Monday 28 December 2015

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Transformation 1: Dark Intelligence - Neal Asher

Release Date: 24/09/15
Publisher:  Pan

SYNOPSIS:

One man transcends death for vengeance. One woman transforms herself for power. And no one will emerge unscathed...

Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, having been brought back from the dead. He died in a human vs. alien war that ended a century ago.

Spear had been trapped on a planet, surrounded by alien Prador forces, when he spotted a rescue ship. Yet he and his entire squad were killed by the ship's Artificial Intelligence, Penny Royal, which turned rogue. Now, reliving these traumatic final moments, Spear finds the drive to keep on living. That drive is vengeance.

The AI still roams free and Spear vows to destroy it, planning to exploit another of its victims in his quest. But crime-lord Isobel Satomi has been modified by Penny Royal, turning her into something far from human. And as she evolves into the ultimate predator, will she turn Spear from hunter to hunted?

This is the first volume in a no-holds-barred adventure set in Asher's popular Polity universe.


REVIEW:

A book from Neal is always a joy to read and whilst I’ve had it for a while, I like to take my time and savour them, so with the stressful season upon us, I picked this title up and sat down with a glass of mead, some Stollen and my comfy duvet. What you get from Neal is a book that is full of action, told wonderfully well from his character points of view backed up with solid dialogue with a kickass plot. Whilst you can read this book without having read any others in the series, I feel that you should as you’ll have missed solid world building as well as delightful characters and of course, the bigger picture of the tales undertone. All round a real joy.


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