2008-08-25 Worth the time

Asher has dropped the ball a couple of times in his previous "Polity" novels - Line of Polity ends in a confusing blur, Brass Man just isn't very good, treading cautiously between fantasy and sci-fi, and Polity Agent basically has too much going on all the way to the end. Prador Moon might be great, but until the paperback is a fiver, I'm not paying any more for a 220-page novel.

I'm happy to say that Line War brings many threads of the Cormac series to a satisfying conclusion. Inside the first 50 pages you'll find an easily digestible 3-page summary of the plot shambles that was Line of Polity, Brass Man and Polity Agent. In unambigous terms, the origins of Erebus, Jain nodes, the fate of the Aetheter, and more are all revealed, then the current plot kicks off. This is an enjoyable and well-paced read, making it a stark contrast to the last 3 books.

The ending is a little unexpected in plot terms, and a couple of plot elements have been carefully held back, probably for future novels - which is good, since Asher is currently one of the best sci-fi novelists still actively writing.