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Cowl (Paperback)

by Neal Asher (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: Tor; New edition edition (15 April 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330411586
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330411585
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11.2 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,881 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #60 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Adventure

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Product Description

Product 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.



About the Author

Born and still living in Essex, Neal Asher started writing SF at the age of sixteen. Since then he has had numerous stories published in magazines and book form, most recently his full-length novels GRIDLINKED, THE SKINNER and THE LINE OF POLITY.

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A SF book that isn't a sequel? I might have to sit down!, 20 Jun 2004
By Mr. M. Richards "iCowboy" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Cowl (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.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a space opera but through time instead, 18 Jan 2006
By A Customer
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Who needs Ian Cormac?, 22 Mar 2007
By J. Lyon "couldn't think of owt funny" (N. Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like the Polity novels, you might be a little disappointed with this one...
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 18 months ago by Jeff Eldridge

4.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mark Chitty

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

3.0 out of 5 stars 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

2.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2006 by M. R. Parashchak

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable but disappointing
Reads like a first draft. Hard to believe that it is from the same author of the excellent Polity series. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2005 by John Kenny

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work but time-travel is always difficult.
Being a big fan of Neal Asher's Gridlinked, Skinner and Line of Polity, I was eager to get my hands on this book. Naturally I got it on release and read it all swiftly. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2004 by Mr. R. Davis

3.0 out of 5 stars Cowl
Not sure I entirely agree with the other reviewers. The time travel concept is well handled and works. The author has really thought it through. Read more
Published on 18 April 2004

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