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Polity Universe (chronological) #18
Jack Four
This high-octane adventure is set in the same world as Neal Asher's acclaimed Polity universe. It's a thrilling, fast-paced standalone novel, perfect for fans of Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter.
Created to die–determined to live . . .
Jack Four–one of twenty human clones–has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that’s been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity’s Polity worlds would have this information.
The prador’s king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King’s Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons � and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.
Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The Station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren’t as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.
‘Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain�
John Scalzi, author of the Old Man’s War series
'Magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven'
Peter F. Hamilton, author of Salvation and others, on Asher's The Soldier
Created to die–determined to live . . .
Jack Four–one of twenty human clones–has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that’s been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity’s Polity worlds would have this information.
The prador’s king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King’s Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons � and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.
Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The Station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren’t as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.
‘Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain�
John Scalzi, author of the Old Man’s War series
'Magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven'
Peter F. Hamilton, author of Salvation and others, on Asher's The Soldier
444 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 31, 2023
235 people are currently reading
1,065 people want to read
About the author
Neal Asher
143Ìýbooks2,955ÌýfollowersI’ve been an engineer, barman, skip lorry driver, coalman, boat window manufacturer, contract grass cutter and builder. Now I write science fiction books, and am slowly getting over the feeling that someone is going to find me out, and can call myself a writer without wincing and ducking my head. As professions go, I prefer this one: I don’t have to clock-in, change my clothes after work, nor scrub sensitive parts of my body with detergent. I think I’ll hang around.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
November 22, 2021
It's a pretty easy bet that whenever I see that there's a new Neal Asher book, I'm going to be all over it like Jain tech and the Spatterjay virus with a side-dose of an ancient galactic war machine.
And you know what? My FANBOY REACTIONS ARE UNKILLABLE. -- Kinda like what happens to us when we get infected with the Spatterjay virus or when we get altered by Jain tech.
So here are the killer bits: All you folks who have been curious about Neal Asher's massively wicked future filled with all these nasties doing their things in wonderfully creative combinations but have been too overwhelmed by the sheer weight of everything that came before to actually TRY IT? Well, I'd point to this book.
It's self-contained, has a lot of REALLY interesting worldbuilding, has a great adventure, and if my reaction is anything to go by, it'll make you shiver with pure imaginative delight. I would also point out that there's a LOT of great body-horror stuff in this Hard SF.
We get a taste of everything. The Graveyard, the Prador King, Spatterjay, the AI Polity, and even Masada. But since this is self-contained and shows the worlds AFTER so much has happened, and he's just as clueless as a new reader would be, it hits that sweet spot.
For old fans, it's just like coming home and getting a gorge full of alien parasites. In other words, FUN. :)
Say hello to my little frieeeeend.
And you know what? My FANBOY REACTIONS ARE UNKILLABLE. -- Kinda like what happens to us when we get infected with the Spatterjay virus or when we get altered by Jain tech.
So here are the killer bits: All you folks who have been curious about Neal Asher's massively wicked future filled with all these nasties doing their things in wonderfully creative combinations but have been too overwhelmed by the sheer weight of everything that came before to actually TRY IT? Well, I'd point to this book.
It's self-contained, has a lot of REALLY interesting worldbuilding, has a great adventure, and if my reaction is anything to go by, it'll make you shiver with pure imaginative delight. I would also point out that there's a LOT of great body-horror stuff in this Hard SF.
We get a taste of everything. The Graveyard, the Prador King, Spatterjay, the AI Polity, and even Masada. But since this is self-contained and shows the worlds AFTER so much has happened, and he's just as clueless as a new reader would be, it hits that sweet spot.
For old fans, it's just like coming home and getting a gorge full of alien parasites. In other words, FUN. :)
Say hello to my little frieeeeend.
July 8, 2022
I love Neal Asher, but Jack Four is one of his least inspiring novels. This stated, it is still a very fun read. Jack Four is something like Die Hard in a science fiction setting, specifically, the Polity, but this is really a stand alone novel in this universe. Jack Four is our main protagonist, and the book starts off with him awakening along with 19 other clones (10 'Jacks' and 10 'Jills'). Obviously, they are about to be traded to some Prador, the nasty crab-like aliens that feature in so many of his Polity novels. Most of this story is situated in the 'Graveyard', basically something like a DMZ between the Polity and the Prador Kingdom, populated with outcasts from both empires for lack of a better word.
If you have ever read any Polity novels before, you know there was a nasty war between the aggressive Prador and the Polity; this took place many centuries before Jack Four. One of the nasty things the Prador did during the war was make 'thralls' or slaves out of humans, basically taking out their brain and inserting a 'thrall unit' under the command of a Prador. The problem was that 'normal' humans could not survive this, so one Jay Hooper, a renegade pirate from the Polity, found a solution by infecting people with the splatterjay virus first, making them 'hoopers' and extremely tough. Millions of people were thereby made into Prador thralls.
Once the war was over, the trade in human 'thralls' was outlawed, but it still happens in the Graveyard, which is basically lawless. We know the Prador King has also been infected with the virus and it seems some of his minions are still experimenting with the virus and thrall tech. Jack Four and his fellow clones were produced as 'blanks' and traded to the Prador so they could experiment with them and the virus. Yet, Jack is not a blank; in fact, he still has some memories and they are getting stronger. Why? It seems there is some new nanotech crystals that 'back up' memories and such and Jack Four had them while the other clones did not.
