Shadow of the Scorpion

By Neal Asher

Seamlessly blending space opera, hard science fiction and cyberpunk, Neal Asher's Shadow of the Scorpion is a gripping prequel to the compelling Agent Cormac series.

Following the devastation of the human-prador war, Ian Cormac is employed by the Earth Central Security. Yet he is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn’t remember.

Tasked with restoring order on worlds ravaged by alien warfare, his cold capacity for violence soon makes him one of Earth's top agents. But chilling discoveries propel Cormac onto a path of revenge and revenge, where he'll have to use all his hard-won skills just to stay alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Apr 2, 2010
• ISBN: 9780330522113

Neal Asher

Neal Asher divides his time between Essex and Crete, mostly at a keyboard and mentally light years away. His full-length novels are as follows. First is the Agent Cormac series: Gridlinked, The Line of Polity, Brass Man, Polity Agent and Line War. Next comes the Spatterjay series: The Skinner, The Voyage of the Sable Keech and Orbus. Also set in the same world of the Polity are these standalone novels: Hilldiggers, Prador Moon, Shadow of the Scorpion, The Technician, Jack Four and Weaponized. The Transformation trilogy is also based in the Polity: Dark Intelligence, War Factory and Infinity Engine. Set in a dystopian future are The Departure, Zero Point and Jupiter War, while Cowl takes us across time. The Rise of the Jain trilogy is comprised of The Soldier, The Warship and The Human, and is also set in the Polity universe.

Reviews for Shadow of the Scorpion

[ballfresno · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed learning about Cormac's past but I found the book difficult to get into. Too disjointed for me.

[gregandlarry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great to read the back story.

[shrike58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you've read any of Neal Asher's fiction to date you know what you're going to find here; grim, violent action in a space-opera environment that is thematically post-human. Over and above that you get Asher's take on what the psychological impact of a long and desperate war with a non-human foe might be like, via the family experiences of his perennial character Ian Cormac. There is the additional virtue that this book makes a good introduction to Asher's universe.

[cataloger623 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Get this book from your local public library.Good origin story. I continue to like this world Asher is making.

[billycongo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes being the omniscient reader can be a bit of a pain. Especially when the author telegraphs the ending so early in the book. By then end you just want to smack our hero. All of the horror has dissipated. Save some surprises for us. I thought the technology was handled very well, which can be a problem in this genre. Very creative.

[drakhir · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good revelatory read, with characters you care about. I want more Prador though!

[amobogio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Origin story of Ian Cormac and the start of his ECS career. Prequel written after the Agent Cormac series. Well written look at the formative early years of his life. Really great Science Fiction.

[macha_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

sigh. bit hard to rate, maybe 3 and a quarter stars.. sort of a prequel to the Agent Cormac series. which is basically pulp sf and written accordingly. Cormac never gets what Amistad comes so far to tell him: he doesn't want to know. on some level the book is less about intergalactic war and more about memory, and the consequences of being able to, and so electing to, forget. so, in the context of the larger Polity Universe, not so unimportant. but as a standalone, a throwaway.

[vitaly1-930762 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

NEal Asher continues to write perfectly average books, and I'm still enjoying them.