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Title: Polity Agent
Series: Polity: Agent Cormac #4
Author: Neal Asher
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 580
Format: Digital Edition
| Synopsis: |
Another jain node is experimented upon, this time by a haiman. But she’s a bit smarter than Skellor and doesn’t allow it access to her, thus putting off its growth and takeover.
At the same time, it turns out that the Maker civilization, which created the Dragon, was also using jain tech and planned on seeding the Polity with the nodes and thus allowing the Polity to destroy itself. Well, the Makers ended up destroying themselves first, but Cormac must track down the remaining nodes that they sent with the Dragon.
And if that wasn’t enough, it appears that a rogue AI, that left the Polity after the Prador Wars, has succumbed to jain tech and is actively trying to destroy the Polity as well.
Bloody jain tech, it just wants to kill everything…
| My Thoughts: |
This was the first book in the Agent Cormac series where things weren’t wrapped up by the end. The Haiman’s [a human who is aug’ing themselves until they can handle AI level of data] storyline was the slowest and the least completed. In many ways her plot line almost felt unnecessary except for when she propelled the other plot lines forward. I can’t remember enough about the next book to know if she plays a big part or not. I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.
Cormac tracking down the other nodes and the Rogue AI lines were pretty closely intertwined. The rogue AI, named Cerberus, kept laying traps for Polity ships and they kept falling for it. Not sure if that was deliberate or if the Polity AI’s really were that stupid? Considering how long range Earth Central plans, I’m betting on “deliberate”.
I had forgotten how many people died. Almost everyone we’ve met so far, except for Cormac [of course!], the biologist Mika, the Dracoman Scar and AI’s, die. Subsumed by jain tech, destroyed in battles, tortured and killed by bad guys, etc. Even the revelations about Horace Blegg means he is out of the picture, his usefulness at an end. By his own side too, ouch!
This is fun to read and I enjoy the violence and blazing guns and super weapons and smarty pants AI’s. I don’t feel that this book lost anything upon re-read. Things might not be as “new”, but it was just as exciting as before. If you’re looking for some bloody good science fiction, try this sub-series of Asher’s Polity Universe.
★★★★☆
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
An author who kills most of his characters… Is by any chance Asher related to GRR Martin? 😀 😀
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Well, there is never any doubt about the main characters with Asher. I was under the impression that NOBODY was safe in Fire&Ice?
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I do fervently hope that some characters will be granted immunity, but with Martin you can never be sure. Have you noticed the perpetual evil gleam in his eyes? 😀 😀
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I’ve stayed away from Martin, purposefully, since he gave his Firec&Ice fans the finger and told them to Eff off…
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In what way? Because he’s taking far too long in finishing the saga?
Or because he gave a “colorful” reply to some… over-excited readers who brought him to task for taking too long?
Inquiring minds want to know… 🙂
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The time that he told a fan, I don’t remember if it was online or at a Con, to “fuck off and die” when they asked him when he was going to do his job and actually finish the series. That attitude told me all I needed to know about him as an author and his willingness to finish what he started.
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Granted, it was a nasty reply, but I believe that particular fan bore the brunt of GRRM’s frustration with all of the very vocal (and often obnoxious) fans who pester him – none too gently or civilly – about the progress of his work. It’s a known fact that Martin is not a “fast” writer, that he’s probably a perfectionist, and that he keeps revising and changing, and this means long years between books. There are people, like me, who share their complaints about the long hiatuses with other equally frustrated readers, and others who bring those complaints directly to the source – again, more often than not in a very… sanguine way. Just a few days ago I was reading a thread about ASOIAF on the Tor site, and the administrators had to remove a good number of replies for their unsuitable content and manner of address.
All this does not justify Martin’s harsh reply, but I try to understand where the man’s frustration comes from… That said, when can we expect Winds of Winter? 😀 😀
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Death! Death, everywhere! Sounds hella fun. 😀
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Asher really knows how to make use of the Ultra Violence! Sweet sweet carnage and mayhem…
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Yeah, you had me at death, but ultra violence is a bonus.
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Some of his books more than others, but gruesome violence is a big draw for me in his stories…
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