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Polity Universe (chronological)
Lockdown Tales
Best-selling author Neal Asher was far from idle during the isolation of lockdown; he kept himself occupied in the best way possible: he wrote. And his imagination was clearly in overdrive. Five brand new novellas and novelettes and one novella reworked and expanded from a story first published in 2019. Together, they form Lockdown Tales, exploring the latter days of the Polity universe and beyond. What lies in wait for humanity after the Polity has gone?
Six stories, 150,000 words of fiction that crackle with energy, invention and excitement. Within their pages you will encounter Prador, hoopers, sassy A.I.s, a resurrected Golem, a mutated giant whelk that can ravage an island, hooders, megalomaniacs, war drones, Penny Royal, an intriguing SFnal take on High Plains Drifter and another with echoes of Robinson Crusoe... In fact, everything you might expect from concentrated Neal Asher and more.
Six stories, 150,000 words of fiction that crackle with energy, invention and excitement. Within their pages you will encounter Prador, hoopers, sassy A.I.s, a resurrected Golem, a mutated giant whelk that can ravage an island, hooders, megalomaniacs, war drones, Penny Royal, an intriguing SFnal take on High Plains Drifter and another with echoes of Robinson Crusoe... In fact, everything you might expect from concentrated Neal Asher and more.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 15, 2020
212 people are currently reading
623 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...
Source: http://www.blogger.com/profile/139339...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
June 24, 2022
Amazing collection of stories. It’s Neal Asher how can it not be?
January 16, 2021
A fantastic collection of short stories/novellas exploring polity adjacent ideas/situations. Mr. Asher sometimes has a tendency to go dark, and these seem moreso than his novels.
They went down smooth, and I'd recommend them to anyone who is already enjoying Polity content.
They went down smooth, and I'd recommend them to anyone who is already enjoying Polity content.
May 10, 2021
Nobody does this type of SF blockbuster action better than Asher.
I spoiled myself by getting the limited edition signed hardback from the excellent Newcon Press website ran by Ian Whates. For anyone who's not tried it yet, it's well worth a look.
It's been a while since my last Asher read and you tend to forget just how good this guy is. It's not just the full on action bits (where whole planets can get bumped off), Neal is good at putting a story together and just making them damn readable.
Lockdown Tales consists of 6 short stories set in the universe of the Polity. While you don't need any prior knowledge of the Polity universe and Asher's previous works to appreciate these stories, fans will be happy at the return of a few favourites.
Without giving too much away (as this info is given in the blurb on the back of the book) there is a return to Spatterjay, war drones, golems, hooders, and a certain spiny black AI.
If you like your SF with a dollop of action and a spoonful of bloody mayhem this is for you.
I spoiled myself by getting the limited edition signed hardback from the excellent Newcon Press website ran by Ian Whates. For anyone who's not tried it yet, it's well worth a look.
It's been a while since my last Asher read and you tend to forget just how good this guy is. It's not just the full on action bits (where whole planets can get bumped off), Neal is good at putting a story together and just making them damn readable.
Lockdown Tales consists of 6 short stories set in the universe of the Polity. While you don't need any prior knowledge of the Polity universe and Asher's previous works to appreciate these stories, fans will be happy at the return of a few favourites.
Without giving too much away (as this info is given in the blurb on the back of the book) there is a return to Spatterjay, war drones, golems, hooders, and a certain spiny black AI.
If you like your SF with a dollop of action and a spoonful of bloody mayhem this is for you.
December 17, 2020
Honestly this group of stories are some of the best I've ever read
If you like hard science fiction, Cutting Edge artificial intelligence mixed in with the Art of War, then these stories are for you! This is one of those books that every story is outstanding. This man is an outstanding author, and this is money well spent
If you like hard science fiction, Cutting Edge artificial intelligence mixed in with the Art of War, then these stories are for you! This is one of those books that every story is outstanding. This man is an outstanding author, and this is money well spent
January 10, 2021
Neal Asher’s polity universe, developed in his Rise of the Jain trilogy, adds context to this five-story anthology. The stories in Lockdown Tales take place a thousand years after the fall of Jain biotechnology. It is a time of searching for forgotten science, biotech artifacts, and human devolution, a story made real by the recognizable pursuit of food, shelter, and life’s purpose needs.
There is not a bad story in this book. Every one of them kept me engaged and made it hard to put the book down. The stories are all stand-alone; none needing a polity universe background to enjoy. At my slow reading speed, each story took about two hours to read which, for me, a bedtime reader, required two evenings.
Neal Asher is a creative writer whose polity biotech explanations sometimes lose me. But pushing on, I was rewarded by literary action and touched by human emotional contact.
If you like Neal Asher’s writings or you’re a Sci-Fi futurist, then you’ll enjoy reading Lockdown Tales.
There is not a bad story in this book. Every one of them kept me engaged and made it hard to put the book down. The stories are all stand-alone; none needing a polity universe background to enjoy. At my slow reading speed, each story took about two hours to read which, for me, a bedtime reader, required two evenings.