Once Jack and his fellow clones are on the King's massive ship, Jack manages to escape, but he remembers vividly the people that traded him and basically vows vengeance, but this will take some doing as he is stuck in the bowels of the King's ship. How can he escape and obtain his revenge? That is basically the plot.
As may be expected, this is a non-stop action thriller once we get past Asher laying out the characters and situation, so while it may start off slow, it quickly picks up and proceeds at a frenetic pace until the denouement. One of the issues I had with it was the first person narration, something Asher has done before, and I can see why he did it here, e.g., having the events unfold from the eyes of Jack, but nonetheless, it was a bit of a turn off and a bit confusing at times. Further, Asher does not really add anything to the Polity universe here. We do not have snarky AIs, massive space battles, or strange alien worlds, but rather a rehash of what he has done before. Yes, we have hoopers, some of the strange aliens and environments (especially when Jack is planetside), but nothing new and exceptional. Maybe Asher has reached the end of the Polity universe; in a way, I hope so, as I would like to see his wonderful imagination turned onto something new and exciting. 3 stars.
If you have ever read any Polity novels before, you know there was a nasty war between the aggressive Prador and the Polity; this took place many centuries before Jack Four. One of the nasty things the Prador did during the war was make 'thralls' or slaves out of humans, basically taking out their brain and inserting a 'thrall unit' under the command of a Prador. The problem was that 'normal' humans could not survive this, so one Jay Hooper, a renegade pirate from the Polity, found a solution by infecting people with the splatterjay virus first, making them 'hoopers' and extremely tough. Millions of people were thereby made into Prador thralls.
Once the war was over, the trade in human 'thralls' was outlawed, but it still happens in the Graveyard, which is basically lawless. We know the Prador King has also been infected with the virus and it seems some of his minions are still experimenting with the virus and thrall tech. Jack Four and his fellow clones were produced as 'blanks' and traded to the Prador so they could experiment with them and the virus. Yet, Jack is not a blank; in fact, he still has some memories and they are getting stronger. Why? It seems there is some new nanotech crystals that 'back up' memories and such and Jack Four had them while the other clones did not.
Once Jack and his fellow clones are on the King's massive ship, Jack manages to escape, but he remembers vividly the people that traded him and basically vows vengeance, but this will take some doing as he is stuck in the bowels of the King's ship. How can he escape and obtain his revenge? That is basically the plot.
As may be expected, this is a non-stop action thriller once we get past Asher laying out the characters and situation, so while it may start off slow, it quickly picks up and proceeds at a frenetic pace until the denouement. One of the issues I had with it was the first person narration, something Asher has done before, and I can see why he did it here, e.g., having the events unfold from the eyes of Jack, but nonetheless, it was a bit of a turn off and a bit confusing at times. Further, Asher does not really add anything to the Polity universe here. We do not have snarky AIs, massive space battles, or strange alien worlds, but rather a rehash of what he has done before. Yes, we have hoopers, some of the strange aliens and environments (especially when Jack is planetside), but nothing new and exceptional. Maybe Asher has reached the end of the Polity universe; in a way, I hope so, as I would like to see his wonderful imagination turned onto something new and exciting. 3 stars.
June 27, 2021
There's maybe thirty pages about two thirds of the way through this book that aren't pedal to the metal action. Not the kind of action that becomes redundant or you wear out of, this is the steady building tension while fighting more and larger enemies sort of action that has you slowly leaning forward in your chair getting closer and closer to the pages that has you feeling the blowback from the explosions and smelling the aftereffects of the gunfights. IMO Neal Asher is hands down the best sci-fi writer writing today. Jack Four is a little smaller than his other novels, not as galaxy spanning it is a little more personal, but it is every bit as fun and exciting as everything else he has written. There's not much to be thankful for in today's climate but I am glad I am living in the era of Asher and get to read his stuff.
July 7, 2021
007 Mets Blade Runner Asher has another Poliarty style book this mind blowing action book that have gripped from early on. Jack is a clone but of who?
Unlike the other Jack's he is intelligent one with memories that should not have and skills that supase norm
This splatter jack viras and it help if you have read other books by Neal
Unlike the other Jack's he is intelligent one with memories that should not have and skills that supase norm
This splatter jack viras and it help if you have read other books by Neal
June 10, 2021
I normally love Neal Asher's polity books. This one, not so much. Why? It reminds me of James Patterson type book with lots and lots (and lots) of detail on the technology. All very well but we know most of this tech from his earlier books. There is very little human interest here. Jack Four wakes up as a clone, learns stuff he should not know, escapes to a savage planet (shades of Robinson Crusoe), then faces one beast after another (all drawn from the earlier polity books), gets back to a space station, fights some more with lots of weapons. The level of detail is mind-numbing. I am a hardcore SF fan, and a huge geek over exotic tech, but I would find myself skipping page after page of description of the travails of Jack. The end was slightly exciting but on the whole, reminded me more a technical manual than a novel. Still, because it is Neal Asher, this was 3 stars for me.
