Zero Point: The Owner: Book Two

I discovered the Agent of the Polity series through an article on post-singularity science fiction and came to like them well enough that I binged through all of them and then went through pretty much all the rest of the Polity books, despite the fact I do not favor prequels over books that move the timeline of a series forward into unexplored territory.Now with the Owner books, however, I have to question whether it was Neil Asher or perhaps just the Polity that I was enjoying so much.Aside from being a rather grim take on the next hundred and fifty years, I don't find it easy, or even especially desirable, to empathize with many, if any, of the characters. Granted, this was kind of a weak spot in the Polity, too, but not nearly so much. Signature Asher elements are here, mega-violence, new technologies (or new takes on existing ones), and so on, but at times I really did forget I was reading a Neil Asher and found myself skimming through parts. Page after page of one person, all alone, digging for oxygen bottles, or moving stuff around, just doesn't do much to advance the story or the characterization so far as I'm concerned.From time to time, too, it felt like The Owner was being given little setbacks every time he started pulling too far away from the competition, just for the sake of not showing it as a total walkover. I know a lot of fiction does this, to one degree or another, but it felt more obvious than usual here, with less other stuff, humor, characterization, mysteries, etc. to distract us from the tennis match.Overall, I don't regret reading them, but I doubt I will ever reread them, as I probably will with some of the Polity books, someday.On a minor note, life has been good enough that I don't let a $13.99 price tag per book stand in the way of my reading one book or even a long series, if I am willing to put the time into reading it in the first place, but it feels like rather a lot and I know there were times in my life where it just would have been out of the question to pay that much for an ebook . . . had ebooks existed.

I have read everything that Neil Asher has written so far, and this is nothing like it, but still very not 'Putdownable'.... It is certainly a different spin than his usual work, and at first read seems like a preamble or prequel to how the Polity 'might' come about, although that may just be my interpretation. It sure does seem like it might be possible, we will see in the 3rd one..For some that have given it low reviews, I don't see how you cannot get engaged with the characters because they have to build their living environment sometimes maybe you should read Andy Weir's The Martian, you know, being on an inhospitable planet is not all pew pew and space boinking, sometimes you just have to dig holes or plant potatoes and hope for the best.I would liken Neil's work to my favorite and unfortunately now deceased author Ian M Banks, with his very believable world (universe) building and his meticulous attention to the 'How' of things and although I can't see his sales figures, it kind of baffles me why there are not thousands of reviews for his work, do people really not know about him?Anyway, there is really not a bad one in the bunch, especially liked the Spatterjay ones, totally weird and wonderful and will definitely buy the third one in this series, and probably anything else he writes, enjoy!!

This second book in the Owner series, like everything else I've ever read of Neal Asher's, is hyperbolically violent and intensely enjoyable from start to finish. What is very interesting is that unlike the Polity series (his previous longest-running sequential storyline/universe), this one is set in the relatively near future. What is somewhat frightening is that Asher very convincingly manages to paint a future that could still possibly happen, and then constructs very believable and really interesting characters to anchor his plots to. One of the things I really like about Asher, especially in this newest series, is that he manages to accurately paint the story from each character's perspective in such a way that while you (rarely) actually empathize with any of the more clearly psychopathic characters, you get a really good idea why they do the things they're doing.Asher continues to be, as he has been for at least the last decade, one of my five favorite top science fiction authors of all time. I can't wait for the third one.

Neal Asher's ability to impute and effectively relate the motivations of every character participating in his story is truly amazing. He is incredibly effective anti-communist/socialist invectives were simply an added bonus to this amazing and oh so very dark story. He applied his incredibly sharp insight and wit to an even more current and more obvious problem. Neal Asher carries on in the tradition of Orwell in terms of warning the masses of the horrors that lie within the technological and philosophical suppression of free will in the interests of tyranny. With the insight that 75 years of technological advancement have given Mr. Asher, his warnings and his predictive abilities have only become more accurate, more realistic and more horrifying than Mr. Orwell's could have ever hoped to have been. Beyond its technical and storytelling achievement, this story serves as a Cassandra like warning to those who would consolidate unrestricted and unopposed power within the face of centralized government.If all men were angels, why would we need a God? If all men were Devils, of what use would a God be?

Amazon will not post a review unless you waffle on as it says "Your comment is too short. Please elaborate on your transaction experience." Which has stopped me reviewing other purchases until now. Then I thought of this :-)PS Happy with purchase.

A couple of chapters into Part 1 of this series (Departure) I was wondering if this was quite for me. There was an arid, stark quality to the writing which I thought might not appeal. Destructive machinery and soulless people. Implacable. I was waiting for something a bit more human sympathy to leaven it. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. It became more and more involving and fascinating and by the end I was looking forward to #2. This is it and it does not disappoint.Zero Point launches with all the momentum built up in the final pages of #1 and continues to accelerate. But more than that, it clarifies and consolidates into something more, a story so well crafted that it is (IMO) almost flawless. A revelation after #1. The only minor literary missteps occur in the short off-stage passages of future history and background that preface each chapter, because occasionally they lapse into a tone that makes them read as vehicles for the author's political opinions - never quite appropriate in a novel, no matter how interesting. But this is a very minor criticism. Zero Point is a terrifically well written and well structured story that more than fulfils the promise of its forerunner and makes you eager to read #3 (I have that pleasure to come)

I must admit to preferring the Polity books from Asher, but as I have read most of his books I went with this new series, the action is fast paced, and some of the characters are interesting and likeable, the bad guys really are the pits of the bad. Having said that the only thing I didn't like from a personal point was the way that untold billions of human deaths are just tossed away like so much paper. The total disregard for life seems almost a trivial thing. It at times made me quite depressed that there seemed to be no end of gloom and doom. I guess I will have to wait for the third part to see how it all turns out in the end. - I will get the third part, so that is some recommendation anyway.

always worth reading Neal Asher. this is a good storyline and unexpectedly tied into the Polity series in later short stories. only gave the 4 stars because I prefer the Polity subject matter, but that is just personal taste. Very good!!!

Im a fan of Asher especially the Polity books. I was worried he was going to go all politically correct which he has a bit which spoils the individualism of the books somewhat. Still few people do action better and the plots and characters are good. The violence in parts is OTT and quite nasty but in fairness Ashers is excellent at showing how governments and people will abuse technology and power if they get the chance