The Soul Eater

I felt like I was witnessing a train wreck while reading this book, yet I absolutely could not stop reading. The protagonist, Nicobar Lane, is a hunter for hire, which I find deplorable. Most of his clients hire him to seek out insane creatures across the galaxy and kill them so that they may either be displayed in museums or their own private collections. Right off the bat, one of the things I liked about this tale was that all of the creatures are so crazily different. They all have really silly names, but in this universe, I could really see that things were genuinely different, not just copycat Earths placed everywhere. That’s oddly kind of rare in a lot of sci-fi, so I appreciated it. In his spare time, Nicobar hangs out at a show more bar/brothel place run by hedonist who is also fairly deplorable. This place isn’t central to the storyline, but he does return to it several times later. At any rate, Nicobar eventually runs into a creature composed of pure energy and capable of telepathy called the Dreamwish Beast. At this point, he slowly becomes obsessed with hunting and killing it, a pursuit that eventually takes over his entire life. It’s a sort of Moby Dick in space, I suppose, only told from the view of Captain Ahab, and we sit by, horrified, as his obsession causes him to do more and more atrocious things. It really was like watching someone fall into a drug addiction.

I’ll leave the ending a mystery, but it surprised me a little bit. I wouldn’t say it was satisfying, exactly, because the whole thing made me squeamish, but I had a hard time putting it down and breezed through it. I suppose it’s to the author’s credit that I found the book engaging despite how uncomfortable it made me feel.

This version, the ebook that I got as part of the Adventure Story Bundle, contained an extra short story at the end, that the author said he had written at the behest of a friend who had loved the story and requested a sequel. Resnick had insisted that the story was done, and didn’t need to be continued, but eventually agreed to write a version of it from the Dreamwish Beast’s perspective. I read a few pages into it and then put it down--I think the author was right when he said it didn’t need a sequel, and I found the story more compelling when the thoughts of the beast were alien and unfathomable. Maybe others will enjoy the expansion and I'm sure there's nothing really wrong with it, but I wanted the beast to remain a mystery, and I think that makes me love the original even more. show less

I've read a few books by the author previously, but The Soul Eater is a new read for me. I see from the original 1981 publication date that this is one of his early works, but his distinctive style is already there. The major characters are larger than life, if not particularly relatable - more representatives of a type than human (or alien) beings with foibles and quirks. Consequently, the plot has the feel of a fable, or... almost a thought experiment, with a sense of inevitability. This isn't a negative criticism, and it's all very readable.

I didn't feel concerned about Nicobar Lane during his increasingly obsessive pursuit of the Dreamwish Beast, but I was definitely curious as to how far his obsession would take him, and what kind show more of person he would be when he got there.

Overall, an enjoyable short read, although I probably won't rush into re-reading it. show less

What happens when a hunter becomes obsessed, even addicted to his prey?

Nothing ground-breaking here. A short little read that plays out as a psychological space opera.