The Polity, a space-faring civilization ruled mostly by AIs because only they can cope with the math for the runcible operation enabling interstellar travel, has just made first contact. No one knew quite what to expect of the crablike Prador's visit to Avalon Station, though the massacre that ensued wasn't on anybody's list. Seems the bloodthirsty Prador are bent on taking over the Polity and its runcible technology, and the Polity powers that be must scrambled to get to have any chance of defeating them. Jebel Krong, a soldier on Avalon when the aliens arrived, and runcible tech Moria Salem, recently cerebrally augmented to handle the technology, are thrown together in a classic space-opera scenario in which two wild cards are the private surgeon who installed Moria's aug--a fugitive--and the aug itself, which is more than ordinary.

Udgivet af Night Shade Books 

Neal Asher
Neal Asher (born 4 February 1961 in Billericay, Essex, England) is an English science fiction writer. Both of Asher's parents are educators and science fiction fans. Although he began writing speculative fiction in secondary school, Asher did not turn seriously to writing until he was 25. Asher identifies The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other fantasy work including Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber series as important early creative influences. The majority of Asher's work is set in one future history, the "Polity" universe. It encompasses many classic science fiction tropes including world-ruling artificial intelligences, androids, hive minds and aliens. His novels are characterized by fast-paced action and violent encounters. While his work is frequently epic in scope and thus nominally space opera, its graphic and aggressive tone is more akin to cyberpunk. When combined with the way that Asher's main characters are usually acting to preserve social order or improve their society (rather than disrupt a society they are estranged from), these influences could place his work in the subgenre known as post-cyberpunk.