SOJALS rating:

Good (3/5)

I first read this on the 7th September 2007 and most recently on the 1st September 2010

The hunt is on for horrifying Jain technology. It is a technology specifically designed to permeate and eventually destroy civilisations. A single pebble-size Jain node can bring down a world. Every last speck of Jain technology must be eliminated wherever it may be found. No cost is too high. The alternative is society's complete destruction.

Civilisations destroyed? Ian Cormac will be at the sharp end again,

Who is the mysterious legate, apparently distributing Jain technology nodules across the Polity.

And out in the far distance is Erebus, the great AI who abandoned humanity in search of the intelligence singularity. We may wonder how he's been keeping himself busy recently

Neal Asher continues to milk his fervent imagination to churn out these great books. This one, like all his others, is violent and exciting, brutal and gruesome. I'm quite exhausted after reading his novels. I can barely lift a finger, let alone write a thoughtful review.

Apart from all the excitement, I like the warm comforting spirit that his novels imbue: humanity might not be the brightest or strongest in the Universe, in fact we may be small beans, but we'll probably get there eventually. That will be due to our innate talent, inventiveness and massive weaponry.

"Polity Agent" is a rollicking read but now I think I'm going to have rest for a few minutes.

What's it got? Tough guys, violence and gore, giant AI battleships, mad machines and monstrous metamorphoses.