September 11, 2021
Read like a novelization of a video game, down to tedious player inventory management. Asher's Polity books are usually at a minimum a good "chewing gum" story, a fun read, with some amount of depth behind the "High Octane Action With Electrolytes!!!". This one just didn't do it for me.
The Polity Universe has been a good canvas, but it is starting to feel small with yet another rehash of Prador, the Graveyard DMZ, and Spatterjay Virus/Jain tech. Hopefully the next entry mixes it up and brings a little fresh air to the Polity.
The Polity Universe has been a good canvas, but it is starting to feel small with yet another rehash of Prador, the Graveyard DMZ, and Spatterjay Virus/Jain tech. Hopefully the next entry mixes it up and brings a little fresh air to the Polity.
June 16, 2021
Be patient for the first 20% or so as he carefully builds his character. It is a fascinating take on a coming of age novel on steroids. After that point he cuts the character loose and there are all of the wonderful NA tropes, Polity agents, Prador scum, Hoopers, thralled humans, and of course, staggeringly powerful weapons. NA has done it again and I was thrilled with Jack Four. I am also happy that he has a pricing strategy so we readers can support him properly.
June 24, 2021
I do like Polity books, but man, Asher needs some new aliens or new something. Every book is either Prador this, Spatterjay that, or the Jain. I do love the universe he created, but he needs something new.
Maybe write some more Owner books, or something entirely new. Or at least some new aliens or new SOMETHING in the Polity universe.
I mean, all that said, and I do mean it, I'll still be reading anything new he writes, Polity or not.
Maybe write some more Owner books, or something entirely new. Or at least some new aliens or new SOMETHING in the Polity universe.
I mean, all that said, and I do mean it, I'll still be reading anything new he writes, Polity or not.
September 15, 2021
I enjoy the Universe that Asher has created. The key is the existance of a virus from a planet called Spatterjay which gives the infected muscle-power beyond belief and the ability to heal beyond medicine's wildest dreams. The medicine is provided by AI and nanobots. The AI driven Polity have battled with and reached an uneasy truce with the Prador (nasty crab like creatures that use technology to turn humans into externally controlled slaves -boo, hiss) and both fear the long extinct Jain whose technology still goes beyond all imagnings.
Jack Four is a clone (illegal) who is sold to the Prador to be cored and thralled (also illiegal). Somehow he posseses the memories of his DNA source, unlike the rest of his clones. He possesses the capacity of reason, memory, independent action all of which he has to use to the full to find out who he is and whence he came. Some of the Prador plan to extend the core and thrall technology to other creatures to regain the initiative against the polity and also their own ruler. To say much more would involve spoilers aplenty - read it yourself to find out.
This cannot be read as a stand alone book. There is enough information within to get the gist of preceeding books but some of the events will raise eyebrows without prior knowledge. Also, this is the first book of Asher's that I have read which is written in the first person. No matter how well read, and it is, it feels slightly uncomfortable listening. Asher's descriptions of his universe are extremely good in the third person - somehow there is something a little contrived in the first. There is almost a convenience factor, a deus e machina, when described by the protagonist and it becomes a little too easy to predict the plot twists.
Jack Four is a clone (illegal) who is sold to the Prador to be cored and thralled (also illiegal). Somehow he posseses the memories of his DNA source, unlike the rest of his clones. He possesses the capacity of reason, memory, independent action all of which he has to use to the full to find out who he is and whence he came. Some of the Prador plan to extend the core and thrall technology to other creatures to regain the initiative against the polity and also their own ruler. To say much more would involve spoilers aplenty - read it yourself to find out.
This cannot be read as a stand alone book. There is enough information within to get the gist of preceeding books but some of the events will raise eyebrows without prior knowledge. Also, this is the first book of Asher's that I have read which is written in the first person. No matter how well read, and it is, it feels slightly uncomfortable listening. Asher's descriptions of his universe are extremely good in the third person - somehow there is something a little contrived in the first. There is almost a convenience factor, a deus e machina, when described by the protagonist and it becomes a little too easy to predict the plot twists.
October 4, 2021
I like Asher's work, and his enormous canvas and cast of characters.
I mostly enjoyed reading this. But I am left wondering why Neal wrote it.
What does it add to the canon? Most of the other books reveal something new about Asher's universe, or motivations, or detail on things that were skimmed before.
The bwah-hah-hah female villain seemed familiar. The morality-free scientist was interesting.
It didn't take long to figure out "Marcus" but his story arc was interesting. And the gabbleduck thread was intriguing.
It's really a series of "wander through a spaceship/station; fight something; recover" scenes that get a bit samey after a while. There's the required "hmm, do I have enough power/water/air?" but there's never any doubt that he'll find some.
The ending? Well, Asher did hint early on that ECS liked balance. Gotta say the down-to-the-second timing was a tad implausible.
It was a nice change not to have a space battle in which 25 fifty-mile long ships get blowed up real good with their million crew. A change that might have helped would be to make the universe not have an INFINITE suply of everything. Two million particle cannons and ammo? Yes, sir, your guaranteed delivery date is Thursday between ten and noon.
And finally we come to the key. This undeniably violence porn. The fact that the characters can take it and can be repaired doesn't help much; it just enables the violence.
I'm going to need more plot and less violence - or at least less detailed, lovingly-described violence.
