The Inferior

The Inferior
Peadar o Guiloin
Book 1 of The Bone World trilogy

Stopmouth is the hero here. He is a hunter in the human tribe, one of many hunters whose sole purpose is to bring enough flesh back to the tribe to insure survival. Stopmouth knows that when he can no longer contribute flesh, he will need to volunteer his own in trade for food for the tribe. Such is the scenario set up in this seemingly gruesome throwback tale of survival. Without giving too much away, it turns out that what we have is a developing battle between the meat-eaters and the vegetarians, the savages and the civilized, the powerful and the weak, or the knowledgeable and the ignorant. What becomes clear as we progress though the story is that, aside from the meat-eater/vegetarian distinction, it is not clear which side falls into the other categories. In fact, it isn't even clear that there are sides for awhile. This first book does an excellent job of introducing the fantasy world with meaningful and complex characters while giving hints of what is to come in resolving this plot. I see an epic battle in the future...
Rating: Read