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“Always With You” gives us the first view of a number of
aspects of the Neal Asher universe. There is the first appearance of Agent
Prime Cause, Horace Blegg, who sits in vigil whilst Webster recovers.
Blegg is explicitly linked to missions that concern "survival of the human
race" p. 10. As in The Line of Polity,
it is his prime concern. Following his vigil, Blegg also disappears from
the station - as “The Line of Polity” makes clear, Blegg can move in mysterious
ways. However, one great difference from “The Line of Polity” is that the human
polity have no spaceships. Instead, Polity citizens move around space via
the runcible gates. With no spaceships, they are particularly vulnerable
to Prador planet breakers (the Pradors are also introduced here). With
the threat of more incursions like this from the Pradors, I've no doubt that
AIs like Earth Central would eventually respond by constructing dreadnoughts
like the Cable Hogue. This does indicate that there are inconsistencies
within the Neal Asher universe, or maybe it's that Neal Asher's narrative universe
has evolved over time, possibly a positive benefit of Neal Asher now having a
much wider canvas on which to draw. As in “The Line of Polity”, mycelium
is used as a weapon to destroy a ship, and the Separatists are also presented
in a consistent way with this later novel - here their rebellion is shown as
being ultimately futile, and there is hope here in the reuniting of the human
race to fight the bigger threat posed by the Prador.
Always with you (the title refers to
Fich, the sentient doctor mycelium within Webster's body), is a
well-constructed, exciting tale. Perhaps it works better following the
publication of Gridlinked,
where the runcible technology and Pradors are discussed at more depth than as a
stand-alone tale. But Neal Asher has such a wide readership now that this
is not a problem. A good introduction for the Pradors, and for Horace
Blegg's mysterious ways.
Authortrek rating:
10/10
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for a Neal Asher biography, Neal Asher bibliography, Neal Asher short
stories, and interviews |
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