What do you think?
Rate this book
Polity Universe (chronological) #8
The Technician
The Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada. But the Tidy Squad consists of rebels who cannot accept the new order. Their hate for surviving theocrats is undiminished, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is at the top of their hit list. Escaping his sanatorium, Tombs is pushed into painful confrontation with reality he has avoided since the rebellion. His insanity has been left uncured, because the near mythical hooder, called the Technician, that attacked him all those years ago, did something to his mind even the AIs fail to understand. Tombs might possess information about the suicide of an entire alien race. The war drone Amistad, whose job it is to bring this information to light, recruits Lief Grant, an ex-rebel Commander, to protect Tombs, along with the black AI Penny Royal, who everyone thought was dead. The amphidapt Chanter, who has studied the bone sculptures the Technician makes with the remains of its prey, might be useful too. Meanwhile, in deep space, the mechanism the Atheter used to reduce themselves to animals, stirs from slumber and begins to power-up its weapons.
503 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
138 people are currently reading
1744 people want to read
About the author
Neal Asher
139 books3,061 followersI’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.
Source: http://www.blogger.com/profile/139339...
Source: http://www.blogger.com/profile/139339...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews
September 7, 2018
Back to the world of the Theocracy and home to some of the most weird-ass creepy-crawlies in the known universe, twenty years after the Theocracy's fall.
What we have here is a seriously cool work of ideas and ongoing development and reveals. What I loved most about the previous Asher books was the grand mystery surrounding Jain technology, the aliens who destroyed their own intelligence to escape the weapon they made, and all the cool-as-shit AI's, partial AI's, quantum AI's, and all the ALIEN AI's.
Carry over a 2 million year mission from these old aliens to the present fiction day and here we go. :) The Technician. The assassin of assassins, the clean-up crew of a multi-genocide technology, including itself. :)
Again. Cool. Very cool. :)
And I love these drones. Polity peeps are CRAY.
I had a lot of fun here. :)
What we have here is a seriously cool work of ideas and ongoing development and reveals. What I loved most about the previous Asher books was the grand mystery surrounding Jain technology, the aliens who destroyed their own intelligence to escape the weapon they made, and all the cool-as-shit AI's, partial AI's, quantum AI's, and all the ALIEN AI's.
Carry over a 2 million year mission from these old aliens to the present fiction day and here we go. :) The Technician. The assassin of assassins, the clean-up crew of a multi-genocide technology, including itself. :)
Again. Cool. Very cool. :)
And I love these drones. Polity peeps are CRAY.
I had a lot of fun here. :)
March 8, 2024
There was only one way to deal with this. Remaining in underspace so far from the action, or potential action, was no longer an option. Within the mechanism, components of matter, pseudomatter and patterned energy, which hadn’t been used for nearly two millions years, powered up. They unzipped the fold that had concealed the mechanism for that time, everted it into realspace where relativity snatched it up, and the rules of existence hardened into immutability.
This is another Polity novel touted as a “stand-alone”. However, I am starting to think that there is no such thing as a “stand alone” novel in the Polity universe. Sure, you could read this on its own, but it takes place in the aftermath of The Line of Polity (and sets up the story for Dark Intelligence).
The whole story is just so much richer if you have the background information. Also, it does help if you happen to know something about hooders and gabbleducks, and the planet Masada and its history.
A bruise much the size and shape of Jupiter’s eye storm had appeared, striations spreading out from it of storm-feeding atmosphere flows that Earth could float in. However, unlike the storm on Jupiter, this phenomenon wasn’t confined to the surface of the giant. From its centre a tail of gas extended hundreds of thousands of kilometres out into space, there terminating at . . . something.
The novel also deals with the nature of the Atheter and their history with Jain technology (and the repercussions thereof), all of which is fairly important, considering that the Jain technology is one of the consistent challenges that the Polity faces throughout.
”What do you think?”
“I think we should run like hell.”
As is often the case with the Polity novels, the war drones and A.I.s tend to steal the show. Amistad from Shadow of the Scorpion returns, along with the enigmatic Penny Royal. I think this is Penny Royal’s first appearance in a Polity novel, but this rogue A.I. becomes a prominent player in the Transformation trilogy (which starts with Dark Intelligence).
As for the Technician of the title, it is probably one of the coolest characters (for want of a different description) that Asher has dreamed up, despite the fact that it doesn’t feature all that much in the story, and rather serves as a catalyst for events and the inevitable great reveal. That said: the spectacular boss fight at the end of the novel is one for the ages. I dare not say more for fear of spoilers, but the nature of the hooders (and specifically the Technician) is really fascinating. This theme is further explored in Dark Intelligence.
The sight had just slammed him to a halt. The Technician was the size of the largest of hooders, over a hundred metres from head to tail. It had lain coiled across here like the spine of some long-dead giant, only with legs stabbed down from between the vertebrae into the rhizome layer, and this spine terminating in an armoured spoon-shaped head which at that moment had cupped something against the ground, something screaming in raw agony.
Then that head had risen, up to ten metres in the air, clear in execution light.In the underside he had seen its close-work eyes – two columns of them gleaming an odd yellow with some strange internal light. And, all about those eyes, the clicking, whickering glassy movement of its feeding scythes and drills. That’s when he had jammed the barrel of his own rail-gun underneath his chin and begun backing off.
This is another Polity novel touted as a “stand-alone”. However, I am starting to think that there is no such thing as a “stand alone” novel in the Polity universe. Sure, you could read this on its own, but it takes place in the aftermath of The Line of Polity (and sets up the story for Dark Intelligence).
The whole story is just so much richer if you have the background information. Also, it does help if you happen to know something about hooders and gabbleducks, and the planet Masada and its history.
A bruise much the size and shape of Jupiter’s eye storm had appeared, striations spreading out from it of storm-feeding atmosphere flows that Earth could float in. However, unlike the storm on Jupiter, this phenomenon wasn’t confined to the surface of the giant. From its centre a tail of gas extended hundreds of thousands of kilometres out into space, there terminating at . . . something.
The novel also deals with the nature of the Atheter and their history with Jain technology (and the repercussions thereof), all of which is fairly important, considering that the Jain technology is one of the consistent challenges that the Polity faces throughout.
”What do you think?”
“I think we should run like hell.”
