Customer Reviews

The Inferior

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I loved it.

This is Peadar's first novel, but I've admired his short stories for a long time. They stick in my memory them for years.

Although the novel's SF, it begins like standard fantasy dystopia, with the protagonist, Stopmouth running for his life, chased by intelligent animals who want to eat him. Then he turns back to help his brother, who escapes, leaving Stopmouth in mortal danger. When Stopmouth finally makes it home, he finds that his brother has grabbed all the credit.

Ó Guilín keeps up this pace all the way, with the surpises jumping out at you like marauding Bloodskins.

Stopmouth is my kind of hero. He doesn't think he's special - just the reverse - because he has a stutter and a charismatic older brother. But he's not stupid, and he has one plausible talent - he runs fast. He has to win through by his own efforts, so I cared. The other main characters are distinct and plausible too, from the brutal Crunchfist to the enigmatic Varaha.

It turns out that in Stopmouth's world there is no plant food. Apart from the insects, there are many intelligent species, and everything hunts everything else for survival. At this point I started thinking, "Hang, on, this ecosystem doesn't work," but this is indeed SF, and Stopmouth's world isn't what he (and we) thought at all. The truth is much nastier than that.

My only real problem with this novel is that it's the first of a trilogy, and I'm going to have to wait far too long for the next installment. No wonder it's coming out in eight (count 'em!) languages.

"And ten heartbeats past, you grabbed a piece of flesh out of my hands. Didn't you like the taste? Because if you can be a savage, maybe I could be civilized? It's possible, isn't it?"


Stopmouth is a young man in a world where humans live solely by hunting and consuming flesh. He is a hunter blessed with incredible speed, which is the only thing that saves him on a daily basis. Stopmouth, considered stupid by his tribe due to a stutter that impedes his speech, must prove himself constantly in order to survive. In his world when people outlive there usefulness they volunteer for flesh trades between the other beasts, because some beasts prefer their flesh still living. Stopmouth will be encouraged to volunteer if he ever fails.

One day Stopmouth's older brother, Wallbreaker, betrays him on a hunt. Thinking him dead Wallbreaker leaves Stopmouth behind to save his own neck. This cowardly act forms a gap between the two brothers that is only widened further when Wallbreaker takes all the credit for himself and uses that to buy himself a bride; a young woman named Mossheart, who Stopmouth has always had feelings for.

There are other things going on in this world. For one thing, there are people who watch over the tribes. Not gods, surely, but real people, as evidenced when a woman named Indrani falls from the sky. This strange and beautiful woman fuels desires in Stopmouth's heart that Mossheart never did. When Stopmouth breaks his legs and knows that he is on the volunteer list Indrani saves his life by splinting his legs and preventing the elders from taking him. Thus begins a friendship that will blossom throughout the course of the book, even though Stopmouth knows nothing of this strange woman who fell from the sky, or what that even means in the grand scheme of things. And even though his brother has designs to make her his in an endeavor to become the greatest warrior the ancestors have ever boasted.




"Are you truly human?" Stopmouth asked. He hoped she'd open her eyes and look at him. Another part of him wanted her to keep them closed so he could watch her without making her angry.

They stayed closed.

"I'm human," she muttered. "As human as you are, anyway."

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

She lifted her head. "None of your men have hair on their faces. You live on a diet of pure meat, most of it non-human. Your women never die in childbirth. You rarely get sick, any of you. And all of a sudden I'm the one who's not human?"





O'Guilin's first installment in the trilogy is a marvel. A... Marvel... plain and simple. It's one of those rare books that comes along that has such depth to it that the reader gets instantly overwhelmed and transported. It reminds me of many things that I love... "Watership Down", "Lord of the Flies", "Tarzan"... it echoes many things I adore. It also speaks to me of Frank Frazetta paintings and of a world that blends complicated Ethical dilemmas with a sensuous carnality. Do not belittle O'Guilin's own originality though, because trust me this book oozes original thought and raw, unadulterated talent. O'Guilin has such skill at creating a believable and real world that draws you in. Added to this is O'Guilin's wonderful ability to write such dynamic and interesting characters that the reader actually gives a damn about. This is a rare thing as many writer's don't really seem to be able to pull all of these elements together, particularly with such a concept as O'Guilin has established. This world, in all of it's brutality, is complex and surreal. Watching the humans go out again and again to face their doom inspires the reader and leaves them with an intense empty-stomach feeling with every campaign. I would love to say that it's jaw dropping, but in honour of O'Guilin I would prefer to call it eye popping, and you will just have to trust me on that. Fans of action novels will thrill in the details that O'Guilin shares, because there's enough bloodshed to make any gore enthusiast squirm. But there is a lot of heart and soul to be found in the relationships between the characters that any softhearted reader will find themselves tearing up, as I did. Boys will love it, girls (like me) will love it... It is not for the faint of heart. But it's for readers who like having their hearts stopped.

