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The Jaws that Bite, the Claws that Catch
Call them the spare parts of people. They chose the risk - jail for convicted crimes or semi-freedom as someone's bonded servant for the same term. The price was that they were body insurance. If their master lost a leg or an internal organ, they would have to supply the missing part. That was the risk. Sagar used bondsmen in his other-world farm where he raised exotic alien pelts to sell to the rich. He had no thoughts on the bondsmen problem, pro or con. But when Carioca Jones, 3-V star, visited him he met her bonded companion, the lovely girl with the musical talent.
It's dangerous to fall in love with a bondsmaiden. Doubly so when her mistress is in love with you. Triply so when it might set off the social explosion that had been smouldering beneath the delicately balanced surface of their post-cataclysmic Peninsula.
It's dangerous to fall in love with a bondsmaiden. Doubly so when her mistress is in love with you. Triply so when it might set off the social explosion that had been smouldering beneath the delicately balanced surface of their post-cataclysmic Peninsula.
- GenresScience FictionDystopia
191 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 18, 1975
1 person is currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Michael G. Coney
120 books27 followersMichael Greatrex Coney was born in Birmingham, England and educated at King Edward's School.
He started a career as a chartered accountant and went on to become a management Consultant. Then he went into the catering business, managing an inn in south Devon with his wife, Daphne for three years and a hotel in the West Indies for another three. He worked for Financial Services in the B.C. Forest Service for seventeen years before retiring .
He Passed away 4 November 2005. peacefully of Cancer (Mesothelioma). He was married with three children and lived on Vancouver Island.
He started a career as a chartered accountant and went on to become a management Consultant. Then he went into the catering business, managing an inn in south Devon with his wife, Daphne for three years and a hotel in the West Indies for another three. He worked for Financial Services in the B.C. Forest Service for seventeen years before retiring .
He Passed away 4 November 2005. peacefully of Cancer (Mesothelioma). He was married with three children and lived on Vancouver Island.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 24, 2020
DAW Collectors #144
Cover Artist: Kelly Freas
Name: Coney, Michael Greatrex, Birthplace: Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, UK, 28 September 1932 - 04 November 2005.
Alternate Name: Jennifer Black
alternate title: "The Girl With a Symphony in Her Fingers."
The book’s setting, a community built up around the wreckage of an old ocean vessel, and the ocean itself, plays a big part in the story as it is the venue for which the main characters engage in a sport called sling gliding.
Cover Artist: Kelly Freas
Name: Coney, Michael Greatrex, Birthplace: Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, UK, 28 September 1932 - 04 November 2005.
Alternate Name: Jennifer Black
alternate title: "The Girl With a Symphony in Her Fingers."
The book’s setting, a community built up around the wreckage of an old ocean vessel, and the ocean itself, plays a big part in the story as it is the venue for which the main characters engage in a sport called sling gliding.
August 5, 2025
The novelette-length version of this novel appeared in the Ejler Jakobsson-edited March 1974 issue of Galaxy magazine, well over a year before that Spielberg movie premiered in June of '75, under the title of The Hook, the Eye and the Whip... just in case anybody thinks anything fishy was going on. (Yup, fifty years and I still think it's funny!) The Jaws that Bite, The Claws that Catch has also been published under the title The Girl with a Symphony in Her Fingers, but I prefer the Jabberwocky reference. It's set in Coney's post-cataclysmic world Peninsula, and examines crime and punishment and indentured servitude and love and celebrity and music and extreme sports... and sharks. Lots of sharks. There's a convoluted romantic triangle and a very fast-paced plot, and I believe it's one of Coney's best. The DAW edition features one of Kelly Freas' most striking covers.
December 12, 2024
Imagine, if you will, a world where the government is so hard on crime that they need to give convicts a way to shorten their sentences. Imagine the only two ways to do it are 1) decide to become a willing slave or 2) become a living organ donor.
In this startling dark setting, Michael G Coney weaves the interesting themes of slavery, prison/criminal systems, and even slacktivism. How he was able to predict that in the 70s is anyone’s guess.