As is often the case with the Polity novels, the war drones and A.I.s tend to steal the show. Amistad from Shadow of the Scorpion returns, along with the enigmatic Penny Royal. I think this is Penny Royal’s first appearance in a Polity novel, but this rogue A.I. becomes a prominent player in the Transformation trilogy (which starts with Dark Intelligence).
As for the Technician of the title, it is probably one of the coolest characters (for want of a different description) that Asher has dreamed up, despite the fact that it doesn’t feature all that much in the story, and rather serves as a catalyst for events and the inevitable great reveal. That said: the spectacular boss fight at the end of the novel is one for the ages. I dare not say more for fear of spoilers, but the nature of the hooders (and specifically the Technician) is really fascinating. This theme is further explored in Dark Intelligence.
The sight had just slammed him to a halt. The Technician was the size of the largest of hooders, over a hundred metres from head to tail. It had lain coiled across here like the spine of some long-dead giant, only with legs stabbed down from between the vertebrae into the rhizome layer, and this spine terminating in an armoured spoon-shaped head which at that moment had cupped something against the ground, something screaming in raw agony.
Then that head had risen, up to ten metres in the air, clear in execution light.In the underside he had seen its close-work eyes – two columns of them gleaming an odd yellow with some strange internal light. And, all about those eyes, the clicking, whickering glassy movement of its feeding scythes and drills. That’s when he had jammed the barrel of his own rail-gun underneath his chin and begun backing off.
September 25, 2020
Στις καλύτερες στιγμές του, ο Ν. Asher μεγαλουργεί!
Δεν θα βρείτε στα βιβλία του ουμανιστικές διακηρύξεις και ουτοπικούς παραδείσους. Ο Asher, δηλωμένος conservative, και ολίγον μισάνθρωπος, έχει παραδώσει το μέλλον της ανθρωπότητας στις ΑΙs (οι άνθρωποι είναι μικρόνοες και ανίκανοι να διαχειριστούν το παρόν και το μέλλον τους).
Οι ήρωες άνθρωποί του λειτουργούν σχεδόν πάντα υποστηρικτικά στις αποφάσεις που λαμβάνουν οι Τεχνητές Νοημοσύνες, οι οποίες με τη μορφή περίτεχνων war drones, dreadnaughts και λοιπών τεχνουργημάτων τις επιβάλλουν όταν χρειαστεί - κυρίως όταν πρέπει να αντιμετωπίσουν εξωγήινους εισβολείς, γαλαξιακών διαστάσεων απειλές και όλα εκείνα που καθιστούν τη space opera μαγική!
Ο άνθρωπος ξέρει να ξεφαντώνει με τα εξωγήινα τέρατά του που εντασσόμενα σε ένα αντίστοιχα εχθρικό οικοσύστημα προκαλούν ρίγος δίχως να είναι κιτς και απωθητικά. Τίποτε δεν είναι τυχαίο και ως την τελευταία σελίδα, ξέρει να κρατά αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη.
Μην περιμένετε εμβάθυνση στην ψυχοσύνθεση των ηρώων (ίσως κάπως περισσότερο σε εκείνη των ΑΙ), χωρίς να σημαίνει πως το βιβλίο δεν σφύζει από ευφυείς παρατηρήσεις επάνω στα θέματα της ανθρώπινης αβελτηρίας, της πίστης, του εγκλήματος και της τιμωρίας (κυρίως αυτής!) με καυστικό πάντα ύφος.
Στο είδος της hardcore SF είναι απλά κορυφαίος και είναι πολύ κρίμα που κάποια από τα βιβλία του δεν έχουν εκδοθεί στα ελληνικά.
April 20, 2025
While technically a standalone volume in the Polity series, without having read the Agent Cormac series, a reader would be pretty lost. This takes place (primarily) about 20 years after the "Line War" at Masada, a theocratic world just outside of Polity space. Well, the theocracy lost and now Masada has a free human population along with the dracomen created by Dragon. Polity has kept Masada in quarantine, however, as lots of Jain tech are still floating around after the war.
The story centers on a giant albino hooder, one of the many nasty fauna found on Masada, who for many years left sculptures made of bone and sinew out of the things it ate; the theocracy deemed it the Technician, but could not do much about it. The story oscillates among a fairly broad cast. First, we have Chanter, a human adapt who has been on Masada since before revolution studying the odd sculptures left by the Technician. We also have Grant, a former rebel commander, who, after mucking around for a few decades on Masada, gets the task to guard Tombs, a former proctor of the theocracy. During the war, Tombs was attacked by the Technician, who ate his face and much of his body, but left him alive. For the last two decades, Tombs has been recovering in the last prison camp on Masada. The Polity knows the Technician left something in his brain, but have not performed any invasive operations; they just want him to be sane. Another main character, Amistad, an old war drone, now serves as something akin to Masada's protector, along with Penny Royal, a notorious, but allegedly reformed 'black' AI.
So, why did Asher return to Masada here? Well, without giving too much away, we pretty much know Masada was the home planet of a former space going civilization that vanished some two million years ago; the Gabbleducks who live on Masada are theorized to be some primitive relic of this race. If anything, The Technician unravels the mystery surrounding this vanquished race and the history of Masada. Pretty slow going for Asher, however, as he takes his time setting the stage for the denouement. While not as explosive as many of the Polity novels, I did enjoy this. The world-building is first rate and when the action pops up in fits and starts, no one does it better. 4 technical stars!!
The story centers on a giant albino hooder, one of the many nasty fauna found on Masada, who for many years left sculptures made of bone and sinew out of the things it ate; the theocracy deemed it the Technician, but could not do much about it. The story oscillates among a fairly broad cast. First, we have Chanter, a human adapt who has been on Masada since before revolution studying the odd sculptures left by the Technician. We also have Grant, a former rebel commander, who, after mucking around for a few decades on Masada, gets the task to guard Tombs, a former proctor of the theocracy. During the war, Tombs was attacked by the Technician, who ate his face and much of his body, but left him alive. For the last two decades, Tombs has been recovering in the last prison camp on Masada. The Polity knows the Technician left something in his brain, but have not performed any invasive operations; they just want him to be sane. Another main character, Amistad, an old war drone, now serves as something akin to Masada's protector, along with Penny Royal, a notorious, but allegedly reformed 'black' AI.
