Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Scorpion

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Neal Asher is becoming something of a phenomenon. The man never fails to deliver. This novel 'shadow of the scorpion' could be taken as a prequel to his entire polity universe, the description of Ian Cormac as a child,his first foray into combat with the sparkind and ECS, his first meeting with terrorists or as asher has it 'separatists' and what formed Cormac's life and morality. We meet Cormac's mother, brother and the memory of his heroic and yet tragic father. We discover that it is indeed possible for 'golem' or androids to engage in the sports of venus when it suits them. In it we meet some friends and characters both human and AI from the polity universe brought to life in all of his wonderful 'polity' novels. This being a prequel in no way diminishes any of the fun that Asher's fan's expect and that Asher does, indeed, deliver with a CTD of pure enjoyment. Good going, and I hope Asher never tires of writing these wonderful books.

Ian Cormac is Neal Asher's James Bond, albeit a Bond colder, more calculating, and deadlier than even the new Daniel Craig version. Cormac's lack of affect and human connection is central to the plot of the first Cormac novel, GRIDLINKED, but how did he become a cold-blooded killer in the first place? Were his parents murdered before his eyes by a petty thug, like Bruce Wayne's in "Batman"? Did he experience some other sort of transformative event?

The best answer I can glean from Asher's sixth Cormac novel, SHADOW OF THE SCORPION, is that he was just born that way. The novel proceeds on two tracks, one dealing with his experiences as an eight-year-old on Earth during the Prador War, and another dealing with his first mission with Earth Central Security at age twenty-two (or so). Cormac's childhood was not idyllic--his father was away fighting in the war, his mother was emotionally fragile and possibly alcoholic, and his older brother returned from the war badly damaged and barely able to talk about the horrors he had witnessed. Cormac wasn't abused or badly neglected, however, and little that happened appeared to faze him. The only shred of psychological explanation is an oblique reference to mild autism.

The core of the novel, however, is not Cormac's childhood but the other track. As a newly minted grunt, Cormac is quickly thrust into an adventure that involves him infiltrating a terrorist network and ultimately chasing a bad guy halfway around the galaxy. By the end, he has advanced into the elite ranks of the Sparkind and is well on his way to becoming a full-fledged Polity Agent. This does little to differentiate SHADOW OF THE SCORPION from the other Cormac novels, but it's done well enough that few Asher fans will complain ... at least not loudly.

The titular scorpion is a war drone that ominously appears several times in the novel, and each time he appears to want to speak with Cormac, but is thwarted. There is clearly some connection between the drone and Cormac's father, but the nature of that connection is left hazy until the very end. Asher provides few clues, leaving the reader to wonder whether the drone might somehow *be* Cormac's father, or might know that Cormac's father is alive somewhere and playing at Darth Vader, or under the spell of an evil wizard, or something like that. The scorpion is in the title, he appears several times in the book, so he must have something really important to say, right? Unfortunately, when Cormac finally catches up with the scorpion, what the scorpion tells us, while sad, will have about as much impact on the reader as it does on Cormac, which is to say not much. And that says a lot about this novel.

SHADOW OF THE SCORPION will appeal most to those who have read most or all of the preceding Cormac novels, and it will make the most sense to readers who have completed at least GRIDLINKED and SPATTERJAY, but readers without prior exposure to Asher and his Polity universe will not be lost.

This is another excellent book by Neal Asher (who is fast becoming my favorite author). This book is basicly a little biography of Polity Agent Ian Cormac, starting from his childhood and going thru his younger years. It provides some good background of his development into the character we recognize in Gridlinked and Brass Man, with some interesting little sidetracks into other areas of the Polity universe.

If you like other Neal Asher works this should definitely be a good purchase, used to fill in your knowledge of his Polity

Shadow of the Scorpion is another stand alone novel from Night Shade Books (the first was Prador Moon), this time focusing on the early years of Ian Cormac, the ECS agent we all know from the Gridlinked sequence. Neal has taken a character that has gone through many experiences and gone back to the beginning, to see what made IanCormac what he is. The story is told against the backdrop of the end of the Prador war, still ongoing while he was a child and the aftermath to deal with during his ECS training.

Cormac and his two squad mates are stationed on Hagren, a planet near the Graveyard of wrecked worlds from the Prador war. With a Prador dreadnought crashed on the surface they are given the job of routine sentry duty, a task that is considered both mundane and routine. That is until theseparatists try to sneak in and steal a deadly CTD, a bomb with devastating power. With surviving Prador aboard the dreadnought and the separatist threat, Cormac soon finds himself in a dangerous situation and an investigation into the separatist activities, one that leads him to discover just what he's capable of.

During this narrative we are given flashbacks to Cormac's youth, the unusual appearance of a scorpion shaped war drone and the experiences his family go through. Why this drone turns up is a question thatCormac asks himself, and will reveal a secret that has been hidden for years.

