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Dark Intelligence: Transformation Book One Hardcover – February 3, 2015
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Thorvald Spear wakes in a hospital to find he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war that ended a century ago. Spear had been trapped on a world surrounded by hostile Prador forces, but Penny Royal, the AI inside the rescue ship sent to provide backup, turned rogue, annihilating friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction and killing Spear. One hundred years later the AI is still on the loose, and Spear vows for revenge at any cost.
Isobel Satomi ran a successful crime syndicate, but after competitors attacked she needed power and protection. Negotiating with Penny Royal, she got more than she bargained for: Turning part-AI herself gave Isobel frightening power, but the upgrades hid a horrifying secret, and the dark AI triggered a transformation that has been turning her into something far from human
Spear hires Isobel to track Penny Royal across worlds to its last known whereabouts. But he cheats her in the process and quickly finds himself in her crosshairs. As Isobel continues to evolve into a monstrous predator, it’s clear her rage will eventually win out over reason. Will Spear finish his hunt before he himself becomes the hunted?
Dark Intelligence is the explosive first novel in a brand new trilogy from military SF master Neal Asher and a new chapter in his epic Polity universe.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
- Print length416 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherNight Shade
- Publication dateFebruary 3, 2015
- Dimensions6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101597808245
- ISBN-13978-1597808248
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Beautifully paced ... does just as well as at slam-bang action scenes as at painting frightening pictures ... This is space opera at a high peak of craftsmanship.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review
What Asher delivers here is state-of-the-art SF on so many levels a compelling, smart read.”
Paul Di Filippo, Locus
Blends large portions of horror and mystery into an SF tale of revenge and redemption ... a complex and satisfying work.”
Library Journal, starred review
An exciting, intricate, and unabashedly futuristic story rife with twists and turns ... Asher returns to his popular far-future series, Polity Universe, with another fast-paced space opera filled with his trademark technological marvels and elaborate world building.”
Booklist
Explosive sci-fi action of the best kind that will leave you anxiously awaiting the sequel.”
Buzzfeed, Best Science Fiction Books of 2015”
Dark Intelligence is a revenge story with plenty of meat on its bones. . .the multifaceted, complex storytelling rewards a dedicated reader with serious tension and mindblowing sci-fi thrills.”
Manhattan Book Review
Hardboiled, fast-paced space opera epic ... Asher’s books are similar to the world of Iain M. Banks’ Culture universe, but the Polity is arguably a much darker and more vicious environmentand all the better for it.”
The Register
Perpetually on the knife's edge, and this constant tension works wonders for creating a page-turning atmosphere. It's a damningly gripping and infecting book.”
Upcoming4.me
A superb novel and Asher has an amazing talent for world-building, for writing larger-than-life characters, for weaving gripping plots and for imagining exotic alien races and wonderful technologies. Huge ships! Big weapons! Space battles! Ground battles! Treason! Revenge! This is New Space Opera at its best.”
Sense of Wonder
One of his best works so far ... Asher is a modern master of sci-fi.”
Starburst magazine
[The Polity books] are SF novels that mix early cyberpunk’s insouciance with the widescreen baroque spectacle of space opera and the pacing of an airport action-thriller. But even by Neal Asher’s standards, there’s something particularly grisly about Dark Intelligence.”
SFX
Praise for Neal Asher
Asher rocks with XXX adrenaline while delivering a vivid future.”
David Brin, New York Times-bestselling author of Kiln People
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 Grimwood
Projects the terror-haunted sensibility of our time into a future of limitless brutality . . . Asher displays great virtuosity.”
The New York Times
Asher has lit up the sky of science fiction like a new sun.”
Tanith Lee
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Night Shade (February 3, 2015)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1597808245
- ISBN-13 : 978-1597808248
- Item Weight : 1.35 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,622 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- #16,726 in Space Operas
- #27,134 in Science Fiction Adventures
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Neal Asher lives sometimes in England, sometimes in Crete and mostly at a keyboard. Having over twenty-five books published he has been accused of overproduction (despite spending far too much time on the social media, or kayaking and walking) but doesn’t intend to slow down just yet.
http://theskinner.blogspot.com/
https://www.nealasher.co.uk
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the story satisfying and exciting with a complex plot. They describe the book as an entertaining read that keeps them hooked until the end. The characters are described as great, dynamic, and evolving over time. Readers praise the writing quality as skillful and honest. The pacing is described as fast-paced and pulsing with action. Customers appreciate the science content, describing it as believable and interesting.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the book's story quality. They find the plot satisfying, exciting, and gripping. The different perspectives provide a rich story with sub-stories. Readers appreciate the thoughtful themes explored and the complexity of the universe, including diverse AIs and cool aliens.