Brilliant. Utterly. I await the next book in the series with heightened enthusiasm.



"Your blood has come back to me," He whispered, "and so will you."



Bring me more blood, O'Guilin. My soul demands it.

I know the header of this review sounds like hyperbole, but when you've read The Inferior, I'm sure you'll agree it deserves that degree of recognition and more. It is, of course, a good story told well, but it also invokes resonance with several works of classic literature without being heavy-handed. It's perfectly readable, and yet profoundly reminiscent of Don Quixote, Dante's Inferno, and Golding's Lord of the Flies, as well as several standards of Twentieth-century Science Fiction. But don't let my high praise frighten you. The Inferior is very much down-to-earth; a story of adventure and experience that is as entertaining and enjoyable as it is meaningful. It could easily become one of the standards by which subsequent literature of the Twenty-first Century will be evaluated.

The Inferior, by Peadar O'Guilin

Stopmouth is a human with speaking difficulty. Because of this difficulty he was almost "volunteered" (i.e. sacrificed) at an early age; simpletons cannot hunt, and if you do not hunt, you do not eat. You belong to the tribe, and if you're not good for hunting, then you're only good for eating; that's right, cannibals. But when there is little to no edible vegetation, you do what you must to survive.

Luckily for him, his brother Wallbreaker convinced them to let him live. And so he spends most of his life helping Wallbreaker with his (Wallbreaker's) "hair-brained" schemes, like digging fall-traps and other various tricks that end up killing severe amounts of the enemy non-human tribes. Eventually Wallbreaker gets elected as chief; it's really too bad that Stopmouth falls in love with one of Wallbreaker's two wives.

So when he runs away with her, he gets exiled from the tribe, and so has a few problems.

Really, this is a terrible summary, but there is no way to summarize this book; I'd basically just have to re-write it here. It would be worth it though, because I think this book is amazing.

Now when I say "I think this book is amazing", I'm being more literal than most people who use that phrase. I think it might be amazing, but I'm not sure; I've never read another book quite like it. It's technically a science fiction novel, but on a page by page basis I'd call it much more fantasy than sci-fi. Apparently it was intended to be the first in a trilogy, and I definitely look forward to the next one!



Memorable Quote:

'My point is this: after Idrani's victory here, the enemy didn't leave any bodies behind them. Not one! Back home, when a hunter claimed to have killed a beast, people asked to see the flesh. If he couldn't produce it, if he'd come without it, we cursedhim for a wastrel and a coward. Back home...in my old home, "A waster" is the worst thing you can call somebody, even worse than calling him a "hoarder". Do you see? Killing is pointless if it doesn't feed us. We need to eat. Flesh is life, and a victory that leaves us hungry is just another defeat.

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Amazing, amazing, and amazing. Could not get enough of the book! Was very hesitant to read it in the first place. (This is coming from a 15 year old girl.) So sad to hear that the sequel is not out yet even though the book is over two years old (thought that all three would be out by now). The sequel, THE DESERTER, hasn't come out in the US yet (but I still read it over the summer; it was amazing!) and the third is still being written.

Stopmouth (not sure exactly how old; let's just say he's a young man), thought of as "simple" and a "mute" because of his stutter that makes others of his Tribe never start a conversation with him or be around him. One day while hunting, his brother--Wallbreaker--betrays him after Stopmouth saved him from what should of been Wallbreaker's death. Further betraying Stopmouth, he takes credit of Stopmouth's kills and marries off a woman that Stopmouth had also wanted, Mossheart. Another woman, Indrani falls from the sky and on that day, Stopmouth breaks both his legs. About to be sacrificed (or volunteered), Indrani saves him by making splints and caring for him. The other species living are suddenly starting to work together to kill off other species--including the humans--, which should be impossible because they have different languages. The Treatymaker tried to learn different languages, but went mad (although he did know enough to make a treaty between the species).
More and more events happen that I won't say because I don't want to spoil the book.

