REVIEW: Gridlinked by Neal Asher

Gridlinked by Neal Asher
Publishing information: Paperback; 436 pages
Publisher: Tor; 26 August 2004
ISBN 10: 0765349051
ISBN 13: 9780765349057
Series Book one in the Ian Cormac series
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Back of the Book: "Cormac is a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future where "runcibles" (matter transmitters controlled by AIs) allow interstellar travel in an eye blink throughout the settled worlds of the Polity. Unfortunately Cormac is nearly burnt out, "gridlinked" to the AI net so long that his humanity has begun to drain away. He has to take the cold-turkey cure and shake his addiction to having his brain on the net.


Now he must do without just as he’s sent to investigate the unique runcible disaster that's wiped out the entire human colony on planet Samarkand in a thirty-megaton explosion. With the runcible out, Cormac must get there by ship, but he has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Arian Pelter, who now follows him across the galaxy with a terrifying psychotic killer android in tow. And deep beneath Samarkand's surface there are buried mysteries, fiercely guarded.


This is fast-moving, edge-of-the-seat entertainment, and a great introduction to the work of one of the most exciting new SF talents in years."

This is my first Neal Asher novel. I decided to give the Ian Cormac series a shot as I had hear great things about the books that are further along in the series. In the future humanity has colonized the universe and with the help of the runcible we can do so in the blink of an eye. Think Stargate. When a separates group destroys a colony out in the outer rim they send in Cormac.

Ian Cormac is an interesting character in that this is his debut novel and he is already a legend in the universe. He is considered by some to be a myth. He is plugged into the future version of an on-board Artificial Intelligence and internet wrapped up in one that his superiors have asked him to unplug and take on the deadliest mission he has yet to encounter. I thought this was rather odd as you would be taking someone and cutting their abilities in half. I would think that if you were to go cold turkey and shut down one of your senses that time off would be required but instead he is tested to see if he can handle not being plugged in to the universal internet. While Cormac is portrayed as highly capable of handling himself in any physical confrontation I would think that shutting down something akin to his eyesight would require some recuperation time. It is where I found the plausability starting to unfold in this novel. Yes, I know it is a science fiction novel and there needs to be some wiggle room. But a dose of realism is also a requirement.

Pelter the main antagonist and Cormac's enemy in Gridlinked is interesting. He goes from someone who cares more about himself than others and while he continues to look down upon those around him, his personal issues become darker and darker as the story moves on. He was much more interesting than Ian Cormac. Cormac simply shut downs his AI interface and moves on with life with little problem from the withdrawl. Pelter on the other hand undergoes a huge physical and mental change that was by far more interesting to read about.

The world building is fascinating. Asher starts off nearly every chapter with a encyclopedia entry related to something we encounter in the novel or some background. The history of the weapons and a few of the individuals is interesting and gives the impression that the author has a fully envisioned world and history that will unfold and affect everyone in future installments.

There is a bit of catch up early on in Gridlinked. The actions in the opening sequence relate to the action that unfolds in the rest of the novel and gives a pretty good insight into everyone's motivations. The action is unstoppable in the novel and does not let up until the last few pages. While Gridlinked was an introductory novel and a debut novel for the author, I found it a little off putting. I never really connected to anyone in the book and a few things that niggled at me ended up taking me out of the novel's enjoyment.

Plot  7
Characters  6
Style  7

Overall  6/10