

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May 18, 2012 Nella rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction

Någonting har kastat mänskligheten tillbaka till vad som vid första anblicken verkar vara stenåldern, men som vid närmare granskning är något helt annat. Människorna lever i söderfallande, uråldriga städer, ovanför dem flyger globes omkring och iakttar allt som händer och ända sättet att få mat är genom jakt. Och människan är inte de ända som jagar...
I den här livsfarliga välden kämpar Stopmouth för att överleva tillsammans med sin mamma Flamehair och sin bror Wallbreaker. Men saker och ting ä...more Någonting har kastat mänskligheten tillbaka till vad som vid första anblicken verkar vara stenåldern, men som vid närmare granskning är något helt annat. Människorna lever i söderfallande, uråldriga städer, ovanför dem flyger globes omkring och iakttar allt som händer och ända sättet att få mat är genom jakt. Och människan är inte de ända som jagar...
I den här livsfarliga välden kämpar Stopmouth för att överleva tillsammans med sin mamma Flamehair och sin bror Wallbreaker. Men saker och ting är inte alls så bra som det skulle kunna vara; Stopmouth övergavs av sin bror och blev nästan dödad av några av de bestar som äter människokött, hans stora kärlek, Mossheart, har precis gift sig med Wallbreaker och stammens övriga medlemmar ser ner på honom på grunda av att han stammar.
Som om Stopmouths personliga problem inte var nog så har några av bestarna slagit sig samman och verkar planera att utrota människorna, och en dag händer det märkligaste av allt: två stycken globes attackerar varandra och ur en av dem faller den vackraste kvinna Stopmouth någonsin sett: Indrani.

Det blev en lång handling, och endå beskriver jag inte ens en bråkdel av vad som händer i boken. The inferior är blodig, hemsk och helt enkelt disturbing, men på ett bra sätt. Den tar upp viktiga frågor som om det är värt att mörda, lida och rent av bli kannibalistisk bara för att överleva.
Många av er kanske mår illa bara vid tanken på att äta andra människor, och skulle förmodligen hellre svälta ihjäl. Men i The inferior står det till på ett helt annat sätt; här är det överlevnad till varje pris som gäller, och inte bara för sig själv utan för hela stammen. De gamla, de svaga, de som helt enkelt inte klarade av att bidra till stammen åts upp, antingen av människor eller av andra varelser. Det läskiga är att författaren får det att verka helt okej och rent av korkat att göra på något annat sätt. Att bara låta något dö och sedan gräva ned kroppen var inte att tänka på i en värld där man fick kämpa för varje matbit. Det vore slöseri, vanhedrande både för den döde och dess släktingar. Att dö utan att ätas sågs om ett hemskt öde.

The inferior är en bra bok. Vad annat kan jag säga? Den är spännande, läskig, tankeprovocerande, originell och även lite romantisk och sorglig. Jag skulle dock inte föreslå den till de som inte klarar av en hel del blod och mord, våldtäkt och kannibalism. Den är ganska äcklig på sina ställen (något jag inte kan förstå är varför de envisas med att äta rått kött, de kan väl åtminstone tillaga det först?) och om du är känslig borde du kanske undvika den. Men om du är beredd att sätta dina tankar och åsikter på prov kan jag inte annat är varmt rekommendera den.

Det finns en himla massa karaktärer med i boken, och de viktigaste huvudpersonerna är alla detaljerade och har många lager och stora personligheter. De kändes alla trovärdiga och utvecklades under bokens gång (speciellt Stopmouth, han får en allt större inblick i vad det är han egentligen gör för att överleva), men sedan kommer det till bikaraktärerna... De dör av med en rasande fart, jag kan faktiskt inte föreställa mig hur mycket människor som går hemska öden till mötes under historiens gång. Av de som dog var det väldigt få man fick lära känna, medan huvudpersonerna verkade ha en skyddande barriär runt sig. I många fall var de döende och borde vid all rimlighet inte ha klarat sig, men något hände alltid som räddade dem.
Men jag är nog ändå tacksam för det. Jag hatar när huvudpersoner dör.

