Customer Reviews

The Line of Polity (Ian Cormac, Book 2)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Whereas The Skinner jumped ahead several centuries from the time of Gridlinked, Line of Polity returns us to the events immediately following Asher's first full novel, and to his enigmatic protagonist Ian Cormac.

Asher's ingenuity continues to flourish. Line of Polity is a worthy successor to his previous works, and yet for me it lacked something of the power of the preceding novels. Perhaps the ending was just too neat (or too telegraphed?), but I feel my dissatisfaction ran deeper. This may have had something to do with the presence of Ian Cormac. In Gridlinked, he was introduced as an ineffable, almost inhuman operator. His motivations and underlying humanity were gradually revealed as the novel unfolded, and yet much of the man was still left as mystery. One would expect Line of Polity to continue these revelations, yet Cormac's character is left almost undeveloped. He swings through the novel in a rather Bond-like fashion, possessing all the answers, but with no internal conflict to give some depth to the narrative.

Asher has often been comapared favourably (and, I think, fairly) with Iain Banks. There is more than just a thematic similarity; the two authors share a sterling command of the english language and a love of the deviant and bizarre. But one of Banks' strengths is the fearlessness with which he kills off main characters, and the moral ambiguity of his framework, where good does not always triumph. Asher's reluctance to do the same, his affinity with letting the good live and the evil die (often horribly), now leave him in danger of becoming predictable.

Asher is a skillful wordsmith with an unbounded imagination and a genius for intriguing characters and complex plotting. He has it in him to produce works of great liturature, but to do this he will need to break out of his comfort zone and explore new territory.

+1 for rivetting plotline - unbeknownst - I started reading the series backwards from Brass Man but still enjoy it
+1 for fast pace - no-nonsense teeth and claw action
+1 for delightful 'Brit' black sense of humour
+1 Asher does the AI/human thing better than Reynolds, Banks or Hamilton

-1 to Publisher for not MAKING CLEAR on cover this is #2 in series

Bottom line: gimme more, MORE

THE LINE OF POLITY is bigger in scope and page count than the first Ian Cormac novel, GRIDLINKED, but it doesn't have the focus and punch of its predecessor. In fact, LINE feels like a product rushed to market before its time. There are many scenes that add nothing to the story and many bits of inane dialogue, particularly between humans and AIs, that should have been cut. Worse, there is so much similarity between events in GRIDLINKED and LINE, and between events that occur earlier in LINE and events that occur later in LINE that it is difficult not to feel a numbing deja vu over and over again.

While GRIDLINKED and LINE are by no means identical, they are similar in structure and driven by similar conflicts. In GRIDLINKED, Earth Central Security Agent Cormac had to battle a terrorist bent on killing him, track down the culprit(s) behind the destruction of a Polity base, and struggle to regain his own lost humanity. In LINE, Cormac battles a mad scientist bent on killing him, tracks down the people behind the destruction of a different Polity base, and assists the oppressed masses of planet Masada in their efforts to overthrow a theocratic oligarchy. What we learn about the "Line" of the title--the leading edge of the Human Polity's expansion into neighboring areas of space--advances our overall understanding of the Polity and the larger universe it inhabits, but it could have done so in fewer than 663 pages.

On the plus side, Asher delivers another action-packed story that takes place in a variety of well-imagined exotic locales packed with deadly and bizarre fauna. In a reader-friendly move, he also carries over many characters familiar to readers of GRIDLOCKED, including super-agent Horace Blegg, storm troopers Gant and Thorn, mercenaries Jarvellis and John Stanton, and trickster alien Dragon. Also, his writing remains lucid and vivid.

My biggest beef with LINE, however, is that the bad guys are too comic-book-villainesque for a novel that isn't aiming for Austin Powers-level silliness. Bad guy Skellor is a familiar type, a scientist who will do anything to master dangerous technologies, regardless of the cost to others. When Cormac gives Skellor's work a temporary setback, Skellor decides that me must kill Cormac, he must inflict horrible suffering on as many other people as possible, and he must do this in the most baroque and impractical ways conceivable. He's an evil guy who does evil stuff just because he's evil and for little or no other reason. The theocratic oligarchy of Masada is slightly more complex; living in orbital habitats far above the planetbound laboring classes, their oppressive social order keeps them in power and relative luxury while using religion to justify both their exaltation and the debasement of the masses. (It's a mildly disguised and transfigured medieval Catholic Church.) Still, these theocrats are, like Skellor, black-and-white villains who have no self-doubt and no redeeming value. This is in keeping with the view expressed by a passage in the novel arguing that criminals are the cause of crime (and, implicitly, that evil people are the source of evil deeds), and that any attempts to look for deeper social/environmental explanations represent namby-pamby liberalism. I hope for his and our sake that this bit of Bushian philosophy is not his final word on the subject.