Neal Asher is a creative writer whose polity biotech explanations sometimes lose me. But pushing on, I was rewarded by literary action and touched by human emotional contact.
If you like Neal Asher’s writings or you’re a Sci-Fi futurist, then you’ll enjoy reading Lockdown Tales.
December 27, 2020
I. like Asher. He's one of my favourite living SciFi writers.
This is a great short story collection for those knowing the Polity Universe. Not all stories are as good as all others, but that's to be expected and also a matter of taste.
I don't think it's for those new to Asher or the Polity series.
Having said all this, as usual with recent Asher publications, it needs good EDITING!!! Loads of typos and spelling issues. Could also do with some actual editing. It feels like Asher write these in one pass, and the publisher gives a heck about quality. Come on guys, you cab do better. Show some respect to your paying readers!
This is a great short story collection for those knowing the Polity Universe. Not all stories are as good as all others, but that's to be expected and also a matter of taste.
I don't think it's for those new to Asher or the Polity series.
Having said all this, as usual with recent Asher publications, it needs good EDITING!!! Loads of typos and spelling issues. Could also do with some actual editing. It feels like Asher write these in one pass, and the publisher gives a heck about quality. Come on guys, you cab do better. Show some respect to your paying readers!
January 6, 2021
Great read for anyone who loves Asher’s work ... these are short stories that just add depth and color and pain in a good way to many of the characters and storylines that existed before you have to read it if you follow any of the polity series.
It’s great to hand Neal Asher creating wonderous chaos.
It’s great to hand Neal Asher creating wonderous chaos.
December 12, 2020
Neal Asher’s Lockdown Tales are six separate stories in the future after the fall of the Polity Universe. The first story is titled The Relic, and is concerning the War Machine that looks like a Scorpion, and needs to be ‘dug up’ and activated by a Golem posing as a human male. It’s a fair first story.
================================================================
Ridiculous idea,’ said the man. ‘And quite likely you’ll damage the relict!’
‘I don’t think so,’ Rune replied. ‘It’s undamaged, as far as we can see, from having been swamped in lava.’
‘And what precisely do you expect that to do?’ asked the woman snootily.
‘I expect we’ll perhaps see some activation of some of its parts,’ Rune replied. ‘We can then continue from there. We will learn something at least instead of simply recording what is easily evident.’
‘And what is easily evident?’ she asked.
‘That it is a rugged war drone made in the shape of a scorpion and all but impenetrable to the technology we have available.’
‘In your expert opinion,’ the man derided.
‘And,’ said the woman, ‘supposing this does manage to activate something, it could be very dangerous.’
Rune focused on her. ‘Are you saying that a Polity relict could be dangerous to us?’
December 2, 2020 at 12:41 AM
=============================================================
Then in Bad Boy the 3rd story a huge monster on Spatterjay must be studied by a particular scientist with the help of a special AI. Good yet serviceable story.
But the crowning achievement of Lockdown Tales is the story Plenty, about 120 pages, with a fine forecasting that had me remembering Andy Weir’s The Martian. A crash landed shuttle, from a larger vessel in space, brings about one survivor. Who creates a single home alone upon a dead Bio/Physical planet. The story is good on its own but then the man finds a damaged female Golem buried in the ground, ANNA, for over a thousand years and the man attempts to activate it. A sort of sexually charged relationship happens with the Golem and the man, who himself is dying and needs extensive care from the Golem, Anna to return to health. This particular story had me not wanting to put the book down. And it seems to me that Mr. Asher would want to continue with the story as it ends with any number of questions. He and the female Golem and what would be next certainly would be of a readers further interest. A must story to read if you know the work of Asher.
==================================================================
At first when he saw it, he thought rescue had arrived, for a big human stood on the plain gazing towards him. He raised a hand, suddenly joyful, but the man stooped forwards and, down on all fours, came charging towards him like a silverback gorilla, grunting and whickering. This was no man. He opened fire on the thing, hitting one shoulder, the flash lighting up carapace and gleaming metallic eyes. The creature swerved and disappeared behind a clump of podule foliage.
Not so confident any more he pushed his barrow back to the house and closed the door. The next day he found mantid remains scattered all about the area and had to hunt further afield for them until their population grew again, sure in the knowledge now that they weren’t the apex predator here.
December 7, 2020 at 1:22 AM
“The passing thought that he should have gone round and said something at the graves came and went. The people in them were dead and decayed and humanity had long ago lost any belief in supernatural afterlives. And with the burial and the brief moments he had spent by the graves, he had long ago accepted their deaths. He pulled the door closed, fought the time-hardened seal until the latch clicked home, then went to join Anna in the cockpit.”
December 7, 2020 at 11:51 PM
===============================================================
Penny Royal makes an appearance in Dr. Whip who becomes yet another of her most unique transformations. Whip becomes a somewhat grotesque but accomplished healer to some great extent. Whip's thirst to know Penny Royal brings him to her for a few moments but is a futile gesture. Yet with most snake like results, Whip becomes that which he felt incorrect to his profession, meaning two snakes, instead of one. The actual meaning of a physician was to be a one snake wonder, on a pole, not two. Meaning that One Head was supposed to be enough.