Om det inte vore för en sak så skulle jag ge den här boken högsta betyg. Det som retar mig från första sidan till den sista är kvinnosynen i boken. Männen jagar, kvinnorna lagar mat. Männen bestämmer, kvinnorna gör som de blir tillsagda. Blä. Det blir lite bättre i slutet när två tjejer introduceras i jaktlaget, men situationen är ändå i stort sett densamma. Kvinnor och barn ska skyddas, männen ska vara tappra och sköta allt det viktiga. Herregud vad det stör mig! Kunde verkligen inte författaren föreställa sig en värld där kvinnor har samma rättigheter som män? Argh!

Jag kanske överreagerar lite, för Indrani var en stark karaktär, och det hintas faktiskt om att kvinnorna borde ha större frihet. Kanske det rentav görs något åt det i den andra boken, The deserter. Hur som helst så förtjänar The inferior fyra utav fem rosor, och jag är väldigt ivrig att få tag på den andra boken.
(less)

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Nov 02, 2011 Chandra rated it 2 of 5 stars

The first half of this book had me pretty darn interested. Then the protagonist left his village, and pretty much all his brother's character development became useless. And it seemed as though that character development was leading up to something important. I would add Peadar O' Guilin to my mental list of "Authors who can't use Set Ups and Pay Offs Worth Beans" list, except he actually used them once, what with that thing about how the Talker can glow. Why is that a feature someone bothered t...more The first half of this book had me pretty darn interested. Then the protagonist left his village, and pretty much all his brother's character development became useless. And it seemed as though that character development was leading up to something important. I would add Peadar O' Guilin to my mental list of "Authors who can't use Set Ups and Pay Offs Worth Beans" list, except he actually used them once, what with that thing about how the Talker can glow. Why is that a feature someone bothered to build into the the Talker? Who knows. But it was set up early enough that I will, I suppose, suspend my disbelief.
Continuing on my discussion of why this book is "meh": Really obvious exposition is withheld until really REALLY close to the end of the book. Everything Indrani FINALLY reveals is stuff I had pretty much guessed. I mean, whenever there's a group of primitive cannibals and a group of highly advanced people with technology a million years in the future, chances are that the highly advanced people are actually living in a distopia, as illustrated by the fact that they are talking advantage of other people by putting them in a situation where they have to go cannibal. Now, I will give it this, I thought the advanced society in The Inferior was using the primitive cannibals as an experiment of some kind, such as the norm. It turns out, they were just using them for reality TV. (Seriously, though, that would have been my second guess.)
Anyway, I continued reading this book because I wanted details about the futuristic distopia. What ARE the extent of their crimes? Can the be rationalized? What are their complete motives? (And I don't mean the VAGUE motives they give us through chunks of dialogue.) I would have liked more exposition, and less boring battle scenes. Seriously, they were interesting when Wallbreaker was there. After that, they were all repetitious and less interesting.
For all its faults, though, it had some interesting ideas, some characters that were pretty likable, and it was able to raise at least a few issues of morality, though not, I think, as many as it could have.(less)

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Dec 27, 2010 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-scifi

I don't remember why it started, but I needed to read a YA book involving cannibalism. It had something to do with a conversation on Twitter, I remember, but the details are fuzzy. Anyway, this was the only book we could find. I was broke at the time, so I didn't buy it. It went on my wish list.

Wrapping paper? $1. Book? $5. Look on a mother's face when her daughter thanks her for buying the YA book on cannibalism that she's been craving? Priceless.