Maybe Asher still has some anger from recent events; if so, I hope this has helped him past it.
A grand adventure, but it left a bit of a bad taste.
I mostly enjoyed reading this. But I am left wondering why Neal wrote it.
What does it add to the canon? Most of the other books reveal something new about Asher's universe, or motivations, or detail on things that were skimmed before.
The bwah-hah-hah female villain seemed familiar. The morality-free scientist was interesting.
It didn't take long to figure out "Marcus" but his story arc was interesting. And the gabbleduck thread was intriguing.
It's really a series of "wander through a spaceship/station; fight something; recover" scenes that get a bit samey after a while. There's the required "hmm, do I have enough power/water/air?" but there's never any doubt that he'll find some.
The ending? Well, Asher did hint early on that ECS liked balance. Gotta say the down-to-the-second timing was a tad implausible.
It was a nice change not to have a space battle in which 25 fifty-mile long ships get blowed up real good with their million crew. A change that might have helped would be to make the universe not have an INFINITE suply of everything. Two million particle cannons and ammo? Yes, sir, your guaranteed delivery date is Thursday between ten and noon.
And finally we come to the key. This undeniably violence porn. The fact that the characters can take it and can be repaired doesn't help much; it just enables the violence.
I'm going to need more plot and less violence - or at least less detailed, lovingly-described violence.
Maybe Asher still has some anger from recent events; if so, I hope this has helped him past it.
A grand adventure, but it left a bit of a bad taste.
July 7, 2021
Great story potentially. Complicated. But became very repetitive, predictable, and boring from half-way or so. Same impossible scenarios repeated over and over again, with similar outcomes. It's like a stitched together series of scenes rather than an organic story. And what's with all the detail about Jack 4's explosive and stinking bowel movements? Seriously, I hope it was meant as some sort of teenage joke. Disappointed overall, definitely not up to the standard expected from Neal Asher.
June 12, 2021
Like a really long, really awesome popcorn action movie
Preordered this and glad I did, absolute page turner with just endless, endless action, adventure and really wild things. If you have read Neal Asher books before, you know what to expect. Thoroughly enjoyed every bit, even the gross bits.
Preordered this and glad I did, absolute page turner with just endless, endless action, adventure and really wild things. If you have read Neal Asher books before, you know what to expect. Thoroughly enjoyed every bit, even the gross bits.
June 13, 2021
Enjoyed it.. a lot!
Another great tale from (arguably) one of the best Sci-fi authors around.
A stand alone Polity tale that sits up there with the best of them with Prador and Polity coming to blows over Hooders.
NA’s ability to paint intricate pictures with his words is front and centre creating another explosion of anarchy and chaos.
Another great tale from (arguably) one of the best Sci-fi authors around.
A stand alone Polity tale that sits up there with the best of them with Prador and Polity coming to blows over Hooders.
NA’s ability to paint intricate pictures with his words is front and centre creating another explosion of anarchy and chaos.
June 12, 2021
Not up to his usual standard. Warning, spoilers ahead for both this and for The Voyage of the Sable Keech (VOTSK).
Let's look at two major conceits in the Polity universe - autodocs (basically magic boxes which can repair any amount of damage), and Spatterjay virus (magic virus which makes you extremely strong, and oh, can repair any amount of damage). These have real potential to spoil any story, but they also have an edge of necessity. We're all happy to watch a Tom Cruise film, and we have no problems with Tom getting seven shades beaten out of him and then being involved in a explosion, but miraculously being healthy and ready for action in the very next scene. No broken bones, no bruises. Since the alternative is to spend half the film watching him getting physiotherapy, which wouldn't make for good entertainment, we all accept this. Similarly in computer games, we're all quite happy to have a "medkit" which will bring us back to full health. We're meant to be having fun, after all, it's not a documentary.
The Voyage of the Sable Keech was the first Neal Asher book I read. It had both of the above elements in it, but they were not overused. Most of the story takes place in the arse end of nowhere, so civilisation and magic bone repairing technology is a long way distant and isn't going to ruin the story. We have an explicit example of how powerful this technology is - an actual dead person who is still running around thanks to technological intervention - but he's also stuck in the arse end of nowhere, and his situation becomes gradually more and more dire and bits fall off, his autodoc gets sand in it, etc, etc.
TVOTSK also had humans infected with a virus which is to all intents and purposes, magic. But, they're in an environment where everything else has the same advantage. Conflict is evenly matched. Injuries take time to heal, there is a feeling of real risk to the characters.
The story of TVOTSK is a good one. We all know how it's going to end, in the sense that we know how every action film is going to end - there will be a fight, and the protagonist will likely triumph, but it's difficult to predict how we're going to get there. There are numerous factions, all going in different directions, and there is a real sense of suspense and wanting to find out what happens next.
Right, sorry for the lengthy pre-amble, let's get to this book:
Firstly, there is basically no story. There is *a* story, but I could retell it in a single paragraph and not miss out any details (there are none), or plot twists (there are none).
***further warning - more spoilers coming***
The technology mentioned above is employed liberally and with no restrictions whatsoever. Big fight? Yes. Massive, life threatening injuries? Yes. All damage immediately repaired, with no consequences whatsoever on the next page? Yes.
