Tigerman cover art

Tigerman

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Tigerman

By: Nick Harkaway
Narrated by: Matt Bates
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About this listen

Lester Ferris needs a rest. He's spent his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to relax. A former British colony, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution. But Lester Ferris makes a friend: a street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home - who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. But in a place like Mancreu, just what sort of hero will the boy need?

©2014 Nick Harkaway (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction

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Critic reviews

"[O]ne of the most enjoyable books I've read in ages… brilliantly entertaining… What a splendid ride." ( Guardian on Angelmaker)
"An entertaining tour-de-force that demands to be adored." ( Independent on Sunday)
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What did you like best about Tigerman? What did you like least?

I liked the core concept, and the main character was attractively drawn. However, the story never really came together for me, and the slightly arch and surreal approach to the setting and action jarred. I couldn't quite believe in it all. And the ensuing left me cold. It was like a rough draft of an Iain Banks novel. Writing is competent though, and the performance by Matt Bates is excellent.

Would you be willing to try another book from Nick Harkaway? Why or why not?

I'd be curious to see if this is representative of his style, so maybe.

Which character – as performed by Matt Bates – was your favourite?

The central character. Nicely done.

Do you think Tigerman needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. It's a self enclosed story to my mind.

Any additional comments?

An idea with potential, never quite realised for me.

Less than the sun of its parts

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It took me a while to get into this one, and although I did enjoy it, I liked it less than the other novels I have read by this author. The main character was well drawn and engaging, the premise was ingenious and the narration was excellent, but I could not quite get on board with the comic-book action stuff somehow. Won’t stop me from reading or listening to more Harkaway though. He’s well worth the effort.

Great characterisation and an excellent narrator.

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Outstanding! full of comedy, ideas, action, surprises and heartbreak. beautifully written and well worth 13hrs of anyone's time (it'll feel like five hrs)

Full of Win

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I've now finished all four of Nick Harkaway's books on Audible and though Tigerman is the shortest (being merely average-novel long and not the 29-hour epic that is Gnomon) I don't know how you'd even begin to rank them (or for that matter why you'd want to). It's another mad adventure starring another unlikely and reluctant protagonist set in a world that's almost ours but not quite: in this case a pseudo-diplomat and former soldier living out a kind of early retirement on a tropical island that has been condemned for destruction. Naturally we then get caught up in a murder, our hero assembles his band of very unlikely and very colourful allies and we're off on another brilliant mystery thriller which hops happily about from comically absurd to cruel and gruesome. Everything is described beautifully and Matt Bates does, as ever, an amazing job voicing everyone from northern British diplomat to female Japaneee scientist to Ukrainian gangster to small child from fantasy island nation.

It's been a rotten old time, this year of in-and-out lockdown. But Harkaway's books added appreciably to whatever sort of silver lining was left dangling off of 2020 and I'm sad not to have any left to read. Brilliant stuff. Buy it and feel better about things.

"Awesome" and "full of win!"

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I liked the mix of plot elements - hubris, nature fiighting back by outevolving us, the manipulated hero. Great fun.

nice conceit

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