The Voyage of the Sable Keech by Neal Asher
reviewed by Peter D. Tillman
This is the sequel to the author's acclaimed Skinner, set again on the Line planet
Spatterjay: a world of many monsters, some of them human. So pull up a stool, matey, pour a mug of seacane rum, and
listen to more salty tales of titanic man-eating whelks, leeches the size of sperm-whales, swarms of vicious rhinoworms,
glisters and heirodonts....
Brass Man by Neal Asher
reviewed by Nathan Brazil
It begins with a salvage vessel, whose pilot is seeking fortune out beyond the limits of Polity-controlled
space. He finds an asteroid, rich in rare metals, and containing the wreck of a dreadnought, which proves too tempting to
resist. Meanwhile, on a world named Cull, outside of Polity space, an old timer named Anderson and his young
protégé, Tergal, are on a mission to kill a dragon.
Cowl by Neal Asher
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
It is a dark, brooding time-travel novel, full of graphic violence and characters willing
to go to extremes for what they believe in. There is a war going on, a war fought through shifting time-lines and more-or-less
probable versions of reality. The stakes are the future, and past of humanity. The problem is trying to figure out who, if
anyone, is telling the truth.
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The Skinner by Neal Asher
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
In this return to the universe of runcibles, AIs, and the Polity, the author introduces ECS Agent Keech, Hive agent
Janer, and Hooper Erlin. The three think they are on separate quests, but you just know they are going to
end up in the thick of things together. Exactly what they are each seeking is less obvious. What motivation could
be strong enough to drive an ECS agent seven long centuries after his demise?
Gridlinked by Neal Asher
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
This future is no place for the faint-hearted. This is a world where a
terrorist blast is as likely to take you out as a slight miscalculation
passing through the runcibles that provide instantaneous galactic travel.
Don't worry, though, everything is all right, because this universe is run
by flawless AIs... Except that just such a mishap occurred, virtually
obliterating a whole planet. How such a thing could happen and who will be
held responsible are questions that Earth Central has sent in super-agent
Cormac to answer.
The Line of Polity by Neal Asher
reviewed by Lisa DuMond
In the myriad worlds that make up the Polity and those on the fringe, can be considerably worse than we soft humans can
imagine. After the lethal-at-every-turn Spatterjay of The Skinner, anyone would feel safe in assuming no place could be
more deadly, more hostile to human life... Ah! But we all would be sadly wrong. Of course, we had never even heard of Masada,
then, so how could we imagine anything more chilling? Little did we know the author was just biding his time until he was ready to take
us to this hell-hole, where people cannot even live on the surface without oxygen or breathers.
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