================================================================
“Dr Whip had his own theory about why he had survived. By now, he had the full story of Penny Royal’s ‘transformations’. He had met the contract killer whose weapons the AI had melded with his body, and the singer whose vocal range became immense, while her head became that of a bird, with a birdbrain inside too. He had seen one seeker of immortality frozen in a diamond and one seeker after God who, when taken out of induced coma, could only stare at the sky and scream. In every case, something unique about them had interested the AI, and influenced its transformation of them. And so it was with Whip, though he did not recollect asking for change. The Barnard suit had been a rarity in the Polity back then, and was rarer now. He felt sure that it had stimulated the black AI’s insane curiosity and that, in some twisted warp of its mind, it had decided the suit must be preserved and so made it a permanent part of him. But the other changes? They baffled him. They bounced most forms of scan and he could not fully understand them, though they were drastic and terrible.”
December 8, 2020 at 2:10 AM
He never knew,’ he said.
‘He never knew what?’ she asked innocently.
‘That you are as unhuman as I.’
‘No, he didn’t.’ She smiled sadly. ‘Nor did he know that the cures you sometimes provide are like the gifts of a certain black AI.’
That froze him. He knew this about himself but rarely acknowledged it. Yes, he healed even those who turned against him, but often his healing became a curse. Penny Royal had made him in its own image.
December 8, 2020 at 10:55 PM
===================================================================
Raising Moloch is another fine story of this most enjoyable book. I’d never read short stories from Neil Asher. In this story an astute Hooper scientist, Jonas is enlisted by a nefarious man of leisure, Ganzen who forces him to raise a Hooper from an embryo to be sold to renegade Prador living in Graveyard space. This is done to some effect but then Jonas incorporates the original genetics of the Hooper’s creators, the Atheter into his Hooper. Thus a true War Creature with great intelligence comes alive. This isn't 'ding dong' Jurassic Park nonsense here! Doing so is Jonas who is hoping to escape the nefarious meanie Ganzen who enlisted “Mr. Giggles” A Bio Bot, to skin Jonas alive, once or twice. Not wanting a repeat of such tortures Jonas becomes a particular enemy of Ganzen’s. And to good effect as it turns out. Who says "happy endings are dead?"
Not Neal Asher.
========================================================================
“Jonas sat on the edge of his bed and, trying to get his mind in order, weighed pros and cons. He was entering ennui or perhaps already in it, the condition not being clearly defined. He had reached a point where interest and emotion outweighed his life. He was seeking novelty like all the others and that novelty might end up killing him. However, over the last week he had felt more alive than he had for years. So what should he do?
Ganzen was obviously a nasty character who probably had some terrible purpose for a hooder. The killing of that man with a tiger perfectly illustrated that.
December 10, 2020 at 12:49 AM
“In that time the hooder had continued to grow. The structures within its body had become much more defined and harder to ignore by anyone who inspected them and Caster had, by agreement, ceased to comment on them. They did at least have an organic appearance – they were not like the components of some early machine – but then so it was with most Polity robots now. When Ganzen arrived again, this time with Hoskins and two others dragging along some other individual between them, Jonas thought on inevitability.”
December 11, 2020 at 12:11 AM
“Ganzen worked the control again, this time opening the inner door. He turned away as that door began to open, obviously annoyed, and moved round to look through the window. The hooder was up like a cobra about to strike, its hood directed towards that opening door. It abruptly dipped and shot over, its head end disappearing out of sight behind the door and wall on that side. The woman started screaming in sheer raw terror, then the hooder moved abruptly and Jonas saw her sail through the air, arms and legs wind-milling, to land in the centre of the enclosure. “Only when she shouldered into the rubbery surface and scrabbled up again did Jonas see the blood squirting from where her right arm had been crushed away below the centre of her forearm. Terror still drove her, for she scrambled for the other side of the enclosure as far away from the hooder as she could get. There she sat making a horrible keening sound.”
“The creature seemed to have returned to being voracious and he could not help thinking that it killed the woman the way it had because she was capable of suffering. This led him to thoughts on its form – how perfectly designed it was to extract every last dreg of agony from a victim – and that perhaps the Atheter who had made its kind had been cruel.”
December 11, 2020 at 12:30 AM
SUMMATION
All to say that Lockdown Tales is a success in more than one ways.
I wasn’t expecting anything new from Neal Asher for some time, as his last triple play (Trilogy) was the War of the Jain, which ended only about a year ago, last time out.
But then the Pandemic dropped, giving Mr. Asher some Lockdown Time of his own, which allowed him the valuable time to flesh out these nice Asher tales, during six months in England, I take it.
I didn’t know Mr. Asher is English.
All to say that an Asher book at $5.99 is somewhat of a discovery! And at over 500 pages, something of a nice gift to while away the doldrums that such a so called Virus contains.
