Praise for Gridlinked:
“Gridlinked is to space opera what Doom is to Pac-Man . . . [Asher’s] willing to take the chance to pound out the heavy-metal version of space opera with big language, bold characters and wide-screen action.” —Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column
“Gridlinked is the perfect place to start with Asher’s work, and most definitely recommended . . . It’s got action, intrigue, strange aliens, and powerful AIs, but it also has some interesting characters that drive the plot forward at speed, all the while making you want to find out just what happens next.” —Mark Chitty, SFFWorld.com
“Lots of page-turning action scenes and unexpected plot twists . . . Asher creates a really interesting mix of cyberpunk, detective thriller, and military action.” —John DeNardo, SF Signal
“Often gruesome and shocking but it is always engrossing and never once does Asher drop the ball . . . A brilliant and audacious work, chock-full of (often literally!) cutting-edge ideas.” —John Berlyne, SFRevu
“Gritty. Now, there's a word you don't often hear in connection with science fiction . . . Is it too early in 2001 to be thinking of a top-ten list? Not with a novel this impressive.” —Lisa DuMond, SF Site
General Praise for Neal Asher:
“Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain.” —New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi
“With mind-blowing complexity, characters, and combat, Asher’s work continues to combine the best of advanced cybertech and military SF.” ?Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Asher is a modern master of sci-fi.” —Starburst magazine
“A wide-screen special-effects extravaganza, a space opera featuring gods and monsters . . . Doc Smith and Olaf Stapledon in a blender, turned up to eleven, with the contents splattering across the ceiling.” ?Russell Letson, Locus
“Asher has an amazing talent for world-building, for writing larger-than-life characters, for weaving gripping plots and for imagining exotic alien races and wonderful technologies. Huge ships! Big weapons! Space battles! Ground battles! Treason! Revenge! This is New Space Opera at its best.” —Sense of Wonder
“Hardboiled, fast-paced space opera . . . Asher’s books are similar to the world of Iain M. Banks’ Culture universe, but the Polity is arguably a much darker and more vicious environment—and all the better for it.” —The Register
Description
In outer space you can never feel sure that your adversary is altogether human.
The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming project. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow.
Despite the sub-zero temperature of Samarkand, Cormac discovers signs of life: they are two 'dracomen', alien beasts contrived by an extra-galactic entity calling itself 'Dragon', which is a huge creature consisting of four conjoined spheres of flesh each a kilometre in diameter. Caught between the byzantine wiles of the Dragon and the lethal fury of Pelter, Cormac needs to skip very nimbly indeed to rescue the Samarkand project and protect his own life.
Gridlinked is the first sci-fi thriller in Neal Asher's compelling Agent Cormac series.
Reviews
Praise for Gridlinked:
“Gridlinked is to space opera what Doom is to Pac-Man . . . [Asher’s] willing to take the chance to pound out the heavy-metal version of space opera with big language, bold characters and wide-screen action.” —Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column
“Gridlinked is the perfect place to start with Asher’s work, and most definitely recommended . . . It’s got action, intrigue, strange aliens, and powerful AIs, but it also has some interesting characters that drive the plot forward at speed, all the while making you want to find out just what happens next.” —Mark Chitty, SFFWorld.com
“Lots of page-turning action scenes and unexpected plot twists . . . Asher creates a really interesting mix of cyberpunk, detective thriller, and military action.” —John DeNardo, SF Signal
“Often gruesome and shocking but it is always engrossing and never once does Asher drop the ball . . . A brilliant and audacious work, chock-full of (often literally!) cutting-edge ideas.” —John Berlyne, SFRevu
“Gritty. Now, there's a word you don't often hear in connection with science fiction . . . Is it too early in 2001 to be thinking of a top-ten list? Not with a novel this impressive.” —Lisa DuMond, SF Site
General Praise for Neal Asher:
“Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain.” —New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi
“With mind-blowing complexity, characters, and combat, Asher’s work continues to combine the best of advanced cybertech and military SF.” ?Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Asher is a modern master of sci-fi.” —Starburst magazine
“A wide-screen special-effects extravaganza, a space opera featuring gods and monsters . . . Doc Smith and Olaf Stapledon in a blender, turned up to eleven, with the contents splattering across the ceiling.” ?Russell Letson, Locus
“Asher has an amazing talent for world-building, for writing larger-than-life characters, for weaving gripping plots and for imagining exotic alien races and wonderful technologies. Huge ships! Big weapons! Space battles! Ground battles! Treason! Revenge! This is New Space Opera at its best.” —Sense of Wonder
“Hardboiled, fast-paced space opera . . . Asher’s books are similar to the world of Iain M. Banks’ Culture universe, but the Polity is arguably a much darker and more vicious environment—and all the better for it.” —The Register