While I usually like to
start off my reviews on a positive note, especially when I’m reviewing a book
that I liked, and for the record, I really loved Dark Intelligence for the most part; I feel like I need to begin
this review by discussing what’s definitely the biggest complaint that I have
about this book. The reason why I want to start off this review by discussing
the biggest complaint that I have about Dark
Intelligence is because I want to preface this review by saying that Dark Intelligence is the first book by
Neal Asher that I’ve ever read. I feel like I need to be upfront about that
right from the start of this review in case people who’re much more familiar
with Asher’s books read this review, and feel like I don’t know what I’m
talking about. If people read this review and feel that way, I definitely
apologize for that. I always try my best to get the details regarding a book straight
whenever I write a review for it. That being said, while I really loved this
book and I was definitely blown away by the overall quality of Asher’s writing;
the biggest problem that I think this book has is that it definitely lacks a
sense of accessibility to people like me, who’ve never read any of Asher’s books
before.
When I originally bought my
copy of Dark Intelligence, which was well over a year ago, I was initially
unaware of the fact that while it’s the first book in the Transformation trilogy, it’s also a part of the Polity universe
that the majority of Asher’s books take place in; and that it builds upon
events that take place in some of Asher’s earlier books. It was only after I
had already started reading the book that I really started to realize how tied
in and connected to Asher’s previous books Dark
Intelligence truly is. I definitely found that rather frustrating and
confusing since this is the first book by Neal Asher that I’ve ever read, and I
had been really excited to read it ever since I first saw both Dark Intelligence, and the second book
in the Transformation trilogy, War Factory, at Barnes & Noble.
While I think it’s great
that Asher has created an elaborate universe for his books to take place in, I
can definitely see some people viewing the fact that a lot of Neal Asher’s
books are set in his Polity universe, and the fact that his books clearly build
upon each other as a deterrent from deciding to check out his books. I think
that would be a real shame, because Asher is definitely a very talented writer.
That being said, I really feel like Asher could have done a better job of
writing Dark Intelligence in such a
way that makes it accessible to new readers who’re relatively, if not entirely,
unfamiliar with his books; while also expanding the mythology of the Polity
universe that he’s introduced and developed in his previous books for his long-time
fans.
To be fair to Asher, I
should probably mention that one of the books that I’ve read since I finished reading
Dark Intelligence is Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James
Luceno. While I wouldn’t call myself a diehard Star Wars fan who’s an expert on the franchise who feels the need
to consume all things Star Wars
related; I’ve seen all of the movies, I’ve watched a large portion of the Star Wars: Clone Wars TV series, and
every episode of Star Wars Rebels
that’s aired so far. However, in a lot of ways, I had a significantly more
difficult time following the plot of Catalyst:
A Rogue One Novel than I had when it came to being able to follow the plot
of Dark Intelligence. As I was
reading Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, I
constantly felt like that book had even more problems with being accessible to
people who are at least fairly familiar with the Star Wars franchise, than this book has with being accessible to
people who’re new to Asher’s books. Plus, I just think that Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel is simply God-awful
for the most part.
Despite the problems that I
had with this book not being entirely accessible and easy for people who’re new
to Asher’s books to follow the plot of Dark
Intelligence, I still really loved this book for the most part. While I do
think that Dark Intelligence has its
share of flaws, in some ways, I honestly found myself enjoying it more than I
enjoyed the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones, as I was reading Dark Intelligence; and for the record, I absolutely loved A Game of Thrones. Perhaps some people
will think it’s weird of me to compare Dark
Intelligence to A Game of Thrones in
any way since A Game of Thrones isn’t
a science fiction book, but I have always kind of lumped the science fiction
genre and the fantasy genre together; especially since Barnes & Noble has
always put their science fiction and fantasy books together in the same section
of the store.
That being said, a big part
of why I wanted to read Dark Intelligence
in the first place is because in the past, the only science fiction books
that I’ve read have been books that were based on the Star Trek franchise, and a few YA Star Wars books that were based on Episode 1: The Phantom Menace back when I was a kid; and I really wanted to
find some good science fiction books that weren’t based on the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises. Dark
Intelligence definitely delivered when it comes to my desire to find some
good non-Star Trek, non-Star Wars
science fiction books to read. However, I don’t think that Dark Intelligence is necessarily the best entry point for people
who’re looking to get into Asher’s books, because of the book’s accessibility
issues. If people are interested in reading Neal Asher’s books, I think it’s
probably best if they start by reading some of his earlier books first. Despite
the issues that I have with this book, in terms of the overall quality of
Asher’s writing for Dark Intelligence,
Asher definitely made an excellent first impression with me.