So, why did Asher return to Masada here? Well, without giving too much away, we pretty much know Masada was the home planet of a former space going civilization that vanished some two million years ago; the Gabbleducks who live on Masada are theorized to be some primitive relic of this race. If anything, The Technician unravels the mystery surrounding this vanquished race and the history of Masada. Pretty slow going for Asher, however, as he takes his time setting the stage for the denouement. While not as explosive as many of the Polity novels, I did enjoy this. The world-building is first rate and when the action pops up in fits and starts, no one does it better. 4 technical stars!!
July 22, 2018
I love Asher's world of freaky flora and fauna. But the characters are pathetically underdeveloped. The story plodded along, which caused me to lose focus. IMO, the Spatterjay trilogy is Asher's best work.
September 8, 2016
This is probably my favorite of all of the books I've read by Neal Asher. This is my ninth by him after original 5 Cormac novels and the 3 Spatterjay ones. There is some seriously cool shit happening in these pages, a great expansive story that really needs to be experienced as a whole for full enjoyment IMO.
February 3, 2023
Ancient alien tech that can wipe out entire civilizations, space battles, land battles, air battles, battles on the sea... Neal Asher's novels aren't short of action sequences - did I mention there's the occasional battle or two?
In short, if you're up for big scale SF that knows how to bring the action there's a lot to enjoy about your average Asher novel.
A knack for the kinetic, allied with a strong storytelling instincts make him as close to a sure bet as you'll get.
I've read something like seven of his novels so far, and there hasn't been one that wasn't memorably entertaining. The Cormac novels are probably the high water mark, but they set a pretty high tough bar to beat.
The Technician continues on from the events in the previous novels, particularly the liberation of the backwater planet Masada by the Polity that happens during The Line of Polity.
The Polity, the AI led human civilization that spreads out across many worlds from its home on Earth, has been struggling with the emergence of Jain tech - an intricate snare of a technology whose insidious destructiveness makes it an existential threat to any who find it.
On Masada, the remnants of an ancient race - the Atheter - live on in the form of dumb animals known as Gabbleducks. Millions of years earlier, faced with the destruction of their society by Jain tech the Atheter voluntarily devolved, destroying every trace of their civilization and stripping their own minds of all higher thinking functions.
Masada is home to many strange species. Gabbleducks roam the landscape spouting nonsense. Odd burrowing molluscs grind everything in the soil to near dust. Huge, terrifying centipede-like hooders that tear their prey to pieces while still alive, striking fear into everyone on the planet.
One particular hooder is very different to its mindless fellows- it has been making sculptures from its victims, and in the case of one such unfortunate - the priest Jeremiah Tombs it has stripped him down and rebuilt him, doing something very odd to his mind in the process.
Tombs has been changed, and the changes in his own mind are the harbinger of events that will threaten the existence of the Polity and throw light on what happened to Atheter society. Of course these events will happen only if he should live beyond the next week or so, and Tombs is a man with many enemies who very much want to see him dead.
With a deadly insectoid war drone from the long past Prador War and the once insane AI Pennyroyal monitoring him Tombs is sent to a distant island to recover. When the new structures in his mind become active both his enemies and his protectors will have their work cut out for them.
And so another breakneck, action-packed Neil Asher plot is set up.
It's a hell of a lot of fun, and it just races along, building to a (literally) world-shaking conclusion.
Asher's novels really are a solid bet if you're looking for a fun, entertaining, and action-packed read, and the Technician is no exception.
Four horrific, insectoid alien monsters (with interesting backstories) out of five.
In short, if you're up for big scale SF that knows how to bring the action there's a lot to enjoy about your average Asher novel.
A knack for the kinetic, allied with a strong storytelling instincts make him as close to a sure bet as you'll get.
I've read something like seven of his novels so far, and there hasn't been one that wasn't memorably entertaining. The Cormac novels are probably the high water mark, but they set a pretty high tough bar to beat.
The Technician continues on from the events in the previous novels, particularly the liberation of the backwater planet Masada by the Polity that happens during The Line of Polity.
The Polity, the AI led human civilization that spreads out across many worlds from its home on Earth, has been struggling with the emergence of Jain tech - an intricate snare of a technology whose insidious destructiveness makes it an existential threat to any who find it.
On Masada, the remnants of an ancient race - the Atheter - live on in the form of dumb animals known as Gabbleducks. Millions of years earlier, faced with the destruction of their society by Jain tech the Atheter voluntarily devolved, destroying every trace of their civilization and stripping their own minds of all higher thinking functions.
Masada is home to many strange species. Gabbleducks roam the landscape spouting nonsense. Odd burrowing molluscs grind everything in the soil to near dust. Huge, terrifying centipede-like hooders that tear their prey to pieces while still alive, striking fear into everyone on the planet.
One particular hooder is very different to its mindless fellows- it has been making sculptures from its victims, and in the case of one such unfortunate - the priest Jeremiah Tombs it has stripped him down and rebuilt him, doing something very odd to his mind in the process.
Tombs has been changed, and the changes in his own mind are the harbinger of events that will threaten the existence of the Polity and throw light on what happened to Atheter society. Of course these events will happen only if he should live beyond the next week or so, and Tombs is a man with many enemies who very much want to see him dead.
With a deadly insectoid war drone from the long past Prador War and the once insane AI Pennyroyal monitoring him Tombs is sent to a distant island to recover. When the new structures in his mind become active both his enemies and his protectors will have their work cut out for them.
And so another breakneck, action-packed Neil Asher plot is set up.
It's a hell of a lot of fun, and it just races along, building to a (literally) world-shaking conclusion.
Asher's novels really are a solid bet if you're looking for a fun, entertaining, and action-packed read, and the Technician is no exception.
Four horrific, insectoid alien monsters (with interesting backstories) out of five.
June 25, 2018
I finished the Cormac cycle some three years ago, and I was left with some good memories. I remember the must-read world-building, the good plot and the decent style. Characters sucked, but I can live with that. Seeing how he continued adding novels to the Polity universe, I thought it's time to go back. Unfortunately, I was unable to recapture the same feeling I had with "Polity Agent" or "Line War".
First of all, I could've sworn that the entire plot regarding Penny Royal / Jain tech / Atheters / Dragon / whatever was done with. Obviously I was wrong. We are thrown back on planet Masada (first introduced in "The Line of Polity"), apparently starting exactly where "Line War" had left off
.
