Books by Neal Asher

&b>Jack Four is one of twenty clones, created to be sold. But he possesses information no clone should have. And he plans to escape his fate whatever it takes.&/b>

War Factory is the second novel in the Transformation series, a no-holds-barred adventure set in Neal Asher's popular Polity universe. One seeks judgement, another faces damnation and one man will have his revenge . . .Thorvald Spear is losing his mind as he drowns in dark memories that aren't his own. Penny Royal, rogue artificial intelligence, has linked Spear with the stored personalities of those it's murdered. And whether the AI seeks redemption or has some more sinister motive, Spear needs to destroy it. He feels the anger of the dead and shares their pain. As Spear tracks the AI across a hostile starscape, he has company. Sverl, an alien prador, has been warped by Penny Royal and hungers to confront it. But will the AI's pursuers destroy each other or hunt it together? Sverl's prador enemies aren't far behind either. They plan to use his transition to prove human meddling, triggering a devastating new war. Clues suggest Penny Royal's heading for the defective war factory that made it. So allies and enemies converge, heading for the biggest firestorm that sector of space has ever seen. But will Spear secure vengeance for his unquiet dead?

WILL DEADLY SECRETS STAY CONCEALED?Old Captain Orbus commandeered a ship to flee Spatterjay, desperate to escape the violent planet. Orbus's alien enemy, the Prador Vrell, is also moving on. The Spatterjay virus mutated him into something even more dangerous. And he's hunting the Prador King himself - who sought to kill him, to bury the secret of their similar transformations.Orbus and Vrell clash in the Graveyard, a lawless zone where the Prador have seized a key space station. Official action by humanity or Prador would end peace, as a centuries-long cold war simmers. So Earth commands Orbus to destroy the station, even as the King recruits a monster to exterminate Vrell. But their actions will awaken an intelligence that annihilated civilizations, as it stirs after five million years . . .

Best-selling author Neal Asher was far from idle during the isolation of lockdown; he kept himself occupied in the best way possible: he wrote. And his imagination was clearly in overdrive. Five brand new novellas and novelettes and one novella reworked and expanded from a story first published in 2019. Together, they form Lockdown Tales, exploring the latter days of the Polity universe and beyond. What lies in wait for humanity after the Polity has gone?Six stories, 150,000 words of fiction that crackle with energy, invention and excitement. Within their pages you will encounter prador, hoopers, sassy A.I.s, resurrected Golem, a mutated giant whelk that can ravage an island, hooders, megalomaniacs, war drones, Penny Royal, an intriguing sfnal take on High Planes Drifter and another with echoes of Robinson Crusoe... In fact, everything you might expect from concentrated Neal Asher and more. Lockdown Tales: An introductionThe Relict Monitor Logan Bad Boy Plenty Dr. Whip Raising Moloch

The stunning conclusion to this high-octane space opera series - where war is coming to the depths of space . . .

Zero Point is the second book in Neal Asher's near-future, science fiction Owner series.Earth's Zero Asset citizens no longer face extermination. Thanks to Alan Saul, the Committee's despotic network is in ruins and its robotic enforcers lie dormant. But the ruthless Serene Galahad sees an opportunity to grab power. On Mars, Var Delex fights for Antares Base's survival, while the Argus Space Station hurtles towards the red planet. And Var knows whomever, or whatever, trashed Earth is still aboard. She must not only save the base, but deal with the first signs of rebellion. And aboard Argus Station, Alan Saul's mind has expanded into the local computer network. In the process, he uncovers the ghastly experiments of the Humanoid Unit Development, the possibility of eternal life, and a madman who may hold the keys to interstellar flight. But Earth's agents are closer than Saul thinks, and the killing will soon begin.

