This was a middle-of-the-road read for me. While I liked a lot of aspects, there were some things I disliked, and overall, I just didn't feel strongly enough about the book to really warrant adding an in-depth review to the blog.

I enjoyed this book but its did take me a while to get into. But I've always liked Neal Asher books hes a great author so i knew i should keep going with the book and i wasn't disappointed. Its a great book and i would recommended its.

While I’m astounded at the use of technology and the sheer complexity of Asher’s writing, I couldn’t get into The Soldier coherently enough to fully review the novel on my site. That being said, I’m amazed at his grasp of technology and the dozens of inventive machines, alien races and AIs that graced the first few chapters. It’s definitely a well-written, well-laid out book. I just had trouble following along with the large number of characters and a deep universal history that I felt behind on from the first page.

With the formation of an unfathomable future, one advanced beyond Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, the author, Neal Asher, immerses readers in technology that is hard to comprehend. Biological tech in this future is used to alter the laws of physical nature. Humanity in this era is ruled by powerful AI’s. Such rule is accepted and even envied by humans who alter their bodies for greater strength and mental abilities in order to emulate the robotics and AI’s they associate with. In Asher’s future, an unenhanced human is rare.

The main characters in ‘The Soldier’ are AI’s and enhanced humans. Since human motivations are easier to understand, Asher endowed the book’s AI’s with human emotions, thus enabling the reader to understand and empathize with them. The main AI, Earth Central, a/k/a EC in the book, is primarily concerned with the protection and prosperity of the human race. However, EC is not above sacrificing individuals when their sacrifice has the potential to save a larger number of lives. Such a decision is a simple calculation for an AI like EC.

Near the book’s end, the main protagonist is cleverly defeated and humanity, in its many hybrid forms, prevails. Yet, an incomprehensible and unresolved threat is developed toward the end of the book. This menace will surely be the basis for the next book in this series.

This is the fourth novel I have read by Neal Asher (just finished The Owner Trilogy) and I like his writing style. He builds intensive worlds with great backstory and action. You find yourself fully immersed in his world. And this novel was no different.

Since I haven't already read the Agent Cormac series by Asher I was confused for this novel, a lot of the time. The beginning was especially difficult as I had no idea who the Client was, the Species were, what Q-gates were... etc. The story does start to make more sense past the halfway mark and I found I was able to truly enjoy it then.

The characters were well written with great detail but I found them emotionless. I understand that they are mainly nonhumans (a significant number of them are AI's) so they don't experience emotions the way humans do. But as a consequence of this I had no emotional investment in them. If they lived or died I didn't care.

The novel was good, not my favorite by Asher (I really liked The Owner Trilogy for its gridiness and dystopian feel). I would suggest it to anyone who likes hard science fiction (I've heard people call it a space opera but I strongly disagree). I will continue the series once I read his earlier works that tie into this novel with a shared universe.

Thank you to Night Shade Books for this ARC.

J’ai souvent vu passer le nom de Neal Asher en science-fiction, mais hormis Grindlinked, lu au moment de sa sortie et oublié depuis, je ne m’étais jamais plongée dans son œuvre. Quand Netgalley proposa The Soldier en lecture avancée, je fus suffisamment intriguée pour tenter l’aventure.
Comme Grindlinked, et d’après Wikipédia quatorze autres romans et de multiples nouvelles, The Soldier se situe dans l’univers de Polity. Si vous le connaissez bien, vous y trouverez vite vos marques, même si Ian Cormac n’est plus du tout présent dans ce livre. Si vous n’avez lu aucun livre dans cet univers, ou si comme moi vous avez quasiment tout oublié, pas de panique. The Soldier est le premier volume d’une nouvelle série, Rise of the Jain, et semble se situer quelques siècles après les autres. Les différents protagonistes (humains, IA, extra-terrestres ou mélange de deux ou trois catégories) sont présentés en préambule du roman, juste avant un lexique expliquant certains concepts. De plus, tout au long du livre, les explications d’une particularité ou d’un point d’histoire arrivent pour mettre au courant tel ou tel personnage de ce qu’il s’est passé en son absence sans que cela ne soit fait de manière trop lourde. Une phrase bien placée suffit parfois à comprendre un élément présenté trois pages auparavant.
Et l’histoire de The Soldier ? Accrocheuse est le seul mot qui me vient à l’esprit. Je ne suis pas particulièrement friande de science-fiction militaire et pourtant cette histoire narrant les préparations d’une guerre spatiale d’une ampleur encore non mesurée m’a séduite. Même si je dois reconnaître avoir survolé les descriptifs de combats stellaires quitte à revenir quelques pages en arrière si besoin.
La variété des points de vue m’a plu. Nous avons des humains (Cog, Trike, Ruth, Orlandine), des IA (Earth Central, Angel, Pragus, The Wheel), des extraterrestres (Dragon, The Client, les Pradors). Chacun a son propre agenda, ses propres peurs et ambitions, ses propres sentiments. Et étrangement, ce ne sont pas forcément les humains les plus proches des lecteurs. J’avoue avoir eu un petit coup de cœur pour Bludgeon et Cutter, deux drones de combats vétérans reconvertis dans la construction de mégastructures stellaires. L’histoire concentrée sur quelques mois trouve son origine cinq milliards d’années auparavant lorsque les Jains, race d’extraterrestres si belliqueux que même leurs reliques abandonnées peuvent détruire des civilisations, ont disparu. Sauf que… de vieilles IA se réveillent et des armes antiques refont leurs apparitions.
Malgré l’ampleur épique du récit, le changement permanent de points de vue dans The Soldier apporte la touche personnelle qui permet au lecteur de s’attacher à l’histoire et à ses personnages. Que ce soit Trike au bord de la folie cherchant sa femme Ruth ou The Client seule survivante de sa race à la poursuite de ses origines, tous aident le lecteur à s’ancrer dans cet univers si loin du nôtre.
Et du coup, je vais peut-être relire Grindlinked et d’autres histoires du Polity.