The part I liked is that the world-building is still there. Or rather, it is a world previously built. The planet's ecosystem is mind-blowing. Dune-like even, I might add. The general concepts behind the Polity, the rogue AIs, and most of Neal's setup are also stunning. These however were previously developed. Very little is added now.
The bad parts are the style and the plot. I cannot understand which editor okay'd these very short sub-chapters delivered machine-gun style, each ending ambiguously, brim-filled with tech words. Some contain only "dialogue" between AIs. The number of POV characters is beyond belief. Maybe as many as in a George RR Martin book, at 1/3 the length. And it's not just the number of them. The characters still suck! As good as Asher is with biological and ecological descriptions, he is just as bad as creating a memorable character.
Just in case you think I'm kidding, how's the following quotation for a phrase? If it doesn't make you roll your eyes, then you have a good chance at liking Neal Asher's style:
"In orbit over Masada a brief intense detonation at the head of a column of purple fire – the geostat weapon, which Ergatis had just used against a disruptor, detonating halfway through its next firing cycle, fusion plasma escaping the doughnut Tesla bottle and punching out into vacuum, proton beam unfocused, dissipating on the way down, just licking the disruptor sliding in over the east coast."
Overall an okay-ish read, but a serious deterrent to next books in the Polity (such as "Dark Intelligence").
First of all, I could've sworn that the entire plot regarding Penny Royal / Jain tech / Atheters / Dragon / whatever was done with. Obviously I was wrong. We are thrown back on planet Masada (first introduced in "The Line of Polity"), apparently starting exactly where "Line War" had left off
.
The part I liked is that the world-building is still there. Or rather, it is a world previously built. The planet's ecosystem is mind-blowing. Dune-like even, I might add. The general concepts behind the Polity, the rogue AIs, and most of Neal's setup are also stunning. These however were previously developed. Very little is added now.
The bad parts are the style and the plot. I cannot understand which editor okay'd these very short sub-chapters delivered machine-gun style, each ending ambiguously, brim-filled with tech words. Some contain only "dialogue" between AIs. The number of POV characters is beyond belief. Maybe as many as in a George RR Martin book, at 1/3 the length. And it's not just the number of them. The characters still suck! As good as Asher is with biological and ecological descriptions, he is just as bad as creating a memorable character.
Just in case you think I'm kidding, how's the following quotation for a phrase? If it doesn't make you roll your eyes, then you have a good chance at liking Neal Asher's style:
"In orbit over Masada a brief intense detonation at the head of a column of purple fire – the geostat weapon, which Ergatis had just used against a disruptor, detonating halfway through its next firing cycle, fusion plasma escaping the doughnut Tesla bottle and punching out into vacuum, proton beam unfocused, dissipating on the way down, just licking the disruptor sliding in over the east coast."
Overall an okay-ish read, but a serious deterrent to next books in the Polity (such as "Dark Intelligence").
March 28, 2015
4.5 stars
Occurring mostly on the planet Masada, The Technician falls between The Line of Polity and Dark Intelligence. If the first talks about the revolution against the Theocracy and the latter about the planet gaining its independence from the Polity, this novel explains how a representative of the native species - gabbleducks - regained its intelligence and, once again, became Atheter.
Twenty years after the revolution and still in partial quarantine, Masadans enjoy the benefits of new technologies and freedoms. But, not everyone can accept Polity's general amnesty of all previous crimes. When a former theocrat Jeremiah Tombs, driven mad by the unusual attack of the hooder which downloaded something in his mind, is let loose on the planet to regain his wits, many players gather directly or indirectly around him trying to achieve their goals. A former revolutionary is set to protect him, scientists to study him, terrorists to kill him. The unfathomable Dragon has his agents too. And the mechanism which erased an entire civilization wakes up.
Exciting and fun, the story benefits from being set on a single planet. I enjoyed 'seeing' Amistad, Penny Royal and dracomen again. Gabbleducks are always fun. The book has one of the most satisfying endings of all in the Polity Universe.
Occurring mostly on the planet Masada, The Technician falls between The Line of Polity and Dark Intelligence. If the first talks about the revolution against the Theocracy and the latter about the planet gaining its independence from the Polity, this novel explains how a representative of the native species - gabbleducks - regained its intelligence and, once again, became Atheter.
Twenty years after the revolution and still in partial quarantine, Masadans enjoy the benefits of new technologies and freedoms. But, not everyone can accept Polity's general amnesty of all previous crimes. When a former theocrat Jeremiah Tombs, driven mad by the unusual attack of the hooder which downloaded something in his mind, is let loose on the planet to regain his wits, many players gather directly or indirectly around him trying to achieve their goals. A former revolutionary is set to protect him, scientists to study him, terrorists to kill him. The unfathomable Dragon has his agents too. And the mechanism which erased an entire civilization wakes up.
Exciting and fun, the story benefits from being set on a single planet. I enjoyed 'seeing' Amistad, Penny Royal and dracomen again. Gabbleducks are always fun. The book has one of the most satisfying endings of all in the Polity Universe.
October 1, 2017
It was too long since I read any of Ashers Polity novels and so the start of this book was really slow for me as I struggled to remember all the details of the things going on. Once I was able to get a frame of reference, and the main plot took off I really enjoyed the book.
My only complaint about this novel really is that it seemed to have an excessive number of POV characters that we jumped around in. I found some of them very compelling, like Amistad the war drone AI, and Tombs. Some of the others were less interesting to me and likely influenced my opinion about the point of view hopping.
Overall, though I liked the book and I will continue reading books in the Polity universe. I think Dark Intelligences is next.
My only complaint about this novel really is that it seemed to have an excessive number of POV characters that we jumped around in. I found some of them very compelling, like Amistad the war drone AI, and Tombs. Some of the others were less interesting to me and likely influenced my opinion about the point of view hopping.
Overall, though I liked the book and I will continue reading books in the Polity universe. I think Dark Intelligences is next.
September 9, 2012
Set 20 years after the Polity liberated the world of Masada from Theocracy rule, this tale follows Jeremiah Tombs, an ex-Theocracy Proctor who survived a Hooder attack. Not just any Hooder either, possibly the oldest and most esoteric Hooder on the Planet and they call it The Technician.
