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Rise of the Jain #2
The Warship
Their nemesis lies in wait . . .
Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination.
Earth Central, humanity’s ruling intelligence, knows Orlandine was tricked into releasing her weapon, and fears the Jain are behind it. The prador king knows this too – and both foes gather fleets of warships to surround the disc.
The alien Client is returning to the accretion disc to save the last of her kind, buried on a ship deep within it. She upgrades her vast weapons platform in preparation, and she’ll need it. Her nemesis also waits within the disc’s swirling dusts – and the Jain have committed genocide before.
In this second volume of Rise of the Jain, Neal Asher takes us on a thrilling ride into interstellar politics and impending war. The Warship is set in Neal's popular Polity universe.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2019
313 people are currently reading
1259 people want to read
About the author
Neal Asher
139 books3,064 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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
April 9, 2019
This is something quite amazing.
And when I say quite, I mean, "HOLY S*** what just HAPPENED here?"
It's been a while since I sat down to read SF expecting and eventually receiving a whole AWE effect. This is wide-brained high-tech imagination at its best, building on all the major developments and changes from all his previous books, giving us such massive scope and terror that both the combined might of the Polity AND the Prador are totally freaking out.
It's the Jain, folks. Their nanotech, just a minor sub-sentient bonder of biology and tech that seems so useful and uber-powerful on the surface, is designed to fulfill all your dreams. Too bad it's a tool designed to wipe out every intelligent race it ever comes into contact with, right? Old news from the previous books.
Unfortunately for everyone alive in this later tale, and despite some seriously major Space-Opera military improvements, the combined resources of all kinds of "people", be they Golems, hive minds, AI ships, Prador, Prador-Skatterjay, Human-Skatterjay, Haimans, or Prador-AIs, neither biological transformation or truly fantastic tech OR an old offshoot of the original Jain is quite able to handle this.
In fact, all of life is hopelessly outclassed.
This book is a cumulation of everything, but more than that, it's all battle, strategy, seeming success and bitter defeat. :)
I feel their horror, their desperate hope, and I'm left splattered on the floor.
This is Asher at the top of his game. :)
And when I say quite, I mean, "HOLY S*** what just HAPPENED here?"
It's been a while since I sat down to read SF expecting and eventually receiving a whole AWE effect. This is wide-brained high-tech imagination at its best, building on all the major developments and changes from all his previous books, giving us such massive scope and terror that both the combined might of the Polity AND the Prador are totally freaking out.
It's the Jain, folks. Their nanotech, just a minor sub-sentient bonder of biology and tech that seems so useful and uber-powerful on the surface, is designed to fulfill all your dreams. Too bad it's a tool designed to wipe out every intelligent race it ever comes into contact with, right? Old news from the previous books.
Unfortunately for everyone alive in this later tale, and despite some seriously major Space-Opera military improvements, the combined resources of all kinds of "people", be they Golems, hive minds, AI ships, Prador, Prador-Skatterjay, Human-Skatterjay, Haimans, or Prador-AIs, neither biological transformation or truly fantastic tech OR an old offshoot of the original Jain is quite able to handle this.
In fact, all of life is hopelessly outclassed.
This book is a cumulation of everything, but more than that, it's all battle, strategy, seeming success and bitter defeat. :)
I feel their horror, their desperate hope, and I'm left splattered on the floor.
This is Asher at the top of his game. :)
May 18, 2019
I hate my brain.
I usually wait until all books of a trilogy are out before I begin reading them because I am one of the most impatient people on earth when it comes to having to wait to finish stories I am really into. It's not like there aren't enough other books to read and I am pretty good about sticking to this rule. HOWEVER, the early reviews for this book are so spectacular and I've read so many other Asher novels I knew I would be able to retain the details as to what was going on with the overall arc in books one and two through next year when book three rolls out but ho-lee-chit I am now super pissed I gave in, read the first two, and now have to wait for book three.
This one wastes no time getting right into the swing of things after the awesomeness that was book one, The Soldier. No one was left unaffected by that story's conclusion and book two begins with everyone of every species pretty much licking their wounds, but Mr. Asher does not give anyone any breathing room and starts taking them one by one from the frying pan and drops them into the fire. The Warship starts out on a very personal level with certain characters exploring what it means to be human and how to continue to hang on to that humanity and grows in scope to something so huge there are no comparisons I can think of. From 20% to 85% is such a non-stop series of confrontations, battles, and plot reveals that the phrase "left me breathless" only scrapes the surface of how I felt, then this book has the audacity to leave the biggest reveal of all until the final five pages which in turn became the cause of my pissed offedness and the reason why I hate my brain for allowing me to start these books only to now have to wait a year for book three.
I love his writing, I love this series, and I am massively impressed with where this story is taking us!!!
I usually wait until all books of a trilogy are out before I begin reading them because I am one of the most impatient people on earth when it comes to having to wait to finish stories I am really into. It's not like there aren't enough other books to read and I am pretty good about sticking to this rule. HOWEVER, the early reviews for this book are so spectacular and I've read so many other Asher novels I knew I would be able to retain the details as to what was going on with the overall arc in books one and two through next year when book three rolls out but ho-lee-chit I am now super pissed I gave in, read the first two, and now have to wait for book three.
