
Shadow of the Scorpion
A Novel of the Polity
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Narrated by:
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David Marantz
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By:
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Neal Asher
About this listen
Raised to adulthood during the end of the war, between the human Polity and a vicious alien race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn’t remember. Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help restore and maintain order on worlds devastated by the war. There, he discovers that though the Prador remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as treacherous or dangerous as some of his fellow humans - some closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, Cormac will discover in himself a cold capacity for violence, and learn some horrible truths about his own past while trying to stay alive on his course of vengeance.
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Editorial reviews
David Marantz delivers a clear and straightforward performance of Neal Asher’s science fiction narrative Shadow of the Scorpion: A Novel of the Polity. Protagonist Ian Cormac came of age during the end of a war between humans and aliens, Polity versus Prador. Memories of a scorpion-shaped war drone haunt him, but he has trouble remembering everything. As he travels as part of Earth Central Security to war-torn locales, he discovers that humans are far more cruel and violent than the enemy aliens. He’s out for vengeance and nothing can stop him - not even the truth about his own past.
ok, better if u kno the series
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well somebody heard about nonlinear story telling
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Set in the Polity universe, there's less emphasis on the AI dominated culture. At the same time, the Prador play a limited role with the insurgents taking center stage through a classic underground movement. One distinctive feature is the use of selective memory wipes as a way of dealing with painful experiences and preventing PTSD. Cormac comes to learn that he underwent several during his childhood and deals with that reintegration.
The narration is well done with good character distinction and adequate pacing well aligned with the plot.
Origin story for Agent Cormac
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Fascinating!
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it had satisfying ending
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The Crack Cocain of Sci Fi
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Excellent First in Cormac Series
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Outstanding
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What attracts me most to his writing is that Asher manages to capture the grit and feel of early cyperpunk works and manages to hold on to that through huge and intricate story arcs. Something most early cyberpunk writers never really mastered.
I am relistening the entire polity universe series now since it is finally complete in audiobook form. I do advise anyone with similar ambitions to google the timeline and read the series chronologically. Asher has been writing in this universe for decades, prequels sequels an all, so it can get a little confusing if you just go by audible's inferior sorting options.
Ps: A tip for you audible devs: remember my sorting preferences already, sigh.. Resorting every query to release date got tiresome years ago. The new terminology does not help either.
If you like Neal Asher go check out Peter F. Hamilton too. Not as much grit and action but seriously good at building story arcs . Takes epic out of the spectrum.
Piece
Best sci-fi action writer I know
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Really good book
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