The Line of Polity (and other bits and bobs..)

Lord Soth

Lord Soth

Mumbling though life
Joined
Aug 11, 2007
Messages
353
Well, just started reading this (after a dissapointing Banks:Matter) and seems good so far.

I read Cowl a few months back, didnt realise at that time there was a whole Universe to read at the time (very nice to find that out btw!). I finished Gridlinked a week or so back - good book though with a few faults..

From what I've read here the best in the series are skill to come so heres to some more royalties for Mr Asher!

PS. I realise after writing this post its pretty pointless and brings nothing to the section, but there hasnt been a post here for a few months and felt it needed one!
 
I shamefully admit to not remembering the storyline of Line of Polity - I remember enjoying it though;) Cowl is the only Asher book that I wasn't particularly struck by, in fact.

Once you get onto The Skinner or Brass Man, you'll be a huge fan, I hope, they're great books :)
 
Yes Mr Asher gets my vote; rip roaring stuff.
 
Rane Longfox said:
I shamefully admit to not remembering the storyline of Line of Polity - I remember enjoying it though;) Cowl is the only Asher book that I wasn't particularly struck by, in fact.

Once you get onto The Skinner or Brass Man, you'll be a huge fan, I hope, they're great books :)
Click to expand...

Just picked up Brass Man, The Skinner and Polity Agent (that number 4 yes?) today - cant wait to start them :) Just have to finish the (mediocre) Dragonmaster Omnibus now (i'm stubborn what can I say..)
 
Neal Asher said:
Lord Soth, check out this thread here to get the order of the books.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/36380-favorite-asher-book.html
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Already have done :) I've read Gridlinked and The Line of Polity, started on a different series whilst I waited for Amazon to delivery the next 2 in the Cormac series and the much heard about Skinner.

Although I can see a clear timeline on the Cormac series (as shown by the other thread) - how do the other books merge into it all? Same universe?
 
Neal Asher said:
Cowl is in a completely different setting. The Skinner and Voyage are some centuries after Cormac's time and Hilldiggers some time after that.
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I'm glad to hear this. As a total newbie to your writing, I just got a copy of Cowl. I was hoping it would be a good start point and I wanted a "stand alone" story. It's next up on my "to be read" pile as soon as I finish a Kage Baker novel.

Jim
 
clovis-man said:
I'm glad to hear this. As a total newbie to your writing, I just got a copy of Cowl. I was hoping it would be a good start point and I wanted a "stand alone" story. It's next up on my "to be read" pile as soon as I finish a Kage Baker novel.

Jim
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Personally, I couldn't really get to crips with Cowl - if you dont like it, do as I did and try one of the Cormac novels (Gridlinked first) and you may be pleasently surprised :)

Neal: Glad to know im on the right path when it comes to book order :)
 
I really enjoyed Cowl. I'll admit that it took a while to get into, but once it "clicked" with me I loved the hell out of it.
(And without spoiling the ending, it does rather seem to set up nicely for a sequel Neal. Hint hint hint...) :D

I keep meaning to write a review for the reviews forum, but one of the most interesting aspects of the book was its take on the mechanics of time travel and the nitty gritty of how you go about altering the past without ripping a gaping orafice in causality.

I've tried to write time travel fiction myself and know how easy it is to tie yourself up in knots with that stuff, but Cowl manages it quite elegently, IMHO.
 
Started reading TLOP and it's already promising to be a great fun action packed story. I like Cormac more in this book than in Gridlinked but I think he was getting to grips with not being augmented (not sure if that's the correct term, read Gridlinked about 3 years ago). This book also seems to flow a bit better. I have a question for Neal, are all your books available for the Kindle yet? Especially internationally? I had a look but not sure if they were all there. Thanks Neal!!
 
Going with "other bits and bobs", I am now reading Orbus, having enjoyed predecessors The Skinner and The Voyage of the Sable Keach. I'm just getting into descriptions of the plethora of weapons employed by the Prador and by Sniper, the war drone, (especially the rail guns) when I see this:

http://news.yahoo.com/navy-railgun-tests-leading-ship-superweapon-2020-201003095.html

Neal, are you getting a cut of the profits? ;)
 
After finishing Gridlinked, I quickly devoured, and really enjoyed, The Line of Polity.

I could have done without the "fairy tale", but that's a really minor point (and besides, I did read all of it). One other thing: the book has many parallel PoVs, which I know some people don't like. Personally, I think it suits the story and I can't, off-hand, think of any other way the breadth of the tale could be told.

Now onto Brass Man. (Well, according to my Kindle, I'm already 48% of the way through this.... :))
 
That's an interesting comment Ursa. I mostly like Asher's little chapter prologues (not sure what the right word for them is) but this one was one of my least favourite ones. It didn't seem to give me quite as much background information as they usually seem to. On the other hand I particularly liked the chpater prologues in The Skinner where they almost told their own story whilst also filling you in on the vicious fauna of Spatterjay.

Brass Man is a great read - you should enjoy that one.
 
Vertigo said:
Brass Man is a great read - you should enjoy that one.
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I already am. :)

Apart from anything else, it provides a persuasive explanation of Stanton's survival, as I (finally) mentioned in my Gridlinked post.
 
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