I was incredibly impressed
by the very well thought out “world” that Asher has created for many of his
books to take place in. As much as I love science fiction TV shows and movies,
when it comes to books within the science fiction genre, I’ve often had a hard
time being able to actually picture the characters and the overall world that
they live in, because science fiction authors can really do all kinds of things
when it comes to creating the characters and the setting for their books,
especially when it comes to books featuring aliens and strange creatures like
this book does. That being said, I felt like Asher did a phenomenal job of
writing the book in such a way that I was really able to picture what was going
in the book in my mind, as I was reading Dark
Intelligence.
While I thought that Asher
definitely could have done a better job of mentioning backstory that’s related
to things that have apparently happened in his earlier books in this book, in
order to make Dark Intelligence more accessible
to people who are new and unfamiliar with his books; I thought that he did a
great job of explaining the various kinds of technology that the characters used
throughout the book. I thought that was especially the case when it came to how
Asher explained the various options people have available to them when it comes
to what happens to them when they die in chapter four. Dark Intelligence isn’t a book where Asher just randomly throws
around a bunch of made up technobabble that doesn’t really make any sense, or
get explained like he’s playing dodge ball with it. That’s something that I’ve
always felt that the writers for the Star
Trek TV series and movies have been guilty of, so I really appreciate the
fact that Asher actually took the time to explain how the various kinds of
technology that was referenced in the book worked. I also felt like Asher did a
really good job of explaining the mechanics behind various kinds of technology
that Thorvald Spear and the other characters used throughout the book in such a
way that the writing for Dark
Intelligence never felt too exposition heavy.
Thorvald Spear is an
incredibly fascinating character, and while he’s definitely not necessarily the
most likable person in terms of some of his actions throughout the book, I
still loved him as a character. One of the things that made Thorvald Spear such
a fascinating character to me is the fact that as the book progresses, it
becomes clear that Thorvald’s memories have been altered, making him an
unreliable narrator. Aside from Paula Hawkins’ book, The Girl on the Train, I honestly haven’t read very many books
that are written from the point of view of an unreliable narrator. While Thorvald
Spear slowly being revealed to be an unreliable narrator did add an interesting
element to Dark Intelligence, for a
large portion of the book, I didn’t think that Asher was doing as much with
that aspect of who Spear was as a character as he could have. For the most part,
I felt like Asher pretty much only referenced the idea of Spear being
unreliable narrator by having him repeatedly say in the narration that he was
experiencing strange feelings of déjà vu, as well as occasionally featuring
flashbacks to the Prador Wars throughout the book.
The end of chapter fourteen
is the point in the book where I felt like Asher was finally taking the concept
of Thorvald Spear being an unreliable narrator in a really interesting direction.
The idea of Spear being presented as an unreliable narrator went from being
rather underdeveloped and somewhat boring due to Asher having Spear repeatedly
say that he was experiencing a sense of déjà vu, without really delving too deeply into what that was really
like for him, to being really interesting by having Spear begin to question whether the emotions that he felt were
truly his, or something that had been programed into him. I really wish that
Asher had explored the idea of Spear questioning his emotions in more detail
throughout the book; instead of just having Spear periodically say that he was
experiencing a case of déjà vu due to his memories having been tampered with. I
think it could have potentially led to some incredibly riveting storytelling, if Asher had explored the idea of
Spear questioning whether or not his emotions were truly his own in more
detail.
While Dark Intelligence focuses first and foremost on the characters
Thorvald Spear and Penny Royal, the book also features several supporting
characters that are all affected by Spear and Penny Royal’s actions throughout
the book. They’re also all enjoyable characters in their own way. Isobel Satomi,
who’s a crime lord, is probably the most prominently featured secondary
character in the book. As I was reading Dark
Intelligence, I came to view Isobel as almost serving as a second
protagonist for the book, especially since the title of the series being Transformation, is referencing Isobel’s
transformation into a Hooder, which she undergoes throughout the book. Isobel
made a deal with Penny Royal at one point in the book, and it ultimately led to
her being transformed into a Hooder, which is basically some type of weird, carnivorous
wormlike monster.
Captain Blite is definitely
my favorite out of all the secondary characters in Dark Intelligence. He’s the captain of a ship called The Rose, and he and his crew are a team
of smugglers that get dragged into the whole conflict with Thorvald Spear,
Isobel Satomi and Penny Royal rather unwittingly. Despite Blite having a relatively
minor role in the book, he still proved to be a very memorable and well-developed
character, in my opinion. In a book where the three most central characters in
the book (Thorvald Spear, Isobel Satomi, and Penny Royal) do a lot of morally
questionable, if not outright bad things; it was really interesting to see a
character like Blite, who despite being a smuggler, hasn’t completely lost his
sense of morality. Blite is definitely a character that I think people can root
for. Blite was ultimately a really great character, and I really wish that
Asher had featured him the book more, because I loved him so much.