"...It concludes neatly but as the first in a trilogy labeled "Transformation" it bodes well for the upcoming sequels...." Read more
"...The world building is still magnificent, the imagery still brilliantly imaginative and the action-- Whoa, its still top notch...." Read more
"...rehabilitation and redemption, there is a very specific and thoughtful theme explored here on the question of conflict and the biological context in..." Read more
"...fiction is a favorite genre for me and this book delivered on imaginative possibilities but something was missing that made me want to put it down..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the story entertaining and engaging, with an enjoyable plotline. Readers also mention that it's a fun and bloody romp back into the Polity by Asher.
"...Characters shine as Asher paints them with vivid color: Criminals who've discovered the awful depths their deals with the devil has left them with...." Read more
"...The guest appearances of those components made this book a spectacular read for me, but to the new Asher reader, I don't feel that they would..." Read more
"...A thriller at heart, the story was complex enough to keep the reader entertained...." Read more
"A fun, bloody romp back into the Polity by Asher. Full of the blood, guts, tech, violence and philosophy that is Asher's signature...." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters dynamic and evolving over the series. The author creates a wide variety of new and old favorites.
"...unique and evocative as Asher's locales it is his character development that makes his work shine...." Read more
"...New characters are introduced but they pale in comparison to the bogey man terror of Penny Royal, the elusive by omnipotent Earth Central..." Read more
"...Additionally, MANY characters and events from the previous novels are mentioned or even play some role, either major or minor...." Read more
"...I liked the way it began and enjoyed the development of the central characters but I felt it dragged a bit later in the book...." Read more
Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find the story skillfully told with an honest narrative that sets their imaginations ablaze. The vivid descriptions and memorable characters create a detailed universe that readers appreciate. However, some readers found the grammar acceptable but the flow of the story within paragraphs inconsistent.
"...As unique and evocative as Asher's locales it is his character development that makes his work shine...." Read more
"...The world building is still magnificent, the imagery still brilliantly imaginative and the action-- Whoa, its still top notch...." Read more
"...to broader themes of rehabilitation and redemption, there is a very specific and thoughtful theme explored here on the question of conflict and the..." Read more
"...A few minor continuation uncertainties along with some clumsy writing issues disturbed me..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it well-told and fast-paced, with plenty of action and unexpected twists. Readers describe the book as riveting and engaging, with strong stories and consequences. They appreciate revisiting old characters and new ones.
"...Pacing is brilliant and any slower portions of the novel are quickly overcome by exposition, events or developments that rapidly pick things up again..." Read more
"...many of Asher's novels, weaves together a convoluted plot with a frenetic pace that few could contain in words with the skill that Asher pulls..." Read more
"A fun, bloody romp back into the Polity by Asher. Full of the blood, guts, tech, violence and philosophy that is Asher's signature...." Read more
"...I would have liked more, simply because the book moves at such a fast pace, it seemed to finish too soon...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's science content. They find the ideas and tech believable. The book is described as an engaging read with mind-bending future technology and the evolution of human, alien, and technological life.
"...works, and this one builds on the complexities of the Polity culture, science and individual characters very nicely, sometimes even brilliantly...." Read more
"...To me, this touched on all the good points and possibilites about Polity, and enhanced upon those...." Read more
"...Full of the blood, guts, tech, violence and philosophy that is Asher's signature...." Read more
"...This book, as with all Neal Asher books, makes great use of this convention and keeps your interest throughout the entire reading...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book and find it engaging. They say it's a nice piece of the Neal Asher universe and a real return to form for the author. Readers enjoy his work and look forward to the next books in the series.