Honestly, I loved the unreliable narrator. He’s not likable but he feels very realistic. I loved how the activists were only joining in the conversation for the popularity and not for the greater good. At the end of it all, it makes you question whether populist activists can ever do real good.
The only thing I didn’t like—hence the 4 star rating—was the ending that felt like it was excusing willing slavery. Not only did it feel off from the rest of the story, but it also felt icky. Otherwise, it was a great book.
In this startling dark setting, Michael G Coney weaves the interesting themes of slavery, prison/criminal systems, and even slacktivism. How he was able to predict that in the 70s is anyone’s guess.
Honestly, I loved the unreliable narrator. He’s not likable but he feels very realistic. I loved how the activists were only joining in the conversation for the popularity and not for the greater good. At the end of it all, it makes you question whether populist activists can ever do real good.
The only thing I didn’t like—hence the 4 star rating—was the ending that felt like it was excusing willing slavery. Not only did it feel off from the rest of the story, but it also felt icky. Otherwise, it was a great book.
January 9, 2016
A relic of an older time, when protagonists were ordinary people and the issues did not have moral clarity. The author probes a form of indentured servitude and asks if such service is wrong if it is voluntary. He also predicts the excesses of the modern social justice movement decades before it developed its current insanity. Back in the Seventies I read the novellette from which the book grew and the full novel is much deeper and takes a surprising turn away from the original narrative. A very worthwhile book.
November 20, 2024
Our story takes place on the “Peninsula”.. In the future, rising waters and tsunamis have eroded and split off continents creating a myriad of island structures. The story is quintessentially American, although Coney is a British writer, and seems to potentially take place in Florida.
Coney introduces us to our protagonist, an unreliable narrator named Joe Sagar who is a “Slithe” farmer of assumably upper middle class status. In Coney’s world, once aquatic lifeforms are now kept as pets, different classes of fish are able to exist on land with the support of oxygenation tanks fitted to their gills. There is also the pastime of “gliding” a dangerous sport akin to wingsuit flying of which is frequented by Joe and the other characters.
Science Fiction elements aside, the essence of Coney’s world is effectively a satire of the US penal and criminal justice system. On the Peninsula, prisoners have the option of becoming S.P.’s, derogatorily known as “Spare Parts Persons”. If a prisoner desires, they can complete their sentence under the jurisdiction of a free man as a bonded man. Effectively a slave without the mental and physical abuse. Obviously, this glaring cast system generally creates a discordance between the owner and the owned. Upon this built world, we follow Joe along a series of discoveries as he gradually comes to the truth of the penal system.
This is by no means a perfect novel, but I did enjoy Coney’s writing. Fans of Christopher Priest may find something of interest here. I suspect this is not his best work as it has some pitfalls. Mainly, some of the characters conveniently appear at random times in the narration, giving the novel a manufactured feel. I also felt that the sport of “gliding” was not doing a great service to the story at large, and found the actual details of the sport itself to be hard to imagine without some technological contradictions. Those things aside, Coney has a great fondness of women, and I love his portrayal of their beauty. He also has a sophisticated sense of humor, and builds on the satire of political spectacle with reasonable talent. Worth a read!
Coney introduces us to our protagonist, an unreliable narrator named Joe Sagar who is a “Slithe” farmer of assumably upper middle class status. In Coney’s world, once aquatic lifeforms are now kept as pets, different classes of fish are able to exist on land with the support of oxygenation tanks fitted to their gills. There is also the pastime of “gliding” a dangerous sport akin to wingsuit flying of which is frequented by Joe and the other characters.
Science Fiction elements aside, the essence of Coney’s world is effectively a satire of the US penal and criminal justice system. On the Peninsula, prisoners have the option of becoming S.P.’s, derogatorily known as “Spare Parts Persons”. If a prisoner desires, they can complete their sentence under the jurisdiction of a free man as a bonded man. Effectively a slave without the mental and physical abuse. Obviously, this glaring cast system generally creates a discordance between the owner and the owned. Upon this built world, we follow Joe along a series of discoveries as he gradually comes to the truth of the penal system.
