Description
Book SynopsisDark Intelligence is the first novel in the Transformation series, a no-holds-barred adventure set in Neal Asher's popular Polity universe.
One man will transcend death to seek vengeance. One woman will transform herself to gain power. And no one will emerge unscathed . . .
Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, where he finds he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war that ended a whole century ago. But when he relives his traumatic final moments, he finds the spark to keep on living. That spark is vengeance. Trapped and desperate on a world surrounded by alien Prador forces, Spear had seen a rescue ship arriving. But instead of providing backup, Penny Royal, the AI within the destroyer turned rogue. It annihilated friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction, and, years later, it's still free. Spear vows to track it across worlds and do whatever it takes to bring it down.
Isobel Satomi ran a successful crime syndicate. But after competitors attacked, she needed more power. Yet she got more than she bargained for when she negotiated with Penny Royal. She paid it to turn her part-AI herself, but the upgrades hid a horrifying secret. The Dark AI had triggered a transformation in Isobel that would turn her into a monster, rapidly evolving into something far from human.
Spear hires Isobel to take him to the Penny Royal AI's last known whereabouts. But he cheats her in the process and he becomes a target for her vengeance. And as she is evolves further into a monstrous predator, rage soon wins over reason. Will Spear finish his hunt, before he becomes the hunted?
Continue the action-packed adventure with War Factory and Infinity Engine.
'Asher rocks with XXX adrenaline while delivering a vivid future' – David Brin, author of the Uplift trilogy
Trade ReviewAsher rocks with XXX adrenaline while delivering a vivid future -- David Brin
What Asher delivers here is
state-of-the-art SF on so many levels . . . a compelling, smart read --
LocusOne of his best works so far . . .
Asher is a modern master of Sci-Fi --
StarburstBeautifully paced . . . does just as well as at slam-bang action scenes as at painting frightening pictures . . .
This is space opera at a high peak of craftsmanship --
Publishers Weekly starred review
Blends large portions of horror and mystery into an SF tale of revenge and redemption . . .
a complex and satisfying work --
Library Journal starred review
An exciting, intricate, and unabashedly futuristic story rife with twists and turns . . . Asher returns to his popular far-future series, Polity Universe, with another fast-paced space opera filled with his trademark technological marvels and elaborate world building --
BooklistHardboiled, fast-paced space opera epic . . . 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 --
TheRegisterDark Intelligence is an imaginative, epic space opera that manages to present a dark future universe full of vibrant spaceships, people, creatures and intelligence.
Highly enjoyable and highly addictive --
SFBookAs you all should know, Neal Asher is one of Britain's leading science fiction authors, best known for his Polity universe series.
Dark Intelligence has everything science fiction needs, and much, much more --
TheBookPlankPerpetually on the knife's edge, and this constant tension works wonders for creating a page-turning atmosphere.
It's a damningly gripping and infecting book --
Upcoming4A superb novel and 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 --
SenseofWonder