"...This is a nice example of Neal Asher, the pacing is great, the grasp and use of advanced technology is seamless and doesn't take pages of..." Read more
"Asher continues to deliver. Some twists and turns, maybe a little TOO much this time...." Read more
"...It is a wild ride. This is the first Neal Asher novel I've read. Neal is a master. He reveals new mysteries throughout the novel...." Read more
"Fantastic author, I enjoy his work and this book was no exception, I look forward to the next book. Thank you" Read more
Customers enjoy the book's value for money. They say it's worth reading if you enjoy sci-fi.
"...It's crafted with experience and precision and delivers every penny of its purchase price...." Read more
"...Happy to give this four stars. Worth a shot, even if the Polity is unfamiliar to the reader." Read more
"...Unquestionably worth your time, and so worth the price." Read more
"...If you like space opera this is worth your time and money." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015In the late 1990's the genre of Space Opera came roaring back in vogue with a trio of English authors who singlehandedly revived and updated the concept: Ian Banks, Peter F. Hamilton and Neal Asher. Each brought high concepts and fresh air to their visions of the future. Of those three it's Neal Asher whose novels, set in a common future of The Polity, where all of man's foibles and strengths ring truer to me. Humanity has changed in some ways but in Asher's work our passions, intellectually and physically, are never clearer.
"Dark Intelligence" sees Asher return to his Polity setting after a brief departure with his "Owner" trilogy. It picks up after events in "Hilldiggers" and "The Technician" and readers who have read those novels will appreciate how Asher moves the plot forward surrounding familiar characters and events.
Asher's vision for this novel is one as broad as his other works: a variety of locales, exotic and familiar. Brilliant cityscapes and seedy warehouse districts are matched with dark, sinister asteroids, derelict spaceships and the Graveyard: a wide swath of ruined planets and devastated solar systems that serve as a buffer between humanity and its onetime interstellar foe.
As unique and evocative as Asher's locales it is his character development that makes his work shine. Characters shine as Asher paints them with vivid color: Criminals who've discovered the awful depths their deals with the devil has left them with. Veterans with rekindled grudges from a war whose end came over a century ago. Aliens whose motivations and thought processes are unfamiliar and inhuman. Artificial intelligences as unique as the people around you, some aloof, some disdainful, some brilliant and some ribald.
This novel is one of my favorite of Asher's novels. In some ways it's a perfectly crafted roller coaster: you begin reading and after a few chapters of introducing characters and settings the ride finishes its slow ascension and then begins a breathtaking series of faster and faster circumstances and experiences that at the end leaves you out of breath and desperate for another ride. Pacing is brilliant and any slower portions of the novel are quickly overcome by exposition, events or developments that rapidly pick things up again. It concludes neatly but as the first in a trilogy labeled "Transformation" it bodes well for the upcoming sequels.
You can't begin an exploration of Asher's Polity novels with "Dark Intelligence" but it's one of the best by far. (My suggestion is to start with "Prador Moon" and then move to "Gridlinked.") It's crafted with experience and precision and delivers every penny of its purchase price. Few books deserve that compliment and fewer authors achieve it with the regularity of Asher.
Highly recommended.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2015First off, I love pretty much everything that Neal Asher writes, so I admit to being a tad biased. Whenever Asher drops a new title, I drop whatever I am reading to grab it. While 'Dark Intelligence' is the beginning of a trilogy and could be read alone, to understand why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5, is to fully immerse yourself in the world building of his other books.
Oh more than a few of the superstars from his other novels and shorts make reappearances in this new work. Awesome, godlike entities fight for goals that they are both aware of and unaware of. New characters are introduced but they pale in comparison to the bogey man terror of Penny Royal, the elusive by omnipotent Earth Central (Oh I want the book about that AI), the mighty but conflicted race of Prador, the charming-dopey-but-kickass Weaver and...one of my all time Asher favorites, outside of Ian Cormac...Amistad, the scorpion drone. The guest appearances of those components made this book a spectacular read for me, but to the new Asher reader, I don't feel that they would understand the complexity of those characters.
For a new reader to have to base their impression on the weak characters and single-minded obsessions of Thorvald Spear and Isobel Satomi makes me just a little sad, when I want to jump up and down and point to Asher's earlier works and scream 'Look at these first!! Amistad is a bad ass! Earth Central is no joke! Get the Prador backstory! Check out how the Weaver came about!'
