Neal Asher (born 1961 in Billericay, Essex, England) is an English science fiction writer.
Both his parents are educators and science fiction fans. Although he began writing Science
Fiction and Fantasy in secondary school, Asher did not turn seriously to writing till he
was 25. He worked as a machinist and machine programmer from 1979 to 1987 and as a gardener
from 1979 to 1987. He published his first short story in 1989. His novel, Gridlinked was
published in 2001, the first in a series of novels made up of Gridlinked, The Line of Polity,
Brass Man, Polity Agent, and Line War.

Asher's novels, with one exception, and most of his short fiction, are all set within one
future history, known as the "Polity" universe. The Polity encompasses many classic science
fiction tropes including world-ruling artificial intelligences, androids, hive minds, aliens
and time travel. His novels are characterized by fast paced action and violent encounters.
While his work is frequently epic in scope and thus nominally space opera, its graphic and
aggressive tone is more akin to cyberpunk. When combined with the way that Asher's main
characters are usually acting to preserve social order or improve their society (rather than
disrupt a society they are estranged from), these influences could place his work in the
subgenre known as postcyberpunk.

Polity Universe (In order of publication)

Agent Cormac series

1. Gridlinked (2001)
2. The Line of Polity (2003)
3. Brass Man (2005)
4. Polity Agent (2006)
5. Line War (2008)

Spatterjay series

1. The Skinner (2002)
2. The Voyage of the Sable Keech (2006)
3. Orbus (2009)

Polity series

1. Prador Moon (2006)
2. Hilldiggers (2007)
3. Shadow of the Scorpion (Prequel to Gridlinked, 2008)
4. The Technician (2010)

Short story collections

* The Gabble: And Other Stories (2008) - Polity stories

Other

* Cowl (2004), Philip K. Dick Award nominee

Formats provided
MOBI (Amazon Kindle )
LIT (Microsoft Reader )
EPUB ( iPad & iPhone iBooks )
LRF (Sony Reader)

Download File Size:37.93 MB

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