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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

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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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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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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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Superbly read by William Gaminara, this book is engrossing from the first word, just as it was when I read it.



I am a huge Neal Asher fan and I think he is a far better sci-fi writer than the likes of Banks and Gibson. All his books are intelligent and yet still retain a sense of adventure so often missing these days.



What would make things perfect would be to have Gridlinked and the rest of the Ian Cormac books also with William narrating them. Oh, and then the Owner books please!

Stunningly good

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