Guilín wrote an amazingly well crafted novel tha...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-books-i-would-recommend, 2009

This book has a lot of interesting concepts, and explores the idea of what makes us human and how do you decide who the "savages" are. Stopmouth lives in a world where the rule is kill or be killed. His people do not grow crops; all they eat is meat. They will kill other creatures for meat, but will also eat dead humans. And sometimes they will trade old or injured humans to other species in order to obtain other kinds of meat in return. Stopmouth's world changes when his older brother betrays h...more

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Sep 09, 2008 Becky rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Inferior begins with an adrenaline-pumping chase:

The rule was to keep running--Don't stop, don't die. The Tribe needed its strongest to survive. So Stopmouth fled for his life through the streets of Hairbeast territory, while it's non-human inhabitants looked on with indifference. Already the cries of his brother were fading behind him.
'Please, Stopmouth!'
The Armourbacks preferred living prey. When they caught Wallbreaker, they'd drive him home with spears to feed their young. The screams...more

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May 13, 2008 uroš rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of fast paced and well concieved epic fantasy

Recommended to uroš by: Peadar Ó Guilín

Shelves: ya, fantasy, science-fiction

The review is originally available at The Realms of Speculative Fiction - http://sf-fantasy-books.blogspot.com/...

Stopmouth is a young and resourceful hunter of the tribe of men. It is a harsh and competitive world where a wide variety of lethal and highly intelligent beast-like creatures abide. Since there seems to be no traditional sources of food, the law of survival culls down to the essentials – Eat or Be Eaten. But Stopmouth soon realizes that the source of the threat is not necessarily li...more The review is originally available at The Realms of Speculative Fiction - http://sf-fantasy-books.blogspot.com/...

