Dark Intelligence (Transformation Series #1)

by Neal Asher

Overview

One man will transcend death to seek vengeance. One woman will transform herself to gain power. And no one will emerge unscathed...

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597805704
Publisher:	Night Shade Books
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Series:	Transformation Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	300,636
File size:	851 KB

About the Author

Neal Asher was born in Billericay, Essex, and divides his time between there and Crete.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/15/2014
Asher (the Owner trilogy) delivers an exciting beginning to a new trilogy set in his Polity universe. During a war between humans and the crablike alien Prador, Thorvald Spear was killed by Penny Royal, a warped AI. More than a hundred years later, he’s revived to discover that the war is long over but Penny Royal is still around. Isobel Satomi made a deal with Penny Royal so she could become powerful in an interplanetary crime syndicate, but it granted her wish by starting her slow transformation into a carnivorous centipede. Both Spear and Satomi desire vengeance, which is complicated by several questions: not just where Penny Royal is and how to destroy it, but how much they are playing pre-ordained parts in its incomprehensible plan. This beautifully paced book does just as well at slam-bang action scenes as at painting frightening pictures of Isobel’s changes, and provides an interesting climax while leaving plenty of space for the next two books. This is space opera at a high peak of craftsmanship. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Dark Intelligence
“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 environment—and 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

Praise for Dark Intelligence
“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 environment—and 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

From the Publisher