You can perhaps do this once in a book. Oooh! Plot twist! but it's a one shot device. If you've got any sense you then have the autodoc explode or run out of power or whatever, and *you don't bring it back*. Otherwise, we read the next chapter and we get to the next big fight, next collection of life threatening injuries, and the next repair job and we think "so what?". Since this ENTIRE book is basically a collection of such fights, one after the other, there isn't much left.
There are at least three different main characters who get basically killed in comprehensively violent ways, but immediately spring back to life, and for two of them this happens time and time again. What's the point?
The entire book is basically one scene. Sure, there are technically lots of different scenes - the bit on the space ship - the bit where he's levelling up on the space station - the bit where he's on the planet, etc - but the scene changes are entirely arbitrary. Would it have changed the story at all if he'd gone down to the planet one chapter earlier? Nope. If he had done his "Die Hard" impression in a giant supermarket rather than a space station would it have changed the plot in the slightest? Nope.
There is a massive Deus Ex Machina right at the start. It's pretty much literal "Deus" since it involves a character who is basically a god in this universe. Towards the end, literally in the last few pages, we find out heroes in a dire situation. However will they escape? Oh, a Deus Ex Machina? Well, that's disappointing, but I guess it happens. Oh, wait a minute, exactly the same Deus Ex Machina, involving the same character, and with the same motivation (none, as far as I can see) that we got at the first part of the book?? Really?
If you like Neal Asher books, and you have a 4 hour train journey to make then this is as good a way as any as passing the time. However, if you already own any of his older books and haven't re-read them in a while, then take one of them instead.
Let's look at two major conceits in the Polity universe - autodocs (basically magic boxes which can repair any amount of damage), and Spatterjay virus (magic virus which makes you extremely strong, and oh, can repair any amount of damage). These have real potential to spoil any story, but they also have an edge of necessity. We're all happy to watch a Tom Cruise film, and we have no problems with Tom getting seven shades beaten out of him and then being involved in a explosion, but miraculously being healthy and ready for action in the very next scene. No broken bones, no bruises. Since the alternative is to spend half the film watching him getting physiotherapy, which wouldn't make for good entertainment, we all accept this. Similarly in computer games, we're all quite happy to have a "medkit" which will bring us back to full health. We're meant to be having fun, after all, it's not a documentary.
The Voyage of the Sable Keech was the first Neal Asher book I read. It had both of the above elements in it, but they were not overused. Most of the story takes place in the arse end of nowhere, so civilisation and magic bone repairing technology is a long way distant and isn't going to ruin the story. We have an explicit example of how powerful this technology is - an actual dead person who is still running around thanks to technological intervention - but he's also stuck in the arse end of nowhere, and his situation becomes gradually more and more dire and bits fall off, his autodoc gets sand in it, etc, etc.
TVOTSK also had humans infected with a virus which is to all intents and purposes, magic. But, they're in an environment where everything else has the same advantage. Conflict is evenly matched. Injuries take time to heal, there is a feeling of real risk to the characters.
The story of TVOTSK is a good one. We all know how it's going to end, in the sense that we know how every action film is going to end - there will be a fight, and the protagonist will likely triumph, but it's difficult to predict how we're going to get there. There are numerous factions, all going in different directions, and there is a real sense of suspense and wanting to find out what happens next.
Right, sorry for the lengthy pre-amble, let's get to this book:
Firstly, there is basically no story. There is *a* story, but I could retell it in a single paragraph and not miss out any details (there are none), or plot twists (there are none).
***further warning - more spoilers coming***
The technology mentioned above is employed liberally and with no restrictions whatsoever. Big fight? Yes. Massive, life threatening injuries? Yes. All damage immediately repaired, with no consequences whatsoever on the next page? Yes.
You can perhaps do this once in a book. Oooh! Plot twist! but it's a one shot device. If you've got any sense you then have the autodoc explode or run out of power or whatever, and *you don't bring it back*. Otherwise, we read the next chapter and we get to the next big fight, next collection of life threatening injuries, and the next repair job and we think "so what?". Since this ENTIRE book is basically a collection of such fights, one after the other, there isn't much left.
There are at least three different main characters who get basically killed in comprehensively violent ways, but immediately spring back to life, and for two of them this happens time and time again. What's the point?
The entire book is basically one scene. Sure, there are technically lots of different scenes - the bit on the space ship - the bit where he's levelling up on the space station - the bit where he's on the planet, etc - but the scene changes are entirely arbitrary. Would it have changed the story at all if he'd gone down to the planet one chapter earlier? Nope. If he had done his "Die Hard" impression in a giant supermarket rather than a space station would it have changed the plot in the slightest? Nope.
There is a massive Deus Ex Machina right at the start. It's pretty much literal "Deus" since it involves a character who is basically a god in this universe. Towards the end, literally in the last few pages, we find out heroes in a dire situation. However will they escape? Oh, a Deus Ex Machina? Well, that's disappointing, but I guess it happens. Oh, wait a minute, exactly the same Deus Ex Machina, involving the same character, and with the same motivation (none, as far as I can see) that we got at the first part of the book?? Really?
If you like Neal Asher books, and you have a 4 hour train journey to make then this is as good a way as any as passing the time. However, if you already own any of his older books and haven't re-read them in a while, then take one of them instead.