================================================================
Ridiculous idea,’ said the man. ‘And quite likely you’ll damage the relict!’
‘I don’t think so,’ Rune replied. ‘It’s undamaged, as far as we can see, from having been swamped in lava.’
‘And what precisely do you expect that to do?’ asked the woman snootily.
‘I expect we’ll perhaps see some activation of some of its parts,’ Rune replied. ‘We can then continue from there. We will learn something at least instead of simply recording what is easily evident.’
‘And what is easily evident?’ she asked.
‘That it is a rugged war drone made in the shape of a scorpion and all but impenetrable to the technology we have available.’
‘In your expert opinion,’ the man derided.
‘And,’ said the woman, ‘supposing this does manage to activate something, it could be very dangerous.’
Rune focused on her. ‘Are you saying that a Polity relict could be dangerous to us?’
December 2, 2020 at 12:41 AM
=============================================================
Then in Bad Boy the 3rd story a huge monster on Spatterjay must be studied by a particular scientist with the help of a special AI. Good yet serviceable story.
But the crowning achievement of Lockdown Tales is the story Plenty, about 120 pages, with a fine forecasting that had me remembering Andy Weir’s The Martian. A crash landed shuttle, from a larger vessel in space, brings about one survivor. Who creates a single home alone upon a dead Bio/Physical planet. The story is good on its own but then the man finds a damaged female Golem buried in the ground, ANNA, for over a thousand years and the man attempts to activate it. A sort of sexually charged relationship happens with the Golem and the man, who himself is dying and needs extensive care from the Golem, Anna to return to health. This particular story had me not wanting to put the book down. And it seems to me that Mr. Asher would want to continue with the story as it ends with any number of questions. He and the female Golem and what would be next certainly would be of a readers further interest. A must story to read if you know the work of Asher.
==================================================================
At first when he saw it, he thought rescue had arrived, for a big human stood on the plain gazing towards him. He raised a hand, suddenly joyful, but the man stooped forwards and, down on all fours, came charging towards him like a silverback gorilla, grunting and whickering. This was no man. He opened fire on the thing, hitting one shoulder, the flash lighting up carapace and gleaming metallic eyes. The creature swerved and disappeared behind a clump of podule foliage.
Not so confident any more he pushed his barrow back to the house and closed the door. The next day he found mantid remains scattered all about the area and had to hunt further afield for them until their population grew again, sure in the knowledge now that they weren’t the apex predator here.
December 7, 2020 at 1:22 AM
“The passing thought that he should have gone round and said something at the graves came and went. The people in them were dead and decayed and humanity had long ago lost any belief in supernatural afterlives. And with the burial and the brief moments he had spent by the graves, he had long ago accepted their deaths. He pulled the door closed, fought the time-hardened seal until the latch clicked home, then went to join Anna in the cockpit.”
December 7, 2020 at 11:51 PM
===============================================================
Penny Royal makes an appearance in Dr. Whip who becomes yet another of her most unique transformations. Whip becomes a somewhat grotesque but accomplished healer to some great extent. Whip's thirst to know Penny Royal brings him to her for a few moments but is a futile gesture. Yet with most snake like results, Whip becomes that which he felt incorrect to his profession, meaning two snakes, instead of one. The actual meaning of a physician was to be a one snake wonder, on a pole, not two. Meaning that One Head was supposed to be enough.
================================================================
“Dr Whip had his own theory about why he had survived. By now, he had the full story of Penny Royal’s ‘transformations’. He had met the contract killer whose weapons the AI had melded with his body, and the singer whose vocal range became immense, while her head became that of a bird, with a birdbrain inside too. He had seen one seeker of immortality frozen in a diamond and one seeker after God who, when taken out of induced coma, could only stare at the sky and scream. In every case, something unique about them had interested the AI, and influenced its transformation of them. And so it was with Whip, though he did not recollect asking for change. The Barnard suit had been a rarity in the Polity back then, and was rarer now. He felt sure that it had stimulated the black AI’s insane curiosity and that, in some twisted warp of its mind, it had decided the suit must be preserved and so made it a permanent part of him. But the other changes? They baffled him. They bounced most forms of scan and he could not fully understand them, though they were drastic and terrible.”
December 8, 2020 at 2:10 AM
He never knew,’ he said.
‘He never knew what?’ she asked innocently.
‘That you are as unhuman as I.’
‘No, he didn’t.’ She smiled sadly. ‘Nor did he know that the cures you sometimes provide are like the gifts of a certain black AI.’
That froze him. He knew this about himself but rarely acknowledged it. Yes, he healed even those who turned against him, but often his healing became a curse. Penny Royal had made him in its own image.
