This book won the 2023 Arthur C Clarke award, what more do I need to say? It’s brilliantly written, sharp, shockingly funny - spit-your-tea-across-the-keyboard funny in unexpected ways and unexpected places. But mostly it’s an excoriating examination of a near future where capitalism has continued to run riot and the venal, self-serving hypocrisy has reached a climax of impossibility. In essence, the Venomous Lumpsucker of the title is threatened with extinction. Companies that render endangered species extinct have a (small, but significant) hit to their profits. But the markets have intervened to create a DNA bank which promises that they’re not *actually* extinct. So that’s fine. Go ahead and mine the last possible habitat, because they’re ’safe’ - until someone destroys the DNA bank. It was a fiction anyway, but it’s theoretical existence was providing a fig leaf for a lot of profiteering and now that leaf has been stripped away, some very powerful people are going to be pretty angry. Particularly if there’s a fairly low-level cog in the wheel who can be blamed for all kinds of things. Mark Halyard is the entirely morally ambiguous (actually, I’m being kind, he’s a self-serving idiot who made a daft gamble that has gone wrong and is desperate to stay out of prison). As lead character’s go, he pulls us either side of the line between pitying him and despising him. Rather more clear cut is his partner-in-uncrime, Karin Resaint who only cares about finding the Venomous Lumpsucker - said to be one of the most intelligent More-than-Human (i term them this, nobody in the book does) species. These two don’t have much in common, but they want to find the last living Lumpsuckers and their quest is going to take them to the edges of Network Sea-States and, ultimately, to an ASI that knows a lot more about what’s going on than any of the meat-packets wandering around thinking they’re in charge.

I wouldn’t normally write a review of something so obviously dystopian. I loathe dystopias: generally speaking they’re lazy attempts to project the worst of human behaviour along predictable time lines with the fluffy moral excuse that if we knew how bad things were going to be, we’d change trajectory. This is quite plainly not true and the absolute definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting a different result. So let’s not write more lazy fiction. But Venomous Lumpsucker is not lazy at all, and Beaman’s understanding of the various converging forces of capital, genetic engineering, libertarian fantasy politics and AI makes this essential - and highly enjoyable - reading.

Great story, the world it is set in is both terrifying and fascinatig. Great characters, and quite fast paced. The story development is great, it's a real page turner. I will read more from this guy.

I came across this book from a review somewhere and thought the premise was original and intriguing, so I bought the Kindle edition.

There is a lot to like about this satirical book. For example, the sociopolitical situation (the Hermit Kingdom still makes me smile) in which the events take place, the concept of extinction credits, which is both farcical and a worryingly small leap from the way carbon credits have been treated, some of the technology, both physical and biological. Even the human aspects of the story start well.

But it all peters out. The characters stall in their own development and in their relationships. The reason for the destruction of biobanks and other crises is chillingly amusing, but getting Halyard and Resaint to the place and moment of denouement revealing why this has happened is forced and contrived. The nature of a key character in catalysing the denouement is at first mysterious and then the way that character behaves and the two protagonists respond gets progressively annoying.

Ultimately, the task of bringing the story to the climax of the book is ponderously delivered, even though the pace of the story is well maintained.

If you want to read a book for the excellent basic ideas and a fascinating perspective of the absurdity of the way our climate and biodiversity crises are playing out, this is well worth a read. But this is not matched by the quality of character development or plot.

Venomous Lumpsucker is an entertaining eco-thriller.

In the near future, the climate crisis is in full swing. And yet the human race is still merrily destroying creatures and their habitats in the race for more minerals, more wealth and more power. Extinction credits were supposed to limit this damage, with companies paying a fine each time their activities made a species extinct. Needless to say a trade soon developed in these credits and as they are plentiful they are also cheap, with each extinction now costing less than forty thousand euros - nothing to a large corporation.

Karin Resaint is an expert in animal cognition, and she is currently studying the Venomous Lumpsucker - a bottom feeding fish, so ugly that only a mother could love it. If she decides to re-certify the species as intelligent, then making it extinct will cost thirteen credits instead of one. That's a problem for Mark Halyard, because the company he works for has just mined their last known breeding ground, and due to a small financial irregularity, he is looking at a whole heap of trouble. Despite their differences and misgivings, the two team up to hunt down any remaining specimens.

What follows is a mix of fast paced action, wildly imaginative climate change related scenarios and a huge dollop of satire. Hugely enjoyable and entertaining - and hopefully not too realistic!

Set in the soon to be dystopian near future, the book follows two main characters with dubious motives and hard to like personalities. The sentence structure is interesting and at times frustrating. The story is both unexpected and obvious. There’s a lot of great ideas and dark humour to be found, also a lot of unanswered questions and not quite satisfactory resolutions. I really like it. I have no idea why.

Very funny, satirical take on the eco crisis, neat mockery of carbon credits, well paced, intriguing two main characters ,well matched opponents, slightly unsatisfactory ending. well worth a read.

4.5 stars

The venomous lumpsucker is a rather unlovely species of fish which, for reasons unknown sometimes will indulge in gratuitous vengeful violence on fellow aquatic denizens which have done them wrong, despite such actions having no demonstrable evolutionary advantage for their species.

Reminds one of a certain advance hairles ape, does it not?

Ned Beauman's award winning satire skewers late stage capitalism and our species' less than satisfactory solutions to the destruction of biodiversity on our planet. Special aim is taken at the financialization of everything (in this case 'extinction credits', used by wealthy companies to allow habitat destruction so long at they have gene-mapped the soon to be extinct species against the vanishingly small possibility that said species might be ressurected when the technology becomes available).

And so when our anti-hero, Mark Haylward's scheme to short-sell credits goes spectacularly belly up when his company blows up the habitat of the last colony of venomous lumpsuckers, he indulges in a futile quest to convince biologist Karin Resaint to downgrade the reported intelligence of the aquatic departed. The pursuit hops and jumps from Estonian nature reserve to Finnish labour camp and an billionaire funded offshore techno-seasteading community before fetching up on the blasted shores of an impoverished and isolationist post Brexit UK, where everyone recieves their very just desserts.

Take the idea of the cynical carbon credit industry, make it darker and add a touch of humour.

A very cleverly written journey through a depressingly believable near future, where unfettered industry pays a tax to wipe out fauna. I really enjoyed the journey, how the characters and their drives unfold and each twist and turn of the story.

Thoughtful stuff.

Simply first rate. Well written, weird tour of a collapsing ecosystem and economy. The best satire of the modern era I've read.

At first I thought this was pretty silly but as I read on it also brought up some interesting philosophical dilemmas. And let’s face it, this futuristic fiction is coming close to being our present reality.

Absolute riot. Definite recommendation

This book goes through a lot of politics & science to describe a future that is doesn't seem far fetched to me at all.

It is a fascinating read that melds sci-fi with humor very well. One downside of the book is that it could do with a bit of editing. Some sections are a bit hard to follow and might require re-reading.

Highly recommend it

Great product, great service. A+A+A+A+A+