This one wastes no time getting right into the swing of things after the awesomeness that was book one, The Soldier. No one was left unaffected by that story's conclusion and book two begins with everyone of every species pretty much licking their wounds, but Mr. Asher does not give anyone any breathing room and starts taking them one by one from the frying pan and drops them into the fire. The Warship starts out on a very personal level with certain characters exploring what it means to be human and how to continue to hang on to that humanity and grows in scope to something so huge there are no comparisons I can think of. From 20% to 85% is such a non-stop series of confrontations, battles, and plot reveals that the phrase "left me breathless" only scrapes the surface of how I felt, then this book has the audacity to leave the biggest reveal of all until the final five pages which in turn became the cause of my pissed offedness and the reason why I hate my brain for allowing me to start these books only to now have to wait a year for book three.
I love his writing, I love this series, and I am massively impressed with where this story is taking us!!!
January 31, 2019
Asher Neal does this so well, A.I, exotic Alien technology, space craft that conduct ballet style battles with weapons that pulverise planets.
One of the main stayers of very readable science fiction in the new world order, where, readers hankering seems pitched for the obscure, political, social, economical, commit on the future.
Science fiction readers for me have begun to look less for a good or great read, and less for an adventure to enjoy and get lost in.
With non-binary, vegan, (which are all science fiction reference I was exposed to 35 years ago, now mutated for political and social media addicts, and me, me personalities) and the loss of the will to be a winner, in this diluted continuum of feeling for everything, and never taking responsibility for self, its refreshing to see characters getting their asses kicked!!!!!!!
One of the main stayers of very readable science fiction in the new world order, where, readers hankering seems pitched for the obscure, political, social, economical, commit on the future.
Science fiction readers for me have begun to look less for a good or great read, and less for an adventure to enjoy and get lost in.
With non-binary, vegan, (which are all science fiction reference I was exposed to 35 years ago, now mutated for political and social media addicts, and me, me personalities) and the loss of the will to be a winner, in this diluted continuum of feeling for everything, and never taking responsibility for self, its refreshing to see characters getting their asses kicked!!!!!!!
November 4, 2023
If you like science fiction with killer aliens, big guns and even bigger ships, this book is for you. I am a big fan of Asher, having read most of his work; I like the references to his earlier work laced throughout this. This takes place right were The Soldier left off, and ends with a killer cliff hanger; one of the reasons I kept putting off reading this is that, although I was sure I would like it, he has not published the final book of the trilogy yet, leaving me waiting with baited breath. I also like how he introduces each chapter with a pithy paragraph or two from 'modern' authors from the polity as he did with other of his work. Asher just keeps the foot on the gas and leaves you hanging on for the ride.
Edit: July 2020. Finally have the last volume and reread this to get up to speed again. This definitely has a bit of a 'place holder' feel to it, holding off for the main attraction yet to come.
3.5 stars.
Edit: July 2020. Finally have the last volume and reread this to get up to speed again. This definitely has a bit of a 'place holder' feel to it, holding off for the main attraction yet to come.
3.5 stars.
June 30, 2019
Not perfect, but you have to admire the sheer scope of it, and the way it ties in EVERYTHING from 20 years of previous books.
I'm pretty sure Asher lives in a regular house in England and a small one in Crete. So where is the giant warehouse with the 60' x 60' wall on which he has mapped his characters and their placements and allegiances and former bodies? How Does He Keep It All Straight? How long has he been looking forward with where this is all going?
This is 3-D chess with no pawns; all the pieces are knights and above, and by the way there are four players.
Somehow Asher manages to place 20+ impossibly powerful fighters in the arena without it ever becoming too much to believe. OK, the ubiquitous U-space and hardfields (and now induction warfare) give a lot of room to handwave.
We also can't have key pieces taken off he board by something as minor as being rended unto death, so we have various forms of autodoc who can do very fast "he's only mostly dead" work. Which is allowable because Asher spins it into philosophy on what it really means to be alive or dead anyway when you have copies and subminds.
There's still no explanation of why ships are so huge. We read occasionally of scooping up a few asteroids for matter. There's still a scene where hundreds of ludicrously-huge ships face off, all knowing that they could be vaporized in an instant; will future war really be fought that way?
Asher continues his excellent theme that Earth Central, Dragon and some other players are necessarily taking a Really Long View, and can't be expected to make the same decisions as those with a shorter planning horizon.
I think I've seen that #3 will be the last of this set. What dramatic end will Trike meet? Will Penny Royal be back? Will we find out what the inscrutable Dragon is? Will it be ineffable?
And Neil, if you're reading this ... how about a story set in the Old War Drones Club, where they snark each other and swap stories? With an AI as host, and a setup like Asimov's club mysteries.
I'm pretty sure Asher lives in a regular house in England and a small one in Crete. So where is the giant warehouse with the 60' x 60' wall on which he has mapped his characters and their placements and allegiances and former bodies? How Does He Keep It All Straight? How long has he been looking forward with where this is all going?
This is 3-D chess with no pawns; all the pieces are knights and above, and by the way there are four players.
Somehow Asher manages to place 20+ impossibly powerful fighters in the arena without it ever becoming too much to believe. OK, the ubiquitous U-space and hardfields (and now induction warfare) give a lot of room to handwave.