December 8, 2020 at 10:55 PM
===================================================================
Raising Moloch is another fine story of this most enjoyable book. I’d never read short stories from Neil Asher. In this story an astute Hooper scientist, Jonas is enlisted by a nefarious man of leisure, Ganzen who forces him to raise a Hooper from an embryo to be sold to renegade Prador living in Graveyard space. This is done to some effect but then Jonas incorporates the original genetics of the Hooper’s creators, the Atheter into his Hooper. Thus a true War Creature with great intelligence comes alive. This isn't 'ding dong' Jurassic Park nonsense here! Doing so is Jonas who is hoping to escape the nefarious meanie Ganzen who enlisted “Mr. Giggles” A Bio Bot, to skin Jonas alive, once or twice. Not wanting a repeat of such tortures Jonas becomes a particular enemy of Ganzen’s. And to good effect as it turns out. Who says "happy endings are dead?"
Not Neal Asher.
========================================================================
“Jonas sat on the edge of his bed and, trying to get his mind in order, weighed pros and cons. He was entering ennui or perhaps already in it, the condition not being clearly defined. He had reached a point where interest and emotion outweighed his life. He was seeking novelty like all the others and that novelty might end up killing him. However, over the last week he had felt more alive than he had for years. So what should he do?
Ganzen was obviously a nasty character who probably had some terrible purpose for a hooder. The killing of that man with a tiger perfectly illustrated that.
December 10, 2020 at 12:49 AM
“In that time the hooder had continued to grow. The structures within its body had become much more defined and harder to ignore by anyone who inspected them and Caster had, by agreement, ceased to comment on them. They did at least have an organic appearance – they were not like the components of some early machine – but then so it was with most Polity robots now. When Ganzen arrived again, this time with Hoskins and two others dragging along some other individual between them, Jonas thought on inevitability.”
December 11, 2020 at 12:11 AM
“Ganzen worked the control again, this time opening the inner door. He turned away as that door began to open, obviously annoyed, and moved round to look through the window. The hooder was up like a cobra about to strike, its hood directed towards that opening door. It abruptly dipped and shot over, its head end disappearing out of sight behind the door and wall on that side. The woman started screaming in sheer raw terror, then the hooder moved abruptly and Jonas saw her sail through the air, arms and legs wind-milling, to land in the centre of the enclosure. “Only when she shouldered into the rubbery surface and scrabbled up again did Jonas see the blood squirting from where her right arm had been crushed away below the centre of her forearm. Terror still drove her, for she scrambled for the other side of the enclosure as far away from the hooder as she could get. There she sat making a horrible keening sound.”
“The creature seemed to have returned to being voracious and he could not help thinking that it killed the woman the way it had because she was capable of suffering. This led him to thoughts on its form – how perfectly designed it was to extract every last dreg of agony from a victim – and that perhaps the Atheter who had made its kind had been cruel.”
December 11, 2020 at 12:30 AM
SUMMATION
All to say that Lockdown Tales is a success in more than one ways.
I wasn’t expecting anything new from Neal Asher for some time, as his last triple play (Trilogy) was the War of the Jain, which ended only about a year ago, last time out.
But then the Pandemic dropped, giving Mr. Asher some Lockdown Time of his own, which allowed him the valuable time to flesh out these nice Asher tales, during six months in England, I take it.
I didn’t know Mr. Asher is English.
All to say that an Asher book at $5.99 is somewhat of a discovery! And at over 500 pages, something of a nice gift to while away the doldrums that such a so called Virus contains.
January 18, 2021
Pandemics, quarantine, lockdowns are normal fare for SF writers. As usual Neal Ascher doesn’t disappoint, his stories are “peopled” by
giant fish-like heirodonts and ocean-going leeches the size of blue whalesand
leeches with their plug-cutting mouths and the snappy claws and other sharp limbs of glisters and prillfrom the fearsome planet Spatterjay. Gorst-vaankle engines power warplanes in the war involving Meeps, Loobers Cheevers Groogers etc. However, an sfional Pygmalion and Robinson Crusoe amalgam rambles on and on, it could have been pruned and made more gripping.
September 12, 2022
If you like Neal Asher's other books, you'll love this!
Ever wonder what happens after the Polity? These tales spin a delicate thread all their own.
I have to say my favorite is the one about the old guy who is stranded on the planet. Riveting and fun. Hope Neal expands it into its own book or series.
Neal really is an idea factory. His deep knowledge of engineering and his wild imagination inspires me to read all his books.
Well worth the read!
Ever wonder what happens after the Polity? These tales spin a delicate thread all their own.
I have to say my favorite is the one about the old guy who is stranded on the planet. Riveting and fun. Hope Neal expands it into its own book or series.
Neal really is an idea factory. His deep knowledge of engineering and his wild imagination inspires me to read all his books.
Well worth the read!
April 29, 2021
He wrote this to cheer us up. Whattaguy!
May 14, 2021
Great Original Writing
Asher is great at the novella. His best strengths -- worlds building, passing, plotting -- are not hindered by his weaknesses, such as characterization. Four of the five novellas here are fine But one of them -- Bad Boy -- about attempts to eliminate a rogue shell (sort of a giant snaill) is extraordinary. As I grow older, I look more and more for freshness and originality in my reading, and Bad Boy offers it in spades as the protagonists jump aboard a giant molluscs to prevent it from damaging islands. The journey through the inside of Bad Boy to find out what is wrong is vaguely reminiscent of "Fantastic Voting" but a.lot less hokey. His other offerings are s little less original -- "Plenty" is sort of a cross between "Robinson Crusoe" and " "Pygmalion," but is otherwise well-told. "Moloch" is in part a tribute to his Jewish heritage, and even if its major reveal is predictable, is very exciting. All in well, a very fine effort.