Stopmouth is a young and resourceful hunter of the tribe of men. It is a harsh and competitive world where a wide variety of lethal and highly intelligent beast-like creatures abide. Since there seems to be no traditional sources of food, the law of survival culls down to the essentials – Eat or Be Eaten. But Stopmouth soon realizes that the source of the threat is not necessarily limited to the outside world and when one of the mysterious Globes that traverse the Roof (sky) happens to crash into the Tribe's Centre Square, and an exotic woman rises from the wreckage, a new opportunity and a yet untrodden destiny open up for our young hunter...

~~~

The Inferior is a debut effort by an Irishman Peadar Ó Guilin. The novel is a beginning of the sf/fantasy trilogy that is marketed under a young-adult tag; and while one might question the wisdom of this marketing decision, since one of the main issues addressed by this novel touches upon our (moral) right to consume flesh -- especially if it comes from hunting intelligent and self-aware species that are akin to human beings in many ways -- but despite the fact that it does so in a pretty straightforward manner, the author employs a 'user-friendly' and inoffensive style that eschews overtly explicit descriptions of violence, sex and other questionable contents with relative ease. But don't get me wrong, if Ó Guilín chose not to do gritty, that doesn't mean that he pampers his readers – he raises a few important questions and while he doesn't serve us the answers on a silver platter, he still implores his readers to think about them on their own time without bogging the narrative with excessive introspection.

The prose is pretty straightforward, which is most evident from the names that the author chose for his characters (Stopmouth, Rockface, Mossheart, Wallbreaker), the beasts (Flyers, Diggers, Hoppers, Armourbacks) and the natural phenomena (Manways, Wetlanes, the Roof, Globes). The names of the beasts and their primordial physique resonate with a palpable pulpish feel which I really liked. The first impression of the world I got was that it's very small, crammed, artificial and that its shaping preceded its current inhabitants – as it turned out, I wasn't far off the mark, and it was quite intentional on the author's part. The portrayal of the tribal society was simplistic and a bit too naive with regard to certain facets, but it was nevertheless effective and very vivid.

The world-building occurs through the events and the dialogue – Ó Guilin really succeeds to bring the world to life with 'minimal' efforts. The nature of the author's approach is such that he never lingers indefinitely on feelings and thoughts of the characters – they tend to show rather than tell. The characterization might feel a bit rough around the edges at times and somewhat lacking in finer nuances, but it still manages to impress, regardless of its relative simplicity. I believe that the author's charisma shines most brightly through the characters such as Stopmouth (obviously!), Indrani and Rockface. This is a perfectly decent survival story - brimming with optimism, courage and wonder, and balanced by the right amount of the romantic and the mysterious.

Another thing that is going really strong for The Inferior is the (clandestine) inclusion of the sf elements (Globes in the sky, 'Talker' - alien object that allows communication between the incompatible races of beasts and men, etc.), while it still manages to be read as a straightforward fantasy story. Without giving too much away, I concur with the blurb on the cover that familiarizes some of the ideas from this book with those from the movie The Truman Show.

Peadar Ó Guilín has a knack for making likable characters. Stopmouth is presented as an intelligent, brave and thoughtful, if a bit naive young man. The portrayal of relationships that Stopmouth cultivates with his brother, with »the woman that has fallen from the sky« and with Rockface, presents the biggest strength of the novel - along with the characterization per se. I especially enjoyed Stopmouth’s ambivalent and precarious friendship with his brother Wallbreaker. The gradual blossoming of feelings between Indrani and Stopmouth was done with great care and tact, as was the seemingly incompatible friendship between the cautious Stopmouth and the reckless Rockface that evolved into something deeper along the way. The way how Wallbreaker was portrayed as an ambivalent person really intrigued me and I couldn't decide if he was either good or bad. While I felt that not all of the changes of Wallbreaker's personality were sufficiently explained and some of the choices he made were a bit extreme as well, but I would still love to see him as a POV (maybe in one of the sequels?). I also regretted the fact that he makes the last appearance somewhere around the middle of the novel – that is one of the reasons why the book lost some of its appeal for me in the second half despite the fact that it loses none of its steam. The concluding chapters felt a bit rushed in my opinion - I would have preferred, if the author had chosen to slow down the action for a while, so he would have had more room for character development and world-building.

There are also some other minor discrepancies and loose plot threads: (1)Why is the extinction of the Hairbeasts not followed by repopulation with another beast-race? (2)Why are the Diggers so omnipotent in relation to other races? (3)The author goes explaining at length how impossible the communication between various beast-folk (including humanity) is, due to the fact that they have completely incompatible minds; but the inhabitants of this makeshift world still somehow succeed in forming alliances. But all this 'problems' don't detract from the reading experience and, besides, I hold high hopes that all the loose-ends will be tied up neatly in the forthcoming sequels. There is also some hinting at a strife between the spiritual and the atheist fraction (that goes on behind the screens) of which we will surely hear more later on.

As a YA title I would 'judge' this novel as a highly entertaining read that even manages to make you question humanity's complacency with killing other conscious beings and eating their meat; but I have to admit that I missed a bit of political incorrectness and/or outright subversive elements – the wholesome impression I got was a bit mellow, but we can’t have it all, or can we?

Regardless of the gripes I had with The Inferior it is still a fabulous read and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. I know that what I’m about to say is stretching it a bit, but I really found some general similarities between The Inferior and the works of Paul Kearney or even David Gemmell. You can figure out how highly I value Peadar Ó Guilín’s debut effort by this comparison alone.

~ Thrinidir ~(less)

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Jan 20, 2008 Hayden rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen, guy-book, adventure, sci-fi

The back cover this book says, "THERE IS BUT ONE LAW: EAT OR BE EATEN."

And that pretty much sums it up. Stopmouth (so named because of a stutter) lives in a world where a small band of humans--about 3000 total--must hunt and eat other sentient creatures to survive. Conveniently, most of these creatures are not adorable; they look like giant spiders or horeshoe crabs or have four sets of arms, but still. They're smart.

Also, the old, weak, and injured among the Tribe are regularly "volunteered" in...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Keith rated it 5 of 5 stars

A thoroughly enjoyable book from start to finish. I was hooked from the very beginning and stayed engaged the whole time. Stopmouth is an instantly likable character with his two sides, the calculating hunter and the compassionate and loyal member of the tribe, working together perfectly. The other characters also show a nice duality that makes them real and not just one dimensional "good guys" and "bad guys." Stopmouth even comes to realize that the beasts are thinking and caring creatures too...more

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