Alright, this book has pretty much everything. Adventure, action, a dash of romance, humor, and cannibals. Don't let that last one make you not read it though! The world that Peadar O Guilin has created is addictive, the characters different and awesome in their own way--or some that make you want to break their necks and butcher them. (Too far? Nah.) The book leaves you at a mean cliffhanger and begging for more. So many questions that need to be resolved! Also, the theme of cannibals is not something that is exaggerated--it's not like they hunt people (they hunt other species, like how we would hunt deer or other animals for meat). They only eat humans when the human dies (from injury or volunteering), but it's more like they don't want to waste meat.

When I first picked up O Guilin's book I wasn't expecting much; a cheap, stone-age based book where neandrathals hunt mammoths maybe. What I found was much more profound, provoking, and original. It starts out in a brutal world, where boundaries are clearly defined between tribes and the enemy is always known. But later, the book develops a more twisted, interesting plot as Stopmouth comes to a realization about the true nature of the world he thought he knew.

Peadar's book is like a mix of Tarzan and The Truman Show, with a bit more brutallity thrown in for good measure. The plot is gripping, the sentence fluency sure and the style and characters well developed. I recomend it for anyone over the age of 13.

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 choose people for this "honor." Stopmouth lives in a brutal world.

Life becomes very complicated for Stopmouth when a beautiful woman named Indrani comes into his life. She was piloting one of the Globes that fly through the sky when she was attacked by a fellow pilot and forced to crash in the village. Indrani speaks a different language and is feared by most people in the Tribe. Only Stopmouth gets to know her and attempts to communicate with her.

After a great betrayal, Stopmouth is forced to run away and leave the home he's always known, forfeiting his membership in the Tribe. He takes Indrani with him and together they face many dangers on their journey to safety.

Stopmouth learns a lot about his world and finds out things aren't what they seem at all. He is forced to make difficult decisions that affect him, Indrani, and his entire world.

THE INFERIOR is a fascinating story. Stopmouth is a wonderful character and it is great to see him grow throughout the story. He goes from an insecure young boy to a respected and skilled leader.

There could easily be a sequel to THE INFERIOR, but at the date of this post, there hasn't been any definitive word of one being planned.

Reviewed by: Karin Librarian

Seems at first more of a fantasy novel than science fiction, but that changes towards the end to give certain elements a more rational but still sci-fi explanation. I think the writer plays brilliantly with our current notions of human identity - veganism and environmentalism for example. Rather than being heavy-handed about these issues, the book is action-packed. Also, epic in quality, although short enough. Lots here to recommend - elements from lots of genres crammed in, from road movie to torture porn to family drama.

I loved this story. Not the kind of thing I usually read, but once I'd begun I couldn't put it down. The story is fast-paced and held enough action to keep even the most impatient reader reading. All day I found myself thinking about the story, the characters and what was going to happen, and I couldn't wait to get back to the tale.

Stopmouth is an endearing character among a book full of memorable ones. Can't wait for the second installment in this series to appear! Write faster, Mr. O'Guilin!

Stopmouth is the younger brother in a family that faces daily struggles to survive. They are living in a tumbledown city on a world where the only thing to eat is their fellow sentient inhabitants - who can in turn, only eat their fellow sentinents (including humans). The life of Stopmouth and his tribe revolve around meat - obtaining it, trading their fellow humans to get it, and not becoming someone else's meal. This struggle means that some humans must volunteer themselves as food in the meat trade - and others must be volunteered.

The stuttering Stopmouth is a young hunter for his tribe, and because of his speech difficulties is generally considered stupid, and as a potential volunteer. He is, of course, anything but dumb!

His whole life - and that of his tribe changes the day that his elder brother betrays him - the same day that a lovely warrior woman falls down from the sky...

This well written book - reportedly the first in a science fiction trilogy - features an action packed plot (and some of the featured aliens are nightmare inducing!) as well as some very well developed characters in Stopmouth, his brother Wallbreaker, and the endearing human hunter Rockface with his love for children.

It also features mystery (who and what is Indrani, the woman from the sky? why are the people in the sky fighting with each other? how did Stopmouth's ancestors come to this brutal world and way of life? how did all of these aliens get there?) and quite a lot of ethical questions about the ways and means of survival.

While this book is being marketed as a YA, it features some pretty intense scenes of humans hunting and combat with aliens (as well as the other way around) - and some human cannibalism scenes. I think if I had read it as a tween or young teen, it would have bothered me quite a bit.

You can read a sample at the author's website at:
www.frozenstories.com

I cannot wait for the second book!!!!