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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Where can a war drone find some excitement?, 31 Aug 2009
In Orbus Neal Asher again takes up the story of the characters he last addressed in The Voyage of the Sable Keech (2006): the cantankerous war-drone Sniper and his sidekick, sub-mind Thirteen, escaping from likely reprogramming by Polity AIs; the Prador Vrell, mutated by the Spatterjay virus into something alien to his own kind and under sentence of death; and the eponymous Captain Orbus himself, seeking redemption for, and recovery from, centuries of madness on the Spatterjay seas by taking a job as the human captain of the off-world cargo ship Gunnard.
All of this motley group end up in the aptly named Graveyard, the demilitarised buffer zone between Polity and Prador space, where both races conduct a cold war of espionage and covert operations. Not surprisingly, they find themselves in the midst of much larger, and more dangerous, events than any had anticipated, as both the Prador King and Earth Central move battle fleets into place along their borders, the Golgoloth, a being long believed by most Prador to be myth, reveals its presence, and a secret long-concealed in the genetic code of the Spatterjay virus threatens to open the door to an apocalypse for Human, Prador and AI alike.
All of the ingredients fans have come to expect from a Neal Asher novel are present in Orbus: chapter introductions from How it is by Gordon, Artificial Intelligences who seem more human than the real thing, lovingly described and detailed aliens and technology, fearsome space-battles and a swift-moving plot. As usual, these all fit together seamlessly to provide an enjoyable and engrossing reading experience, and the new details provided about the universe of the Polity and its history are a welcome addition.
Asher's writing is as good and taut as ever, managing to get done in just over 400 pages what one suspects Peter F. Hamilton, or Iain M. Banks might have taken 600 to do, although for some reason he has chosen to write this work in the historic present, rather than narrative past, tense, as is normal. This takes a little bit of getting used to, but is not overly irritating, although I don't feel that it adds that much to the book. A more serious gripe is the choice of Orbus as a central character - he never really seems to come alive in the way that Sniper, Vrell, or even the Golgoloth, do and this leaves a hole at the heart of the novel and makes it less involving than some of Asher's other works.
Nevertheless, even at less than absolutely top-form, Asher is still far better, and more entertaining, than most science fiction writers, and those who like his work will certainly not be disappointed - I can heartily recommend Orbus to you. If, on the other hand, you haven't come across Asher before, then wait until you've read Gridlinked, The Skinner, and their various sequels, as you'll enjoy it more knowing the background and back story.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent story by a master of the genre, 4 Sep 2009
Orbus is the new book from Neal Asher, one of the most inventive and imaginative authors on the market today, and is the third book in the Spatterjay series (preceded by The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech). I love Neal's work - let me get that out of the way first - and think that the Polity universe of his books is one of the best settings in the sci-fi genre, and with Neal's infinite imagination he's populated it with everything you could possibly think of - and then some. The only question that I had before starting Orbus was how Neal could take the story forward and give us another breathtaking novel. I shouldn't have questioned even that, he has delivered an excellent story, great characters and some very interesting and unique twists and mutations that are a staple of his writings, not to mention that this could very well be his best book to date...
The first thing I noticed when reading Orbus was the writing style. Neal has always been very much an action-centred writer that sometimes gives rough edges to his novels, but Orbus is so well polished and the style so smooth I did a quick double take just to make sure I was reading the right book. I enjoy the way Neal tells a story, but this refinement in his writing has elevated him to the top tiers of science fiction writing today. The most important thing about this growth is that it hasn't negatively affected the way he tells a story at all - all the action, description and weirdness is still as present as ever, but this time everything was even more enjoyable and the words created such a vivid picture in my mind I was constantly putting the book down to just enjoy these huge scenes playing about inside my head. Truly impressive stuff.
As for the story and characters, let me tell you one thing: this is the most fun I've had reading a book for a long time. Orbus, the recovering sadistic Old Captain of the title, is going through mental changes after the conclusion of Voyage of the Sable Keech and while we are with him on the journey we get some interesting and thoughtful looks into his personality. We also have Vrell, the Spatterjay virus mutated Prador, who, with his growing intellect, is capable of increasingly complex things. Seeing his character growth is staggering and the times we follow him are some of the most interesting in the novel. We also have the viewpoint of Golgoloth, a Prador legend that is hiding out in the Graveyard, which is another extremely interesting aspect, as are the times we follow King Oberon himself, ruler of the Prador Third Kingdom. I can't forget to mention Sniper of course, your friendly neighbourhood war drone, who brings both humour and tactics (of the not-so-subtle variety) to the table and is easily the most down-right enjoyable character.
The story is set at a good pace and although there are scene-setting sections, it never feels that anything is put on hold to accommodate these. Even at the start when Orbus first arrives in the Graveyard we have some nice action orientated scenes where we not only get to see an Old Captain in action, but also war drone, a cored and thralled human and a vicious Prador. We also get a good set up from Vrell's point of view while he is taking over the dreadnought he is on which allows us to see his growing capabilities and the workings of his mind to formulate a plan. The narrative doesn't let up for most of the novel and although this could have led to too much of a good thing, it really doesn't.
If I had to pick at one thing it would not actually be about the novel itself, rather the fact that is the third book in a series. Neal is one of the better writers when it comes to writing a loose series and makes it easier to pick up any of his novels and have a fair grasp, thanks to his explanations, of what is going on and what the background is. However, I would say that reading the first two novels in this series - The Skinner and Voyage of the Sable Keech - is recommended, especially if you unfamiliar with the world of Spatterjay, simply because I believe the events of those two novels (and the world-building) are tied very closely to the story told in Orbus. Plus you'll get to read another two great books!
To be honest I'd be hard pushed to name a character that didn't work or a section of story that was blander than others. Orbus hits every nail on the head, every time. Neal has not only delivered an excellent, enthralling and action-packed story, but probably his most accomplished and enjoyable novel to date. I honestly can't recommend this one highly enough.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Imaginative, sometimes exciting but bewildering all at the same time., 17 Oct 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I have read a few of Neil Asher's Polity/Spatterjay novels so am reasonably familiar with the precepts and environments of the colourful and vivid sci-fi settings .Yet i often found Orbus a bewildering experience. A hugely imaginative and occasionally exciting one but bewildering none the less.
Multi-faceted plot strands intertwine as a rogue Prador Vrell( the Prador are an extremely aggressive crustacean like alien species who have fought a war with the human based Polity ) takes over a Prador dreadnought incurring the wrath of the Prador King -an extremely nasty piece of work with reaching the top position of such an implacably selfish ( or should that be shellfish ha ha ) and violent race - who in turns appeals for the help of Golgoloth ( a monstrous entity who he is sharing an uneasy truce with ) when Vrell flees into "The Graveyard " - a wreckage strewn no mans land between the Prador kingdom and Polity space.
Vrell is trying to escape the clutches of the titular Orbus , an old space captain who was once held captive by Vrell, who mutated by the virus inherent in the Spatterjay eco-system is turning into something else altogether. As are the once dead occupants of the ship Vrell has taken over ,except in this the virus is making things really interesting .
The nuts and bolts of the plot may be complicated but the narrative involves little more than a protracted series of gun battles with the odd space battle thrown in for good measure which all sounds tremendously thrilling but does in fact become rather repetitive, tiresome even . Like most sci-fi there is also a good deal of technological mumbo-jumbo which will be undoubtedly be off putting to non sci-fi fans.
I would,nt say it is essential to be fully integrated into Neil Asher's hostile universe to enjoy Orbus but anyone coming to this novel without any empirical knowledge is going to struggle.Best, like anyone entering the Spatterjay universe for real to come fully prepared .
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