July 14, 2022
This was the most bored I've ever been while reading a balls-to-the-wall constant action shoot-'em-up sci-fi thiller. I just could not get my head into this - Jack is a boring clone who gets routinely disemboweled and whose personal motivation is 'slavery bad' (a hot take, that one) after discovering he is the only clone in a batch of 20 with anything resembling sentience. He invokes a righteous moral outrage over murder and delivers swift justice with glorified mass murder of the obviously evil one-dimensional baddies. Before he commits his first murder, he wonders whether he can really do it, given how sacred life is, but then he pops that top and it's nonstop rampage with blood and guts flying. Eh, introspection is for nerds, anyway.
The whole book is a non-stop conga line of cliches from action films, video games, and other sci-fi novels replete with convenient air ducts for sneaking, a protagonist with instinctual knowledge of all things spy-craft, shock-horror torture, an instant sexual connection with the antagonist, enforcers who need their underlings to 'leave this one to me', villains who are comically one-dimensionally cruel and evil, and, of course, faux moral conundrums. It seems that no character has a single motivation beyond capitalistic greed or righteous justice, all of which is so dull, so there's no need for words spent on 'whys' and instead the space needs to be filled with a constant stream of 'stuff happening' to keep the reader entertained.
The language was also just... weird. Guards don't 'patrol', they 'perambulate'. Sometimes they even perambulate towards Jack. Not because they want to get him, apparently, just because they're out having a grand old time. If there's a structure in this book, you can bet your ass it's going to be 'geodesic'. Domes apparently don't come in any other variety, but if a dome is mentioned, you will be reminded every time that it's a geodesic dome. There were many other times I would read something and just feel it was overused or an... odd choice.
A terrible introduction to 'The Polity' and I don't see myself returning to this universe any time soon. I'm ok with my protagonists getting disemboweled once in a while (I'm looking at you, Axiom's End), but you know what they say, if your character doesn't have a bowel, they had better have a brain.
The whole book is a non-stop conga line of cliches from action films, video games, and other sci-fi novels replete with convenient air ducts for sneaking, a protagonist with instinctual knowledge of all things spy-craft, shock-horror torture, an instant sexual connection with the antagonist, enforcers who need their underlings to 'leave this one to me', villains who are comically one-dimensionally cruel and evil, and, of course, faux moral conundrums. It seems that no character has a single motivation beyond capitalistic greed or righteous justice, all of which is so dull, so there's no need for words spent on 'whys' and instead the space needs to be filled with a constant stream of 'stuff happening' to keep the reader entertained.
The language was also just... weird. Guards don't 'patrol', they 'perambulate'. Sometimes they even perambulate towards Jack. Not because they want to get him, apparently, just because they're out having a grand old time. If there's a structure in this book, you can bet your ass it's going to be 'geodesic'. Domes apparently don't come in any other variety, but if a dome is mentioned, you will be reminded every time that it's a geodesic dome. There were many other times I would read something and just feel it was overused or an... odd choice.
A terrible introduction to 'The Polity' and I don't see myself returning to this universe any time soon. I'm ok with my protagonists getting disemboweled once in a while (I'm looking at you, Axiom's End), but you know what they say, if your character doesn't have a bowel, they had better have a brain.
July 4, 2021
Jack Four by Neal Asher- This outing is very similar to all of Neal Asher's Polity adventures and also very different. The main character, Jack Four, is from a recent batch of clones, who lack even the basic understanding of their existence, except, of course, Jack Four. For some unknown reason he can think and learn even though he remembers nothing about himself. He gets flashes of understanding, especially under stress, and gradually learns to cope with the terrible situation he is in. On board an ancient Space station in the forbidding Graveyard between Polity and the Prador empire, his life is at constant risk from different factions.
The engine that runs this story is the patient with amnesia from numerous crime novels, who can't remember his past or who he can trust. Throw in boosted mercenaries, crab-like Prador soldiers, along with all kinds of deadly obstacles and you have a fast-paced run for your life story that never slows down.
Definitely something different from Asher.
The engine that runs this story is the patient with amnesia from numerous crime novels, who can't remember his past or who he can trust. Throw in boosted mercenaries, crab-like Prador soldiers, along with all kinds of deadly obstacles and you have a fast-paced run for your life story that never slows down.
Definitely something different from Asher.
November 10, 2022
I love Asher's world and find all Polity novels to be to my liking. Jack Four is a bit more focused than a lot of them. Smaller cast of characters, fewer locations, less mind scrambling description of ai organic bio mecha dna scrambling adaptation. This one is a basic survival story plotted around the main character who wakes up in a terrible situation and has to work out who he is, where he is, why he is and how the hell does he get out of here!
I personally loved the tighter focus and the faster pacing that allowed. Ok, that did make for a lack of depth and significance, I guess, in the galaxy spanning way of other Asher works, but I believe it was worth it.
A good read.
I personally loved the tighter focus and the faster pacing that allowed. Ok, that did make for a lack of depth and significance, I guess, in the galaxy spanning way of other Asher works, but I believe it was worth it.
A good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2021
Should be a movie
So good. Simple premise with the usual flair and classical underdog caught among demi-gods stylings. We really need a Neil Asher zero through four running on the usual substrates.
So good. Simple premise with the usual flair and classical underdog caught among demi-gods stylings. We really need a Neil Asher zero through four running on the usual substrates.