Trouble is...no one survives a Hooder attack, their victims are skinned and dismantled before being eaten, but Tombs did and the AIs are sure The Technician put something into his head, something related to a lost race called the Atheter.
So Tombs is rebuilt and allowed to follow whatever destiny has in store for him. The AIs have also assigned him some serious "protection" as there are still those out there with long memories and boiling hatred of the Theocracy and anyone identified with with it.
This is a stunningly good story. If you've been following Asher's Masada stories, it brings a lot of the earlier players and Masadan wildlife together - the war drone Amistad, the black AI Penny Royal, ex-rebel commander Lief Grant, Dragon, the Gabbleducks and of course, the Hooders.
Trouble is...no one survives a Hooder attack, their victims are skinned and dismantled before being eaten, but Tombs did and the AIs are sure The Technician put something into his head, something related to a lost race called the Atheter.
So Tombs is rebuilt and allowed to follow whatever destiny has in store for him. The AIs have also assigned him some serious "protection" as there are still those out there with long memories and boiling hatred of the Theocracy and anyone identified with with it.
This is a stunningly good story. If you've been following Asher's Masada stories, it brings a lot of the earlier players and Masadan wildlife together - the war drone Amistad, the black AI Penny Royal, ex-rebel commander Lief Grant, Dragon, the Gabbleducks and of course, the Hooders.
August 1, 2021
Nečítalo sa to zle, ale postavy by si zaslúžili viac developmentu, Technik viac priestoru a politické frakcie menej vysvetľovania. Viac sme sa dozvedeli o planetárnej flóre a faune, než o postavách a zvratoch.
Putovanie teokrata bolo ale zaujímavé, aj úklady o jeho život ... len všetko tak nejak plocho popísané.
Putovanie teokrata bolo ale zaujímavé, aj úklady o jeho život ... len všetko tak nejak plocho popísané.
September 6, 2018
RTC if I feel like it
May 29, 2024
Bien que la Polity contrôle la planète Masada, un groupe de rebelle travaille contre ce nouvel ordre établi, tentant de tuer Jeremiah Tombs, un des derniers survivants de la Théocratie tombée - dont l’esprit a été modifié par le Technicien
Quel plaisir que ce livre - un standalone plein d’action mais qui prend également le temps d’explorer les éléments plus psychologiques et intérieurs des personnages. Encore un excellent bouquin de la part d’Asher, qui ne sort définitivement que des bangers.
Quel plaisir que ce livre - un standalone plein d’action mais qui prend également le temps d’explorer les éléments plus psychologiques et intérieurs des personnages. Encore un excellent bouquin de la part d’Asher, qui ne sort définitivement que des bangers.
February 28, 2021
Another great volume in the Polity Universe.
There has yet to be a book of Asher’s where I don’t spend the first half wondering what the hell is going on, and then the latter half enjoying every second of that patience paying off.
There has yet to be a book of Asher’s where I don’t spend the first half wondering what the hell is going on, and then the latter half enjoying every second of that patience paying off.
December 30, 2010
The Technician can be enjoyed as a standalone novel but you will get more out of it if you read the Cormac novels first. Visiting Masada again for me that have is a bit like coming home and I get to enjoy some of the characters from previous books (You can read my review of them below. The Line of the Polity is the one with most Masada in it).
As usual with Neal’s books this one also has an intriguing and well developed back story that tightly fits together with what happened before. I can understand why he went back to Masada. It is such a wonderful quirky place with huge hooder predators that can swallow a man or a minor car and gabbleducks walking around copying human talk but not making any sense; the whole world is wrapped in the mystery of a disappeared alien civilization called the Atheter. On top of this an oppressive theocracy was toppled by rebellion facilitated by the Dragon’s destruction of their orbital lasers. Masada is also the homeworld of the Dracomen created when the Dragons crashed on the planet.
Amistad the war drone from Shadow of the Scorpion is back in charge of Atheter research as events set in motion by the Dragon once again threatens humanity. Amistad is one of my favorites. With him we get to follow a bit of personal growth and development, ai style.
I might be the only one but I thought it was hilarious when Blue, the only blue Dracowoman was introduced, I immediately thought; Neal your rascal, you sneaked in a Na’vi on us. The other explanation that came to mind was the blue pill from Matrix in reverse.
The plot centers on Jeremiah Tombs and his journey back to sanity. A theme he also used success with Mr Crane/The Brass Man. Tombs is not the only point of view or main character in this novel but I enjoyed him most because he changes the most. The characters are well developed with much more ‘meat’ than in his early novels something I as a character person like and appreciate.
The Dragon’s hidden agenda goes like a chain from Grindlinked to this one. That is a nice touch even if there is not much Dragon action in this one. It is more like a heritage.
The Technician is no doubt one of the best new novels I have read this year. It got a fantastic inner journey with fast-paced alien-world action. I am in awe of Neal Asher for this amazing feat of original writing. If you haven’t read Neal before you might as well start with this one, you will not be sorry. Maybe I should add that Mr Asher is very fond of gigantic insects and might get a bit graphic in his descriptions.
As usual with Neal’s books this one also has an intriguing and well developed back story that tightly fits together with what happened before. I can understand why he went back to Masada. It is such a wonderful quirky place with huge hooder predators that can swallow a man or a minor car and gabbleducks walking around copying human talk but not making any sense; the whole world is wrapped in the mystery of a disappeared alien civilization called the Atheter. On top of this an oppressive theocracy was toppled by rebellion facilitated by the Dragon’s destruction of their orbital lasers. Masada is also the homeworld of the Dracomen created when the Dragons crashed on the planet.
Amistad the war drone from Shadow of the Scorpion is back in charge of Atheter research as events set in motion by the Dragon once again threatens humanity. Amistad is one of my favorites. With him we get to follow a bit of personal growth and development, ai style.
I might be the only one but I thought it was hilarious when Blue, the only blue Dracowoman was introduced, I immediately thought; Neal your rascal, you sneaked in a Na’vi on us. The other explanation that came to mind was the blue pill from Matrix in reverse.
The plot centers on Jeremiah Tombs and his journey back to sanity. A theme he also used success with Mr Crane/The Brass Man. Tombs is not the only point of view or main character in this novel but I enjoyed him most because he changes the most. The characters are well developed with much more ‘meat’ than in his early novels something I as a character person like and appreciate.
