The Engineer ReConditioned

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Title: The Engineer Reconditioned
Series: Polity #13
Author: Neal Asher
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 260
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

A collection of short stories from Asher's Polity Universe, his Owner universe and some general SF shorts.

My Thoughts:

Really, my previous review still stands. Asher just unloads several times on anything “religious” and even in one of his intro's to a story admits that's exactly what he is doing. Makes me show more wonder why the vitriol. His wife hadn't died yet, so it wasn't like he was blaming God for that. In fact, now that his wife has passed on, I've noticed LESS bashing of religion in his books. Thankfully, I knew this was an element in this book so it didn't shock me like it did the first time around. Scyenze is Asher's god, he just won't admit it.

I enjoyed the Owner stories a lot this time around as I now had the Owner trilogy under my literary belt. Did make me want to add them to my tbr. Once I finish up my Polity re-read, I'll probably re-read the Owner books to tide me over until Asher's Jain trilogy wraps up.

There was a story about the Hive (turns out Wasps are sentient creatures) and I have to admit I would like a trilogy about them at some point. I doubt it will happen and I'd be ok with just some more short stories, but since I'm wishing, a trilogy is what I want.

★★★★☆ show less

This creative collection of short stories by Neal Asher will provide an excellent introduction to his work for those unfamiliar with it, as the standalone stories cover his favorite themes and strengths: high-intensity action, richly described alien biologies, villainous religious cults, and much violence. Returning readers will also be rewarded by references and tie-ins to his other future histories, The Polity, and The Owner universes.

The title novella, 'The Engineer', deserves special attention due to its length and polish. A Polity story, it tells of the discovery of an ancient alien escape pod by a science vessel who manage to revive the advanced being within. News of the discovery brings attention from various factions and soon a show more classic Asher full-scale conflict erupts. I was a little surprised by the altruism and bio-centric technology of the Jain alien in this story, having only the example from Asher's "Orbus" novel to compare with, but as is clearly shown with the various human factions in the Polity stories, species and societies are more diverse that any single specimen would illustrate.

The three "Owner" stories shared a common plot device for their climaxes, so I won't spoil them with a description, other than to say I would have appreciated a more varied 'reveal' in the stories chosen to accompany one another in a collection. Taken individually, all three are thrilling and wholly engaging stories that bring a low-tech fantasy element to Asher's SF which I hadn't seen before.

My favorite story in the collection, "Spatterjay" is probably the most dependent on a familiarity with Asher's other novels, in this case the Polity trilogy of the same title, as it deals with a setting and characters so vividly colorful that they are difficult to absorb in so few pages. It serves as a prequel to those novels, and even more so than any of the other stories in the collection it brings some wild alien biology to life for the reader- a whole ecology in fact!

The other five stories here each have interesting aspects, but can be grouped and summarized by saying they revolve around unique alien biological oddities which are expanded and extrapolated into skeletons on which to hang a brief story. Interpersonal drama, tension, and subtlety are not really to be found here, but imaginative and intense moments of action will make them memorable for most readers, I believe. show less

It is so interesting to read the early stories and see, very clearly, some of his preoccupations, such as parasitism, genetic engineering and immortality. The stories also stand alone as excellent examples of bold thinking and well-paced plotting.

Sadly, I am finding I don't care for Asher's short stories as much as his novels. Mainly, because it seems he allows himself to vent against Christianity & religion with his stories.

Some Polity stories, some Hivemind stories and some Owner stories. I kind of wish I'd read this and the Owner stories BEFORE starting the Owner series.

the first part was real good, i guess the engineer section, but then it just started jumping around randomly to other stories, and was only ok, so didn't really feel the need to finish, there are too many books out there to read. note this is the first book where I've become a quiter

The Engineer liked
Spaterjoy pretty standard Missionary bashing
Proctor; The Owner; The Tor Best Prison; Tiger, Tiger; The Gurnard