The Line Of Polity (2003) by Neal Asher has one aim. To tell a story of incredible power and excitement. Asher hits his target with a bullseye. The Line Of Polity takes hold of the reader’s imagination and doesn’t let go until the final page.

Near the edge of Polity space the Outlink station Miranda suffers a catastrophic failure. The entire station comes apart killing thousands. Polity AIs suspect Dragon is involved. And when Dragon is involved there is one person to activate. Agent Ian Cormac.

Cormac’s investigation quickly leads him to the planet Masada. A planet where an oppressive theocracy rules. A planet where a rebellion is ready to burst. A rebellion that calls the Polity for help. A call that unwittingly brings something deadlier than they hoped.

For Cormac, though, the rebellion is now meaningless. The Separatist Skellor is under the influence of Jain technology. Cormac must get to Polity space to warn them about Skellor. Even if it means the death of every living thing on Masada.

The Line Of Polity is the second novel in Asher’s Agent Cormac series. It picks up not very long after the events of Gridlinked (2001). However, Asher provides enough background that it is possible to read it out of sequence.

Asher is a very creative writer. His world building is outstanding. Some might even consider it overwhelming. The Line Of Polity overflows with ideas and technologies that range from simple miracles to world breaking subtleties. This world building, though, is the polish.

Asher’s characters are well developed and interesting. While Agent Cormac is the central character he is not the exclusive one. Each of Asher’s characters have enough room to grow without fitting them into neat boxes. The cast is large and varied but the reader never becomes lost in needless details. Asher doesn’t obsess over tiresome details.

The plot of The Line Of Polity is made up of many threads. The story jumps from thread to thread until they come together into a single line. Like a rope the smaller threads make up something much stronger than they are on their own. For some authors a story with this many threads leads to inconsistencies, errors, and plot holes. Asher works very hard to keep this from happening.

Asher’s greatest talent as a writer, though, is his ability to write intense and exciting action sequences. The action in The Line Of Polity is tense and gripping at every turn. Combined with weapons that are casually apocalyptic in power Asher excels in large scale mayhem.

The action and combat propel The Line Of Polity at a rapid pace, however, Asher doesn’t forget the human element. There are many personal moments throughout the story that bring the reasons for actions and events into focus. Without such personal moments the story wouldn’t amount to much.

Asher writes with a style that is easy to read and makes the action come alive. However, *The Line Of Polity* will not change your life. The story if fun and entertaining but it won’t change the way you view the world. This doesn’t make *The Line Of Polity* not worth your time it’s just that Asher has different goals for his story.

I have heard Asher’s Agent Cormac series compared to Iain M. Banks’ Culture series. While I can see some sense in that I don’t think that is fair to either author. I would compare it, unfairly once again, to Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space books. There are many elements in Asher’s creation that would sit perfectly well withing Reynolds’.

The Line Of Polity is high stakes action where imagination is allowed total freedom. Asher is completely unafraid to bring his most bizarre imaginings to life. And The Line Of Polity is rife with strange new imaginings. By combining space opera, cyberpunk, and horror Asher pushes SF into strange new territory. It’s a territory where Asher stands alone.

For fans of action packed SF that refuses to comprimise The Line Of Polity is essential reading. For readers unfamiliar with Asher or his work The Line Of Polity is sure to shock and surprise. Regardless, there are few stories that will satisfy in quite the same way.