Anachronist: A Time Travel Adventure (The Infinity Engines Book 1)

Product Information

Trent Sorbel, erstwhile soulless tyro and basic sadistic criminal thug, has like the Tin Man, been in need of a heart. In the end he has grown one through his shepherding of the shell people and his love for three particular shell people. He has redeemed himself, Penny Royal just provided the setting. I admit that this reading experience was a bit overwhelming, because there was a lot of information to take in. Although it took a bit of time for me to explore the Polity universe, I enjoyed every minute of it and liked what I found out about the characters, the aliens and the technology. I'm soon going to read more novels by the author, because I want to find out what exactly has happened in the previous novels. But as they dig deeper into the secrets of its past, they soon realise that there was a darker side to the expedition involving an ancient ritual and a powerful man who would stop at nothing to possess it. Can they uncover the truth and prevent disaster, or will they become the latest victims of the deadly plague?

As the story opens, young Josh Jones is doing community service in London for another of his minor transgressions. Josh is an unwilling member of a gang and lives in one of London's many public housing "projects" with his ailing mother (MS). He notices an eccentric old man who everyone calls the "Colonel" because of his long dark khaki green trench coat. Josh notices that the Colonel has left his house and has left the door open, so Josh hopes to sneak in and steal something he can sell to pay off his huge debt to his gang leader. Actually, the whole weaving of all these threads from book one to the end was so thoroughly SATISFYING that I may just start raving about it to non-specialized high-tech space-opera fans and just start pulling in normal SF fans to point and say... "Just look at this trilogy, skip the rest, just read this and MARVEL at the juicy characters, epic events, and thoroughly F***ed-up poison chalice wish-granting going on here. I found it interesting that the author touches upon such themes and issues as morality, politics, redemption, transformation and intelligence in an excellent way, but doesn't dwell on them. I also like the author's ability to keep things on the move and his way of delivering intense action scenes, because he does everything on purpose and avoids easy resolutions. All this hard-SF pseudo-science, and there's room for a theme on ethics, forgiveness, and what might happen if we give AIs emotions. I've been steadily raving about Asher's novels more and more because they just keep getting BETTER and BETTER. This Transformation trilogy has got to be my absolute favorite.Sverl started as a contradiction- a Polity-hating, human-loathing Prador possessed of an overweening curiosity. (You! You readers of War Factory. You didn't really think Penny Royal was finished with Sverl, did you?) He ends as a much happier and better suited/fitted individual than he started. And he is something of a trailblazer for the Prador. I suspect more will follow in his foot prints, or rather, claw marks. (Sfolk is also happy with his new position.) This is the beginning of a story, which develops nicely towards a thrilling climax. I found the unfolding story interesting and was totally hooked by it, because it was intricately complex. Because I feel that the less you know about this novel and its climax, the more you'll love the unfolding story, I'll try to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but I aim to be informative. (Trust me when I say that you don't want to be spoiled by too many revelations about the story and its climax, because the climax is worth waiting for.) starts for sure. Asher finally brings some closure to the saga of Penny Royal, albeit in his breathtaking way. Very satisfying.

Caitlin has disappeared and someone has changed history. Lost in an alternate reality, Josh must discover who has disrupted the timeline and try to fix the continuum. You have to be willing to accept that we're in a Reynolds-Banks universe of infinite resources. Ten-mile long ships carry thousands of anti-matter missiles and unlimited fuel (to be fair, Asher does have ONE ship recharge). U-space allows instantaneous transmission of data and things, probably a concept we should not look at too closely because there would probably be some very serious plot issues.Before I begin to analyse and review this novel, I'll mention that I hadn't read much fiction by Neal Asher prior to reading this novel. It took a bit of time for me to get used to the author's complex and well-created Polity universe, because I had to do research about the previous novels and their happenings, but boy, am I glad I took the opportunity to acquaint myself with them, because the Polity universe is simply amazing! I consider Neal Asher's Infinity Engine to be one of the crowning achievements in the space opera genre. It's satisfyingly original, wonderfully complex and above all else very entertaining. It's great that the author has managed to come up with such a distinct vision of space opera, because he doesn't struggle with worldbuilding and science fiction tropes, but blends and merges many elements with ease. I was very torn on the rating. On the one hand, the story is inventive and new. The plot and main character history is inventive and somewhat complex. Then we have the slightly unrefined writing style and grammar errors. I had thought perhaps the author was young, but realize now he probably just needs a better editor if indeed one was used at all. This book caps the Transformation series, but also rewards readers of ALL the other books. It's even got Old Captains and an Atheter, and passing references to things we first read decades ago.

I thought it very well done that in this final epic, Penny Royal (the erstwhile antagonist and protagonist) of the previous books is almost a minor character? Well, as "minor" as she could be? At least until the very satisfying conclusion. I also was pleased that in a space and time where AI's and aliens, and all manner of things can be done, it was a (not so) simple human that had to make a choice. And what a choice he made! The Weaver is, as always, sitting in the catbird seat. He proves it is possible to achieve happiness, attain goals, and get what one wants, to the consternation of the Polity AI's, with some collaboration with Penny Royal. This involves a quid pro quo beneficial to all concerned, especially the reader. I wonder though if he isn't a bit lonely. Perhaps some more Atheter memstores will turn up. ZOMG! Neal Asher takes us to the very edge of space and time in the conclusion to his Transformation series. Let me tell you what, I think I need a cardiologist after reading this book! It was nonstop, pulled no punches, took no quarter, and held no prisoners! But Josh can’t escape his old life, and when a mission goes horribly wrong, he is forced to face the secrets of his broken past… and the overwhelming temptation to make a forbidden adjustment. Caught between a magical world of infinite possibilities and a life of crime, will he use his new-found powers to alter his own timeline? This is the conclusion of his recent trilogy, and it certainly delivers in most areas. But there elements in this book that do not do it for me. It is no spoiler to say that most, if not all of this trilogy is all controlled by one, or two very powerful, intelligent entities, and that everything you read IS part of some huge, massive, intricate plan. Because of this it took me out of the story. When you know that every decision that someone takes, every action, plot detail, twist and turn is all part of some plan and not based on their own reasoning, logic, thinking etc, it lessens their importance, their value and they become pawns, not people, and even their emotional responses you cannot connect too because it is part of something else's plan. When this becomes clear, even a 'random' plot thread you start to view as something not happening because this character decided it is going to do it, but 'how is this part of the plan?' 'Who started this?' and so on.A man battles for his life, two AIs vie for supremacy and a civilization hangs in the balance . . .