We also can't have key pieces taken off he board by something as minor as being rended unto death, so we have various forms of autodoc who can do very fast "he's only mostly dead" work. Which is allowable because Asher spins it into philosophy on what it really means to be alive or dead anyway when you have copies and subminds.
There's still no explanation of why ships are so huge. We read occasionally of scooping up a few asteroids for matter. There's still a scene where hundreds of ludicrously-huge ships face off, all knowing that they could be vaporized in an instant; will future war really be fought that way?
Asher continues his excellent theme that Earth Central, Dragon and some other players are necessarily taking a Really Long View, and can't be expected to make the same decisions as those with a shorter planning horizon.
I think I've seen that #3 will be the last of this set. What dramatic end will Trike meet? Will Penny Royal be back? Will we find out what the inscrutable Dragon is? Will it be ineffable?
And Neil, if you're reading this ... how about a story set in the Old War Drones Club, where they snark each other and swap stories? With an AI as host, and a setup like Asimov's club mysteries.
November 10, 2022
Asher doing what he does and doing it at full throttle. I was tempted to drop a star for the sudden...wait what just happened...finish, but I went into this knowing it was a series so full marks and I will take it on the chin.
December 1, 2019
I spent the first third or so of this book frantically trying to remember the events in “The Soldier” which is the first book in the Rise of the Jain series. Things did come back to me as I read, but I would recommend rereading the first book or at least finding a summary on the internet for a refresher before jumping into “The Warship”.
This book remains constantly complex, and has shifting points of view like most of Asher's Polity novels. The central characters though are all connected to warships of various types. The AI Blade aboard the Obsidian Blade, Diana the linked human, and Hoge the AI both aboard the gigantic ship The Cable Houge are the focus of the Polity side of the story. The Prador Orlik aboard the Kinghammer is the focus of the Prador side, and the mysterious Client aboard Defense Station Mu, round out the Warships involved.
Which of those is supposed to be the Warship in the title is left to the reader to determine. But it's not that simple because as the story continues more possible warships appear in the mysterious accretion disk which was the focus of the previous stories finale. In fact many revelations are made concerning the accretion disk which was long suspected as a Jain stronghold of some sort. It's worse than that, but that is all I will say.
Like his other Polity novels this one is fast paced and compelling. I did find the complexity slowed my reading from some of the previous Polity stories, but not in an unpleasant way. Will I read more, yup, for sure. I hate the idea that I have to wait for the next release *checks internet* BAH!... hardback next May, so since I usual go paperback maybe next year some time.
This book remains constantly complex, and has shifting points of view like most of Asher's Polity novels. The central characters though are all connected to warships of various types. The AI Blade aboard the Obsidian Blade, Diana the linked human, and Hoge the AI both aboard the gigantic ship The Cable Houge are the focus of the Polity side of the story. The Prador Orlik aboard the Kinghammer is the focus of the Prador side, and the mysterious Client aboard Defense Station Mu, round out the Warships involved.
Which of those is supposed to be the Warship in the title is left to the reader to determine. But it's not that simple because as the story continues more possible warships appear in the mysterious accretion disk which was the focus of the previous stories finale. In fact many revelations are made concerning the accretion disk which was long suspected as a Jain stronghold of some sort. It's worse than that, but that is all I will say.
Like his other Polity novels this one is fast paced and compelling. I did find the complexity slowed my reading from some of the previous Polity stories, but not in an unpleasant way. Will I read more, yup, for sure. I hate the idea that I have to wait for the next release *checks internet* BAH!... hardback next May, so since I usual go paperback maybe next year some time.
March 28, 2022
More feverish, high-octane SF fun; filled with Asher's trademark disregard for body sanctity, ever increasing spaceship size (yes, the one-thousand mile limit is breached), enemies-to frenamies-to (almost-) friends, battles from individual encounters to moon-sized ship levels, and ever more inventive ways of killing folk. The cast is almost as vast as the setting, and you must have at least read The Soldier -first in this particular sequence- before reading this; but, really, the more you've read of his whole Polity universe the more there is to be enjoyed here - as many past characters make an appearance or are referenced.
It would be refreshing if Asher calmed down a little once this trilogy comples with The Human, if he took a breath and attempted something more intimate and personal... but I doubt that will happen - and, to be honest, would hardly complain if/when it didn't.
Because for all his breathlessness and occasional over-excited rough patches, he writes SF catnip.
It would be refreshing if Asher calmed down a little once this trilogy comples with The Human, if he took a breath and attempted something more intimate and personal... but I doubt that will happen - and, to be honest, would hardly complain if/when it didn't.
Because for all his breathlessness and occasional over-excited rough patches, he writes SF catnip.