All that being said, LINE offers enough pleasures to those who enjoyed GRIDLINKED to overbalance the boring bits and the occasional insult. Conditionally recommended.

After reading the superb 'gridlinked' and the 'Skinner', it was hard to believe that Asher could top himself. The 'line of polity' and it's sequel, 'the Brass Man' are simply astounding.
How can a writer write a two part story over a 1000 pages
long (combined books),without ever becoming tedious or boring is nothing short of miraculous. His Polity universe, governed by A.I.'s, the polity agents, the incredible alien lifeforms is sort of a science fiction readers' fondest hope come true. To the publishers in the United States: why do I have to keep buying such outstanding works from the UK instead of being able to purchase them here in the U.S.?
I have paid more for Asher's books then any other SF books
I have purchased. The only reason I spent the money was because asher's books are so achingly good. Please publish
these books in the U.S. If you haven't read all of Asher's
books, when you see a new one released anywhere BUY IT. They are that good. To Neal Asher - keep the books flowing, my friend, if you write it, I will buy it.

Line of Polity is a sprawling 600 page tale chock-a-block full of charaters, dangerous fauna, opressed heroes and relentless villains. It could also have been much more efficiently told in about half that length.

Agent Cormac from Gridlinked returns to take centre-stage here, which seems to be the first misstep. He isn't a particularly strong character, and doesn't seem to do anything overtly smart of heroic, in keeping with his reputation and legend. He could very easily have been replaced with a new character, without much difference. In a way, however, it is good that Asher persisted with him, because there is an abundance of new, superfluous characters in the book, who serve no real purpose apart from padding the page count. Characters from the ruling Therocracy, the opressed civilains and the Underground Resistance have their own sub-plots, which are told in way more detail than needed. Even some of the other returning characters, notable Gant & Thorn, and John Stanton (my personal favourite from Gridlinked), seem to have lost their sheen.

Skellor, the villain of the piece, was a credible threat, but he lacked a backstory of anykind, which was surprising. It would have probably helped make the character a lot more intriguing, and give his actions some more weight.

A major boost to the novel is the planet of Masada. It has a fantastic ecosystem (further developed in The Technician), and some of the other out-Polity worlds are a treat too.

I have read 4 Asher novels so far (Hilldiggers, The Technician, Gridlinked, Line of Polity, in that order), and this was my least favourite.

This is the fifth Asher novel I've read, after the two Spatterjay novels, Prador Moon and Gridlinked. When spaced apart, the novels are a fun read as they typically include wry wit and gruesome battles. The Spatterjay novels also added detailed yet horrific planetary creature, a similar system which Asher employs in Line of Polity: wit, battles and fauna. But after reading the previous novels, the entire system is getting a bit repetitive with the endless battle scenes and homicidal native animals. Line of Polity doesn't stray far at all from Asher's signature plot and is actually quite evident towards the final 20% of the book when there are battles after endless battles all adding very little to the plot itself. A simplification would have been much appreciated to cut down on the amount of superfluous scenes. Asher is the type of battle writer who uses "a short-stock grenade-launcher for more intimate work."

The planet of Masada is where a good chunk of the book takes place, a place "you cannot draw a breath... even if its horrifying wildlife would let you." That's from the back cover of the novel... that's it, meaning not much info to go by before you buy the novel in the bookstore. A better, in book, quote about Masada is a place where "choices are limited to two - fight or die - and they are not mutually exclusive."

One more downside of the book is the villain Skellor. His name reminds me of Skeletor from the fames of He-man, Master of the Universe. Therefore, the name Skellor feels cheesy, as if it was ripped off from He-man. His presence in the novel is straight from the get-go and makes appearances all the way until the end, but what's seriously lacking is Skellor's motivation for being the villain rather than being part of the Polity.

The Polity doesn't play as big of a role in Line of Polity as it did in Gridlinked. There isn't a focus on augmentations or runcibles as it typically found in Polity society. The entire novel takes place on two distant planets and outer space. It lends little the structure of the Polity society but makes up for it by adding to the mystery surrounding the Dragon, which ended in Gridlinked. An apt foreshadowing quote would be, "That was Dragon. And my guess is that things are just about to start getting very complicated - and very deadly."