May 8, 2024
I'm a little hard-pressed to decide what I can say about this novel, partly because I'm not sure what I can say about Asher's work that hasn't already been said, partly because I'm not interested in giving away any spoilers. At the very least though, this is a view of life at the very bottom of the food chain in Asher's galactic civilization, as this time he's writing about the fate of human slaves in this reality, and it's just as nasty and gross as one can imagine; the existential opposite from "cozy." That's probably the point; as there are millions of people living shit existences in our own world, a number that is ever expanding, and rubbing that reality in might be the thematic back story here. In the end, I liked this novel, but this is not the place to begin if you're coming fresh to Asher; the "Transformation" trilogy might be a good starting place for the total newbie.
March 26, 2022
This is a one-off story to complement a series I haven't read, so I dive in to a fully-realised universe, waking up like the clone Jack Four himself, learning as we go. Jack Four is more than the usual mindless slave. He carries knowledge from his originator and is self-aware -- otherwise he'd be useless as a narrator. What ensues is an action-packed adventure as, motivated by revenge, Jack Four embarks on a series of escapades, incurring horrible injuries, and inflicting horrible injuries as he goes. Asher's descriptions of the tech and of the injuries is detailed and vivid, and I especially enjoyed the relationship between our hero and the monster-man Marcus. Exciting, gruesome stuff!
January 26, 2022
Enough of pradors and hooders! Please bring back the inscrutable yet sassy AIs and their personal quests. The SARS-CoV-2 virus wrecking our lives for the past two years is increasingly resembling the indestructible spatterjay virus. Isn't there an equivalent of sprine to combat COVID-19?
November 27, 2021
amazing book.
March 30, 2022
Simplistic. A step down from the usual - although sometimes varying - standard of other Polity novels. Maybe Mr. Asher decided to intellectually devolve, just like the Atheter. Soon we'll be getting novels full of abble-premble-scabboled-like gabbletalk.
Which might be interesting on acid.
Which might be interesting on acid.
August 19, 2021
The Kindle version of this book said it was 952 pages which was about 350 pages too long. The extremely detailed descriptions of the ships, the space suit operations, the weapons bogged down the story in my opinion. I found myself skimming when another technical description began, just looking for key words about what was relevant to how the weapon was going to kill or not kill the enemy. Not a bad space-based spy thriller.
September 7, 2021
Asher, Neal. Jack Four. Tor, 2021.
Neal Asher’s Jack Four is billed as a stand-alone novel set in Asher’s Polity universe, but a reader would profit by knowing something about Polity agents, the alien prador, and the Spatterjay virus. The Polity universe is a sprawling galactic civilization that puts Asher in the company of Ian M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter F. Hamilton, but this novel, like its predecessor Spatterjay, is more in the tradition of Harry Harrison’s Deathworld and movies like Predator and Alien than it is like a Reynolds space opera. Jack Four is a human clone sold as a slave to the prador king, a who engages in gory genetic engineering, and who himself has been infected by the Spatterjay virus, an organism that puts the selfish in Richard Dawkins� idea of the selfish gene. Jack is supposed to be a mindless meat puppet, but he seems to have some gradually emerging memory engrams from the original Jack, who was a probably a Polity agent. He escapes from the prador station to the nearby planet that has become a dumping ground for the most vicious genetically engineered animals from around the galaxy, many of them have been toughened up with the Spatterjay virus. From that point on, the story is a survival quest adventure as Jack gradually regains his original’s skills and memories he will need to survive in the wilderness. Because this is a Polity story, there are wheels within wheels and other characters who, like Jack, are not what they seem. The action is nonstop and vividly bloody. 4 stars.
Neal Asher’s Jack Four is billed as a stand-alone novel set in Asher’s Polity universe, but a reader would profit by knowing something about Polity agents, the alien prador, and the Spatterjay virus. The Polity universe is a sprawling galactic civilization that puts Asher in the company of Ian M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter F. Hamilton, but this novel, like its predecessor Spatterjay, is more in the tradition of Harry Harrison’s Deathworld and movies like Predator and Alien than it is like a Reynolds space opera. Jack Four is a human clone sold as a slave to the prador king, a who engages in gory genetic engineering, and who himself has been infected by the Spatterjay virus, an organism that puts the selfish in Richard Dawkins� idea of the selfish gene. Jack is supposed to be a mindless meat puppet, but he seems to have some gradually emerging memory engrams from the original Jack, who was a probably a Polity agent. He escapes from the prador station to the nearby planet that has become a dumping ground for the most vicious genetically engineered animals from around the galaxy, many of them have been toughened up with the Spatterjay virus. From that point on, the story is a survival quest adventure as Jack gradually regains his original’s skills and memories he will need to survive in the wilderness. Because this is a Polity story, there are wheels within wheels and other characters who, like Jack, are not what they seem. The action is nonstop and vividly bloody. 4 stars.
September 30, 2021
Some people pointed out that this novel is a bit slow at the start, and although I agree, I found it worth the read, absolutely. Once you get into the story, it pays off, and I truly enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. As always Asher shows a grasp of technology and science lacking with many authors, and the sense of realism always makes it more satisfying to read a good novel. It’s not his best work, but it still deserves five stars. Can I also add that I really love to read about the Prador, the Spatterjay virus, and of course Hooders!
