So, last year The Hatching, of which this is a sequel, was one of my ‘surprisingly good’ reads – one I enjoyed much, much more than I was expecting. It made my best of 2016 list at the end of the year. The fact that it ended on a cliff hanger, to the point where it seemed like only the first part of one book, was a point of annoyance and frustration. But, with Skitter (great title!) I finally find out what happens next in this story or arachnid invasion. (Obvs: there are spoilers here!)
So we’re straight back into where we left it in The Hatching, with many of the same characters. The biggest issue is resolving what happened at the end of the first book, where the spiders, having spread out from their original places of origin, suddenly retreated back towards them and then died.
To continue the story we’re mainly back to characters from the first book. As well as the changing circumstances over the origins of the spiders and their evolution is the consequences of the initial infestation. We find Stephanie Pilgrim, the female President of the US, and her adviser Manny Walchuck dealing with the effects of the spider’s arrival in the US. In Los Angeles, conventional weapons are used on and around the Staples Center to destroy the spider’s nests there. Around LA we have the consequences of thousands of refugees trying to leave the danger zone. The result of this, that the civilians are all isolated and have to be checked for spiders, which includes having the indignity of being strip-searched like the concentration camps of WW2, is an irony that is not lost on the US Marines manning the quarantine zone’s perimeter. In Minneapolis Mike Rich was the FBI agent who first found one of the spiders on a plane and is now trying to contain the infestation in Minneapolis before escaping to his ex-wife, her new fiancé and his daughter supposedly safe in Minnesota.
Further afield we read of the attempts to find out more about the origin and behaviour of the arachnids. Melanie Gruyer, Manny’s ex, is the science expert on arachnids who may be one of the few able to determine what is happening.
Weirdly, a year after the first book, it feels strange to read about a female President and politicians doing difficult yet rational things – how different the world seems now! – and even cooperating with other countries for the greater good. Reality can be nearly as strange as fiction.
Ezekiel does well to portray the panic by ordinary people as well as the results of those in a position to do something. Although mainly focused in the US, the book seems more global this time around. China’s solution was typically efficient yet brutal, nuking nearly half of its territory to halt the spread of the spiders. There are events happening all over the world. The scale seems bigger and is more effective as a result. There’s scenes in Europe, in Peru, in Delhi, India, and even good ol’ Japan, home of Godzilla.
But it is the second book in a series. This does mean that there’s a little bit of marking time as we try to discover why all the spiders seemed to fall back and then expire at the end of the first novel. (There is a reason, btw.) Clearly things are happening, though we have yet to find out exactly what for some characters. In Scotland millionaire Aonghas, his father Padruig and Thuy, Aonghas’ fiancée, are isolated on the Isle of Lewis in a castle for reasons that no doubt will eventually become known but at the moment seem rather unclear.
The plot again ends on a cliff-hanger that you’ll want to follow-up on as soon as you can.
In short, Skitter is another engrossingly good read, one that, like The Hatching, continued to be difficult to put down once started. The Stephen King type vibes are quite strong here as Ezekiel puts his characters through trials and difficulties that are logical and keeps the pages turning.
You do need to read The Hatching first, but you’ll want to pick this up straight away to continue the story. This story beats the similar work of much more experienced writers hands down. Great stuff.
Skitter by Ezekiel Boone
Published by Gollancz, April 2017
352 pages
ISBN: 978-1473221154
Review by Mark Yon