The Dragon’s hidden agenda goes like a chain from Grindlinked to this one. That is a nice touch even if there is not much Dragon action in this one. It is more like a heritage.
The Technician is no doubt one of the best new novels I have read this year. It got a fantastic inner journey with fast-paced alien-world action. I am in awe of Neal Asher for this amazing feat of original writing. If you haven’t read Neal before you might as well start with this one, you will not be sorry. Maybe I should add that Mr Asher is very fond of gigantic insects and might get a bit graphic in his descriptions.
April 8, 2013
In my mission to consume all things Neal Asher, I just completed The Technician, which has to have one of the most bad ass covers ever. I mean you can actually see the badass beastie popular through many of Asher works, the Hooder itself upon the cover. Either way, this book is unique. While it fits nicely into the grand universe that Asher has created with many of his works, along with many familiar places, characters and events, 'The Technician' stands apart for me because of its aims as a morality play. I admit that I adore Asher's works for the gun battles, the vicious alien life, the living tech and cyberbattles, but The Technician, which some have claimed not to like, held more for me than just potent drama. It deals with the nature of hatred and how that emotion corrupts and cripples as well as how it is overcome. I found it fascinating to watch the rebirth (sometimes uber gory) of a being who clung so tightly to one belief, become more than just an instrument of revenge and anger, while others sank in the quicksand of clinging to what they believed and felt.
In having read a good deal of Asher, I am always amazed by what lies beneath the tech, the biology, the battles and the balls-to-the-wall action... and to be honest, I am rarely disappointed.
In having read a good deal of Asher, I am always amazed by what lies beneath the tech, the biology, the battles and the balls-to-the-wall action... and to be honest, I am rarely disappointed.
March 23, 2011
In summary, I'm glad I bought and read it, it was a nice fast read taking us back to the story line in the 2nd Polity novel 'Line of Polity' and culminating in one of Asher's signature space battles, However I didn't find it particularly memorable and I doubt I will reread it in the future.
I would give it 3.5 stars if fractional stars were allowed. While written as a standalone novel, readers will enjoy it more if they have read 'Line of Polity' which has the original story of the alien entity called Dragon and the revolt against the Theocracy controlling planet Masada.
Asher and Iain M. Banks are my two favorite authors. I thoroughly enjoy the enhanced humans, pure A.I.'s and mixtures of the two that you get in Asher's Polity universe and Banks' Culture universe, not to mention the advanced aliens in both.
The central mystery in 'The Technician' is actually fairly interesting: How and why did the Atheter civilization disappear two million years ago and how was it connected to the gabbleducks and one special hooder on Masada? The ECS (Earth Central Security) AI has tasked the scorpion shaped AI war drone Amistad to solve the mystery.
I would give it 3.5 stars if fractional stars were allowed. While written as a standalone novel, readers will enjoy it more if they have read 'Line of Polity' which has the original story of the alien entity called Dragon and the revolt against the Theocracy controlling planet Masada.
Asher and Iain M. Banks are my two favorite authors. I thoroughly enjoy the enhanced humans, pure A.I.'s and mixtures of the two that you get in Asher's Polity universe and Banks' Culture universe, not to mention the advanced aliens in both.
The central mystery in 'The Technician' is actually fairly interesting: How and why did the Atheter civilization disappear two million years ago and how was it connected to the gabbleducks and one special hooder on Masada? The ECS (Earth Central Security) AI has tasked the scorpion shaped AI war drone Amistad to solve the mystery.
July 29, 2011
I finished The Technician by Neal Asher and it was a blast to the end; while I still like the Cormac arch the best for its complexity, this standalone - sort of at least - Polity novel that takes place mostly on Masada some 20 years after Line of polity and deals with Gabbleducks, the Atheter and Hooders, most notably the Albino sculpture making out of bones of his meals one nicknamed The Technician is one of the best that Neal Asher wrote.
Separatists, fanatics, super drones - most notably the iron Scorpion Amistad and the Black AI Penny Royal, dracomans, one sort of madman with a deeply buried secret, Jain tech, powerful alien war machines on a mission that puts the Polity in their way, high tech and a look at both insanity and fanaticism that occasionally is quite chilling
High tech adventure in a space opera context of the highest level and a triumphant return (for me at least whom I was so-so on Orbus) to the Polity for Neal Asher. I am looking forward to the Owner novel announced for 2011, but this one makes me want more Polity too
Separatists, fanatics, super drones - most notably the iron Scorpion Amistad and the Black AI Penny Royal, dracomans, one sort of madman with a deeply buried secret, Jain tech, powerful alien war machines on a mission that puts the Polity in their way, high tech and a look at both insanity and fanaticism that occasionally is quite chilling
High tech adventure in a space opera context of the highest level and a triumphant return (for me at least whom I was so-so on Orbus) to the Polity for Neal Asher. I am looking forward to the Owner novel announced for 2011, but this one makes me want more Polity too
May 13, 2016
Další příběh ze světa Řádu nás zavede zpátky na planetu Masada po pádu Teokracie, a je to zase parádní jízda, jak jsme od Neala Ashera zvyklí. Teroristé, separatisté, řádoví roboti a k tomu místní bizarní zvířena, a to ještě není zdaleka všechno. Kdesi ve vesmíru se probouzí mechanismus, který po sobě zanechali vyhynulí Aetheterové a míří k Masadě...
Nemůžu si pomoct, já to mám rád :-)
Nemůžu si pomoct, já to mám rád :-)
November 26, 2017
As always, a deeply-absorbing read.
In the world governed by high-level AI, events never happen by chance but always influenced by interlinking multi-step plans spanning years and decades and millennia. In this case, Earth AI attempt to unlock the mystery of the gabbleducks on Masada. Why do they have giant complex brains? Why does the hooder dubbed the Technican make strange sculptures out of bone?
I take issue with a main aspect of the story:
However, that's a personal quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. The main theme is how hate—useful in times of war and rebellion—always carries the seed of its own destruction. Those characters who used to hate either come to accept that they must move on, or were indeed killed by trying to reenact their hatred..
In the world governed by high-level AI, events never happen by chance but always influenced by interlinking multi-step plans spanning years and decades and millennia. In this case, Earth AI attempt to unlock the mystery of the gabbleducks on Masada. Why do they have giant complex brains? Why does the hooder dubbed the Technican make strange sculptures out of bone?
