But as they dig deeper into the secrets of its past, they soon realise that there was a darker side to the expedition involving an ancient ritual and a powerful man who would stop at nothing to possess it. Can they uncover the truth and prevent disaster, or will they become the latest victims of the deadly plague? All this hard-SF pseudo-science, and there's room for a theme on ethics, forgiveness, and what might happen if we give AIs emotions.

This is the conclusion of his recent trilogy, and it certainly delivers in most areas. But there elements in this book that do not do it for me. It is no spoiler to say that most, if not all of this trilogy is all controlled by one, or two very powerful, intelligent entities, and that everything you read IS part of some huge, massive, intricate plan. Because of this it took me out of the story. When you know that every decision that someone takes, every action, plot detail, twist and turn is all part of some plan and not based on their own reasoning, logic, thinking etc, it lessens their importance, their value and they become pawns, not people, and even their emotional responses you cannot connect too because it is part of something else's plan. When this becomes clear, even a 'random' plot thread you start to view as something not happening because this character decided it is going to do it, but 'how is this part of the plan?' 'Who started this?' and so on. Before I begin to analyse and review this novel, I'll mention that I hadn't read much fiction by Neal Asher prior to reading this novel. It took a bit of time for me to get used to the author's complex and well-created Polity universe, because I had to do research about the previous novels and their happenings, but boy, am I glad I took the opportunity to acquaint myself with them, because the Polity universe is simply amazing!Meanwhile, over the years, it became apparent that Sverl was changing in some strange way.Sverl started as a contradiction- a Polity-hating, human-loathing Prador possessed of an overweening curiosity. (You! You readers of War Factory. You didn't really think Penny Royal was finished with Sverl, did you?) He ends as a much happier and better suited/fitted individual than he started. And he is something of a trailblazer for the Prador. I suspect more will follow in his foot prints, or rather, claw marks. (Sfolk is also happy with his new position.) It's great that this novel has a well-made list of characters and a glossary, because it helps readers - especially newcomers to the Polity universe - to understand certain things better. I found these appendixes useful and informative, because I didn't know much about the Polity universe. What makes this novel stand out in the field of science fiction is the author's fluent way of writing about technology and everything related to it. He's one of the few authors who excel in it. Despite the fact that almost everything about the story and technical information is fully fictional, details concerning technology feel suprisingly plausible. You have to be willing to accept that we're in a Reynolds-Banks universe of infinite resources. Ten-mile long ships carry thousands of anti-matter missiles and unlimited fuel (to be fair, Asher does have ONE ship recharge). U-space allows instantaneous transmission of data and things, probably a concept we should not look at too closely because there would probably be some very serious plot issues.

On one hand I can not ignore the opening criticism, it is a big factor in his writing, and it is becoming repetitive and clichéd, and nothing seems to happen because of reaction or pro-action, but because something, somewhere decided it was going to set events on motion. As the story opens, young Josh Jones is doing community service in London for another of his minor transgressions. Josh is an unwilling member of a gang and lives in one of London's many public housing "projects" with his ailing mother (MS). He notices an eccentric old man who everyone calls the "Colonel" because of his long dark khaki green trench coat. Josh notices that the Colonel has left his house and has left the door open, so Josh hopes to sneak in and steal something he can sell to pay off his huge debt to his gang leader. A man battles for his life, two AIs vie for supremacy and a civilization hangs in the balance . . .During the ensuing three periods of waking, Trent thought about his past, wished he could change it but accepted he couldn't." When she was just ten years old, Caitlin overheard her parents arguing about how she was going to die—the next day they disappeared. Fans of Doctor Who, Quantum Leap and Stranger Things will love this epic time travel adventure – first book in the fast-paced Infinity Engines series. This is the beginning of a story, which develops nicely towards a thrilling climax. I found the unfolding story interesting and was totally hooked by it, because it was intricately complex. One of the problems I have when writing my thoughts on books is the common complaint that we only ever notice things when they go wrong never when they go right. In the same way I generally notice and can easily identify all the things I hate in a book but I never notice what it is that makes a book excellent. And maybe that’s the point, because when a book is excellent I just read it; I’m completely absorbed in the story and with no blunders to pull me out I simply don’t notice what has kept me in. The Infinity Engine is one such; Asher has excelled himself with this brilliant final book in his Transformation trilogy.