The Inferior

by Peadar Ó Guilín

Book Overview

STOPMOUTH AND HIS family know of no other life than the daily battle to survive. To live, they must hunt rival species, or negotiate flesh-trade with those who crave meat of the freshest human kind.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385751451
• ISBN13: 9780385751452
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: David Fickling Books
• Length: 439 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.0" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

An excellent, fresh story

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!

this review contains some minor spoilers

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!!!!

A fascinating mystery adventure

Run, Stopmouth, run! Stopmouth's stammer makes his tribe think he's dim-witted, but he compensates by being a very fast runner. In his kill-or-be-killed world, speed is at least as valuable as intelligence. But Stopmouth's no dummy, as he gradually comes to realize when his familiar world, terrible as it is, begins to crumble. Stopmouth has always idolized his brother Wallbreaker, a great hunter. Things begin to fall apart when Wallbreaker is captured on a hunting trip. Stopmouth's fleetness serves him well, and he escapes capture, but then, against all reason--by the standards of his tribe--he goes back to save Wallbreaker. In the process he kills three Armourbacks, an impressive feat. But Wallbreaker runs off, leaving Stopmouth to fend for himself, tells the tribe that Stopmouth is dead, and claims the kills for himself. Their relationship deteriorates from there. We watch Wallbreaker becoming increasingly erratic in his behavior, thwarting his brother at every turn, until finally Stopmouth finds it necessary to leave the tribe. There's plenty of action here, and lots of gory killing, as the various species in this strange place follow the dictates of "eat or be eaten." But over and above the fighting, the killing, the cannibalism, is the mystery. What is this strange place, with its ruined buildings housed under what is obviously some sort of artificial dome? Who built it, and why? How did all these different species, all apparently intelligent although unable to communicate with each other, come to be in a situation where their only food is each other, where there is no edible vegetation, and no domesticated animals? What are the lights in the "sky" and who are the people in the sky ships? As O Guilin alternately tantalizes and doles out tidbits of information, we come to realize that the title refers not only to Stopmouth's supposed standing compared to his brother, but encompasses all the warring beings of this place in comparison to the sky people. And perhaps the label is mis-applied there as well. It's a fascinating riddle. I'm anxiously awaiting further revelations.

Eye popping. My favourite book this year.

"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

"The Inferior" is superior fiction

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.