These are the third, fourth and fifth (and evidently last)
books in the author's Agent Cormac series to be reviewed on this
blog (Gridlinked and The Line of Polity being the other two)
although the chronology of Asher's novels is more complex than this suggests.
Of his nineteen novels so far, fifteen are set in his far-future Polity universe, which has similarities
to Iain M Banks's Culture – including
an IA-governed interstellar civilisation with vast, highly intelligent
spaceships which give themselves idiosyncratic names. Only five of the fifteen
novels feature Ian Cormac, the formidable agent of Earth Central Security.
However, nine other novels are set in the Polity (plus several short stories)
but without Cormac; two of these are set before the first Cormac story, the
other seven are later, of which six form two trilogies (Spatterjay and Transformation).
The order in which these were written bears no relationship to their Polity
chronology or which series they belong to. So readers who enjoy debating
whether such a collection of tales should be read in their order of writing or
in accordance with their internal chronology are now faced with an additional
pair of options: to read them one series at a time, and if so either in order
of writing or by their internal chronology within each series (which is, on
balance, my preference). I hope all is now clear!
With that settled, let's turn to Brass Man. This follows on directly from The Line of Polity, being essentially a continuation of the same
story, so it is highly desirable to read them in order. The novel begins with
various parallel plot threads as is usual for this author, but complicates
matters considerably by also throwing in flashback scenes set at various times
in the past. The structure of the book is therefore headachingly complex,
leaving the reader to try to work out when as well as where each sequence fits
into the story. Asher does provide some helpful props in the form of
mini-infodumps scattered through the early part of the book, but they are
really to refresh the memory of those who have already read the previous book;
anyone who hasn't will be left floundering.
Another unusual aspect of this story is that Asher evidently
liked some of his earlier bad-guy characters so much that he decided to bring
them back to life after seemingly finishing them off in the previous book. I
can't help a vague feeling that this is cheating in some way and if I were Ian
Cormac I would be feeling rather exasperated. However, Cormac does have a lot
of other things to worry about, in fact the author enjoys placing his heroes in
seemingly impossible situations before arranging their escape – usually. It
won't really be a spoiler to reveal that the redoubtable Cormac survives every
misfortune, since he was obviously contractually obliged to appear in another
two books.
Polity Agent
follows immediately on from Brass Man,
so as with my comment above, reading these books in the right order is
essential. The author makes no concessions at all to readers who might pick up
this volume as their visit visit to the Polity – they will be completely lost
from start to finish. The structure this time is simpler, but the downside is
that there is less variety in the drama. A new enemy is introduced – a rogue AI
– and the emphasis is much more on military SF, in the space-opera tradition of
grand starship fleets clashing; somewhat reminiscent of Jack Campbell. This
extract will give something of the flavour of the descriptive writing: if you
like it, you'll probably enjoy the book; if not, not:
Definitely one of the newest designs: attack-ship configuration with a
state-of-the-art chameleonware hull which, as well as being able to bend low
intensity EM radiation around it, could also, to some degree, deflect
high-powered lasers and masers. The outer skin was a form of polymerized
diamond, over layered composite laced with super-conductors. The ship's
skeleton, composed of the usual laminated tungsten ceramal, shock-absorbing
foamed alloys and woven diamond monofilament, in this case was cellular and
more substantial than usual. Cormac also knew that its extra weapons nacelle
contained gravtech armament in addition to the usual lethal complement housed
in the other two nacelles.
From my viewpoint, rather more putdownable than the earlier
books, but still an entertaining read, as long as you've enjoyed the earlier
novels in the series.
The final book in this series, Line War, is more of the same and follows straight on; this series
is effectively one 2,500+ page story. Cormac masters a new power, which he
needs to survive the deadliest threat yet, and he also acquires some strange
new allies – among them, those who had been enemies in the past. The story is
intensely action-focused with a rather cinematic feel; the author is good at
projecting images into the readers' minds. As usual, concentration is needed to
keep up with everything that is going on, as the viewpoint constantly switches
between several different characters. The ending is satisfying, wrapping
everything up quite tidily.
In the first paragraph I compared the Polity and Culture
universes; in a nutshell, Asher's writing style could be considered a
rocket-boosted version of Banks's, with a faster action and less of the
whimsical meandering. This is not a criticism of either – I enjoy the work of
both authors who have produced good quality space opera – and which I prefer
depends on the mood I'm in.
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