Gridlinked - Ian Cormac

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

This is a remarkable piece of SF writing: ambitious, dizzyingly imaginative and not in thrall to any of its predecessors in the SF genre (a rare enough accomplishment in itself). The plot is complex and intriguing. The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming object. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow. Despite the sub-zero temperature of Samarkand, Cormac discovers signs of life: two alien beasts contrived by an extra-galactic entity calling itself 'Dragon'. Caught between the byzantine wiles of the Dragon and the lethal fury of Pelter, Cormac has to rescue the Samarkand project before his own life is in too much danger. Apart from the vigorous imagination deployed in the plotting, Asher is particularly canny at realizing the details of his invented worlds: this is a workaday, grubby series of locales, as convincing in its down-to-earth detail as in the super-science that is the engine of the plot. Another welcome ingredient is the sardonic wit - this sharp and knowing writing is worlds away from the sophomoric humour that bedevils the genre. This is one for any respectable SF library. (Kirkus UK)