Want to read
April 6, 2019PW Starred: In this riveting sequel to The Soldier, Asher ramps up the pyrotechnics in the thunderous first salvoes of war between the human/AI Polity and the xenophobic Jain culture, which humans had believed long extinct. In the first book, a single Jain soldier was revived and then destroyed by Orlandine, a cyborg “haiman” in control of the Jaskoran system and one of the guardians of a nearby accretion disc, a former solar system scattered with dormant Jain tech. When the Clade, a swarm AI, assassinates multiple nodes of Orlandine’s consciousness, the Polity and the bellicose alien Prador Kingdom are alarmed and send armadas to the Jaskoran system. On Jaskor, Clade units cause further mayhem as they employ war and assassin drones to battle the no-longer-human (but still sympathetic) Captain Trike, who’s been overcome and made monstrous by the Shatterjay virus. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the accretion disc, something mysterious is emerging from Underspace, and the Polity fears it’s a Jain ship. Asher depicts warfare as a catalyst of biological and technological evolution while entwining the reader in twisty conundrums and misdirections. This is Asher at the top of his game and the field of military science fiction. (May)
October 26, 2022
Opět space opera jak má být, hodně akce, vesmírných bitev, bojových robotů a vůbec všeho, co od knížek Neala Ashera čekáme. Příběh se zamotává, atmosféra kolem akrečního disku povážlivě houstne, navzájem tu na sebe cení zuby Pradoři, řádové lodě, huimanská Orlandine, záhadný Drak i Klientka. A když se z disku najednou kdovíco vynoří, začne se to kolem hemžit, jako když rozkopnete mraveniště. Akorát že tihle mravenci se s ničím moc nemažou :)
August 7, 2019
Asher is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors. Can't believe it took me so long to recognize his talent, but at least I have a lot of joyful catch up reading to do through his entire works to date.
This 2nd book in the Rise of the Jain series was amazing! If you are looking for a story that is gripping, thoughtful, evocative, entertaining and HARD HARD HARD scifi, then this series is for YOU!
Unlike the first book, this 2nd one takes place entirely in one location in the galaxy. And there is A LOT going on as the Polity and the Pradors try to stop whatever it is that is happening at the Jain tech accretion disc near the Jaskor star system. And there's more going on in the story than just this, as Asher takes it down to the personal with what is going on with the character Trike and his waning humanity.
Not sure when book #3 will be out, but I'm already anxiously anticipating it!
This 2nd book in the Rise of the Jain series was amazing! If you are looking for a story that is gripping, thoughtful, evocative, entertaining and HARD HARD HARD scifi, then this series is for YOU!
Unlike the first book, this 2nd one takes place entirely in one location in the galaxy. And there is A LOT going on as the Polity and the Pradors try to stop whatever it is that is happening at the Jain tech accretion disc near the Jaskor star system. And there's more going on in the story than just this, as Asher takes it down to the personal with what is going on with the character Trike and his waning humanity.
Not sure when book #3 will be out, but I'm already anxiously anticipating it!
May 15, 2019
FYI - Prepare for a massive cliff hanger at the end of this book.
Mr. Asher knows how to scale up threats in his novels without them become cartoonish or otherwise silly. In the early Polity novels we were looking at single protagonists or limited outbreaks of Jain corruption. In this series we're way more out there than that. The first book, the Warrior, concerned a single Jain warrior causing strife amongst the other sinister characters. In this one, well, just look at the title. This book also does a nice job between the characters of illustrating that no matter how intelligent, how advanced, you may be there's still a problem of missing the forest for the trees.
Which leaves us at the end of this book where the Polity and the Kingdom suddenly realise they may not have enough BOOMS to deal with the current situation.
Mr. Asher knows how to scale up threats in his novels without them become cartoonish or otherwise silly. In the early Polity novels we were looking at single protagonists or limited outbreaks of Jain corruption. In this series we're way more out there than that. The first book, the Warrior, concerned a single Jain warrior causing strife amongst the other sinister characters. In this one, well, just look at the title. This book also does a nice job between the characters of illustrating that no matter how intelligent, how advanced, you may be there's still a problem of missing the forest for the trees.
Which leaves us at the end of this book where the Polity and the Kingdom suddenly realise they may not have enough BOOMS to deal with the current situation.
April 27, 2024
Better than The Soldier, so will definitely continue to trilogy’s end
August 8, 2020
I had been a bit disappointed by the first book in the Jain trilogy but warship is a good return to form for mr Asher.
His ability to write cool tech sometimes gets the better of him and he ignores the character elements of his story. This was not the case here.
His ability to write cool tech sometimes gets the better of him and he ignores the character elements of his story. This was not the case here.
October 10, 2022
Cracking sci fi very well narrated by Peter Noble. You need to go on to read book 3 of the trilogy now...
May 25, 2019
The War Ship: Rise of the Jain, Book Two (Kindle Edition) by Neal Asher
This is the point at which magic becomes indistinguishable from technology.
And you just *thought* his past book, The Soldier, was incredible! Here the author turns the page from the end of that book, and into this one. No quarter is asked for nor drawn, sink or swim, you better bring your "A Game" because Neal Asher certainly does!
How ironic that so many of the most loved/hated characters are decidedly not human! But also, the humans that are involved, are well played and written. So, the characters may or not even be humanoid at all, but yet are relatable. Even if a wee bit, ever so slightly dysfunctional. But I say that like destroying an entire planet filled with sapient people is a bad thing?!
There are so many twist and turns in the plot that you will need pat attention very sharply folks! Also, the characters all go though some very unwanted, and uber painful personal growth. In some cases said growth is rather repulsive and repugnant, and this too applies to the body as well as the mind. We're not even going to get into "spirit", and that's probably for the best, ha!
