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5wamp_creature's review against another edition
3.0
I was not as absorbed with this as Brass Man. Probably just my failing concentration/interest but by the end I could not keep the characters straight. I was paging backwards to remember which guy was and android or not (other than Crane). And who or what was The Maker? I have no idea. Dragon and Dracomen? Gant, Jarvellis, Chaline? So many die it was a bit hard to keep track of.
kruppe337's review against another edition
4.0
What. A. Ride.
A cybernetically enhanced special agent
AIs that like to tell jokes
An enigmatic, Japanese man who might be immortal
Psychopathic androids
Bodies being blown to bits and then those bits being blown to smaller bits
Sex
Drugs
DRAGONS
Deep ethical questions regarding future technology
I'm sold on this series, and I've heard Asher really finds his voice as it progresses.
Give Neal Asher your money, and read his book.
A cybernetically enhanced special agent
AIs that like to tell jokes
An enigmatic, Japanese man who might be immortal
Psychopathic androids
Bodies being blown to bits and then those bits being blown to smaller bits
Sex
Drugs
DRAGONS
Deep ethical questions regarding future technology
I'm sold on this series, and I've heard Asher really finds his voice as it progresses.
Give Neal Asher your money, and read his book.
macindog's review against another edition
4.0
Ian Cormac has been gridlinked for far longer than is recommended and it's affecting his humanity. The solution is separation from the grid and, along with having to deal with the loss of that support, he's plunged headlong into an investigation as to why a runcible gate exploded on Samarkand, killing thousands.
Cormac also has enemies and one, Arian Pelter, in particular will stop at nothing, sacrificing the lives of anyone in his way, to kill him for the sake of revenge. Along with Pelter and his gang of highly-trained mercenaries comes Mr Crane, a psychotic android with a penchant for toys and well, killing.
Then there's Dragon, a mysterious entity comprised of four spheres, each about a kilometre long, with little regard for human life. Cormac first met it on Colora but why is it now seemingly aiding Arian Pelter? What are its true motives?
Gridlinked is Asher's first Agent Cormac novel and a great start to a series I hope to continue reading. Set in the rich universe that is Asher's Polity, the story is nicely paced and well dotted with sex and violence. Possibly a bit heavy on the violence but it works well here and enhances the tale. Well worth reading!
Cormac also has enemies and one, Arian Pelter, in particular will stop at nothing, sacrificing the lives of anyone in his way, to kill him for the sake of revenge. Along with Pelter and his gang of highly-trained mercenaries comes Mr Crane, a psychotic android with a penchant for toys and well, killing.
Then there's Dragon, a mysterious entity comprised of four spheres, each about a kilometre long, with little regard for human life. Cormac first met it on Colora but why is it now seemingly aiding Arian Pelter? What are its true motives?
Gridlinked is Asher's first Agent Cormac novel and a great start to a series I hope to continue reading. Set in the rich universe that is Asher's Polity, the story is nicely paced and well dotted with sex and violence. Possibly a bit heavy on the violence but it works well here and enhances the tale. Well worth reading!
fluka's review against another edition
2.0
DNF @ 42%
Eeeh. This started off fun, in a "what if the Culture but more actiony" but then it slowly became "what if the Culture but kind of boring." And plus, I remembered that Iain M Banks actually did some extremely good action scenes with 'splosions and such and I could just reread the Culture books instead. There's some interesting lore stuff here and there, and maybe Dragon goes in a more interesting direction, but the characters and pacing just didn't work for me at all. By the time I hit nearly the halfway point my attention was wandering, particularly for the Pelter plotline. I'm gonna need a lot more compelling writing if I'm going to sit down for several hundred pages of cat ladies and lizard men and sub-James Bond seduction.
