The Gabble / Neal Asher

The Gabble
by Neal Asher

science fiction, short stories

published 2008 (previously published stories)
read in May 2013

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Who could not like the gabbleduck ?!

Asher's universe is really quite amazing. Complex. Coherent (as far as I cared to look). Very, very violent. But positive.

Positive ? I mean, it's mostly the bad guys who suffer the violence. And there's usually a happy -- or at least satisfying -- ending.

It's also nice to have a universe where humanity rules... Well, humanity and AIs... though I have to admit... humanity is no longer constrained by the original model. Made in *whose* image ?!

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Problems ? Solved

Shadow of the Scorpion / Neal Asher

Shadow of the Scorpion
by Neal Asher

science fiction
published 2008, read in November 2012

rating 6 / 10: read to pass the time

Six out of ten? Or possibly 7 -- if you're a fan of Agent Cormac of the Polity.

I enjoy Asher's books (the few that I've read, and I want to read more). The Polity is rough, tough and enjoyable. But this is my first meeting with Agent Cormac. So as far as I can tell:

Cormac has spent several books righting wrongs. Scorpion appears to be providing an insight into his childhood. Into the early days of his violent life. Which I would appreciate more -- if I had previously read of his adult adventures!

As a standalone book...

Scorpion is a modern equivalent of For Mars! Young man goes through basic training and comes out as a man.

Aside: My reviews are now being posted as an email from a tablet PC. This approach limits my flexibility. Specifically, I cannot proved you with a hot link to other reviews... Sorry! It also explains why the format of recent posts is so boring :-)  Anyway...

I have only just read For Mars! (Yes, the ! is part of the title.) As I read Scorpion I began to see similarities. In more than the basic boy-becomes-man plot.

I began to suspect that Scorpion was written for the "young adult" SF fan: young hero and simplistic style. Short sentences, simple plot logic. Group of young "cadets" thrown together, forced to build an effective team...

Of course this idealised world was soon shattered by the typical Polity violence. Still... it did make me think, how SF has changed since 1952 (the year of For Mars!). Similar themes -- such a different treatment!

Comparisons aside, Scorpion is not a great book. Gung ho action in a tough universe. An enjoyable adventure. A weak plot.

If you have already read previous Cormac adventures then this book will -- I believe -- fill in some gaps, build the back story. As a standalone novel... some of the points seem to be a little pointless.

And the gaining of a nifty personal weapon -- right at the end of the book -- is totally contrived. Except, I guess, as a necessary explanation for earlier books with a more experienced Cormac.

Enjoyable by itself. Perhaps a must-read for Cormac fans.

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Problems ? Solved

Cowl / Neal Asher

Cowl

category: science fiction, author:

Neal Asher

original copyright 2004,
read in December 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

Time travel... Going back in time to affect the present... Multiple timelines, all possibilities exist somewhere, so who really cares... Asher has overcome the pointlessness of these battles through time. Sort of...

Sure, every possibility has happened. If you think that you have won -- another timeline exists where you have lost. Asher adds another dimension to time travel: Some (most?) timelines will slip down the probability slope and eventually fade away. So -- in Asher's time travel tale -- there is a definite benefit to being on the "winning" timeline.

Thank goodness for that!

So we have a book about a battle across time. A book which does have a point, because the winners can actually win. And there are interesting characters who fight and grow and survive. All up -- a good book, well worth reading.

With an interesting insight into technique and the way in which a writer develops technique.

Cowl is published just two years before the other Asher books which I have read. (Follow the author label below this post, or jump straight to Prador Moon or The Voyage of the Sable Keech.) In Cowl, the adventure is there, the excitement is there, the plotting is there. The everyday acceptance of improvements to the basic human, already there. But there is an occasional stilted phrasing, occasional explanation where demonstration would have been better.

Cowl reads -- occasionally -- like an author's early book. Perhaps it is? I'll check, once my uninfluenced opinion has been written.

I do hope that Cowl is one of Asher's first books. I will then be correct in saying, this book is good -- and the author will be even better, once he has mastered some of the more subtle techniques of effective writing...

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Prador Moon / Neal Asher

Prador Moon

category: science fiction, author:

Neal Asher

book 1 in the Polity Universe
published by Tor, original copyright 2006, read in April 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

That's not "8 out of 10" because the book is great. Rather, it's great fun. As long as you have no problems with extreme violence.

On the other hand, (a) the violence is so extreme, so over-the-top, so unbelievable, that it does not have a personal impact on the reader, and (b) the violence happens to people or creatures with whom (or with which) we have not had time to develop any sympathies. It's all fast and furious -- and nasty -- but somewhat remote from our own emotions.

That said, the violence can also be satisfying. For example... A villain is preparing to leap on a hero, kill him, escape to wreak further havoc. The hero is far too well prepared, far too quick, and thumps the villain into submission. Take that! you alien-loving evil villain! Yes, it's good versus bad, everyone suffers, but in the long run baddies just don't stand a chance.

What else can I say? McGyver using extremely high tech? Captain Kirk duking it out -- using ray guns, rail guns, limpet mines -- with clawed alien crab-beasts? All with a clear plot leading -- via human heroics, AI determination, high tech invention -- to the final destruction of the major alien threat.

If you enjoyed the despairing view of humanity, the examination of childhood trauma leading to adult misery, the final moral decision left to the reader, of Oryx and Crake -- then Prador Moon is something entirely different!

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Voyage of the Sable Keech / Neal L. Asher

The Voyage of the Sable Keech

by

Neal L. Asher

published by Pan Macmillan in 2006
read by Agamedes in April 2009
science fiction
book 2 in the Spatterjay / Polity universe

A great book: space opera with depth! The planet (Spatterjay) is full of incredibly violent wildlife. The humans have adapted to be suitably tough. There is a great range of other adapted humans including “zombies” whose original but dead bodies are kept going by machines and nanomachines. The few non-humans are as sympathetic (ie likable and unlikable) as humans. The violence is taken to such a ridiculous extreme that it becomes cartoonish and so acceptable... Anyway, most of the characters are immortal and recover quickly. It doesn’t take too long to catch up with the characters from the first book of the series; this book can be read alone. The good guys fight for niceness and the bad guys get their comeuppance but usually without death or even too much pain.

Agamedes' rating: 9 out of 10