This is a fast paced follow up, and not to be missed! Considering the way this book closes, Neal better be pounding away furiously on his keyboard... Oh wait, scratch that, he should be fully gridlocked in and downloading the final tome now! Otherwise Orlandine will be very pissed off!
This is the point at which magic becomes indistinguishable from technology.
And you just *thought* his past book, The Soldier, was incredible! Here the author turns the page from the end of that book, and into this one. No quarter is asked for nor drawn, sink or swim, you better bring your "A Game" because Neal Asher certainly does!
How ironic that so many of the most loved/hated characters are decidedly not human! But also, the humans that are involved, are well played and written. So, the characters may or not even be humanoid at all, but yet are relatable. Even if a wee bit, ever so slightly dysfunctional. But I say that like destroying an entire planet filled with sapient people is a bad thing?!
There are so many twist and turns in the plot that you will need pat attention very sharply folks! Also, the characters all go though some very unwanted, and uber painful personal growth. In some cases said growth is rather repulsive and repugnant, and this too applies to the body as well as the mind. We're not even going to get into "spirit", and that's probably for the best, ha!
This is a fast paced follow up, and not to be missed! Considering the way this book closes, Neal better be pounding away furiously on his keyboard... Oh wait, scratch that, he should be fully gridlocked in and downloading the final tome now! Otherwise Orlandine will be very pissed off!
May 13, 2019
Asher does it again.
This second book in the Rise of the Jain trilogy starts where the previous one ended, and adds more background and lore to the Polity Universe and one of its most infamous Elder Races, the Jain. We've only seen the Jain so far thru the lenses of the technology they left around which is basically a world-devourer trap. Now, we get to understand a bit better why that technology got there.
Of course, there's plenty of technology thrown around, total callous disregard for anything except force itself, and the various bits that one expects from a Polity novel. A few people lose their humanity (or what was left of it). Thankfully, the usual deus ex machina - the Dragon - that's been around is kept back and does not interfere too much. Even when the titular Warship finally comes around.
As usual, unless you've read most of Asher's older books, you will be completely and absolutely lost. You need not only to have read the previous book (or you will be even more lost), but also most of the Polity books to understand what goes on with the Polity, the Jain technology, the Prador and the Hoppers.
And now, after this cliffhanger, you need to wait until book 3. If you don't like that, wait a bit then.
This second book in the Rise of the Jain trilogy starts where the previous one ended, and adds more background and lore to the Polity Universe and one of its most infamous Elder Races, the Jain. We've only seen the Jain so far thru the lenses of the technology they left around which is basically a world-devourer trap. Now, we get to understand a bit better why that technology got there.
Of course, there's plenty of technology thrown around, total callous disregard for anything except force itself, and the various bits that one expects from a Polity novel. A few people lose their humanity (or what was left of it). Thankfully, the usual deus ex machina - the Dragon - that's been around is kept back and does not interfere too much. Even when the titular Warship finally comes around.
As usual, unless you've read most of Asher's older books, you will be completely and absolutely lost. You need not only to have read the previous book (or you will be even more lost), but also most of the Polity books to understand what goes on with the Polity, the Jain technology, the Prador and the Hoppers.
And now, after this cliffhanger, you need to wait until book 3. If you don't like that, wait a bit then.
June 27, 2019
A middling book form one of the best sci-fi writers around.
Asher falls into many of the same tropes that have worked for him in the past, tropes which are now familiar and stifle the story and characters. Things which were fresh, new and exciting are now tired, old and mundane.
Things such as: Several powerful entities knowing most, if not all, of what is going on.
Humans are squishy and stupid.
A plan initiated by someone/something which baffles everyone, but the solution is simple.
Retcons galore.
Some of the plot drags, and there is a bit of repetition as something happens and everyone has a some page space dedicated on how they process this and how this adds to the bigger mystery, and then trying to figure out what is going on
There is a lot of characters, which isn't a bad thing, if they didn't have there own POV sections. I counted at least twelve different POV character sections (I think there may be up to sixteen), and at least half of them are not interesting and whatever they bring to the story is of little consequence and gets in the way of the more interesting stuff going on.
Talking of interesting stuff, there is plenty going on. There is a huge space battle, which is epic, destructive and well written.
There is a cool body horror moment which is disturbing but again well realised and written.
Though there are masses of characters, there are interesting ones. Orlandine is very interesting and goes through a lot, but her arc is progressive and intriguing which propels the story along nicely.
Trike (though retconning some cool revelations in other books) goes through some changes and the action he partakes in is visceral.
The Clade is a monster.
You can't beat the war drones, they are a blast.
There is a lot of new information revealed about the Jain, which is awesome. They are the main antagonists for many books, but learning more about them and perhaps why they do what they do is great. It adds to the threat and danger immensely and ups the stakes too.
There is plenty to like about this book, plenty of very good stuff in it. But it does feel like the middle book, (which it is) a bit of wheel spinning, dragging in places.
Not the best Asher book, but it is a marked improvement over his Dark Intelligence trilogy, The Owner Trilogy and the first book in this series The Soldier.
Not the peak of his prowess, but getting there.
