Sable Keech, a reification previously deceased for more than seven hundred years, is now a walking dead man, resurrected under mysterious circumstances that may have a lot to do with the virus native to the exotic but deadly remote ocean world Spatterjay. As word of his adventures (The Skinner) continue to spread, the planet has become a pilgrimage site for other reifs hoping to meet similar fates. The allure of the virus—which promises something close to immortality, even if it comes at terrible biological cost—has brought other beings to the off-Polity world as well. An ancient hive mind may be after the poison “sprine” crucial to the virus’s immortality. Deep in the ocean, a vicious alien prador has awakened from a long, virus-induced coma. And Sniper, an AI assigned as the planet’s warden, finally receives his new drone shell. It's better than his old one, with powerful engines, more lethal weapons, and thicker armour. He's going to need them.

Udgivet af Night Shade Books 

Neal Asher
Neal Asher (born 4 February 1961 in Billericay, Essex, England) is an English science fiction writer. Both of Asher's parents are educators and science fiction fans. Although he began writing speculative fiction in secondary school, Asher did not turn seriously to writing until he was 25. Asher identifies The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other fantasy work including Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber series as important early creative influences. The majority of Asher's work is set in one future history, the "Polity" universe. It encompasses many classic science fiction tropes including world-ruling artificial intelligences, androids, hive minds and aliens. His novels are characterized by fast-paced action and violent encounters. While his work is frequently epic in scope and thus nominally space opera, its graphic and aggressive tone is more akin to cyberpunk. When combined with the way that Asher's main characters are usually acting to preserve social order or improve their society (rather than disrupt a society they are estranged from), these influences could place his work in the subgenre known as post-cyberpunk.