Polity Agent (An Agent Cormac Novel Book 4)

In Neal Asher's second and third Ian Cormac novels, mad scientist/evil genius Skellor becomes infested with alien technology granting him immense powers. This technology, apparently left behind by the extinct Jain civilization, is rumored to be a weapon designed to detect and destroy advanced intelligent species. The Polity, a human star federation ruled by a benign dictatorship of artificial intelligences, ultimately defeats Skellor and neutralizes the threat he poses. Jain tech is still out there, however, so the next task for the Polity and its agent Ian Cormac is to find Skellor's source and eliminate it. When an outbreak of Jain tech on planet Coloron threatens the lives billions of people, the urgency of Cormac's mission increases.POLITY AGENT is filled with familiar characters, including Polity agent Ian Cormac and his sort-of supervisor Horace Blegg, the Sparkind supertrooper Thorn, the incomprehensible alien ship/being Dragon, the laconic dragoman Scar, the free-thinking ship/AI Jerusalem, which hosts the most advanced research on Jain tech, and the irreverent ship/AI Jack Ketch, now entwined with another mind and rechristened "Not Entirely Jack". Adding to the cast are several potential bad guys including "haiman" (human/AI hybrid) engineer Orlandine, who kills her lover in order to hide her secret cache of Jain tech, an android called "the Legate", who travels the stars spreading the joy of Jain tech, and a secretive entity called Erebus.Repeat readers will probably be pleased to learn that POLITY AGENT features the same mix of invention, action, mystery, suspense, and lurid violence as earlier novels. They will also be pleasantly surprised at the number of secrets Asher reveals, including the true nature of apparent immortal Horace Blegg. Those enamored of contemporary Left-leaning Brit-SF, however, will continue to be distressed by Asher's elitist and authoritarian tendencies; Asher is the Tory version of Iain Banks. Some readers will complain that POLITY AGENT is not a complete novel, but I disagree; while much is left unresolved, the ending is not a cliffhanger, only a promise of more story to come. While hardly perfect, POLITY AGENT is Asher's best and most engaging Cormac novel since GRIDLINKED and possibly his third-best novel overall after THE SKINNER and GRIDLINKED.N.B. POLITY AGENT continues a story in progress and doesn't do a great job of orienting new readers, or even assisting repeat readers who don't have a clear memory of the previous volume; new readers should begin with GRIDLINKED.

Excellent read as always.

I couldn't wait for this to be published in the US, so I ordered it from an Amazon seller in the UK.This is a great book that continues to explore a number of themes that recur in Asher's Polity novels.In Polity Agent, we finally understand the connection between the Maker (from Gridlinked), Jain technology, the Dragon spheres, and the rogue AI's.Along the way, we explore the history of Horace Blegg and learn who and what he really is.Ian Cormac doesn't play as big a part in this novel. We first meet up with him as he recovers from the injuries he sustained at the end of Brassman. He also gains a girlfriend, although that subplot is rather thin.If you are familiar with Asher's earlier books, you'll be happy to see a Gabbleduck making a brief appearance. Even Mr. Crane has a cameo.As well, if you've read any of Asher's Spatterjay novels and enjoyed the cantankerous war drone Sniper, you'll enjoy Cormac's new sidekick - a spider-like drone left over from the Prador war who is bored and looking for action.One thing I enjoy about Asher's books is that he is meticulous about continuity. The timelines of each of the characters is consistent from book to book. My only suggestion is to read the books in order: Gridlinked, Line of Polity, Brassman and Polity Agent.

I can't say this enough times. I love love love these polity novels. And I am completely addicted to Neal Ashers protagonists. I've recently started his new series and its just as great. - I purchased almost all the books in the Polity series and then went on to Spatterjay afterwards. - These all read like fx. Ian M Banks culture novels, and feel to me as though they are at least inspired by his type of world building.Ian Cormac is a great protagonist, no nonsense, capable without being completely deus ex'y capable of anything, and just a very rounded character. I sometimes wish there was more of him in the books and less of the side characters, but that is only because Im more interested in this guy, not because the others arent worth reading about. And thats the only pretend negative I can think off.Im not great at writting reviews, I just want to encourage anyone who has an interest in sci fi (not military) and has enjoyed the type of world building you find in Ian's books, to grab these ones. They are different and not quite as dense, but they are really very well written.Some find these books to be political in nature, but I didnt, I wasnt even aware that there was discussions about it going on, so it must have melded in well with the story, and should not hold you back from reading the books.

Each of the Agent Cormac series I have read has been well paced and often exciting, with intriguing plots and good world building. True of this one too, although I did feel there were a few too many strands in the narrative. We finally learn a little more about Cormac here, who has been something of a cipher to date in the series. My main problem is one of style. There is so often a little chunk of pointless and anachronistic exposition. The reader needs to be able to work some of these things out for themselves and if I need to know how a weapon works, it should either emerge naturally from the narrative, or appear in one of the chapter heading pieces ( I like those!). A good editor would excise them. And why does he think that in the far future they will use feet, inches and miles? Almost nobody in this Earth's population use them now! Oh, he quotes a wavelength in nanometers. Why not in fractions of an inch, to be consistent? Or perhaps he should make the Polity measure things in leagues?

Loved every Neal Asher book up until this one. This book suffers from incredibly convoluted story telling, over reliance on his own techno-babble, complex action sequences that blend into one big mind numbing whirl of confusing description. But the killer here is the archaic use of racist language like "Negroidal Race". Really Neal? Are you serious!? And who ever edited this thing should be fined by their employer. Wait for it, one of Neal's fanboys will weigh in calling me a snowflake...

If you read the synopsis for this book in the product details you may be shocked to hear that that synopsis still holds true at the end of this novel.Yes 580 pages of unexciting, relentless tedium and very little in the way of plot development.This is an insult to fans of the series and everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.Last Asher book I buy...Once bitten twice shy.

I've read a lot of SF in my time, and I only discovered Neil Asher a couple of years ago, but immediately I knew I'd found a worthy successor to the Heinleins the Nivens, the Blishes of the golden age. His universe is a fascinating step forward into a realm of hybrid humans, powerful aliens, exotic species, and deadly uncontrollable technologies. Cormac is the Polity Agent who holds pole position as galactic troubleshooter. This is Space Fiction par excellence. Marvelous!

The last book I have read of ASHERS whilst waiting for the next to be delivered. Killing off some favourite characters - nice when an author has the guts to do this. Some very interesting revelations about BLEGG and JAIN tech goes nuts as does ASHERS brain to have written this. Gripping and action packed just how I like them. Such is the description you can vsualise pretty much everything. What a way to end though without the next one in my hand waiting. Buy it