Asher is great at the novella. His best strengths -- worlds building, passing, plotting -- are not hindered by his weaknesses, such as characterization. Four of the five novellas here are fine But one of them -- Bad Boy -- about attempts to eliminate a rogue shell (sort of a giant snaill) is extraordinary. As I grow older, I look more and more for freshness and originality in my reading, and Bad Boy offers it in spades as the protagonists jump aboard a giant molluscs to prevent it from damaging islands. The journey through the inside of Bad Boy to find out what is wrong is vaguely reminiscent of "Fantastic Voting" but a.lot less hokey. His other offerings are s little less original -- "Plenty" is sort of a cross between "Robinson Crusoe" and " "Pygmalion," but is otherwise well-told. "Moloch" is in part a tribute to his Jewish heritage, and even if its major reveal is predictable, is very exciting. All in well, a very fine effort.
March 16, 2021
Great trip back to follow up some favorites
Short stories, some of surprising length. I would recommend for people who already know his work as we revisit the Polity and go post Polity. I'm a fan of his work and was not disappointed. What I found surprising was how I felt I got to know him more as a person from his insights on what he was thinking about going into and leaving stories and some of the things he was going through while writing the Polity books, I really enjoyed that. As far as I'm concerned, no one else is writing his quality sci-fi at the moment and his books are always an intelligent joy to read.
Short stories, some of surprising length. I would recommend for people who already know his work as we revisit the Polity and go post Polity. I'm a fan of his work and was not disappointed. What I found surprising was how I felt I got to know him more as a person from his insights on what he was thinking about going into and leaving stories and some of the things he was going through while writing the Polity books, I really enjoyed that. As far as I'm concerned, no one else is writing his quality sci-fi at the moment and his books are always an intelligent joy to read.
December 8, 2020
This was my introduction to Neil Asher, and... he ain't my cup of tea.
All these are short stories set in his "Polity" universe, and if you like that and are familiar with it, you will probably like these. To me, they are random short stories, schlocky sci-fi stereotypes. Well-written, but they feel shallow, like a Clive Cussler novel (okay, better than that, but stilted and predictable.)
This was a free ebook from Librarything, and I often love those. This, I couldn't finish.
All these are short stories set in his "Polity" universe, and if you like that and are familiar with it, you will probably like these. To me, they are random short stories, schlocky sci-fi stereotypes. Well-written, but they feel shallow, like a Clive Cussler novel (okay, better than that, but stilted and predictable.)
This was a free ebook from Librarything, and I often love those. This, I couldn't finish.
February 1, 2021
Always a treat to read anything by Asher.
A nice short story collection, my fave was 'Plenty' a sort of Robinson Crusoe vibe to this one.
'Bad Boy' was set on Spatterjay, always good.
'Monitor Logan' a spaghetti western, Asher-fied.
The other tales were enjoyable enough with Gabbleducks and Hooders, Polity A.I's and old war drones, who doesn't like a war drone ,eh?
All in all a nice diversion from the hell of 2020/21.
A nice short story collection, my fave was 'Plenty' a sort of Robinson Crusoe vibe to this one.
'Bad Boy' was set on Spatterjay, always good.
'Monitor Logan' a spaghetti western, Asher-fied.
The other tales were enjoyable enough with Gabbleducks and Hooders, Polity A.I's and old war drones, who doesn't like a war drone ,eh?
All in all a nice diversion from the hell of 2020/21.
April 20, 2021
I loved it, I hadn't read anything Neal Asher before, I'm very impressed. The violence in some parts gets a little extreme but apart from that, I would highly recommend this book to any sci-fi fans.
April 26, 2021
Wow ! F*cking brilliant short stories.
Lovely dark mood , loved the Hooder story.
Lovely dark mood , loved the Hooder story.
September 16, 2021
One cannot deny Asher fertile imagination. What comes out of it are mostly parasites, extremely convoluted alien lifecycles, tons of action. and nacre, lots and lots of nacre, mostly built by unrelates beings all called whelk, whether they resemble them or not.
Asher's action scenes are rather good, sometimes in Western style, sometimes in James Bond. But when it comes to complex, unfamiliar internal life of a protagonist, Asher is both fond of giving his imagination free reign and unable to convey whatever that imagination engendered. Whether it is an arrogant uber-physitian bestowed with superhuman capabilities as a practical joke by a "black AI", a heavily augmented human linguist searching for language in any pattern, or a 170 years old xenobiologist entering seemingly unavoidable "ennui" consisting of lack of emotions ("seen it all, felt it all"), Asher's descriptions feel like just a pile of words, eliciting no emotional understanding of the character's state.
OTOH, when he limits himself to easier task such as life of a stranded sole survivor of a crash and his eventual relationship with an equally stranded robot, the result is very good.
Of course, there is almost obligatory smattering of nano-everything that serves as substitute for magic, but that is to be expected in second-tier SciFi.
Another oddity: Asher seems to be in a habit of running into a word or phrase, liking it, and then overusing it heavily. In one or two of "Lockdown tales" the offending word was "utter(ly)". But this is also the editor's fault - that's what they are for.
So, in short, entertaining, but, despite advanced human society ruled by AIs, don't expect Banks.
Asher's action scenes are rather good, sometimes in Western style, sometimes in James Bond. But when it comes to complex, unfamiliar internal life of a protagonist, Asher is both fond of giving his imagination free reign and unable to convey whatever that imagination engendered. Whether it is an arrogant uber-physitian bestowed with superhuman capabilities as a practical joke by a "black AI", a heavily augmented human linguist searching for language in any pattern, or a 170 years old xenobiologist entering seemingly unavoidable "ennui" consisting of lack of emotions ("seen it all, felt it all"), Asher's descriptions feel like just a pile of words, eliciting no emotional understanding of the character's state.
OTOH, when he limits himself to easier task such as life of a stranded sole survivor of a crash and his eventual relationship with an equally stranded robot, the result is very good.
Of course, there is almost obligatory smattering of nano-everything that serves as substitute for magic, but that is to be expected in second-tier SciFi.
Another oddity: Asher seems to be in a habit of running into a word or phrase, liking it, and then overusing it heavily. In one or two of "Lockdown tales" the offending word was "utter(ly)". But this is also the editor's fault - that's what they are for.
So, in short, entertaining, but, despite advanced human society ruled by AIs, don't expect Banks.
June 1, 2021
At first I thought, nice, stories! Even lockdown stories! Neal Asher? Don't know him. Which was a mistake.
Neal Asher is a science fiction writer with a lot of books on his name and the creator of the Polity world. And that is something you should know before reading the Lockdown Tales. Because there are people and events in the stories that totally puzzled me, not having read anything by Neal Asher.
The genre is something I like. Not science fiction where everybody fights and becomes a hero like in Star Wars. There are people in the stories, real people, even with long lives. Jonas Clyde in the last story, Raising Moloch, is 170 years old. Disadvantage when you live that long? You get bored and take chances you shouldn't take, so Jonas ends up with Ganzen who wants him to raise a Hooder, which is kind of a war machine, but now an animal. That's where knowledge about this Polity world should kick in, but not with me, because I haven't read anything by Asher.
Raising Moloch is by far the most hair raising story in this collection, with a robot doctor who can literally skin people, and a hooder who eats everything, including people when they are still alive.
I liked it enough to give it four stars, but knowing about the Polity world is giving you an advantage if you want to read this.
I made this review for the Librarything Early Reviewers
Neal Asher is a science fiction writer with a lot of books on his name and the creator of the Polity world. And that is something you should know before reading the Lockdown Tales. Because there are people and events in the stories that totally puzzled me, not having read anything by Neal Asher.
The genre is something I like. Not science fiction where everybody fights and becomes a hero like in Star Wars. There are people in the stories, real people, even with long lives. Jonas Clyde in the last story, Raising Moloch, is 170 years old. Disadvantage when you live that long? You get bored and take chances you shouldn't take, so Jonas ends up with Ganzen who wants him to raise a Hooder, which is kind of a war machine, but now an animal. That's where knowledge about this Polity world should kick in, but not with me, because I haven't read anything by Asher.
Raising Moloch is by far the most hair raising story in this collection, with a robot doctor who can literally skin people, and a hooder who eats everything, including people when they are still alive.
I liked it enough to give it four stars, but knowing about the Polity world is giving you an advantage if you want to read this.
I made this review for the Librarything Early Reviewers
September 17, 2022
This was a fun set of short stories, well novellas really. Each one covers various side stories in the Polity universe. A few old favorite characters appear, and quite a few new ones, giving a glimpse into how people live along the fringes of the Polity, or to survive after the Polity has ascended into beings of pure light, or whatever they became.
It was read on vacation which was nice since I could do stories in-between activities. If you have ready any of the Polity stories, especially the more recent sets, you will find this book a familiar feeling. It retains the cerebral level of Polity stories with wild broad ideas and epic scopes. It makes the reader feel small as if they are looking into a bigger world from a high vantage point, yet still don't understand how it all fits together.
Anyway, I like the polity universe and I'll certainly read more as they come out.
It was read on vacation which was nice since I could do stories in-between activities. If you have ready any of the Polity stories, especially the more recent sets, you will find this book a familiar feeling. It retains the cerebral level of Polity stories with wild broad ideas and epic scopes. It makes the reader feel small as if they are looking into a bigger world from a high vantage point, yet still don't understand how it all fits together.
Anyway, I like the polity universe and I'll certainly read more as they come out.
July 26, 2022
A great collection of Polity stories!