Eeeh. This started off fun, in a "what if the Culture but more actiony" but then it slowly became "what if the Culture but kind of boring." And plus, I remembered that Iain M Banks actually did some extremely good action scenes with 'splosions and such and I could just reread the Culture books instead. There's some interesting lore stuff here and there, and maybe Dragon goes in a more interesting direction, but the characters and pacing just didn't work for me at all. By the time I hit nearly the halfway point my attention was wandering, particularly for the Pelter plotline. I'm gonna need a lot more compelling writing if I'm going to sit down for several hundred pages of cat ladies and lizard men and sub-James Bond seduction.
strasda8's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn't expecting to be, but I'm still thinking about this book a week later. Primarily because I still can't figure out just what in the fuck happened at the end. I was confused to the point I hunted down answers on Reddit and ended up following a link to Asher's own website, where he provided a "Scooby Doo" ending. I don't want to bash on the book, because I did enjoy it, but I think it's worth noting that if you need to provide your readers a dumbed down version of an ending to your novel...Well, that's not such a great thing.
On the plus side, the majority of the book was fast-moving and fun. I enjoyed Agent Cormac, lack of any real discernible personality and all. Keeping in mind this is a debut novel, and the short stories by Asher I have read in the past, I continue to hold high hopes for the rest of the Polity Universe.
Couple other thoughts:
- John was pretty easily my favorite character, I expect to see some continuation of his story in the future, even (maybe especially) if it's at the expense of Cormac's.
-Mr. Crane. I thought his couple of weird quirks were built up consistently throughout for...what exactly? Kind of a lost opportunity there...
- Asher excels most when writing gritty action sequences, I do hope there are more of these in future novels.
On the plus side, the majority of the book was fast-moving and fun. I enjoyed Agent Cormac, lack of any real discernible personality and all. Keeping in mind this is a debut novel, and the short stories by Asher I have read in the past, I continue to hold high hopes for the rest of the Polity Universe.
Couple other thoughts:
- John was pretty easily my favorite character, I expect to see some continuation of his story in the future, even (maybe especially) if it's at the expense of Cormac's.
-Mr. Crane. I thought his couple of weird quirks were built up consistently throughout for...what exactly? Kind of a lost opportunity there...
- Asher excels most when writing gritty action sequences, I do hope there are more of these in future novels.
hawisher's review against another edition
4.0
Asher struggles to write compelling villains, and his writing would be better off without the occasional jaunts into science fantasy (e.g. Horace Blegg or whatever his name is). Very interesting ideas though. Lots of fun.
kevinwkelsey's review against another edition
1.0
It had a solid setup, which it did not deliver on whatsoever. Painfully boring, terribly inconsistent one dimensional characters, cookie cutter secondary characters, zero resolution. I didn't expect quality writing, but I thought at least it would be fun, or pulpy, or.. just anything at all.
shl1980's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
Written as a breathless sci-fi thriller, with shifting perspectives to tell the story of Earth Security agent a la 007, Ian Cormac, as he is re-finding his own humanity after 30 years of mindlink to AI. Hounded by the inexplicably-insane terrorist Arian Pelter, Cormac investigates the malfunctioning and explosion of a runcible (teleportation devices which renders time and space meaningless) that destroyed an entire planet.
Set in a world ran by AIs that easily passed version x of the Turing test; Golemns created but possessing personhood, therefore required to pay for their freedom and creation price by service to the companies that constructed them; nerve-blocked surgeries where the flesh is easily peeled apart to get at the bones and organs... Easy and rapid inter-galactic travel via runcible devices... The interference in human history of an alien bio-mechanic creature called Dragon... All very fascinating stuff.
The upside: this is a rapid read.
The downside: plot threads seem somewhat scattered. Some people's motivations are murky and strange. So who, or what, did blow up the planet? And what was up with Dragon?
This is very clearly the first book in a series. Maybe some of my questions will be answered down the line. Given how difficult it was to push through the last 100 pages, I'm in no hurry for Book 2.
Set in a world ran by AIs that easily passed version x of the Turing test; Golemns created but possessing personhood, therefore required to pay for their freedom and creation price by service to the companies that constructed them; nerve-blocked surgeries where the flesh is easily peeled apart to get at the bones and organs... Easy and rapid inter-galactic travel via runcible devices... The interference in human history of an alien bio-mechanic creature called Dragon... All very fascinating stuff.
The upside: this is a rapid read.
The downside: plot threads seem somewhat scattered. Some people's motivations are murky and strange. So who, or what, did blow up the planet? And what was up with Dragon?
This is very clearly the first book in a series. Maybe some of my questions will be answered down the line. Given how difficult it was to push through the last 100 pages, I'm in no hurry for Book 2.