The Departure is the first book in Neal Asher's near-future, science fiction Owner series.The Argus Space Station looks down on a nightmarish Earth. And from this safe distance, the Committee enforces its despotic rule. There are too many people and too few resources, and they need twelve billion to die before Earth can be stabilized. So corruption is rife, people starve, and the poor are policed by mechanized overseers and identity-reader guns. Citizens already fear the brutal Inspectorate with its pain inducers. But to reach its goals, the Committee will unleash satellite laser weaponry, taking carnage to a new level. This is the world Alan Saul wakes to, travelling in a crate destined for the Calais incinerator. How he got there he doesn't know, but he remembers pain and his tormentor's face. He also has company: Janus, a rogue intelligence inhabiting forbidden hardware in his skull. As Janus shows Saul an Earth stripped of hope, he resolves to annihilate the Committee and their regime. Once he's discovered who he was, and killed his interrogator . . .

The action packed conclusion to Neal Asher's Transformation series, a no-holds-barred space opera set in Asher's popular Polity universe.

Dark Intelligence is the first book in a high-octane SF trilogy set in Asher's popular Polity universe.

In Neal Asher's The Technician, the Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada - but it is an order that the rebels of the Tidy Squad cannot accept, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is top of their hitlist. Tombs, meanwhile, has escaped his sanatorium. His insanity must be cured, because the near-mythical hooder, called 'the Technician', that attacked him all those years ago, did something to his mind even the AIs fail to understand. Tombs might possess information about the suicide of an entire alien race. It's up to the war drone Amistad to discover this information, with the help of an ex-rebel Commander, the black AI Penny Royal and the amphidapt Chanter. Meanwhile, in deep space, the mechanism the Atheter used to reduce themselves to animals stirs from slumber and begins to power-up its weapons . . .

"A powerhouse cocktail of lurid violence, evocative world-building and typically grotesque monsters."?SFXThe fast-paced adventures on the remote planet Spatterjay, a dangerous waterworld filled with lethal biology, continue in the sequel to The Skinner.Sable Keech, a reification previously deceased for more than seven hundred years, is now a walking dead man, resurrected under mysterious circumstances that may have a lot to do with the virus native to the exotic but deadly remote ocean world Spatterjay. As word of his adventures (The Skinner) continue to spread, the planet has become a pilgrimage site for other reifs hoping to meet similar fates.The allure of the virus?which promises something close to immortality, even if it comes at terrible biological cost?has brought other beings to the off-Polity world as well. An ancient hive mind may be after the poison "sprine" crucial to the virus's immortality. Deep in the ocean, a vicious alien prador has awakened from a long, virus-induced coma. And Sniper, an AI assigned as the planet's warden, finally receives his new drone shell. It's better than his old one, with powerful engines, more lethal weapons, and thicker armour. He's going to need them.

Some secrets are too hard to bear . . . Following the human vs prador war, Ian Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security. He's sent out to restore order on worlds devastated by alien bombardment. But he learns humanity can be far more dangerous - even those closest to him. Amidst the tragic ruins left by wartime atrocities, Cormac discovers in himself the cold capacity for violence. It's a quality that'll make him one of Earth's top agents. Haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone, and the burden of losses he doesn't remember, he'll discover some hard truths. These will set him on a course of vengeance, where he'll have to use all his hard-won skills just to stay alive.A standalone prequel to Neal Asher's explosive Agent Cormac series.

They have extraordinary power and aren't afraid to use it . . . Two planets in the same solar system are locked in war, when some kind of cosmic super-string is discovered. It seems packed with alien technology, or even perhaps life. And for safety it is stored - in four segments - within a maximum-security space station. A female research scientist falls pregnant on the station soon after, and gives birth to quads. Then she commits suicide. But why? By the war's end, one planet is devastated. It fell victim to the other's incredible hilldigger weaponry - so named as their blasts create mountains. Meanwhile, the quads have reached adulthood, and are gaining power in post-war society. One of them has his sights set on claiming the hilldiggers and their power for himself. But with what consequences for humanity?Hilldiggers is a fast-paced standalone, following events in Neal Asher's Spatterjay trilogy.

