“The Inferior” is the Irishman’s Peadar Ó Guilín’s debut book and something quite out of the ordinary. It’s being marketed as a light science fiction novel for young adults, but when you get into it, you start to wonder when cannibalism became regular fare for us young folks… Of course, this books isn’t about cannibalism - it’s just set in a primitive world where food is scarce and survival is imperative. If you can’t pull your share in the Tribe, you’re Volunteered for the flesh-trade. A tough reality for sure, but an intriguing and believably portrayed one as well.

The story is told from a third-person narrative with insight into the main character. Stopmouth is the younger brother of his family and have always been in the shadow of his conniving elder brother, Wallbreaker - the perfect hunter and by many thought to be a future Chief of the Tribe. Stopmouth isn’t as pretty, nor does he posses an equally glib tongue or sharp wit as Wallbreaker. At one time his stuttering nearly made the Flesh Council Volunteer him for the flesh-trade. After all, the Tribe has no use for inferior humans…

The story is set in a vast, wild world inhabited by an unknown number of intelligent beings who’re all in a constant flesh-war against each other. The humans are only one of the contestants in this darwinistic world, and they’re only barely surviving as it is. When the mysterious Globes in the sky starts crashing down and leaving smoking ruins, everyone assumes that this heralds change, and no one’s betting on it being for the better…

I’ve been hearing a pleasant buzz about for quite some time now, and Peadar (a regular poster at Westeros) even gave me this shockingly good recommendation when I asked him what his book was like when compared to the recently reviewed, “The Fade” by Chris Wooding:

Hmm… good question, Amras.

If you like books that are merely excellent, then, yes, “The Fade” is for you. If, however, you’re prepared to go up a few notches into the realm of stratospheric, mind-blowing, ‘where-the-hell-did-that-come-from’ page turners, books that have the gods themselves rolling around in fits of ecstasy strong enough to shatter mountains… maybe then, you will be worthy enough to enjoy The Inferior.

I’ll take a chance and deem myself “worthy enough to enjoy ‘The Inferior’”, cos I really liked this book. It grabbed me from the get-go and wouldn’t let me put it back down until I had turned the last page. This is a compelling tale about duty, survival and honour, and the thing most important of all; love.

However, I have a few reservations about a couple things. The first of them is the slightly less fun middle section of the book that bogged me down a little, but I can’t see any other way out of that part of the story without it winding up as anticlimactic. The ending of the book was also a bit of a downer. I’m not saying I was hoping for a cliff-hanger, I just think I would have preferred it to just having things sorta drift off slightly unresolved.

The characters and dialog is good, too, and I especially liked reading about all the competing species. The background story was also very fascinating and refreshing, and I can’t wait to read more about this universe and its story. I guess thats a sign that the author succeeded with his world-building.

The book is 439 pages long in hardcover (the paberpack will be published some time next year) and it’s the first installment in “The Bone World Trilogy”. The next installment is slotted in at around September-October ‘08 and will *maybe* bear the title “The Deserter” (nothing wrong with that title in my opinion). I’m very much looking forward to reading more from this clearly talented author, and I’m recommending the hell out of this book. Go. Buy. Read.

It certainly is fleshed out enough to make anyone’s taste tingle. 8 /10