A
monster in the
book _
Hyperion_ (
et seq.) by
Dan Simmons. Vaguely
humanoid,
three meters
tall,
four-armed,
silver-
black in color, and covered with
blades and
spikes.
Has a nasty habit of impaling souls on a giant steel tree of thorns ... while the souls are still in their bodies. Hence the name, which comes from a bird that impales mice and other prey on thorns.