I take issue with a main aspect of the story:
However, that's a personal quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment of the story. The main theme is how hate—useful in times of war and rebellion—always carries the seed of its own destruction. Those characters who used to hate either come to accept that they must move on, or were indeed killed by trying to reenact their hatred..
September 1, 2020
I've now come full circle. I was introduced to Asher's Polity universe first with the novel "Dark Intelligence", which would be the next novel chronologically for the story after "The Technician". Considering what I've learned about the whole universe storyline by going back and starting at the beginning with "Prador Moon", I'm absolutely astonished I was able to read "Dark Intelligence" and the subsequent two other novels in that sub-story and still understand what was going on. But I was able to, and that is a testament to Asher and his ability to self contain each individual sub-story so well.
Having been introduced to Penny Royal as one of the first-ever AI characters I was ever familiar with in the Polity universe in the novel Dark Intelligence, it has always been one of my favorite characters, and I have always had many questions about it. And "The Technician" supplied most of those answers.
This is a superbly written story and has caused so much thought on the subject matter in my mind that I'm sure it will be with me for a while. It is really hard to pick a favorite Asher novel, but this one is definitely in the running for me.
Now I'm just going to keep going through the chronology and re-read Dark Intelligence. I'm sure now that I do have the back story on so much of what is going on, it will prove to be very fruitful to re-read those first novels I read introducing me to Asher.
Having been introduced to Penny Royal as one of the first-ever AI characters I was ever familiar with in the Polity universe in the novel Dark Intelligence, it has always been one of my favorite characters, and I have always had many questions about it. And "The Technician" supplied most of those answers.
This is a superbly written story and has caused so much thought on the subject matter in my mind that I'm sure it will be with me for a while. It is really hard to pick a favorite Asher novel, but this one is definitely in the running for me.
Now I'm just going to keep going through the chronology and re-read Dark Intelligence. I'm sure now that I do have the back story on so much of what is going on, it will prove to be very fruitful to re-read those first novels I read introducing me to Asher.
December 13, 2019
Dwang.
De beste boeken zijn degene die je dwingen om elke vrije seconde op te offeren zodat je ze kun uitlezen.
Neal Asher is er ook met The Technician weer in geslaagd om die dwang op te wekken.
Geweldige verhaallijnen, prangende thema’s, monsterachtige wezens, uitstekende scènes, spannende actie, intens conflict: het stelt allemaal niets voor zonder personages die alles betekenis geven. En die personages zijn er, alweer—of ze nu menselijk, artificieels of buitenaards zijn.
Het oeuvre van Neal Asher is een goudmijn. Hij dwingt je om almaar dieper te graven.
De beste boeken zijn degene die je dwingen om elke vrije seconde op te offeren zodat je ze kun uitlezen.
Neal Asher is er ook met The Technician weer in geslaagd om die dwang op te wekken.
Geweldige verhaallijnen, prangende thema’s, monsterachtige wezens, uitstekende scènes, spannende actie, intens conflict: het stelt allemaal niets voor zonder personages die alles betekenis geven. En die personages zijn er, alweer—of ze nu menselijk, artificieels of buitenaards zijn.
Het oeuvre van Neal Asher is een goudmijn. Hij dwingt je om almaar dieper te graven.
August 9, 2017
Asher is one of the best current SF writers. People ask who currently is great, he is one of them.
June 12, 2020
Good solid Sci-Fi, cool ideas, nice action.
September 13, 2020
Wenn man bei einer Reihe mit Band acht anfängt, ist es kein Wunder, dass man keine Ahnung hat, was abgeht.
Aber als ich das Buch (des Covers wegen) gekauft habe, wusste ich gar nicht, dass es ein achter Teil ist. Gelesen habe ich es natürlich trotzdem und war auch fasziniert von den Ideen, die der Autor in sein Werk einfliessen lässt. Vor allem die Wesen und Kreaturen sind ganz speziell.
Die Handlung selbst verschloss sich mir leider. Ich kannte weder die Welt, noch die Figuren, noch ihre Beziehung zueinander. Dafür kann aber weder Autor noch Buch etwas. Da mir der Titel auch grundsätzlich gefiel und mich neugierig auf Asher gemacht hat, habe ich eine andere Trilogie von ihm mal auf meinen Wunschzettel gesetzt.
Dort fange ich dann aber mit Band eins an.
Aber als ich das Buch (des Covers wegen) gekauft habe, wusste ich gar nicht, dass es ein achter Teil ist. Gelesen habe ich es natürlich trotzdem und war auch fasziniert von den Ideen, die der Autor in sein Werk einfliessen lässt. Vor allem die Wesen und Kreaturen sind ganz speziell.
Die Handlung selbst verschloss sich mir leider. Ich kannte weder die Welt, noch die Figuren, noch ihre Beziehung zueinander. Dafür kann aber weder Autor noch Buch etwas. Da mir der Titel auch grundsätzlich gefiel und mich neugierig auf Asher gemacht hat, habe ich eine andere Trilogie von ihm mal auf meinen Wunschzettel gesetzt.
Dort fange ich dann aber mit Band eins an.
October 19, 2019
I've picked this book up since it has been in my posession about 20 times and have stopped every time. I couldn't get into it. I tried and tried finally I succeed and I found that once you get pass page 40 the book picks up. And then you're given a sci-fi mystery with blood, hookers, and giant bioweapon isopods called "hooders".
This whole thing starts when one of those isopods, the technician, puts something alien inside the mind of a proctor which is the space equivalent of an inquisitor or cardinal from when the church owned everything. This Proctor was part of the theocracy which was at its peak a mixed bag of religion with everything from Catholicism to Hinduism. Now an AI named Amistad is trying to free the Proctor's mind from insanity so it can understand alien intelligence. Meanwhile off world a giant cornucopia looking motherf***er of an AI is coming to make Masada tortellini out of the planet and it's inhabitants.
This book is pretty f***ing cool and the characters are amazing. You get all sorts of neat things like a tenticle AI who's apparently the meanest mother in the valley. There's a scorpion AI who is enjoyable. Then you get Grant, Sanders, stupid bitch face angry selfish asshole Shree, and Jem or Tombs or Jeremiah those are the same person. I didn't find any humor in this but that's okay because the world building was spot on and for that I shall be reading more. The space battle I ended up not focusing well on, not because it wasn't awesome but I have no background in space battles so I didn't understand it but that's totally on me and did not take away from the awesomeness of this book.