IS IMMORTALITY WORTH THE PRICE?The savage ocean planet of Spatterjay draws visitors with very different agendas. Erlin is immortal and seeks a reason to keep living. Janer hosts a hive mind, which paid him to find this planet. And Keech is an agent of Earth who's been dead for seven hundred years - but still hunts a notorious criminal.On Spatterjay's vast waterscapes, only the Old Captains risk the native life forms and their voracious appetites. However, they are now barely human. And somewhere out there Keech's target - the Skinner - runs wild. Keech pursues the Skinner for atrocities committed in a centuries-past war, fought with the alien Prador. But one of these Prador is fast approaching Spatterjay to exterminate witnesses to his own war crimes. And he won't spare its visitors.

Line War is the fifth and final novel in Neal Asher's popular Agent Cormac series.The human Polity worlds are under attack from Erebus, a renegade AI. And it's now merged with lethal Jain technology, and isn't afraid to use it. When Erebus kills millions, on a world of no apparent significance, Agent Ian Cormac is sent to investigate. He's also secretly struggling with an ability no human should possess - and starts questioning the motives of his AI masters.Further indiscriminate attacks attract the Polity's most dangerous individuals. Mr Crane, a brass killing machine, seeks vengeance. Orlandine, part AI and part human, hunts a weapon of appalling power. And Dragon plans to wake the makers of Jain technology from their ancient slumber. But can Erebus be stopped - or is this the end for the Polity?

A gripping space opera, from the bestselling author of the Agent Cormac series

&b>A thrilling standalone adventure set in the world of the Polity. When a far-flung colony is attacked by powerful alien raptors, its inhabitants will be forced to fight back even as war changes them in monstrous ways.&/b>

A warship is laying waste to the galaxy, committing incredible acts of war. So old enemies must work together - or face annihilation. This is the high-octane conclusion to Neal Asher's Rise of the Jain trilogy.

David Gemmell passed away in 2006, leaving behind a legacy of memorable characters, epic settings, and thrilling tales. In the Legends anthologies, today's finest fantasy authors pay homage to one of fantasy fiction's greatest ever writers. Full of swordplay, treachery, deeds both dark and noble, with cunning thieves and wily tricksters, blood-thirsty gods and flawed heroes - welcome to Legends. Contents:1. Introduction by Stan Nicholls2. Blood Debt - Gail Z. Martin3. A God's Mercy - Richard Webb4. Berserker Captain - Neal Asher5. The Price of Passage - Keris McDonald6. Summoner - Danie Ware7. Pelicos the Brave and the Princess of Kalakhadze - Steven Poore8. The Timekeeper's Tarot - Den Patrick9. Her Grail - Ben North10. Piercing the Mist - Shona Kinsella11. Chosen of the Slain - K.T. Davies12. The Dying Land - Nick Watkinson13. A Hero of Her People - Anna Smith Spark14. All Deaths Well Intention'd - RJ Barker15. By Any Other Name - Justina Robson About the Authors

'What has six arms, a large beak, looks like a pyramid, has more eyes than you'd expect and talks nonsense? If you don't know the answer to that, then 1) you should and 2) you haven't been reading Neal Asher (see point 1)' Jon Courtenay GrimwoodNeal Asher has firmly established himself as one of the leading British writers of Science Fiction. Most of his stories are set in a galactic future-scape called 'The Polity', and with The Gabble - And Other Stories, a collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe. No one does monsters better than Neal Asher, so be prepared to discover the lives and lifestyles of such favourites as the gabbleduck and the hooder, to savour alien poisons, the walking dead, the Sea of Death, and the putrefactor symbiont.

Neal Asher's Cowl is set 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 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.

Neal Asher ramps up the action in this second book in his Rise of the Jain trilogy. Expect epic conflicts in space, extraordinary aliens and impossible choices . . .