September 2, 2021
Stopped about 2/3rds through. The first part was decent with the protagonist learning and making do on the alien ship. Granted the amnesia plot device is tired. But then he gets off the alien ship and it just keeps going the same with the protagonist being flung from one situation to another without much plot or point to it. I tried to continue but couldn’t.
I was also put off by all of the torture porn. I mean how many times do we need to gruesomely torture the protagonist and everyone else in the story? Why is every villain a nihilistic evil sadistic torturer? I’m not shocked by it more just bored and put off by the one dimensional shock value.
Lastly for a futuristic civilization that can modify their bodies they really seem to be fixated on gender. More than once in the book the protagonist finds a dead body and goes into detail what gender it was. Even when it was just a skeleton with “pink dress and high heeled shoes� which the protagonist reasoned that it must have been a woman. I mean maybe it was a drag queen. Or maybe just leave it as a skeleton. Let the reader fill in the gaps. Do we need to announce the gender of even a pile of bones?
I was also put off by all of the torture porn. I mean how many times do we need to gruesomely torture the protagonist and everyone else in the story? Why is every villain a nihilistic evil sadistic torturer? I’m not shocked by it more just bored and put off by the one dimensional shock value.
Lastly for a futuristic civilization that can modify their bodies they really seem to be fixated on gender. More than once in the book the protagonist finds a dead body and goes into detail what gender it was. Even when it was just a skeleton with “pink dress and high heeled shoes� which the protagonist reasoned that it must have been a woman. I mean maybe it was a drag queen. Or maybe just leave it as a skeleton. Let the reader fill in the gaps. Do we need to announce the gender of even a pile of bones?
August 26, 2021
Great to be back in the Polity mixing with the Prador and all of Ashers imaginative tech.
Not as enjoyable as other tales and this one is told from a first person narrative, a clone, who has knowledge that he shouldn't have and has to figure out wtf he is.
He starts out as a slave, being sold to the Prador by some rather nasty 'business' corp in the Graveyard, a sort of no-mans land between the Prador Kingdom and Polity space, escape and chase scenarios ensue and knowledge appears in his head to help him at crucial times etc, yadda ya, blah blah.
The Prador just didn't seem to be as much of a threat as they were in previous novels, there's Spatterjay in the mix as well, the Prador messing around with it.
Meh is about all I can say really, I wish it was better.
Not as enjoyable as other tales and this one is told from a first person narrative, a clone, who has knowledge that he shouldn't have and has to figure out wtf he is.
He starts out as a slave, being sold to the Prador by some rather nasty 'business' corp in the Graveyard, a sort of no-mans land between the Prador Kingdom and Polity space, escape and chase scenarios ensue and knowledge appears in his head to help him at crucial times etc, yadda ya, blah blah.
The Prador just didn't seem to be as much of a threat as they were in previous novels, there's Spatterjay in the mix as well, the Prador messing around with it.
Meh is about all I can say really, I wish it was better.
September 11, 2021
Unbelievable, Non-stop Action
This standalone volume originates a character that exceeds all expectations of the classic action hero. Jack 4 exists to set the universe right and does a glorious job of creating righteous gore along the way. Reading this book left me with an elevated adrenaline level that won’t quickly disperse. I’m hoping for another volume with Jack 4 pursuing a career in support of the Polity or in spite of the Polity. The creativity of the environment in this volume is beyond belief and the characters so much larger than life that they circle around to become plausible. A story arc that defies classification and an ending that whets the appetite for more.
This standalone volume originates a character that exceeds all expectations of the classic action hero. Jack 4 exists to set the universe right and does a glorious job of creating righteous gore along the way. Reading this book left me with an elevated adrenaline level that won’t quickly disperse. I’m hoping for another volume with Jack 4 pursuing a career in support of the Polity or in spite of the Polity. The creativity of the environment in this volume is beyond belief and the characters so much larger than life that they circle around to become plausible. A story arc that defies classification and an ending that whets the appetite for more.
September 19, 2021
It is one of Asher's lesser works, but that still makes it better than your average SF book.
This is a hard-hitting space opera with an extensive developed universe to back it up. It is a bit of a stand-alone romp in the famous no-man's land called Graveyard, situated between the AI-ruled human Polity and the brutal, xenophobic, giant-crab-like Prador and their Kingdom.
If you know your Asher and like it, this is a gauntlet and an adventure in the spirit of "Agent Cormac meets Jebel Krong".
I prefer his Dark AI Penny Royal series over pretty much anything, so I may be biased here. Take take into consideration if you will.
But also you may want to consider my 40 years of reading SF so far.
Recommended.
This is a hard-hitting space opera with an extensive developed universe to back it up. It is a bit of a stand-alone romp in the famous no-man's land called Graveyard, situated between the AI-ruled human Polity and the brutal, xenophobic, giant-crab-like Prador and their Kingdom.
If you know your Asher and like it, this is a gauntlet and an adventure in the spirit of "Agent Cormac meets Jebel Krong".
I prefer his Dark AI Penny Royal series over pretty much anything, so I may be biased here. Take take into consideration if you will.
But also you may want to consider my 40 years of reading SF so far.
Recommended.
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