Asher falls into many of the same tropes that have worked for him in the past, tropes which are now familiar and stifle the story and characters. Things which were fresh, new and exciting are now tired, old and mundane.
Things such as: Several powerful entities knowing most, if not all, of what is going on.
Humans are squishy and stupid.
A plan initiated by someone/something which baffles everyone, but the solution is simple.
Retcons galore.
Some of the plot drags, and there is a bit of repetition as something happens and everyone has a some page space dedicated on how they process this and how this adds to the bigger mystery, and then trying to figure out what is going on
There is a lot of characters, which isn't a bad thing, if they didn't have there own POV sections. I counted at least twelve different POV character sections (I think there may be up to sixteen), and at least half of them are not interesting and whatever they bring to the story is of little consequence and gets in the way of the more interesting stuff going on.
Talking of interesting stuff, there is plenty going on. There is a huge space battle, which is epic, destructive and well written.
There is a cool body horror moment which is disturbing but again well realised and written.
Though there are masses of characters, there are interesting ones. Orlandine is very interesting and goes through a lot, but her arc is progressive and intriguing which propels the story along nicely.
Trike (though retconning some cool revelations in other books) goes through some changes and the action he partakes in is visceral.
The Clade is a monster.
You can't beat the war drones, they are a blast.
There is a lot of new information revealed about the Jain, which is awesome. They are the main antagonists for many books, but learning more about them and perhaps why they do what they do is great. It adds to the threat and danger immensely and ups the stakes too.
There is plenty to like about this book, plenty of very good stuff in it. But it does feel like the middle book, (which it is) a bit of wheel spinning, dragging in places.
Not the best Asher book, but it is a marked improvement over his Dark Intelligence trilogy, The Owner Trilogy and the first book in this series The Soldier.
Not the peak of his prowess, but getting there.
March 10, 2021
Earth Central, Dragon, Trike, Orlandine, The Client and the Prador have temporarily made peace to deal with a greater threat. There is activity in the accretion disc’s event horizon which means the Jain are waking up. The threat of Jain technology getting out into the universe at large is too great of a threat to allow.
This novel was filled with action, suspense, betrayals and new alliances. The plot was intense with tons of battles and fights. There wasn’t as high of a death count as some of his other novels (mainly the Owner Trilogy) but when the deaths did occur there was a bigger emotional impact.
The pacing was a little off as the middle-end was a little slow and the end was unbelievably intense. The middle-end focused on some characters realizing their new potential or taking care of loose ends which was necessary for character development but also a tad boring. The ending was insane as more about the Jain are revealed. I loved the new information the reader got as I really wanted to learn more about them and now I finally have.
Since I haven’t read any of the other novels in the Spatterjay Universe I was confused initially. As the novel progressed though everything fell into place and as such started to make sense.
The characters were hard to get to know as most of them are AI’s, cyborgs, or Golems so they don’t have the same human emotions. As such I couldn’t really relate to them. I loved how Neal Asher explained their thought processes and logical deductions as the reader could understand how and why they did what they did.
In summary this was a great, yet intense, science fiction novel. I loved the plot and the setting as there really wasn’t any dull moments. Another great novel by a great author.
This novel was filled with action, suspense, betrayals and new alliances. The plot was intense with tons of battles and fights. There wasn’t as high of a death count as some of his other novels (mainly the Owner Trilogy) but when the deaths did occur there was a bigger emotional impact.
The pacing was a little off as the middle-end was a little slow and the end was unbelievably intense. The middle-end focused on some characters realizing their new potential or taking care of loose ends which was necessary for character development but also a tad boring. The ending was insane as more about the Jain are revealed. I loved the new information the reader got as I really wanted to learn more about them and now I finally have.
Since I haven’t read any of the other novels in the Spatterjay Universe I was confused initially. As the novel progressed though everything fell into place and as such started to make sense.
The characters were hard to get to know as most of them are AI’s, cyborgs, or Golems so they don’t have the same human emotions. As such I couldn’t really relate to them. I loved how Neal Asher explained their thought processes and logical deductions as the reader could understand how and why they did what they did.
In summary this was a great, yet intense, science fiction novel. I loved the plot and the setting as there really wasn’t any dull moments. Another great novel by a great author.
February 1, 2020
Having loved The Solider (book 1), I was desperate to begin reading the second book, but found myself annoyed at the £10 cost of an ebook. Ultimately though, I caved in (wuss!) and read the entire tome in a week.
It's all there - multilayered plot, dense technology, deep characters, very little filler, a bouncing pace.
Which is why I am struggling to understand why I was left feeling ... disappointed. I suppose I expected more in terms of the development of the story, something that Asher is a master of, at least in his other books. Maybe the trilogy format (I assume) divided the story arc into these pieces: there just wasn't much that happened, and I'm not sure I bought into the central plot device of the book, the nature of the ...
It's all there - multilayered plot, dense technology, deep characters, very little filler, a bouncing pace.
Which is why I am struggling to understand why I was left feeling ... disappointed. I suppose I expected more in terms of the development of the story, something that Asher is a master of, at least in his other books. Maybe the trilogy format (I assume) divided the story arc into these pieces: there just wasn't much that happened, and I'm not sure I bought into the central plot device of the book, the nature of the ...