This is by no means a perfect novel, but I did enjoy Coney’s writing. Fans of Christopher Priest may find something of interest here. I suspect this is not his best work as it has some pitfalls. Mainly, some of the characters conveniently appear at random times in the narration, giving the novel a manufactured feel. I also felt that the sport of “gliding” was not doing a great service to the story at large, and found the actual details of the sport itself to be hard to imagine without some technological contradictions. Those things aside, Coney has a great fondness of women, and I love his portrayal of their beauty. He also has a sophisticated sense of humor, and builds on the satire of political spectacle with reasonable talent. Worth a read!
September 3, 2023
4.5 Stars.
I don’t rightly know what I read but I liked it for the most part 🤣😂. I was lucky enough to get a mass market paperback of this beautifully cool cover. It pretty much sums up the book. Cray cray
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
I don’t rightly know what I read but I liked it for the most part 🤣😂. I was lucky enough to get a mass market paperback of this beautifully cool cover. It pretty much sums up the book. Cray cray
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
June 29, 2010
Dans ce roman - et les nouvelles qui lui font suite - on se met dans les pas de Joe Sagar, éleveur de reptiles extra-terrestres à peau empathique dans une version post-tremblement de terre de la californie (bon, ça, c'est jamais dit, mais c'est quand même le cas).
Dans cette Péninsule abandonnée de presque tous, sauf les marginaux, les fous, et les amateurs de planeur haute-vitesse (lequel n'a aucun rapport avec ceux de Windhaven), Joe Sagar passe son temps à tomber sur Carioca Jones, une ancienne actrice de 3D sur le retour, avec laquelle ses relations sont plus qu'ambigües. D'ailleurs, en un sens, je crois bien que c'est elle la véritable héroïne de ces histoires, vues par l'un des innombrables profiteurs qui gravitent autour d'elle.
Dans le roman qui ouvre ce livre, on le suit donc, dans ses amours contrariées et tumulteuses, et surtout dans sa tentative misérable (car encombrée de tout un fatras de consdéirations personnelles qui l'empêchent systématiquement d'aqgir) de libérer les prisonniers de droits communs de leur obligation de donneurs d'organes. Oui, dans cet univers, les prisonniers de droit commun, pour payer leur dette à la société, ont l'obligation de donner leurs organes aux citoyens libres quand ceux-ci ont des accidents. Ce qui crée tout un tas de tensions et de situations à haut potentiel dramatique, comme par exemple celle qui ouvre le roman.
Dans les nouvelles qui lui font suite, l'auteur exploite d'autres aspects de sa drôle de planète.
Je crois sincèrement que l'auteur a essayé de bien faire. De mettre en scène des personnages crédibles dans une situation qui ne l'est pas moins.
Seulement je trouve que tout tombe un peu à plat. Et pour une raison bien simple : son personnage principal, celui autour duquel mon adhésion de lecteur doit se cristaliser, est un indécis chronique, un personnage qui ne peut jamais se résoudre à agir, sauf peut-être de la plus déplorable des manières.
Pourtant, il y a du potentiel dans cette Péninsule.
Avec des prisonniers de droit commun qui servent de stocks de pièces de rechange, mais aussi d'esclaves, on aurait pu construire je pense quelque chose de bien plus puissant. Il aurait bien sûr fallu essayer d'éviter l'écueil de la métaphore esclavagiste, sur lequel, tel un bateau de son roman, l'auteur s'échoue lamentablement.
Avec ses splendides planeurs lancés par des foilers à moteur, il aurait également pu construire sa civilisation sur d'autres bases de déplacement, comme on a pu le voir dans d'autres romans.