No one can outrun the past in Brass Man, is the third novel in Neal Asher's popular Agent Cormac series.Imperfectly resurrected by Jain technology, Mr Crane is back from the dead. The brass killing machine is haunted by a violent past he can't fully forget or truly remember. He seeks to heal his shattered mind as his new master, an old biophysicist enemy of Agent Cormac, sets him on an improbable mission: to hunt a dragon on the frontier world of Cull.On Cull, each day is a struggle for survival. Ferocious insectile monsters roam the volatile planet. And the low-tech human settlers are desperate to reach their ancestors' starship - orbiting tantalisingly out of reach. An entity calling itself Dragon assists them, but what are its real motives, and why is the biophysicist really here? Cormac must find the answers, and face multiple threats to the Polity.Brass Man is followed by Polity Agent, the fourth book in the Agent Cormac series.

Old enemies meet on new worlds in The Line of Polity, the second novel in Neal Asher's popular Agent Cormac series.At the frontiers of human-occupied space, the Miranda space station has been utterly destroyed. Earth Central assigns Agent Ian Cormac to discover the truth, because the alien bioconstruct Dragon seems the most likely culprit.Meanwhile, rebellion is brewing on Masada. The planet's people are enslaved on the surface, living in fear of their overlords in orbit, who punish transgressions with laser strikes. Leaving their compounds also means death, as monstrous predators roam the toxic wilderness. Civil war looms, while a rebel biophysicist brings lethal Jain technology to this world. Agent Cormac must find out what connects these events, if he is to avert catastrophe.The Line of Polity is followed by Brass Man, the third title in the Agent Cormac series.

The hunter becomes the hunted in Gridlinked, the first sci-fi thriller in Neal Asher's compelling Agent Cormac series.When a portal to other planets explodes on Samarkand, thousands are killed and a terraforming project is obliterated. Earth Central Security suspects sabotage - and assigns a legendary investigator. But Agent Ian Cormac has his own problems. Years spent mentally linked to the Polity's AI network have eroded his humanity, and this gridlink has to be severed or he'll die. Without it, he has only his wits (and Shuriken, a throwing star with a mind of its own) to rely on.Cormac's disastrous last mission also haunts him - as a psychopath and a murderous android track him across the galaxy, seeking revenge. Meanwhile, the ice-bound planet of Samarkand hides deadly secrets beneath its surface . . . secrets Cormac is about to disturb.Gridlinked is followed by The Line of Polity, the second title in the Agent Cormac series.

Polity Agent is the fourth novel in Neal Asher's popular Agent Cormac series.Refugees arrive in the Polity from eight hundred years in Agent Cormac's future. And once they are through, the gate they use is dumped into the sun, as something dangerous and non-human is in pursuit. Cormac soon learns that the Maker civilization they have come from has been destroyed - by alien Jain technology. Orlandine, an augmented human, is studying this lethal tech in Cormac's timeline. She may manage to harness its power, or it might destroy her. Meanwhile, Cormac is desperate to stamp down on this same technology, but someone or something is spreading it. And just outside humanity's Polity worlds, something very nasty indeed might just be pulling their strings. Polity Agent is followed by Line War in the action-packed Agent Cormac series

WILL AN ANCIENT TERROR RISE AGAIN?Taylor Bloc is a walking dead man, determined to live again. He also wants adulation, power and control - and will do anything to get them. Of Bloc's kind, Sable Keech alone has achieved resurrection. So Bloc will retrace Keech's journey across Spatterjay's wild seas, with his crew of killers, to grasp his secret.Erlin wanted solitude to understand her eternal life, until an attack prompts her own strange journey. And Janer returns, with forbidden weaponry. He must stop an agent controlled by a hive mind with a death fixation. But a wider crisis will overshadow personal missions. In the deeps, an alien Prador is stirring, horribly transformed by Spatterjay's immortality virus. And an enemy ship would destroy the planet to keep this secret.