Writing characters that are
all very memorable is definitely something that I thought Asher really excelled
at when it comes to the writing for Dark
Intelligence. I finished reading Dark
Intelligence weeks ago, and I can still remember each of the characters
that were featured in this book, even the minor characters. In contrast to the
movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,
which I saw on the day it opened in theaters, and with the exception of Jyn
Erso, Cassian Andor, Baze Malbus, and K-2SO, I found the majority of the
characters in that movie to be rather underdeveloped and forgettable; whereas
the characters in Dark Intelligence are
all pretty memorable, in my opinion. I went to a morning showing of Rogue One, and I honestly had forgotten
most of the characters’ names by the time that I got home that night, but I
digress. Despite this book’s flaws, having characters that are very memorable
is definitely one of Dark Intelligence’s
greatest strengths.
The plot of Dark Intelligence moves at a really
great pace throughout the entire book, in my opinion. Dark Intelligence definitely isn’t a book where the reader has to simply
power through a significant portion of the book before the plot really gets
going, and kicks into high gear. Thorvald Spear is resurrected after having
died a hundred years earlier, and while he does take some time to adjust to
things, he sets off on his quest to find Penny Royal rather promptly. I really
like how Asher even acknowledges at one point in the book how quickly Spear is
moving along with his plans by having Bob, an A.I. that Spear created, tell
Spear that he’s doing too much, too soon. Speaking of Bob, while Bob is only
featured in the first few chapters of Dark
Intelligence, I still loved the character and found him to be very
memorable despite his appearance in the book being pretty brief.
Despite the fact that I
definitely think that this book isn’t entirely accessible to people like me, who
are unfamiliar with the Polity universe and Asher’s books in general, this book
did a great job of holding my attention throughout the entire book. Unlike the
aforementioned Catalyst: A Rogue One
Novel, Dark Intelligence got me very
excited to really dive into the Polity universe, and it really made me want to read
more of Neal Asher’s books. Catalyst: A
Rogue One Novel, on the other hand, has kind of scared me away, and has
made me feel very hesitant to read more books based on the Star Wars franchise. When it comes to Dark Intelligence’s accessibility issues, it honestly wasn’t until
I was towards the end of the book that I really felt like Asher was heavily
referencing things that have possibly happened in his earlier books, causing me
to get incredibly confused in the process. Other than that, I was only
occasionally confused here and there throughout the book.
One last thing that I want
to comment on is the fact that I thought that Asher handled the transitions
from one character or subplot to another very well, by including headings
throughout the book; specifying which character he was switching the focus of
the book over to, whenever he did so. Asher also handled the transitions from
the present to the flashbacks, and back to the present, very well by including
headings for the flashbacks that occurred throughout the book. I felt like that
really helped to provide a little bit of context for the reader. That’s also something
that I personally really appreciated about this book, since I’ve read a fair amount
books in the past several months where the author didn’t do anything at the
beginning of a chapter to specify changes in point of view for the book, or do
anything to provide context whenever they did flashbacks, which can be rather
frustrating whenever that’s the case.
All things considered, despite
the issues that I have with this book not being the best entry point into Neal
Asher’s Polity universe for people like me who’ve never read any of his books
before, I still really loved Dark
Intelligence for the most part. I would definitely recommend this book to
people who’ve at least read some of Asher’s earlier books first, because I
don’t think it would be a good idea for people who’ve never read any of Asher’s
books before, and are wanting to get into his books to start with Dark Intelligence. I’ll definitely be
continuing with the Transformation
trilogy, however, before I read War
Factory, I’m going to at least read Prador
Moon and The Technician first.
As for my final thoughts on Dark Intelligence, this book definitely
has a lot going for it: Memorable characters that I really enjoyed, very
descriptive writing that really sucks you into the story and makes it easy to
picture the universe that this series takes place in, and good pacing. As I
said earlier, a big part of why I wanted to read this book is because I had
previously pretty much only read science fiction books that were set in the Star Trek universe, and a few Star Wars books when I was a kid. I was
looking for some good science fiction books that weren’t based on Star Trek or Star Wars, and Dark
Intelligence is definitely great science fiction.
That being said, my final
score for Dark Intelligence is 8 out
of 10.
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