I can get carried away when it comes to Asher, but overall 'Dark Intelligence' is a decent beginning and by all means a 10 star book when compared to other books I have read. The world building is still magnificent, the imagery still brilliantly imaginative and the action-- Whoa, its still top notch. But, for Asher, I no longer compare him to other writers. I compare this book to his entire catalog. As I await the second in this series and look forward to another trip into his complex universe, I will hope for more likeable human/haimen protagonists but if I don't get them I won't cry, I'll read it anyway because even a 4 star Asher work reads better than most 5 star science fiction!
- Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2015I've read all of Neal Asher's Polity works, and this one builds on the complexities of the Polity culture, science and individual characters very nicely, sometimes even brilliantly. Additionally, MANY characters and events from the previous novels are mentioned or even play some role, either major or minor. In some cases, this advances the story for these characters in a very satisfying way. Asher melds a bit of the horrific in with all his Polity works, but not in any way gratuitously, rather, as context and consequence, and this same is present in Dark Intelligence.
What surprised me most was a follow-up novel focused on Penny Royal the rogue AI! Not expected, at least by this reader! In addition to broader themes of rehabilitation and redemption, there is a very specific and thoughtful theme explored here on the question of conflict and the biological context in which the combatants find themselves, which changes quite radically throughout the book ( these biological changes are, on one level, examples of the "Transformation" referred to by the name of this new trilogy). In addition to Penny Royal, who we see through the eyes of others in the main, I really enjoyed the Prador Father-Captain, SVERL, and his inner conflict as he, to, is "transformed".
Overall, I enjoyed this latest edition to the Polity works immensely, and, other than the 4 books of the Cormac arc, this may emerge as my favorite sub-set of the Polity works! Promising indeed! Highly recommended to both existing and new Polity universe readers, as the former will be deeply immersed in the intricacies of the Polity once again, for good or ill, while those new to the Polity can likely pick up here with little consequence to their overall enjoyment.
Top reviews from other countries
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Denis BeuriveReviewed in France on January 1, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellente série!
Excellente série! Le début m’a semblé un peu long, mais très rapidement, j’ai été captivé. Je recommande cette série aux amateurs de science-fiction.
-
David LReviewed in Spain on July 26, 2017
3.0 out of 5 stars 'Recibido correctamente y por rel precio bien.
Es la versión de bolsillo de tapa blanda por lo que el papel es el típico amarillento de baja calidad. Pero por el precio es correcto.
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in Australia on February 11, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
Dan Morgan style, nice bitey too and for between characters. Intriguing plot, few flat spots, good pace. Tastey read for sci-fi nerds.
- GeoorgReviewed in Germany on September 17, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story about interesting Persons
Just shortly interrupted by some brief moments of explaining and sudden understanding this book tells a story full of action and exciting turnarounds. Also the hints to happenings from other Polity novels where greatly packed into. All in all this is an enormously entertaining book and if you do not watch out it will force you read it at once!
- Techno HippyReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!
I'm a big fan of Neal Asher, in fact he's one of my favourite contemporary science fiction authors, so I looked forward to reading his latest and I'm pleased to report that it's a damn fine read. It sees a return to his Polity universe, and while I enjoyed the Owner trilogy a lot, the Polity has seen some superb stories and its great to visit the universe again.
The story centres around a black AI and machine intelligence is something that the author excels in telling stories about, in fact for me, only Ian M Banks did it better with his minds. There are some similarities to the Culture in the Polity, although only on a superficial level. The Polity is a darker and more brutal universe and some of the alien life is truly fantastic.
Another aspect of his writing I enjoy is how he takes a quite personal story (or a few in this case) and wraps it into a deeper story, and often with far reaching implications, while still retaining the intimate feel. There is a diverse array of characters in the story, and all relate in various ways to the machinations of the rogue AI.
The plot builds piece by piece and evolves at a decent pace, yet still creating a mystery of where it's heading. I really like that in a book, as usually I find that I suss the direction of the early on and here I enjoyed a few surprises along the way.
If you're new to this author's work then I'd advise reading some of the other Polity novels first, otherwise there's a few references in here that will slip you bye. If you're already a fan then this is like welcoming back an old friend.