Spares: A Novel Mass Market Paperback – February 2, 1998

Where do I begin? I recall hearing on a podcast or reading somewhere that this book influenced Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs trilogy (a huge favorite of mine). And in reading 'Spares' I had to remind myself that 'Spares' was published before 'Altered Carbon'.'Spares''s hero (well anti-hero actually) reminds me a lot of Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs. 'Spares' doesn't have the same wide scope as 'AC' (no space travel and no colony worlds for Randall to explore). Most of the action takes place in New Richmond (Virginia). Like Kovacs, Randall is a man with a checkered past. He's also a veteran of a tough and brutal war, although unlike with Kovacs' experience at Innenin, we are given a fairly full account of Randall's experience in the Gap.I don't want to get into plot too much for risk of spoiling. What I found with Smith's plotting was that as Randall tries to unravel the mystery at the heart of 'Spares' you feel like Smith has given you hints and that you could almost figure out the mystery. Except you can't. I always had this feeling with some of Michael Crichton's better thrillers; as if the author has given me the information to solve the mystery and yet it remains tantalizingly out of reach. I always take this as the sign of a well-crafted plot.I enjoyed Smith's writing style very much. I think he manages to paint a picture of a very disturbing, dystopian future and yet at the same time Smith manages to inject quite a lot of humor into the story, which has some very disturbing aspects. His characters are real with both positive and negative (sometimes very negative) qualities, quite unlike the All-American Supermen protagonists found in the works of Tom Clancy or other similar thriller writers.I've made mention of this in other reviews but the ability to write good metaphors and similes is what separates a really good writer from a more pedestrian writer. In my opinion, it's the metaphors that add poetry to a writer's prose. It is also a writer's metaphors that allow for the more trenchant and insightful commentary on the human condition. In my opinion, the greatest metaphorist I've read is Michael Chabon. China Mieville is also quite talented in this respect. If Chabon gets an A for metaphors, and Mieville and A- then Smith is a solid B+ bordering on an A-.If you like dark, dystopian cyberpunk/cybernoir, I don't think you will be disappointed with 'Spares'.

I just finished reading Michael Marshall Smith's book Spares. I am a fan of his other books written under the name Michael Marshall but have only recently purchased the 3 earlier works. Spares is many stories in one book. It is a murder mystery, an adventure and most of all the most unique and interesting science fiction that I have ever read. There are more original ideas and scenarios in this story than in many books put together, all tied together in a flawless way that makes it understandable and most enjoyable. Perhaps, most uniquely of all, it is written with a remarkable sense of humor. As I finished reading it I felt that I would miss the whole thing, the story, the characters and the humor. I would very much like to see this on the screen.

Fun book and satisfying pay off. Felt like sci-fy meets noir. Some really neat ideas! Kinda slow to start but keep with it.

I was turned on to Micheal Marshal Smith by my younger brother. He didn't know neither did I that he wrote more than Only Forward, needless to say I am now A Marshal junkie and will read everything he has ever written. Be warned if you have no sense of humor, don't like cuss words and wander through your overworked life and don't see the irony he writes with then this author is not for you. I feel like I'm giving away a secret saying any of this, life has it's really weird crap already but he makes the crap fun again.

Avoiding spoilers here... this book is one that makes you think. It's a pretty disturbing read, but the plot chugs along very well and the reader can't help but feel empathy for the characters and their plights.

This book took me to a bleak future and told a sad story of an ex-soldier and cop, morning for his murdered wife and daughter and the ghosts in his head from deep in his past, and the children he wants to save. Hoping for a part two!

I was swept into the world he created and didn't want the book to end. Note that it contains some unusually disturbing violence against innocent people (though used effectively to highlight the inhumanity of the bad guys, not gratuitously); I had to skip one part when I realized where it was going - but I still loved it.

This book was a bit of a mess. Still not sure what the Gap is. Too many leaps are taken. I love MMS's writing style, but, his books are getting too surreal. Straw Men got me hooked on this author, but, it's been all down hill since then.

Read it 10 years ago & loved it, read it again last week, loved it still 😁

I went into this thinking I would love it. I love science fiction and this novel about a man attempting to save a group of cloned humans who serve as body organ "spares" for the rich folks who cloned them sounded right up my street. However, despite some nice writing, this book doesn't seem to really know what it is. The "hero" spends half his time off his face on some kind of designer drug which makes it hard to relate to him and made me lose interest in him long before the end. Some of it is a portrayal of a clearly disfunctioning dystopian society; but then part of it is a murder-mystery type crime thriller as said hero (when he's not jacked up on designer drugs) tries to solve who killed his wife and child. The hero is not a nice chap and it's hard to feel empathy. The spares don't get much of an outing and the novel seems to change direction half way through, losing focus as it does so.This wasn't for me - I gave up before the end which is something I rarely do.

I really wanted to like this novel. It had a whiff of the William Gibson about it, a certain sci-fi noir air. The writing style is quite accessible, and it's easy to get into.However, given that the title was 'Spares' and the blurb I thought the story was going to be about cloning, but somewhere within the book it trailed off into a fairly standard 'gritty' sci-fi novel and the whole cloning thing seemed pretty forgotten.Now, I don't mind my protagonists being messed up (aren't we all?), but I do get a bit wearisome when it's rammed down my throat. Okay, I get it, the main character is a lousy husband, father, and a pretty unpleasant person - but I don't need to read it every other page. I found it hard to empathise with the protagonist or really care about him (I did however want to give him a slap on more than one occasion).So what can I say? It passes an afternoon. But if you're well read in the sci-fi genre, don't expect anything monumental to jump out and surprise you, it's all by the numbers here. Before I forget - whoever designed the cover for this edition needs taking out and tickled until in tears. It's awful.

MM Smith wrote 3 amazing books, each with plots and traits that sound totally ridiculous, but which he made utterly believable. They were like nothing I'd read before. Then the b*****d went and started writing more 'serious' books, grounded more in our (current) reality.Come back Michael! I want more of Spares, One of Us, Only Forward etc! Take some shrooms or something FFS!In the meantime, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Pure brilliance.

Great characters and story with fast paced action that doesn't come at a cost to the plot! Some good twists and turns long the way. Great page turner, I'm going to go look for more books by this author!