I will make no apology about being a huge fan of Neal's work, I love the way he can create believable and hugely enjoyable worlds and his story telling skills are second to none. When I found out that this book was to focus onCormac's earlier life, and that it was to be published by Night Shade Books, I got pretty excited. The excellent Prador Moon was the first collaboration between the two and my only real criticism was the fact that the story was a little on the short side. Of course, there are perfectly good reasons for this, but when I heard Shadow of the Scorpion was out from the same publisher I feared it may be the same situation. There was nothing to worry about though, this is a decent sized novel (although not quite as long as Neal's usual output) and thoroughly enjoyable.

As I've not read all the Cormac novels that Neal has written I can't compare to them, but of the ones I have read (Gridlinked, Line of Polity), this measures up nicely. There are obvious differences between a raw recruit and that of a fully fledged ECS agent, but apart from that Shadow of the Scorpion does a great job introducing a likable and motivated character in Cormac. He's got strengths and weaknesses, but it's his determination and adaptability that shines through here. In fact, all the characters that we meet are very well presented, none come across as shallow or two dimensional and each contribute effectively to the story.

As for the story itself, another winning combination of character development, aliens, action and political undertones. If you like Neal's other stuff then this is a novel you can't miss, but it's also an ideal step on point for those new to Neal's work. I thought this was one of Neal's best to date, and if this is any indication of what to expect from the next few novels, we're all in for a real treat.

As a fan of Asher's work in general and the Polity novels in particular, I was still surprised at how good "Shadow of the Scorpion" is.

This is Ian Cormac's origin story, with a thoughtful exploration of the role of suffering and what makes us human.

I also find it very interesting how Asher has created a path, through fairly hard Sci-fi and realistic futurism, to characters as whimsical as found in any Fantasy work.

Very well done, and as engaging as the best of the Cormac books. Highly recommended.

I've read five of Neal Asher's Ian Cormack series.
This prequel may be his best yet.
The story flows... doesn't bog down as some of his other episodes can.
Definitely read this book whether it's your first or not!

While shorter than the other Ian Cormac novels and a quick read, Shadow of the Scorpion is an outstanding story; it is both better paced and more interesting than some of Gridlink series. Probably best read after the other 5 novels, and after The Skinner if you want to fully understand some key elements, but it stands alone and could also serve as an introduction to Ian Cormac as well. SotS is one of my favorite Neal Asher novels now.

The importance of this book is the introduction and back-story of Polity agent Ian Cormac. This is obviously early Asher; before Gridlinked, Spatterjay, et al. The writing is not as nuanced as those books; you can feel Asher rushing to get it done and move on to more pressing matters. The 5-star review is based on the critical nature of this book; the writing is still evolving and Asher is learning his technology and the complications of morality when death is omnipresent amidst the promises of immortality.

If you have jumped into the middle of this world do not fret: There is an order here based on technology (runcibles, AI, AG, and more). There is a social order called the Polity run by AI's that are linked across the galaxies via the runcibles allowing instantaneous communications and teleportation. This neat trick literally shrinks the universe to a manageable size and keeps the action flowing between worlds. Its a world dense with networks, sentient drones, and a subliminal sense of claustrophobia as the universe crowds into hyper focused reality...

To get the most out of the series the books should really be read in order; although Asher gives a brief and non-intrusive intro in each book that allows you literary malingers a chance to catch up without loosing too much historical context. The order of the books seems to be: Prador Moon; The Shadow of the Scorpion; Gridlinked; The Line of Polity; Brass Man; Polity Agent; Line War; The Skinner The Voyage of the Sable Keech; Orbus; Hilldiggers.

Ashers books are not just postcyberpunk; they are multidimensional. You want straight-up robots and lasers and galactic 007's; you got them - Gridlinked comes to mind. Into ecosystems and evolution clashing with technology? - Spatterjay rocks.

Its nice to see that getting past all the well-detailed intense and violent action there is a world view in this universe that we are all distinct, and volatile. Yet must co-exist, even against our better judgement.

This is the book that I recommend to anyone who hasn't read Neal Asher yet. It is a better starting point than Gridlinked for noobs to the Polity Series. Granted, the Spatterjay novels and shorts also tie in with these books; but, you have to start somewhere?! The important thing is that you start reading Neal Asher! Truly one of the best in the field.

In Shadow of the Scorpion, we get a look back at the childhood and early adult years of our good friend Ian Cormac. Every chapter starts with a few pages of young Ian's life with his mother and brother, then skips to the events that led to Cormac becoming an ECS agent. As always, Asher gives us further depth and detail in describing his Polity universe, and provides not only a well-paced, rousing story but a number of interesting characters and a good bit of insight into Cormac's character itself, during its formative years. The book also fills in some background about Ian Cormac, and answers some questions about how things came to be.

A danger/pitfall in writing prequels is the fact that we have read stories that take place after the events in the prequel, possibly taking away the suspense and fear we might have for the primary character. There is none of this in Shadow of the Scorpion - it's certainly a page turner and a wild ride. My only criticism lies in the obviousness of one of the plot points - something revealed in the last few pages was obvious about a third of the way through the book.

I highly recommend it for any Asher/Ian Cormac fan. I woudn't read it out of sequence - if you're new to the Cormac novels, by all means read them in order of publication.