74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and Gun, interesting first effort, January 22, 2005
Neil Asher's first novel, "Gridlinked", is an attempt to put the James Bond genre into outer space. It doesn't wholly succeed, for most part due to the fact that the main character, Earth Security Agent Ian Cormac, has no character. Asher gives us a good reason why. It seems that he has been "gridlinked" or connected into the Artificial Intelligence Internet, for way too long and is more computer then man. For the first part of the novel, Cormac "unplugs" himself off this 'net, and has to deal with the consequences of finding his humanity and solving the galaxy's problems the old-fashioned way.
Now if Asher had kept this train of thought going throughout the novel, it would have been a whole lot better. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in the dealings of his psychopathic bad guy and his maniacal robot, along with the sudden inclusion of two alien life forms, and Cormac's inner struggle just disappears. After a bad day or two, Cormac seems to completely readapt to his lack of easily accessible information and the whole point of the novel just goes away and is never mentioned again. The rest of the novel disintegrates into a typical "chase the bad guy" story, with the usual tricks and clever tactics, etc. etc. I wish the novel had stayed the course as first promised. It would have been interesting had Cormac's cyber withdrawal actually had some bearing on the plot, but it really never does. In fact, very little that goes on in the novel actually effects the plot or the characters. It is a shame, as this was an excellent idea for a story and not bad, all things considered.
I wish Mr. Asher success in the future. I will be sure to read his next novel, in paperback, when it comes out.
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32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rip-snorting good read, July 18, 2005
This review is from: Gridlinked (Ian Cormac, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Neal Asher's "Gridlinked" is a fast-paced, adrenalin-fueled, action-packed, idea-studded, fascinating look at a possible future for humanity. What's more it's a heck of a good read, loads of fun, and I had a blast devouring it! After reading this one, his first, I immediately went back to Amazon and ordered all his other books and now am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I whole-heartedly recommend this book, and if you enjoy hard science fiction then I've no doubt that you'll enjoy this book too. It's definitely a keeper.
What a fun trip this was.....colony planets, advanced combat firearms, sentient hand weapons, genetic sculpting, enhanced nervous systems, intergalactic teleportation, inscrutable aliens, designer drugs, black market currencies, artificial intelligences....all fairly standard ideas, but Asher takes them and imprints them with his own unique take, and far more importantly, binds them up in a consistent, yet lavishly detailed universe.
And what a universe it is! What made this book particularly fun was Asher's wry nod at today's international terrorist problem. In his imagined future nearly everyone is relatively wealthy, healthy, prosperous, and enjoys a grand standard-of-living. Governmental affairs are managed with wisdom, intelligence and compassion by vast artificial intelligences and everyone has every reason to be happy and just enjoy the heck out of life. With incisive insight into the human mind and human condition though, Asher realizes that despite the fact that they should be happy, not all people are going to be, and the outer planets are rife with bomb-throwing terrorists, fanatical plots, and underground movements that routinely try to wrest control of their planet away from the benevolent rule of Earth central, invariably so they can loot the planet for wealth, live out bizarre social rituals, or just because they're contrary. Of course, when they are successful, as happens rarely, the whole social order breaks down completely within 20 years with disastrous results for the population. These examples don't ever slow down the next crop of terrorists any more than today's examples do (think Cuba, Lebanon, Iran, etc.)
This was so totally plausible to me that I loved this story. Create a paradise where everyone can live happily ever after, and then about thirty mintues later it will spectacularly implode because there are humans in it. Bigotry, hatred, paranoria, greed, idiocy, intolerance, fear, jealousy, religious doctrine, political dissension are all part of the human condition and have been around since day one. So it makes complete sense that they'll be around in the future as well. Therefore in Asher's delightful story it is no surprise that there is a small problem with people killing each other and blowing things up in Paradise. This of course gives his protagonist, Ian Cormac, an Earth Central security agent, plenty of bad guys to contend with throughout the book and makes for a jolly good romp. In a really neat way there is a fascinating inversion in this story; the villains are complex, motivated, and terrifically drawn while the hero is emotionally quiesecent, damaged mentally by his 30 year link to an artificial intelligence. This works well because the novel is also about the sympathetic characters regaining their humanity despite their past traumatizations, while the true villains have theirs consumed in hellish fires of psychic destruction of their own doing. I love books with clever, nasty, but intelligent bad guys and this one definitely qualifies.
There is some FANTASTIC science fiction coming from Britain these days (and a relative dearth in the US) so if you are looking for good Sci-fi check out Richard Morgan, Peter F. Hamilton, Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, and now, but by no means least, Neal Asher. They're all frightfully good writers!
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive first novel, May 26, 2005
I just finished this novel last night - and it left me with a feeling that the best has yet to come from Neal Asher.
Many interesting ideas were introduced and Asher's 'Polity' promises to be a great backdrop for many future novels - likewise the main character Ian Cormac is interesting and complex enough to star in many more adventures. For me there were two things that kept it from scoring higher than 3 stars. What follows will not spoil the plot if you have yet to read the novel - however if you would rather dive in without knowing what to expect (like I do)I'd skip the rest of this review, and just buy the book - it is well worth the read.
Firstly, the theme of Cormac being separated from the grid was never fully explored later in the book. I would have liked to see this continued throughout the novel. Asher seems to forget about it half way through and focuses on Cormac as "action hero" rather than "social misfit with no humanity". Pity.
Secondly, there are 2 main plotlines and 1 tiny one which never really crossover in a way that makes sense. The revenge theme just wraps up too easily for my tastes and never connects with The Maker storyline as I hoped it would. The Stanton story ended very poorly and added nothing to the novel for me - a real shame since Stanton was a great character - I was hoping for some real interaction between him and Cormac more than just the "why choose a life of crime" conversation they have that lasts for thirty seconds.
In the end though I thought this book was quite good and I will definitely read his other novels. I would sum up his style as half way between the noir-action of Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon) and the space opera of Alistair Reynolds (Revelation Space) - both great British Sci-Fi writers who I would choose over Asher, but then again why waffle? Just read all three and don't forget to read Iain M. Banks' culture novels as well while you're at it!
-- Ryan Buckley
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