This was the first book I read by Neal Asher and it had me hooked from start to finish, there are so many comparisons I could make to other science fiction authors but that would be to do a disservice to Neal Asher and his phenomenal depth of knowledge and detail, this is indeed science fiction but there is a lot of science fact in there too, I have since bought Neal Ashers library including short stories, not all are to my taste (the owner trilogy left me cold sadly) but this book is a must read and I highly recommend it

Another stellar entry in Asher's Polity series. The Solider grabs a hold of readers and simply refuses to let go. Action, intrigue, and cracking science fiction. Highly recommended.

It should be said that not every book appeals to every reader. It just means that in a particular case for particular people, the novel is not interesting. This was the case with The Soldier and me. I did not care for it as a science fiction piece. To me the book was more fantasy. I understand that sometimes the line between the two genre gets blurred, but for me this was too far on the fantasy side. I suspect that a reader looking for a fantasy piece would enjoy this book. It is well written and there are enough turns and plot shifts with the ever present Artificial Intelligences, the half-human AIs, the Dragon, the Polity and other denizens who were described in the story. As a reader, I look for things that have some possibility of being real in what I consider a more realistic timeline and it may be that, for me, this was too far-fetched to be an enjoyable read. The characters are multifaceted and have interesting interchanges between themselves. So if a reader, like me, is interested in this as a science fiction piece, I would recommend against it. However, if a reader is seeking a fantasy piece, then this novel would probably fit the bill. There is a lot of action and back and forth among the main characters; enough to require a reader remain alert to who is doing what. For the reason that for me I would give it a 2 but others looking more at a different genre would like it might give it a 4 – so I compromised and gave it a 3.

Superb military sci-fi read! Asher seamlessly blends together aliens, humans, and AIs to produce a wonderful book. Look forward to more from him.

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > The Soldier
The Soldier by Neal Asher
The Soldier (Rise of the Jain #1)
by Neal Asher (Goodreads Author)

M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review
Aug 13, 2018 · edit

it was amazing

Intergalactic Intrigue! A threat to all Sentient life exists ... in the form of the Accretion Disc ... hovering in space and guarded by the 2 strongest civilizations: the Polity and the prader nation.
It is known to harbor easily activated remnants of technology from the Jain ... which is a supposedly an extinct nation whose sole purpose was to destroy all civilizations that it interfaced with .. this tech if allowed to escape will wreak havoc on all sentient life. The Polity and prader races are in a somewhat tenuous truce and have 2 entities guarding the disc. Orlandine - a Haiman: part AI and part human ... born of uterine birth , but later augmented. Also by Dragon - a mysterious, space-ship size alien of untold intellect and tech skills .... together they hold vigil. At the same time, the android, Angel ... controlled by an outside intellect " The Wheel" .... hurtles through space and time to the world of the Cyberat with the intent of recovering a Jain artifact ... that might be the key of unleashing an omnipotent Jain tech known as "The Soldier" ... which would be the equivalent of opening's Pandora's Box.
This was my first foray into the world of Neal Asher ... and although others claimed I would be overwhelmed ... I was anything but: many of the leading protagonists of this gem have apparently had origin in his earlier novels. Regardless, he has provided more than enough background material to allow this to stand alone to new readers. Astounding is the worldbuilding and the effortless skill in which he cinematically describes a multitude of aliens and other sentient types, along with high tech devices and weaponry .... it just seems so plausible!
Although this is the first of a trilogy ... the denouement ratchets up with expanding tension , but providing a satisfying culmination of action .. and yet, knowing more is to come.
Thanks to Netgalley and Skyhorse Publishing for supplying this wonderful ARC for my reading pleasure , in exchange for an honest review. I will have to search out Neal Asher's extentsive ouvre.

I know the reviews are mixed, but if you have read and followed the Polity line this is a good beginning to a new line. The read is complex and not for everyone; in general I tend to read fast, but I had to slow down because of the complex plots and subplots. While some reviews have suggested this is a standalone novel, I would recommend that the new reader get some background in the Polity line of books and then I think this will be a more enjoyable read.

Another great book by Neal Asher. This is another Polity universe. I enjoyed all the science in the book. The future transhumanism is interesting, although the artificial intelligence beings are the rulers of this universe. The many worlds were interesting. I didn't have any attachment to any of the characters, that was only downside to book

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Set in Asher's Polity, so it's not really a stand-alone as there is an entire universe Asher has created that clues you in to what all is happening in this book. Highly recommend if you enjoy solid world/universe building science fiction.

I really wanted to like this. It had all the right ingredients for a good space opera but about halfway through I realized I had lost interest. I think the problem was the main characters came with no introduction, no real back story, nothing to make me engage with them as they moved through the story.

OK, first off, I see this book is scheduled for publication Nov 2018. Funny thing, I read it from the local public library last month..... That being said, this was an excellent book.!