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The Skinner

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The Skinner

By: Neal Asher
Narrated by: William Gaminara
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About this listen

Set in a lethal waterworld where sudden death is a way of life, The Skinner is the first novel in the far-future Spatterjay series by Neal Asher.

The savage ocean planet of Spatterjay draws visitors with very different agendas. Erlin is immortal and seeks a reason to keep living. Janer hosts a hive mind, which paid him to find this planet. And Keech is an agent of Earth who’s been dead for seven hundred years – but still hunts a notorious criminal.

On Spatterjay’s vast waterscapes, only the Old Captains risk the native life forms and their voracious appetites. However, they are now barely human. And somewhere out there Keech’s target – the Skinner – runs wild. Keech pursues the Skinner for atrocities committed in a centuries-past war, fought with the alien Prador. But one of these Prador is fast approaching Spatterjay to exterminate witnesses to his own war crimes. And he won’t spare its visitors.

Continue the science fiction adventure with The Voyage of Sable Keech and Orbus.

 Adventure Cyberpunk Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Fantasy Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

His easy style and intriguing plot make for a great story that treats the reader as an adult (The Times)
Crammed full of inventive technology, organic and artificial intelligence, horrible monsters, and a thick mesh of story lines (SFX)
An exhilarating tour through one of the most ingeniously, elaborately deadly worlds since Harry Harrison invented Death World (Locus)
Hurtles along at a high-octane clip . . . In sum: a blast (Kirkus)
All stars
Most relevant
This is one of the best sci-fi books I’ve listened to over the years. The world it’s set on is truly original.

The narration too is excellent.

Well worth a credit.


Very original and well written

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I enjoyed the story but a few pauses between scene changes would help improve the performance. The story switches between characters which can be disconcerting. performance and characterisation is great. Sniper is great 👍

very enjoyable

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Listened to the engineer first (read in American voice) and was intrigued enough to give it a go. Was completely surprised upon listening to this though due to English narrator - the nuances of English accents made this so much funnier to listen to.

The plot line leading up to a crescendo, the quirky characters and humour, and the clearly thought out universe of the polity and beyond make this an absolute 5* read, particularly for UK listeners. I'm a complete convert and cannot wait to listen to more Neil Asher !!!

Pratchett-esque humour and imagination - loved it!

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I've been a huge fan of Iain M Banks for a long time, loved the early works of Jon Courtenay Grimwood, and read the hardcopy of Neal Asher's first full length published novel 'Gridlinked' years ago, not long after it's publication.

Somehow I then lost track of Neal, but fortunately rediscovered him via Audible. I've listened to The Skinner (Book 1), The Voyage of The Sable Keech (Book 2) and am currently a few chapters into Orbus (Book 3). I've listened to these back to back, unremittingly, and with great relish.

Over the years I've always been excited to learn of a favorite author's new work, and somehow 'losing touch' with Asher is great - all of a sudden I have a wealth of published material to enjoy en masse, rather then being drip-fed as novels are published. Of course now, as I'm engrossed in the third and final Spatterjay audiobook, I am hoping that Audible and Neal's publisher get together and publish more of Neal's back catalog in audio format.

So a few words about the series. Spatterjay is a very interesting place - from it's ecology, to it's early colonisation, to it's present situation on the edge of the Polity - all of these diverse influences come together through rich characterisations of visiting Polity humans (both alive and dead), Polity AI, Prador with dirty secrets that need to be forgotten, 700 year old virally-modified superhumans who can handle a sailing boat and bend steel, and my personal favorite, drones with Attitude.

I'm not talking about snotty Culture drones, replete with sarcasm and irony. No, I'm talking about 700 year old Polity War Drones with secret upgrades and a Northern accent. The type of Drone that says 'F*** me!' when it sees a Prador, or 'B******s!' when it doesn't believe a ship AI. If you thought Skaffen-Amtiskaw was cool, wait until you meet Sniper!

William Gaminara does a fabulous job on the reading, and has the characters down pat - he brings the books to life.

More Asher on Audible please!

A great story complimented by a great reader

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Made me remember the first time i read the Hyperion series. Has a very intense world with lots of details that come together in the end.
The only thing i did not like is more related to the recording. There is no pause between chapters and i really do not like this stile of recording.
If you do not pay full attention you end up being confused about that is happening.

Interesting and original

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