Five stars because I should have read it sooner.
This whole thing starts when one of those isopods, the technician, puts something alien inside the mind of a proctor which is the space equivalent of an inquisitor or cardinal from when the church owned everything. This Proctor was part of the theocracy which was at its peak a mixed bag of religion with everything from Catholicism to Hinduism. Now an AI named Amistad is trying to free the Proctor's mind from insanity so it can understand alien intelligence. Meanwhile off world a giant cornucopia looking motherf***er of an AI is coming to make Masada tortellini out of the planet and it's inhabitants.
This book is pretty f***ing cool and the characters are amazing. You get all sorts of neat things like a tenticle AI who's apparently the meanest mother in the valley. There's a scorpion AI who is enjoyable. Then you get Grant, Sanders, stupid bitch face angry selfish asshole Shree, and Jem or Tombs or Jeremiah those are the same person. I didn't find any humor in this but that's okay because the world building was spot on and for that I shall be reading more. The space battle I ended up not focusing well on, not because it wasn't awesome but I have no background in space battles so I didn't understand it but that's totally on me and did not take away from the awesomeness of this book.
Five stars because I should have read it sooner.
March 20, 2017
Read for March scifi book group meeting.
LOVED this installment. Goodreads notes it's part of the stand alone books in Asher's universe, but I'd have to disagree. I would definitely recommend reading Prador Moon and Shadow of the Scorpion before The Technician because there is some background that is handy to know.
Premise of the book is one Jem Tombs, former Proctor of the fallen Theocracy on Mesada, is the only known survivor of a Hooder attack, and the only known survivor of an hooder attack by the massive Hooder known as the Technician. For 20 years he's resided in seclusion, in some kind of state of denial, watched by Jerval Sanders.
Until Tombs starts to wake up, murders Jerval, and flees the island he's been isolated to. Amistad, Polity War drone, starts to nudge Tombs this way and that, assigning Leif Grant as protector and reluctantly letting Shree Enkara along to record Tombs story for Earthnet.
If you've read any Asher, then you know that I'm greatly simplifying. If you haven't read any Asher - what are you waiting for?!? And, fyi, I'm greatly simplifying the plot. Asher's plots are hard to summarize without giving too much information away.
Asher's books are so rich in detail and characters, the world building is amazing, and the plots just pull me in. What was different about The Technician from some of the rest that I've read, is I was hooked from chapter one. Not infrequently, it takes me a while to get into the plot, then I find I'm flying down the proverbial slide. Not so here.
I'm totally fan-girlling. Go. Read. Enjoy.
LOVED this installment. Goodreads notes it's part of the stand alone books in Asher's universe, but I'd have to disagree. I would definitely recommend reading Prador Moon and Shadow of the Scorpion before The Technician because there is some background that is handy to know.
Premise of the book is one Jem Tombs, former Proctor of the fallen Theocracy on Mesada, is the only known survivor of a Hooder attack, and the only known survivor of an hooder attack by the massive Hooder known as the Technician. For 20 years he's resided in seclusion, in some kind of state of denial, watched by Jerval Sanders.
Until Tombs starts to wake up, murders Jerval, and flees the island he's been isolated to. Amistad, Polity War drone, starts to nudge Tombs this way and that, assigning Leif Grant as protector and reluctantly letting Shree Enkara along to record Tombs story for Earthnet.
If you've read any Asher, then you know that I'm greatly simplifying. If you haven't read any Asher - what are you waiting for?!? And, fyi, I'm greatly simplifying the plot. Asher's plots are hard to summarize without giving too much information away.
Asher's books are so rich in detail and characters, the world building is amazing, and the plots just pull me in. What was different about The Technician from some of the rest that I've read, is I was hooked from chapter one. Not infrequently, it takes me a while to get into the plot, then I find I'm flying down the proverbial slide. Not so here.
I'm totally fan-girlling. Go. Read. Enjoy.
May 16, 2012
Four stars within its genre, anyway. A good read.
Not a good choice as one's first Asher book, but it doesn't require full knowledge either.
I've read most if not all of the Spatterjay books, and perhaps one other Polity novel, and this worked fine for me.
Very complex plot, great worldbuilding. Maybe a little too much in the way of having most of the AIs capable of making neutronium Q-tips with 20 teraflops of computing power, while ghastly monsters with fangs and claws are doing scrimshaw and knitting tea cosies inside their third stomachs.
It must be a hoot writing books where you can just make up ANYthing as long as you are consistent with the results. It's fun to read them, as long as you are expecting it. And if you've read any Asher before, you ARE expecting it.
Now to find the rest of the series ...
Not a good choice as one's first Asher book, but it doesn't require full knowledge either.
I've read most if not all of the Spatterjay books, and perhaps one other Polity novel, and this worked fine for me.
Very complex plot, great worldbuilding. Maybe a little too much in the way of having most of the AIs capable of making neutronium Q-tips with 20 teraflops of computing power, while ghastly monsters with fangs and claws are doing scrimshaw and knitting tea cosies inside their third stomachs.
It must be a hoot writing books where you can just make up ANYthing as long as you are consistent with the results. It's fun to read them, as long as you are expecting it. And if you've read any Asher before, you ARE expecting it.
Now to find the rest of the series ...
October 9, 2015
Why is it that every time I finish one of Asher's stories, I'm left with an insatiable hunger for more? Is it his monumentally eldritch world building that excites and astounds or his pernicious characters, machine, carbon-made or ethereal advancing the plot willy nilly towards a satisfyingly explosive end?
Is there a thing like drug-reading? And how do you pinpoint this cusp in time when you realize you've become addicted to a certain writer's mind-expanding rhythms? It takes a rare breed of writing aficionados to achieve such dangerous feats. Neal Asher is, hands down, one of them. And, like old whiskey, he keeps getting better.
Is there a thing like drug-reading? And how do you pinpoint this cusp in time when you realize you've become addicted to a certain writer's mind-expanding rhythms? It takes a rare breed of writing aficionados to achieve such dangerous feats. Neal Asher is, hands down, one of them. And, like old whiskey, he keeps getting better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 160 reviews