Neil Asher’s 2002 The Skinner follows closely on the heels of Gridlinked’s success and is the first in a sub-series of the Polity
called Spatterjay. Part horror, fantasy, and science fiction,
the main character of the book may be the water world Spatterjay itself, the
exotic (and hungry) forms of indigenous life vividly imaginative. Attempting to carve out his own niche in the
genre(s), this, Asher’s second published novel, improves upon the first and
gives lovers of sci-fi full of action and adventure hope that a new voice is
emerging.
At its core, The Skinner is the tale of four characters, though a handful more
round out the cast. Erlin Tazer is a xenobiologist who is looking
not only for an old lover, but some excitement in life. Spatterjay exists beyond the line of polity,
i.e. the tamed part of the universe, so she heads there, getting more adventure
than she bargained for sailing the planet’s teeming waters. Janer Cord is a man employed by a hornet hive
mind to take their kind on an interplanetary tour so they may learn of the
universe. Though seeming a difficult task to pull off, Asher describes hornet
sentience plausibly enough, mixing the insects’ interests wholly into the
plot. Sable Keech, a 1,000 year old reified
man kept alive by cybergenetics he must regularly flush and cycle from a
suitcase he carries, is on a mission of vengeance resulting from the Prador
war. The last character, an elderly war
drone named Sniper, is likewise on the planet and becomes involved with the war
lusting Pradors in ways his tempered metal casing never wanted.
