Shadow of the Scorpion is fast-paced, with plenty of action, as are Asher’s other scintillating Polity books. Whether you’re already a Polity and
As for the story itself, another winning combination of character development, aliens, action and political undertones. If you like Neal's other stuff then this is a novel you can't miss, but it's also an ideal step on point for those new to Neal's work. I thought this was one of Neal's best to date, and if this is any indication of what to expect from the next few novels, we're all in for a real treat.
Cool Shite on the Tube, Literature review
The roundup? A good, fast-moving, active SF yarn with some interesting ideas woven through it. Worth reading, and worth buying.
As for the story itself, another winning combination of character development, aliens, action and political undertones. If you like Neal's other stuff then this is a novel you can't miss, but it's also an ideal step on point for those new to Neal's work. I thought this was one of Neal's best to date, and if this is any indication of what to expect from the next few novels, we're all in for a real treat.
Shadow of the Scorpion is well worth reading for any fan of
This novel is very dark. It asks a lot of philosophical questions. What divides humans from machines? How can we maintain our freedom and individuality in an artificial world? Combined with the philosophical questions are all out fast paced action sequences. The artificial intelligences come across as more human than humanity. I had a hard time putting this novel down.
Of course, it's still Asher, so this mission still involves terrorists with anti-matter weapons capable of blowing away large chunks of planet, incredibly durable crab-like aliens capable of shrugging off a hit from heavy artillery, and more alien ecologies and far-future technologies than you can shake a stick at.
There's little praise I can lay on this that won't be recycled from previous Polity novel reviews. It's Asher; it's good. Recommended for anyone who's a fan of the series or of good hard science fiction in general.
4 comments:
Neal, I read all of your Cormac and Spatterjay books I can find,
but not all of them are in the U.S. yet. 'The Line of Polity', 'Line War', and 'Orbus' aren't at my local bookseller, a high volume science fiction store in Minneapolis. I have urged the local library to order them, too.
Any news from Nightshade?
orbus isn't out yet, james.
neal, shadow of the scorpion is great and fully deserves all the plaudits, it's good to see your following growing with each successive novel! :D
James, Tor US have published Gridlinked, The Skinner, Brass Man & Cowl only whilst Night Shade have done Prador Moon & Shadow of the Scorpion. Everything else, I'm afraid, has to come from Britain or via Amazon.com which sometimes runs out.
However this site http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ apparently does free world-wide delivery. I'd be interested to know anyone's experiences with it.
Thanks, Daniel.
james - amazon.com or amazon.co.uk usually have stock plus their postage rates aren't bad (and they are also very reliable). there doesn't seem to be any problem supplying printed materials transatlantically (and thankfully they can't region-lock books like they can films/games).
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