August 19, 2019
This series is heating up in the second installment. I love the multiple, interwoven plotlines and the foreshadowing of a cataclysmic conflict with an ancient, warrior species. From the machinations of the mysterious Wheel, to the destructive malice of an artificially intelligent swarm, there are many implacable enemies that can't be pinned down, even by the vast, artificial intelligences of the human-led Polity. Although this exists in the milieu of Asher's longtime fictional universe, the series reads well on its own.
Asher's writing is dense and action-oriented. The plot moves quickly, and there's a vast arena you could call space opera. But this is also a story about evolution, and about how humans relate to technology and artificial intelligence. The partnership between humans and AI's is explored in detail, including a lead character who is a bit of both. There's a lot to think about in a book like this, but it's optimistic about the human relationship with technology, and reassuring about some of the challenges we will face in the future.
Asher's writing is dense and action-oriented. The plot moves quickly, and there's a vast arena you could call space opera. But this is also a story about evolution, and about how humans relate to technology and artificial intelligence. The partnership between humans and AI's is explored in detail, including a lead character who is a bit of both. There's a lot to think about in a book like this, but it's optimistic about the human relationship with technology, and reassuring about some of the challenges we will face in the future.
October 25, 2020
The Warship is the second book in Asher’s Rise of the Jain trilogy that is possibly shaping up to be my favourite series yet of Asher’s Polity books. The Warship is packed with action from start to finish; my edition has a brief quote from Locus magazine – ‘Titanic battle sequences’ – that pretty much sums it up. As ever Asher’s imagination is startling in its mind-expanding detail. This book has everything that has made his Polity books such a success - Dragon, drones, AIs, Hoopers, Prador, vast space battles, etc. – all wrapped up in a plot that keeps the pages turning and the late night candle burning.
As always Asher manages to juggle all the elements of the story so deftly that the reader is seamlessly led from wondering how all this can possibly come together to a dramatic and yet natural conclusion that manages to be both satisfying and a cliff hanger at the same time. I strongly recommend anyone starting this book to be ready to quickly purchase the sequel or have it to hand already. I have it and it surely will not be long before I make a start on it.
As always Asher manages to juggle all the elements of the story so deftly that the reader is seamlessly led from wondering how all this can possibly come together to a dramatic and yet natural conclusion that manages to be both satisfying and a cliff hanger at the same time. I strongly recommend anyone starting this book to be ready to quickly purchase the sequel or have it to hand already. I have it and it surely will not be long before I make a start on it.
November 28, 2025
10/10 stars
My full review on my blog.
[...]
Yep, it’s again no-holds-barred, fate-of-the-universe kind of story, where many shades of grey paint an increasingly gloomy picture but, in the end, get brightened by the spark of hope and the rally of the best sentience has to offer. Is it any surprise Asher’s books have become my comfort read? 😉
That said, these books should not be read as a first foray into Polity – they are a killer summation of everything that has come before, from Spatterjay to Orlandine, from Earth Central to Oberon. If these mean nothing to you, better start somewhere else 😉. Asher masterfully weaves a breath-taking tapestry from all the disparate strands from many separate novels and series, adding layers of complexity to his already impressively elaborate world and its history.
[...]
.I received a copy of one of the books (“The Human”) from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.
My full review on my blog.
[...]
Yep, it’s again no-holds-barred, fate-of-the-universe kind of story, where many shades of grey paint an increasingly gloomy picture but, in the end, get brightened by the spark of hope and the rally of the best sentience has to offer. Is it any surprise Asher’s books have become my comfort read? 😉
That said, these books should not be read as a first foray into Polity – they are a killer summation of everything that has come before, from Spatterjay to Orlandine, from Earth Central to Oberon. If these mean nothing to you, better start somewhere else 😉. Asher masterfully weaves a breath-taking tapestry from all the disparate strands from many separate novels and series, adding layers of complexity to his already impressively elaborate world and its history.
[...]
.I received a copy of one of the books (“The Human”) from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.
October 12, 2020
For years now, Neal Asher has teased the concept of the Jain; a dead race whose remnant technology is a lethal threat to all that meddle with it. With this sub-series of his sprawling "Polity" universe Asher is finally putting some meat on the bones of this particular monster and I must say that the wait has been worth it, as Asher's long-term readers are going to be wondering how his cast of characters are going to get out from under this doom. The only real problem here is that while those folks familiar with Asher's concoctions of super science, political intrigue, cinematic violence, body horror, and that aura which can only be called the Post-Human Blues, will eat this up, this novel will be totally impervious to the new reader. Those folks should probably start with the "Transformation" trilogy, which works well as an introduction to Asher, and I still think is the man's best writing to date.
March 31, 2023
At some point I'm going to stop reading these Neal Asher books. They are so full of callbacks to his earlier works (including explanations of pervious plot points) that there is hardly any room for new material. This is a real shame because the world building in Asher's novels was always top-notch.
It's hard to say what could be done to fix this problem. I would love to see a brand new world with new characters in the Polity Universe. But, the existing collection of characters, technologies, and settings is so full of good stuff that it is likely impossible to just ignore it for a novel or two. I guess this is what short-story collections are for.