Hélas, l'auteur préfère rester dans une veine proche de celle de Vermillion Sands ou de Desolation Road : une espèce de nostalgie au soleil, un monde abandonné de ses hordes de touristes, au sein duquel ne restent plus que queelques inadaptés et marginaux. Seulement, évoquer cette nostalgie, c'est tenter de saisir entre les pages une espèce d'évanescence autrement plus délicate que les peaux de slicte qui font la spécificité du personnage princcipal.
Et en l'occurence, c'est un échec cuisant.
Un échec suffisament cuisant en tout cas pour que je me permette de vous déconseiller cette lecture.
Dans cette Péninsule abandonnée de presque tous, sauf les marginaux, les fous, et les amateurs de planeur haute-vitesse (lequel n'a aucun rapport avec ceux de Windhaven), Joe Sagar passe son temps à tomber sur Carioca Jones, une ancienne actrice de 3D sur le retour, avec laquelle ses relations sont plus qu'ambigües. D'ailleurs, en un sens, je crois bien que c'est elle la véritable héroïne de ces histoires, vues par l'un des innombrables profiteurs qui gravitent autour d'elle.
Dans le roman qui ouvre ce livre, on le suit donc, dans ses amours contrariées et tumulteuses, et surtout dans sa tentative misérable (car encombrée de tout un fatras de consdéirations personnelles qui l'empêchent systématiquement d'aqgir) de libérer les prisonniers de droits communs de leur obligation de donneurs d'organes. Oui, dans cet univers, les prisonniers de droit commun, pour payer leur dette à la société, ont l'obligation de donner leurs organes aux citoyens libres quand ceux-ci ont des accidents. Ce qui crée tout un tas de tensions et de situations à haut potentiel dramatique, comme par exemple celle qui ouvre le roman.
Dans les nouvelles qui lui font suite, l'auteur exploite d'autres aspects de sa drôle de planète.
Je crois sincèrement que l'auteur a essayé de bien faire. De mettre en scène des personnages crédibles dans une situation qui ne l'est pas moins.
Seulement je trouve que tout tombe un peu à plat. Et pour une raison bien simple : son personnage principal, celui autour duquel mon adhésion de lecteur doit se cristaliser, est un indécis chronique, un personnage qui ne peut jamais se résoudre à agir, sauf peut-être de la plus déplorable des manières.
Pourtant, il y a du potentiel dans cette Péninsule.
Avec des prisonniers de droit commun qui servent de stocks de pièces de rechange, mais aussi d'esclaves, on aurait pu construire je pense quelque chose de bien plus puissant. Il aurait bien sûr fallu essayer d'éviter l'écueil de la métaphore esclavagiste, sur lequel, tel un bateau de son roman, l'auteur s'échoue lamentablement.
Avec ses splendides planeurs lancés par des foilers à moteur, il aurait également pu construire sa civilisation sur d'autres bases de déplacement, comme on a pu le voir dans d'autres romans.
Hélas, l'auteur préfère rester dans une veine proche de celle de Vermillion Sands ou de Desolation Road : une espèce de nostalgie au soleil, un monde abandonné de ses hordes de touristes, au sein duquel ne restent plus que queelques inadaptés et marginaux. Seulement, évoquer cette nostalgie, c'est tenter de saisir entre les pages une espèce d'évanescence autrement plus délicate que les peaux de slicte qui font la spécificité du personnage princcipal.
Et en l'occurence, c'est un échec cuisant.
Un échec suffisament cuisant en tout cas pour que je me permette de vous déconseiller cette lecture.
December 31, 2022
Strafgefangene können ihre Strafe verkürzen, indem sie sich als Leibeigene und (potentielle) Organspender für eine andere Person zur Verfügung stellen.
Originelle Ideen und eine relativ komplizierte Geschichte. Nicht wirklich logisch, wenn man drüber nachdenkt. Und ein seltsamer Schluss. Nicht übel aber auch nicht toll.
Originelle Ideen und eine relativ komplizierte Geschichte. Nicht wirklich logisch, wenn man drüber nachdenkt. Und ein seltsamer Schluss. Nicht übel aber auch nicht toll.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews