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The Line of Polity

Author: Neal Asher
Publisher: Tor
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

12 reviews
Sales Rank: 12317

Media: Paperback
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.7

ISBN: 0330484354
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780330484350
ASIN: 0330484354

Publication Date: March 19, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The Line of Polity

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Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Cracking Read May 8, 2008
New ideas and characters with some of the good old ones from Gridlinked.
Gabbleducks are not quite as comical as the name suggests and again a very good read. Big fan of the stretches the human mind can make with sci fi in space and ASHER does this very well. Still not quite Peter HAMILTON but very close. On to the BRASS MAN

4 out of 5 stars

The Line of Polity April 1, 2008
Ian Cormac, the Polity Agent of the prequel "Gridlinked", didn't really strike me as a character you'd revisit for a sequel. He was deliberately written flat to emphasise his dehumanisation, but was ultimately as cool as most fictional secret agents and makes a fine comeback in the second of Asher's Cormac series.

"The Line of Polity" fails to "Grinlinked" only on account of it not featuring the attention-grabbing Mr Crane, but it otherwise excels; the main action takes place on a planet with its own bizarre ecosystem that Asher brilliantly brings to life. Most planets in sci-fi do not have character in themselves, but the planet Masada is like a living, breathing personality here, with its own food chain and terrifying species. It's wonderful to find such effort put into making the place as interesting as the people that inhabit it.

The story is great and fast-paced, the returning characters become more rounded and the new ones are sufficiently realised to keep you reading. As with the first book this isn't Iain M Banks, but it really is great fiction and well worth reading, doubly so if you liked other novels by Asher.

2 out of 5 stars

Gridlinked it is not. July 12, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful

Gridlinked was a stunning book. The pace and the storyline were top class science fiction. Line of Polity has Ian Cormac back again but this time it is boring.

It is hard to say why, the alien world is good and the plot isn't awful. Basically I think there is too much Dragon (the weakest point of Gridlinked) and the "bad guy" is basically unbelievable. Where Gridlinked had pace and character this book has too many characters and too many subplots. Also, by bringing back the characters from Gridlinked, the book has a soap opera feel to it. The ending is good but I found it a real struggle to get there.

5 out of 5 stars

Superb May 11, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

With the Polity series - Gridlinked, The Line of Polity and Brass Man, Neal Asher has created a compelling and believable vision of a future society.

More than that, this book is a real page turned with great characters and a plot that pulls you in.

Do make sure that you real these books in order though else you will spoil the endings for yourself.

3 out of 5 stars

Pop - SciFi March 7, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

I just finished this book the other day, and I did enjoy it. But I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed a cheap action flick: all flash and no depth. The characters are all of the same shallow archetype, and the science elements are irrelevant. There is no real plot going on here, and the ending is predictable from fairly early on.
Enough negativity. The book has plenty of good points - as I said, I enjoyed it. The book is crammed full of monstrous alien lifeforms and bloody battle; you certainly couldn't call this book boring as each page is jam-packed full of action (which is why I don't understand the comparisons to Peter F. Hamilton).
If you want action SF, you can't go wrong with this.