Ahh, the perils of 5-star rating systems. There's a wide gulf between the 3-star "liked it" and the 4-star "really liked it".I enjoyed this book of the Agent Cormac series much more than the previous two Cormac novels. I reviewed (If you can call a few sentences a review) the first novel, Gridlinked, here, and the second novel The Line of Polity here.To be clear, the logical inconsistencies involved with what a fully general AI would really be capable of are still here. However, the characters you really care about get more on-page time, and Cormac himself starts to live up to the promise of a fully-capable agent for a galactic, AI-ruled, human civilization. (Leaving aside the laughable idea that humans have any business in that role with all the other types of intelligent technology available in the Agent Cormac universe.)Most of the characters aren't exactly likable. By that, I don't mean that the characters are designed to be unlikable, but that the character development isn't strong enough to engender any sort of emotional attachment to them. Yes, this is a derivative work without any truly new ideas. It's not thought-provoking. What it is, is fun! Some great action scenes of both the physical kind and the cyber/hacking/internal kind. This review sounds more harsh than I intend it to. Like I said, I enjoy this third novel of the series more than the previous two. I plan to continue on to the last two novels of the series. The books are entertaining and fun.I suspect my reviews of the first three books would have been a star higher if I hadn't read Player of Games and the other excellent books of the Culture universe by Iain M. Banks. As it is, those books spoiled the galactic-intrigue-with-advanced-AI-and-action-whilst-being-thought-provoking genre for me a bit.
Brass Man is Neal Asher's third book in his "Ian Cormac" series and I enjoyed it more than its predecessors. These books are part Iain Banks' Culture novels, part Ian Fleming's James Bond and then a varied mix of ultra-tech, ultra-violence and beyond-the-pale bio-engineering.Mr. Asher's greatest strength is in creating interesting creatures and technologies, more often than not of a sort to kill humans in many and varied ways. Brass Man and the other Asher books I've read could only be turned into movies if they were toned down or slapped with an NC-17 rating, and that's despite the fact that there is really no sex or "adult situations."I think one of the things I liked about this book was the exploration of the eponymous character "Mr. Crane," the "Brass Man" of the title. A highly advanced android or "Golem" as they are known in this "Polity" universe, we had seen Mr. Crane in the first Ian Cormac novel, Gridlinked. A large chunk of Brass Man is spent explaining and exploring various facets of the android's past and present. For the most part, I thought this was well done.Among the failings of the book was a relative dearth of new ideas. Ian Cormac, who was the main character in the previous books but relatively scarce in this one, doesn't develop much, doesn't change much, doesn't use many cool new toys. Instead he uses the old ones again mostly. Several of the other characters are survivors of carnage from previous novels. There are new ideas here, and new characters, but not as much as maybe I'd have liked to have seen.Nonetheless this is a good book. If you're looking for good, escapist fiction and like space opera, read it.
What do You think about Brass Man (2007)?
The previous novel and the story collection were exceptional. In this one, though, Asher lost the grip on his narration. Too many plot lines coupled with some complex concepts (as is always the case with AIs and aliens) that remain confusing and some heavy handed parts (Mr. Crane's memories) made the story less enjoyable. This reads as a set-up novel to something bigger and, basically, the story has an unfinished feel.That being said, like always, Asher's imagination is vast and often cheeky - what to say about the armored knight on the quest to slay a dragon in the middle of the sci-fi novel? The mystery of Cormac new abilities throws some shade on the Polity and the AIs' motivations. We'll see what happens next.
—Lady*M
Kuidagi nagu nõrgemaks jäi kui eelmised osad. Ei, Cormaci-sari on väga hea aga sarjasiseselt Pronksmees jäi kuidagi kahvatuks. Skellor oli lõpus juba nii paha, et muutus iseenda paroodiaks ja Mr. Crane'ga seotud tegevused olid ka võrdlemisi tüütud, arvestades et ta oli esimese osa lõpus täiesti pulbriks pekstud ja ta toodi tagasi ainult tänu lugejate huvile selle õudsa tegelaskuju vastu. No ja see on muidugi üldse iseküsimus, mida teeb inimene Cormac seal kõikvõimsate AI'de ja fantaasia piire tugevalt kraapivate elukate keskel. Ka kõige viletsam ja väiksem AI on Cormaci kõrval praktiliselt jumal ja inimene kuidagi ei sobitu sinna Polity ja Jaini tehnoloogia (tegelikult bioviirus) omavahelisse mõõduvõtmisse.Samas viib Asher järgmises osas sarja raskuspunkti kuhugi kaugemale, sest Skellorist hakkas tõsiselt juba kopp ette tulema. Hea, eks loeme ja vaatame...
—Lauri
The third in the Agent Cormac series. I'm trying to read them in proper sequence. I found this one to plod a bit compared to the first two. Some of the same characters, except fot the Knight Errant riding a giant bug and his not so faithful squire (Sancho Panza he's not). His quest is, of course, to slay the dragon. but the dragon in Asher's book is much more than a windmill. so the story of this character constitutes more comic relief than anything else.Agent Cormac acquits himself well, as usual, with or without the aid of his Shuriken weapon, but ultimately we don't have much more to show for all the adventure than the status quo. The title character struggles with the task of finding himself, but in the end,we are left to speculate on what might happen in the next novel, Polity Agent. I can live with it, but will likely read The Gabble in between.
—Jim Mcclanahan