Anyway, "The Warship" is just as fun as its predecessor (The Soldier). There's plenty of space battles and super-human characters. There are a number of plot threads that are tied up. But, most importantly (for any trilogy) the major conflict is set into motion. I think I'll proceed to the third book right away.
It's hard to say what could be done to fix this problem. I would love to see a brand new world with new characters in the Polity Universe. But, the existing collection of characters, technologies, and settings is so full of good stuff that it is likely impossible to just ignore it for a novel or two. I guess this is what short-story collections are for.
Anyway, "The Warship" is just as fun as its predecessor (The Soldier). There's plenty of space battles and super-human characters. There are a number of plot threads that are tied up. But, most importantly (for any trilogy) the major conflict is set into motion. I think I'll proceed to the third book right away.
June 24, 2019
If you read the Soldier then of course you are going to read this book. Neal Asher is a great author and he is writing some of the best hard science fiction available. But.. as often happens with the second book in a trilogy there is a lot of stage dressing going on. Lots of time is spent positioning all the important players, explaining to the reader why they are getting ready to do the things they will need to do and so on. So while the book is certainly not boring (Asher is far too good to write a boring book) all the battles and conflicts seem preordained, there is not much that actually surprises the reader. Everything seems to happen just so all the pieces are positioned and ready for the next book (which should be amazing)
November 10, 2019
With Neal Asher's 2019 novel "Polity, Book 13; Rise of the Jain, Book 2: Warship, The," I guess I've just become burned out with the series. It's become a never-ending slog of ever increasing "leveling up" of both protagonists and antagonists. It's gotten to the point that it's really not even science fiction any more. Basically, with where everyone and everything has gotten now, these are gods just doing whatever they darn well feel like. Oh, the writing is good enough (though the story is a bit dragged out). But, I'm just tired of it. So, I'm rating the book at an OK 3 stars out of 5. I got this book from the library, but I doubt I'll even buy it. Similarly, I doubt I'll even continue with what I assume will be the final book in this "Rise of the Jain" sub-series.
May 28, 2021
Replongeons in media res dans la suite de The Soldier avec ce deuxième tome de la saga, après l’envoi d’un trou noir dans le disque d’accrétion contenant la technologie Jain par Orlandine, et après la bataille entre le Client et le Libraire.
Oui, je sais, ça ne veut rien dire comme ça, mais faites moi confiance, ça vaut le coup. J’avais beaucoup aimé l’univers ultra high tech du premier livre, très proche des thèmes abordés dans le cycle de la Culture de Banks. Le livre, malgré sa petite taille, est très dense, et ralenti rarement le rythme. J’ai hâte d’en connaître le dénouement !
Let’s dive back in media res in the second book from the saga, after Orlandine send a black hole in the accretion disk containing the Jain technology, ans after the battle between the Client and the Librarian.
Yes, I know, it seems like it does not mean anything, but trust me on that one, it deserves it. I loved the ultra high tech universe exposed in this book, very close in thematics from the Culture books from Banks. The book, despite its small size, is quite dense, and rarely slows down. I am looking forward to now the ending !
Let’s dive back in media res in the second book from the saga, after Orlandine send a black hole in the accretion disk containing the Jain technology, ans after the battle between the Client and the Librarian.
Yes, I know, it seems like it does not mean anything, but trust me on that one, it deserves it. I loved the ultra high tech universe exposed in this book, very close in thematics from the Culture books from Banks. The book, despite its small size, is quite dense, and rarely slows down. I am looking forward to now the ending !
June 8, 2019
The Warship where nothing is what you assume, the Jain are back and they are not what you thought they are, well the are sort of, its complicated.
This has layers of complexity, intergalactic politics, interpersonal relationships having far reaching consequences.
Asher cleverly uses "reference" extracts at the beginning of each chapter to explain the science behind the fundamental plot points; how warships travel FTL, communications, weapons, AI/human combination and others. This avoids the often clumsy need for characters to 'explain' things as part of the plot.
The ending sets up book three and I cannot wait.
This has layers of complexity, intergalactic politics, interpersonal relationships having far reaching consequences.
Asher cleverly uses "reference" extracts at the beginning of each chapter to explain the science behind the fundamental plot points; how warships travel FTL, communications, weapons, AI/human combination and others. This avoids the often clumsy need for characters to 'explain' things as part of the plot.
The ending sets up book three and I cannot wait.
June 26, 2019
Pretty standard fare for a book set in the Prador universe. Scheming AIs, enhanced humans and aliens and deep space battles.
For some reason, this didn't hold my attention as well as all the previous books. Maybe because the plot structure was becoming too predictable? And as an entity, the Client's form was a little hard to believe. How could anything like that ever evolve and survive? Possibly what irks me is that the story is still unfinished and so there are still lots of unanswered questions.
Probably needs a re-read at some time in the near future, maybe just before the last instalment comes out.
For some reason, this didn't hold my attention as well as all the previous books. Maybe because the plot structure was becoming too predictable? And as an entity, the Client's form was a little hard to believe. How could anything like that ever evolve and survive? Possibly what irks me is that the story is still unfinished and so there are still lots of unanswered questions.
Probably needs a re-read at some time in the near future, maybe just before the last instalment comes out.
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