The weakest story for me was Bad Boy because I am not a fan of anything Spatterjay. Favorites for me were Plenty (Golem/human love! with a bit of Alien) and the The Relic (I love the transformation of the leading character).
One of Asher's bigger weaknesses is the incessant, drawn out battle sequences that will always result in the good guy(s) winning. The novella length story helps Asher avoid getting mired in this although he manages to fall into this hole to a degree in Raising Moloch.
As to the end of the Polity, that needs a lot more detail. What happened to everyone? Where did they go? What becomes of the AI's? What was the lead-up?
The weakest story for me was Bad Boy because I am not a fan of anything Spatterjay. Favorites for me were Plenty (Golem/human love! with a bit of Alien) and the The Relic (I love the transformation of the leading character).
One of Asher's bigger weaknesses is the incessant, drawn out battle sequences that will always result in the good guy(s) winning. The novella length story helps Asher avoid getting mired in this although he manages to fall into this hole to a degree in Raising Moloch.
As to the end of the Polity, that needs a lot more detail. What happened to everyone? Where did they go? What becomes of the AI's? What was the lead-up?
May 6, 2021
One of my favorite Asher stories is in here - Plenty. I got completely involved in the love affair between a human and an android because it felt so real. Made me think about this topic as AI rapidly develops and our basic instincts remain basic, how easily will machines become our loved ones?
I was a bit annoyed by the number of grammatical errors, mainly because I make them all the time. I have highlighted a few so they can be corrected.
I was a bit annoyed by the number of grammatical errors, mainly because I make them all the time. I have highlighted a few so they can be corrected.
February 25, 2021
This is a great collection of short stories, well up to expectation. Imaginative, great characters and world-building, and masses of original plot-lines. I would definitely recommend this book to all those who love a good story, SF fans or not. And have a look at his full-length novels, every one a winner!
May 17, 2021
Well, some great things came out of the Pandemic
Just more gold from Mr Asher. Polity stories, short intense story arcs and no filler. To be honest a Swiss Family Robinson tale with my own sexually charged golem sounds exactly like the lockdown scenario I would dream up. Gory Kudos Neil.
Just more gold from Mr Asher. Polity stories, short intense story arcs and no filler. To be honest a Swiss Family Robinson tale with my own sexually charged golem sounds exactly like the lockdown scenario I would dream up. Gory Kudos Neil.
May 19, 2021
Great return of the master
After the boring and bland last part of the Jain trilogy this book is a great return to brilliance!
Living breathing characters you care about, visionary ideas and gruesome "oh no he didn't... oh hell he did" moments that are the trademark of mr. Asher are back!
After the boring and bland last part of the Jain trilogy this book is a great return to brilliance!
Living breathing characters you care about, visionary ideas and gruesome "oh no he didn't... oh hell he did" moments that are the trademark of mr. Asher are back!
June 22, 2021
Not so much about the lockdown, but released (and read) during the Covid19 lockdown. I was eagerly awaiting Asher’s next book, so this anthology sort of filled the gap. It’s quite good, my favorite stories being Plenty and Raising Moloch. Both could’ve been whole novels on their own, and I’d read them. Monitor Logan reminded me about Westworld, which is not a bad thing. Absolutely recommended.
June 28, 2021
I haven't read any other of Neal's work, so getting up to speed on the universe was a bit challenging, though possible. I enjoyed these short stories, they're all pretty creative and different, which was fun. Overall, I'd give it a ready if it sounds fun.
The editing needed help (removing a star for that). There were numerous typos and some paragraphs that felt out of place and/or confusing.
The editing needed help (removing a star for that). There were numerous typos and some paragraphs that felt out of place and/or confusing.
June 14, 2022
Loved this book, similar to the Iain M Banks State of the Art, great to be immersed back into the Polity even though I’m not generally a fan of short stories. The stand out for me was ‘Plenty’, loved the idea of being marooned on a far flung planet, really got into this. Great seeing what Penny Royal has been up to also in Dr Whip.
November 28, 2022
Hugely compelling set of short stories.
Wonderful set of short stories set in Neal Asher's Polity universe. Many of the stories reminded me of the classic short stories I would read in compilation books from the 80s and 90s.
His ability to get you invested in characters in a matter of pages is almost unparalleled.
Strongly recommended.
Wonderful set of short stories set in Neal Asher's Polity universe. Many of the stories reminded me of the classic short stories I would read in compilation books from the 80s and 90s.
His ability to get you invested in characters in a matter of pages is almost unparalleled.
Strongly recommended.
May 28, 2023
Awesome collection of short stories and novellas. My personal favourite was Raising Moloch’. It was a great mix of science and action. The hooders are fascinating creatures within the Polity universe.
The only story that I felt needed more work was ‘Plenty’. It was a bit bloated with excessive engineering and repair scenes. Nonetheless, I had a great time reading this book.
The only story that I felt needed more work was ‘Plenty’. It was a bit bloated with excessive engineering and repair scenes. Nonetheless, I had a great time reading this book.
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