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A review by thekarpuk
The Line of Polity by Neal Asher
4.0
In summary, this book sounds really similar to Gridlinked, the first Ian Cormac book. I noticed the blurb for the book after I'd already purchased it, and I had this fear that every book would end up being the same deal, with Cormac having to foil Dragon's newest wacky scheme, while an extremist group tries to hunt him down, and it all ending with Dragon howling, "I'll get you next time, Cormac! Next tiiiiiiime!"
Fortunately, it changes up the formula in some decent ways, and manages to improve on the first book by having an ending that actually makes sense (seriously, the Wiki page for Gridlinked provides a link to Asher's explanation of the ending).
The main thing that's silly in this books, and its silly in many macho guy books regardless of age or demographic, is how people respond to the protagonist. It's much more subdued here, but there are still bits to remind you that Cormac is a bad-ass known throughout the universe. It's one of the less distracting cases, since there are some where people go out of their way to remind you that the protagonist is awesome.
The other small issue comes from a somewhat shapeless stretch in the middle that's mostly composed of characters traveling to join up, and war scenes that feel a little overextended and self-indulgent. Fortunately, this arguing-in-the-woods portion isn't very long, and we get back to progress over movement soon enough for me to not get irritated.
For being essentially sci-fi James Bond, these books are a lot of fun.
Fortunately, it changes up the formula in some decent ways, and manages to improve on the first book by having an ending that actually makes sense (seriously, the Wiki page for Gridlinked provides a link to Asher's explanation of the ending).
The main thing that's silly in this books, and its silly in many macho guy books regardless of age or demographic, is how people respond to the protagonist. It's much more subdued here, but there are still bits to remind you that Cormac is a bad-ass known throughout the universe. It's one of the less distracting cases, since there are some where people go out of their way to remind you that the protagonist is awesome.
The other small issue comes from a somewhat shapeless stretch in the middle that's mostly composed of characters traveling to join up, and war scenes that feel a little overextended and self-indulgent. Fortunately, this arguing-in-the-woods portion isn't very long, and we get back to progress over movement soon enough for me to not get irritated.
For being essentially sci-fi James Bond, these books are a lot of fun.