Neal Asher now has a fairly long catalogue of science fiction thrillers to his name. They are not attempts to examine political or social or philosophical questions or to investigate "the human condition." They are entertainments. This is neither the best nor the worst of them.

Asher takes us back to the wet and violent world of Spatterjay, first encountered in Skinner, where a virus with astonishing properties infects every type of animal and confers on them longevity and the ability to survive extreme injury. The virus also infects the the human population of the planet, to the same result, but with serious side effects that must be kept under control.

The plot involves many of the characters from Skinner and though not essential, reading Skinner first will certainly confer greater enjoyment of this sequel. I found it to be a weaker story than Skinner provides, too, perhaps because I was less engaged by the returning characters. I found myself routing for the nameless but interesting whelkus titanicus perhaps more than I should have....

The real strength of this book is in its very carefully worked out eco-system of violent predators and prey and the way the virus has influenced its development along with the development of the human society living on Spatterjay, but most of it is familiar from Skinner. Interestingly, the other Asher novel I would class as being the equal in quality of Skinner (Line of Polity) also has an eco-system of extreme predators - this time living on land for the most part rather than in an island dotted world-ocean.

If you've enjoyed other Asher novels, you will probably enjoy this one; if you haven't read any this isn't the place to start - find the first book set in this universe (Gridlinked) instead. Don't expect profoundity from any of them, though.