The second book in the Spatterjay sequence sees us returning to Spatterjay (well, where else are you going to set it?), this time for an altogether different sort of mission.
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| The Sable Keech never had that many Sails, but OK... |
I am, by now, rather a big fan of Neal Asher and his books. Having read only three insofar, I actually own five or so, leaving three of mine still to read after this. Therefore, I cannot claim myself to be an authority on Neal Asher's universe of 'the Polity', nor his recurring characters or even his style. However, I can (and will) judge the rest of his books by the standards set by 'The Skinner' (see other review, entitled 'The Skinner', oddly enough) and by pitting it against my other 10/10 specimen books. Therefore, with this word of warning in mind, I commence with my review.
Every book needs a plot, unless you're Boris Johnson writing your autobiography. Some are strong, some are basic and some are just weak. Of course, 'The Voyage' has a plot too. And I like it. Already outlined above, the plot entails an epic ocean voyage aboard a ship of the dead, plus some living Hooper crewmen and Captain Ron. However, the story isn't confined to the ship. Several storylines take place all at once, a couple taking the Sable Keech as their setting, while the other two or three manage to happen elsewhere around Spatterjay. Of course, they all come together. In my eyes at least, a prospective author would be hard-pressed to write a novel with multiple storylines that didn't come together that worked as a single novel instead of two books inexpertly merged together. If anyone knows of such a book, tell me. I wish to know.
The fact that the multiple storylines actually work as one book is a minor miracle in itself. With so many subplots flying about at the same time, one could easily get very, very lost indeed. Instead, Asher manages to focus on one or two plots at one time, sidelining the others until later. Of these subplots, several fit together very nicely, seeing as they take the same characters or setting. My favourite of these is probably that of Janer's struggle to work out what the heck's happening concerning a possible enemy hivemind, though that has to contend fiercely against the imminent Prador threat against Spatterjay itself. Unfortunately, though, at least one storyline could be dispensed with - that concerning the giant whelk. That just seemed a little too much, though I could see why Asher wished to include it.
Characters! Books need characters too, and the problem for writers with characters is forging believable people to take hold of a situation. Happily for us, or me at the very least, Asher creates some respectable creatures to fit the situation.
It is difficult to identify 'main' characters as such, mostly due to the fact that there are so many plots running around and therefore characters to fill them all. It puts me in mind of the TV series 'The Event' (watch this space; I'll do a series review of that series yet!). However, it is possible to identify major people in each.
First off, there's the Prador Vrell, son of the late Ebulan (notice that 'Ebulan' is an anagram of 'nebula'?). He's just generally amazing, especially seeing as to what happens to his physiology over the course of the book. He isn't evil as such, he just wants to get away and survive to live another day or so.
We also have the full complement of characters from the first book in the Spatterjay Sequence, 'The Skinner'. Janer, Erlin, Ambel, Ron, Sprage... You name 'em, it's got 'em. We even get the old Warden back! And SM13 too.
I do like the Warden and his subminds. His continuing bluffs against Vrost and his dreadnought are particularly enjoyable to read, adding a suspenseful element to the book. This constitutes a good chunk of the Warden-subplot. The Warden starts out as a little bit of a grouchy computer program, but that changes over the course of the book.
So, in conclusion, we have a good range of characters already developed through their use in the first book in the series, 'The Skinner'. having them predeveloped like that is good; it means that Asher can cut to the nitty-gritty of the story and bypass the pleasantries involved in introducing characters.
I think I've run out of things to blab about for now, although I could probably extend this quite a way if I applied myself. However this seems like a good time to give my final review.
Although an excellent book, this book is only getting an 8.5/10 from me. It is, no doubt, a brilliant book, but it cannot really compare to its predecessor. That's the trouble with sequels... They're always judged according to what the last one was like. However, it is also a middle novel, so maybe that's something to do with it.
Excellent characters, several immersive plots and some classic Science Fiction/Action/Thriller stuff strewn throughout? It's my kind of book. Thanks very much, Mr Asher. I look forwards to 'Orbus'.
If you wish to buy the book, here's an Amazon.co.uk link.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skinner-Spatterjay-1-Neal-Asher/dp/0330512528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329308077&sr=8-1
2 comments:
It suffered from a proliferation of plot lines. Perhaps you need to take a look at the Cormac sequence?
Yeah, 'probably' is the answer to that one. I did, however, get the references to the gabbleduck and realised where the hooder was springing from. I really liked that hooder. Now I'm moving on to 'The Line of Polity'.
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