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The Inferior by Peader Ó Guilín


Werthead

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  • 9 months later...

I've finally managed to read The Deserter Peadar. I'll post you some of my thoughts when my head wakes up after this weekends binge drinking escapades, since you were nice enough to buy us a drink last year in Dublin after the con in Belfast :)

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So how YA is this series? The premise sounds interesting but I generally don't get much satisfaction out of reading YA novels.

Ya, i had the same apprehension. I fucking hate the YA side of things, but after talking to the author (who didn't really set out to right a YA novel) and reading the books, I can say with confidence the only thing that makes them YA is the accessible way it is written. Horrible, horrible shit happens in these books. It's just that the vocabulary used isn't say, what Gene Wolfe would lay down.

Great books though.

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I bought the Inferior way back but got a kindle just after and didn't feel like reading one of those old fashioned hard backs. Fortunately I was reading a really boring book on my kindle last week and decided it wasn't cheating if I picked up a real book, so I read the Inferior. As soon as I finished that I bought the Deserter on the kindle, so I did cheat after all, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed both books, they were fast and exciting reads and I was really interested in the world.

Looking forward to the next one being published.

So how YA is this series? The premise sounds interesting but I generally don't get much satisfaction out of reading YA novels.

I would say story-wise they're not very YA, but the writing is easy to read which I guess is why they got the label. I thought the writing was very appropriate for the fast paced story though.

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I knew you mentioned you were fan of the oldschool-ish sf writters (well you said you read a lot of that stuff anyway) and it's shows here - this is like a glorified hommage to old school space opera. I still enjoy the fact that the first book was fantasy through-and-through and the second one a pure space adventure. Since I haven't read so much of the old stuff I can't comment how many ideas you've borrowed, but I really enjoyed the concept of the Roof (as a concept and as a living enviroment), nanotech, Crisis and so forth. The writing wasn't as vivid as I'd hope so the world seemed a bit cramped and undefined and I didn't fully immerse into it. Characters were very endearing, despite the fact the relationship between Indriani and Stopmouth is relatively straightforward, I'd also love more insight into Indriani and some of the other characters. The most believable character was Hiresh - loved the transformation and the inner strife, he was very well done. Writing is simple (compared to some of the more eloquent masters out there), but very efficient. The plot moves along at a brisk pace and considering I managed to read one whole book in 2012, I could say I finished The Deserter in nanoseconds. I'd love to see more intricate pros and cons on the inside from both castes, but the main idea got throug well enough. First half of the book is filled with suspense, but once all the "secrets" of what is what and what is happening get revealed to Stopmouth (and the reader) the story bogs down a bit and the action sceenes become a bit repetitive and unnecessary; quite enjoyed how you resovled things though!

I've read Inferior way way back so I don't know how to compare the books, but I think I've enjoyed the first one a bit more (the survival factor, focus on Indriani and Stopmouth, fantasy world, plight,...and shitful of unexplained sf stuff reader kept wondering about), but The Deserter didn't disappoint at all (no middle book syndrome). It's not profound in its nature, but I couldn't do anything but recommend the book as a light, fun and adventorous read.

Yeah Peadar, any news on the next book, at all?

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When is the next one going to be published? I really liked the books, read them both in two days.

Why thank you! I'm half-way through the second draft of the third book and I feel very confident about it so far. With that in mind, the end of 2014 *might* be possible. It all depends on what the editors think, of course.

Peadar, seeing as it's a sequel was there any thought of titling it The Desserter?

:lmao: I can't believe I didn't think of that...

I knew you mentioned you were fan of the oldschool-ish sf writters (well you said you read a lot of that stuff anyway) and it's shows here - this is like a glorified hommage to old school space opera. I still enjoy the fact that the first book was fantasy through-and-through and the second one a pure space adventure. Since I haven't read so much of the old stuff I can't comment how many ideas you've borrowed, but I really enjoyed the concept of the Roof (as a concept and as a living enviroment), nanotech, Crisis and so forth. The writing wasn't as vivid as I'd hope so the world seemed a bit cramped and undefined and I didn't fully immerse into it. Characters were very endearing, despite the fact the relationship between Indriani and Stopmouth is relatively straightforward, I'd also love more insight into Indriani and some of the other characters. The most believable character was Hiresh - loved the transformation and the inner strife, he was very well done. Writing is simple (compared to some of the more eloquent masters out there), but very efficient. The plot moves along at a brisk pace and considering I managed to read one whole book in 2012, I could say I finished The Deserter in nanoseconds. I'd love to see more intricate pros and cons on the inside from both castes, but the main idea got throug well enough. First half of the book is filled with suspense, but once all the "secrets" of what is what and what is happening get revealed to Stopmouth (and the reader) the story bogs down a bit and the action sceenes become a bit repetitive and unnecessary; quite enjoyed how you resovled things though!

I've read Inferior way way back so I don't know how to compare the books, but I think I've enjoyed the first one a bit more (the survival factor, focus on Indriani and Stopmouth, fantasy world, plight,...and shitful of unexplained sf stuff reader kept wondering about), but The Deserter didn't disappoint at all (no middle book syndrome). It's not profound in its nature, but I couldn't do anything but recommend the book as a light, fun and adventorous read.

Yeah Peadar, any news on the next book, at all?

Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Thrin. I think you put your finger on most of the weaknesses and said some nice things to go with them :)

As for the next book... please see my reply to Peterbound above.

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  • 7 months later...

Bad news.



Sales of The Inferior and The Deserter were disappointing, so Random House will not be publishing the concluding volume of the trilogy, The Volunteer. However, Peadar will be self-publishing it as an ebook next year instead, so at least it will be available in some format.



Random House will also be publishing Peadar's near-future dystopian novel, Eat the Drink, in May 2015.


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I think the biggest problem with your books was not enough people found out about them, thus did not read them to tell others about them.



A picky poltergeist that only chooses your books would create a load of free publicity. If it happens in enough book stores in enough countries then its bound to make headline news. People would want to know more, and they would buy your books just to see if they fly of their bookshelves at their homes. If your lucky they may even read them.


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  • 7 months later...

I just wanted to remind everybody that The Volunteer will be available on 12th June.



Samples lie in wait for the unwary here...



Meanwhile, emoticons aren't working for me today, or I'd put in something awesome, like the cannibal emoticon, or the monstrous alien emoticon.

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I do not see this on Amazon for preorder. Is this one of the books affected by the Hachette fight?

An excellent guess, but nope :)

Amazon don't do pre-ordering for self-published books.

Basically, the early novels in the series sold poorly, so the publishers did not want to publish the concluding volume. They asked to buy a different novel of mine instead, which is fine, but not so fair on those who have already bought the first two books and want closure.

Therefore, I've paid to have The Volunteer edited and laid out.

And thanks for asking!

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I'm very excited for this Peadar, and I'll definitely buy it on the 12th... probably won't get around to reading it until next month though, too many other things are in line in front of it.


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I'm very excited for this Peadar, and I'll definitely buy it on the 12th... probably won't get around to reading it until next month though, too many other things are in line in front of it.

Thanks a lot, REG!

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