I'm interested to see how Asher will progress with the Cormac series, whether in the direction of wit and gore, a focus on Polity society or a concentration on the Dragon. The third novel in the series should answer this question- Brass Man.

I had to force myself to finish this one, after having raced through The Skinner & Gridlinked. While the basic plot was good, the execution was flabby. I wish more time was spent with villain Skellor, and a lot less with expendable side-stories of a half-dozen minor characters, which get tedious in this 600 page book (not the 300 Amazon says). The Skinner has a lot of characters too, but they seemed to all be painting important parts of the overall story, on a much more interesting world. The story also lacked of a strong story line with at least one really intriguing character (like Sable Keech in Skinner, or Cormac in Gridlinked). By the end, I just didn't really care that much about any of the characters, and the climax itself seemed tacked on and under-developed. I hope this work is merely a hiccup for Asher.

First, I'm delighted to find something new to read in the
works of Neal Asher. I really enjoy hard sci-fi and I think
Asher is a `very' good writer, worthy of at least one read, if
not several.

Anyway, I started with Line of Polity and though initially
confused was more or less able to digest things as I went along.
Most of us probably like to read a series in order, but I have
the feeling that Asher writes these with an eye on new readers picking
them up out of order and making them "more or less" self-contained.
So its still rewarding if your patient. Since there are several good
reviews already, I'll keep it short and sweet:

Pros:
Overall a very well-paced story, with strong characterization, a neat
villain (Skellor), and this evil nano-stuff called "Jain technology!"
These were among the intriguing ideas and concepts that kept this book
a real page-turner for me. You can criticize a book all you like, but
if you pick it up every chance you get its doing something right. I
also liked the Golems, which are very efficient humanoid fighting
machines.

Cons:
Agent Cormac, Thorn and Stanton didn't really feel like separate
characters, just slightly different shades of the same color. As has
been pointed out, its pretty easy to imagine them as futuristic James
Bond analogues. I feel this has the odd effect of adding and subtracting
from the story. Personally, however, I'd like them to not all be so much
alike.

Now, I get that Asher's not big on organized religions (giving Asher
the benefit of doubt, I'll assume he's considered the potential irony
that near omnipotent AI machines, which are obeyed implicitly by Polity
Agents, brings to his take on religion. I for one found it to smack of
a borderline cult-of-the-machine and all that. It's human nature to feel
awe and to worship, so whether it's Christ, Buddha or a friendly AI makes
no `philosophical' difference).

The Theocracy verges on one-dimensionality: they are a bunch of
hedonistic and sadistic thug-bastards with no redeeming values. On the
other hand, guys like Cormac, Thorn, Gant and Stanton are these "uber-
warriors" that will kill without a moment's hesitation in the name of
their own cause- and they are the "good guys." At the end of the day,
I wasn't attached to any of them (save maybe Apis and the girl).

Conclusion:
Even though there's no one you'd actually ever really "like" in this
book (Alastair Reynolds generally has a similar affliction), it still
managed to keep me hooked till the end, and generally willing to read
at least one more. And while leaving out a lot of details and questions
a reader would ask, its a fine piece of sci-fi writing and I'd recommend
it fans of that genre.

I wish people wouldn't rate authors books in comparison to their other offerings. when I see an Asher book get two stars because it wasn't as good as his last novel it makes me want to pull my hair out. Compared to most of the science fiction available, any Asher novel is a gift. His Universe is a wonderfully complete creation that is a pleasure to visit. His characters are well drawn and seldom two dimensional. Line of Polity is an excellent book compared to most other books. If it isn't quite as good as Gridlinked or the Skinner I don't believe it is by a margin of two or three stars. I agree with some of the reviewers that some of the side plots seemed unnecessary but the following books all draw on the various subplots of this one. I loved Line of Polity because it took me back to Asher's wonderful universe and continued a great story. Please remember that people often consider buying books based on their overall rating and it would be a shame to turn anyone off reading any of Neal Asher's books.

A really fun and thought provoking book. The characters are simple, yet the story is complex. So it balances out nicely.

Asher does a good job with technology and describing it. It probably won't be dated for many years to come, and he seems to take the initiative from writers like Frank Herbert, who's description of technology isn't so scientific, but more philosophical in nature, and lends longevity to the universe he created

He covers some really great topics, such as eugenics, religion, AI government, to name a few a few. He's gives some really good thoughts to chew on.

Surprisingly the story moves at a good pace, for being somewhat intellectual, with plenty of action, to balance out the philosophical themes. Although it's a bit brainy it's the tension and release drive the story along.

Asher has definitely turned out to be one of my favorite writers. I look forward to reading the rest of the series