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The best Sci-Fi of all time - Gridlinked (Ian Cormac)
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- Author: Neal Asher
- Type: Paperback
- ISBN: 0330484338
- Publisher: Pan
Synopsis
Gridlinked is the talented Neal Asher's first full-length SF novel, an accomplished rapid-action thriller crammed with high technology, obsessed characters, and the glittering boys' toys of advanced weaponry.
Cormac is a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future where "runcible" transmitters allow interstellar travel in an eye blink. Unfortunately Cormac is nearly burnt out, "gridlinked" to the AI net so long that his humanity has drained away. He has to take the cold turkey cure and shake his addiction to instant online access, even while investigating the unique runcible disaster that's wiped out the entire human colony on planet Samarkand in a 30 megaton explosion ...
Hot on Cormac's heels is vengeful terrorist Pelter, backed up by his unstoppable, psychotic android killer "Mr Crane" and a goon squad of mercenaries. Other trouble has been brewing since 27 years earlier, when Cormac was humanity's ambassador to a vast, incomprehensible alien that called itself Dragon. Deep beneath Samarkand's surface there are buried mysteries, fiercely guarded. And is it true that Cormac's enigmatic boss is an immortal who's lived half a millennium and was born in the 20th century?
Asher's galaxy is full of colour and sleaze, and his story rattles along at speed. There are surprises, double-crosses, elaborate lies to be seen through, astonishing escapes from certain death, and last-minute reversals. Though the ultimate fates of the lesser villains seem mildly anticlimactic, the true bad guy is dealt with in spectacular style. Sequels are hinted. Fast-moving, edge-of-the-seat entertainment. --David Langford
Reviews
It's news to me that I have standards for trashy-no-brainer reading material and Gridlinked by Neal Asher does not meet those expectations.
I am a fan of the writings of Iain Banks, Peter Hamilton, Richard Morgan, Alistair Reynolds, Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, more or less in that order.
I was underwhelmed on page 9 of Gridlinked, but as it was personally recommended to me I though I should give it a fair go. I gave up on page 68. This is the worst-written fiction I've had the misfortune to take with me on holiday.
The characterisation is terrible. The dialogue is terrible. The science is inconsistent. There's one paragraph which contains two words that I've never come across before in my life, seemingly straight from a thesaurus.
This book is neither well-written nor hard science fiction, if either or both of these things matter to you, do not waste time or money on this book.
M. Hubbard
The best science fiction balances the speculative elements against the need for a good, page-turning read. This is one of the best. There is a fully developed future society that just works. There is the impact of technology and a changed culture on ordinary people, and there are fully-developed characters in an interesting plot. In particular, Asher hasn't run away from a future with fully-developed strong AI. So many authors today have far-future, technologically-advanced settings with computers as dumb as my iPhone. Or they come up with elaborate, contrived explanations why AI is impossible. Neal Asher just takes such advances in his stride and moves on with the action. However, the best thing about this book is that it is the first of a series of equally good works about the career of Ian Cormac. So, if you like this then many hours of reading pleasure await. And if like good SF, you'll probably like this.
S. J. Horgan
Excellent book. Great starter for the series. Amazon recommended it and I loved it. I'm on the second in the series now.
Caleb Young
Neil Asher's Ian Cormac in a grand space opera setting. Enjoyed the book, have now finished the whole saga of Ian Cormac and I'm glad I did.
Lots of memorable characters ... I think Mr Crane and the vulture are my favourite :-)
Dr. Stephen Culshaw
Having read all the Peter F Hamilton, Alistair Reynolds, Charles Stross etc that had been publsihed to date, I tried to find a new author, and having seen all the positive reviews on this book, I purchased it in the hope of finding a new author I could enjoy.
Unfortunately the book is terrible, and I know because I read the whole darned thing.
There feels like there is zero mystery to the whole book & at one point I re-read a chapter about 5 times to figure out why it had suddenly been thrust upon me and its relevance, if any to the book. There seem to be major inconsistencies too: the AI that runs all of earth is the size of a golf ball, but an AI to set up a 'runcible' transporter is large and unwieldy.
The characters seem to be cardboard cut outs, rather than people, and what are supposed to be 'plot twists' made me mainly just think to myself "what was the point of that?"
I think what the author was going for was some kind of 'James Bond in space' approach but the clunkiness of the book and lack of anything to keep me interested meant I was very displeased.
I also purchased and read the sequel to this book (line of polity) at the same time as I purchased this, and hoped to see he had rectified the areas the deficiencies I thought there were in this book, but it was not much better.
Rakesh M
