Cowl
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Product Description
Product Description
TEST The latest high-octane galactic adventure from Britain's new master of wide-screen science fiction
Book Description
In the far future, the Heliothane Dominion is triumphant in the solar system, after a bitter war with their Umbrathane progenitors. But some of the enemy have escaped into the past, intent on wreaking havoc across time. The worst of these is Cowl, an artificially forced advance in human evolution but one who is no longer human. Polly, desperate to obtain funds to support her habits, is unprepared for her involvement with Nandru Jurgens, a Taskforce soldier, and the killers pursuing him. Nor can she resist the the alien 'tor' which she feels impelled to attach to her arm. But she must learn fast, as she is dragged back through time, not least that to the denizens of some earlier eras, she is little more than a convenience food. Initially, the fragment of tor imbedded in Tack's wrist sums up his value to the Heliothane - a point brought home to him with bloody abruptness. But, as a vat-grown programmable killer employed by U-gov, he is no stranger to violence. His long journey into the lethal world of the Heliothane is only beginning, the extent of his mission just becoming apparent. Meanwhile, hunting throughout time and the alternates, Cowl's pet, the tor beast, grows vast and dangerous. And the beast continues to feed.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
At just over 400 pages, Cowl certainly deserved credit for being a sleek, self-contained little book, that doesn't commit you to buying another endless series of novels just to find out what happened. The book never outstays its welcome, the pace is brisk and nothing seems extraneous. The plot, hackneyed though it might be, has enough polish to feel fresh and comes with enough new ideas to persuade you that Cowl is original.
Asher has sat down, come up with a series of fabulous SF ideas (biological time machines anyone?), thought up two lead characters that you care about - and yes, might even like and then put them up against a truly diabolical baddie. It sounds simple - but so many books don't get these basics right.
Enjoy the rollicking good pace, the superb action and the novel characterisations - Cowl is a fine book that stands apart on shelves filled with derivative bloated monstrosities.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book progresses at a good pace and the time travel aspect is handled well. By using the time travel to expand the scope, the book reads like a space opera - instead of fighting a war across the universe, the war is fought across time. The two central characters are likable and I was genuinely intrigued to see how it would end.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Asher takes a slightly welcome break from the Polity and gosh.
Draawing on some of his earlier short stories he takes an alternitive view of humanities future, this time with eugenic ssuper-humans in charge instead of Benevoloant A.I (HAH!) Alot of its setting of it rings true with the modern world, increasingly toltalitarin centeral government, endless taxes, and over reliance on things that aren't really that good for us, and where this may end up.
The characters are abcolutly fantasttic, who needs a super villian when you have Cowl or the Umbrathane who seem to live by a hybrid of Spatan, Dawrinist and Macivellian ideals. There are no good guys, they are all shades of grey, and thats what makes Asher's work so compelling, his characters have depth, they may do good, but that doesn't mean that they are nice people.
This is a great book, so why the 4 stars, well because there isn't a four and a half option, and this nearly scrapes a five but isn't quite there. The ending feels a little bit too rushed but this does leave room for a sequal.
I too just want to see dinosaurs.
Draawing on some of his earlier short stories he takes an alternitive view of humanities future, this time with eugenic ssuper-humans in charge instead of Benevoloant A.I (HAH!) Alot of its setting of it rings true with the modern world, increasingly toltalitarin centeral government, endless taxes, and over reliance on things that aren't really that good for us, and where this may end up.
The characters are abcolutly fantasttic, who needs a super villian when you have Cowl or the Umbrathane who seem to live by a hybrid of Spatan, Dawrinist and Macivellian ideals. There are no good guys, they are all shades of grey, and thats what makes Asher's work so compelling, his characters have depth, they may do good, but that doesn't mean that they are nice people.
This is a great book, so why the 4 stars, well because there isn't a four and a half option, and this nearly scrapes a five but isn't quite there. The ending feels a little bit too rushed but this does leave room for a sequal.
I too just want to see dinosaurs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Stand-alone, fast-paced and fun
I have come to the conclusion that Neal Asher is quite mad - or, at least, his books are insane. In his hands it's science fiction with the dial turned up to 11, in a Spinal Tap... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Steve D
Counter-chronological parallel plots confusing and tedious
Cowl is my sixth Asher novel to date and the only one to not be a part of either the Spatterjay series of the Ian Cormac series. Read more
Published 7 months ago by M-I-K-E 2theD
Asher is a god
He is.
Really.
Ok....maybe not...but a very good author who has writen another brilliant book.
Really.
Ok....maybe not...but a very good author who has writen another brilliant book.
Published 18 months ago by Bear Brain
If you like the Polity novels, you might be a little disappointed with...
I bought this (though not on Amazon) as an impulse purchase knowing it wasn't related to Asher's excellent Polity series. Read more
Published on 8 May 2008 by Jeff Eldridge
A nice time travel idea done with Neal's trademark action.
Cowl, the genetically modified preterhuman of the title, has travelled back to beyond the Nodus (where life first began) in an attempt to change the future of life on earth to suit... Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2008 by Mark Chitty
Lost in Time
As A fan Of ashers Work, reading all his work in the last six months, i deliberately left this till last as the premises did not excite me and I'm always a little weary of time... Read more
Published on 24 May 2007 by Mr. J. E. Butler
My 100-word book review
From the writer of the Polity series, Cowl is a stand-alone novel, which nonetheless has all the elements that make Asher's other books immense fun to read. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2007 by A. J. Cull
Average for anybody least of all Asher
It's okay but no more than that. When compared to the superb Polity/Ian Cormac series it's a real let down; the superlative Grindlinked, Line of Polity and Brass Man (The Skinner... Read more
Published on 11 May 2006 by Martin Anderson
incomprehensible, obtuse, much too clever
Time travel is always difficult to get right. If you then add in the writing style of starting with a snippet of some future point in the narrative at the beginning of each chapter... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2006 by M. R. Parashchak
Good but not great
Some of the characters are a bit weak which did mean that I never really got involved in the story. However I liked the fact that until the end of the book you didnt really know... Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2005 by C. Jack
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