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Technician (Polity #4)

by Neal Asher (Goodreads Author)

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 615 ratings · 36 reviews

The Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada. But the Tidy Squad consists of rebels who cannot accept the new order. Their hate for surviving theocrats is undiminished, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is at the top of their hitlist.

Escaping his sanatorium Tombs is pushed into painful confrontation with reality he has avoided since the rebellio...more

Paperback, 503 pages

Published 2010 by Tor

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Mar 23, 2011 Bill Hayes rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In summary, I'm glad I bought and read it, it was a nice fast read taking us back to the story line in the 2nd Polity novel 'Line of Polity' and culminating in one of Asher's signature space battles, However I didn't find it particularly memorable and I doubt I will reread it in the future.

I would give it 3.5 stars if fractional stars were allowed. While written as a standalone novel, readers will enjoy it more if they have read 'Line of Polity' which has the original story of the alien entity c...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-yo

Ah now here's the story-telling I know and like from Neal Asher. Lost my taste a bit during Line War but I'm BACK!

This novel takes up the story of events on Masada after the end of Line of Polity and brings back Amistad the giant, slightly unstable, metal war drone from the Shadow of the Scorpion.

Glad Asher got back to telling an interesting story instead of just endlessly explaining battle patterns and how his world's science works. So I can get back to enjoying the well built world and future...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Dunkthebiscuit Kendrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hooooo, boy! I've been looking forward to this one since it was announced.

Asher takes us back to Masada where the wildlife is violent, to say the least, the air is unbreathable without adaptation and society is recovering from a violent revolution. The Technician is one of the more nastily bloody predators on the planet, but is weirdly different from others of the species. And it did something VERY strange when it attacked Jem Tombs twenty years ago, which is just now starting to surface.

This ex...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Henry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've always had problem with Neal Asher's books. The problem is that I get a few dozen pages in and give up, because it seems that all his books seem to depend on one's having read at least one of the others. When I heard that The Technician was an (almost) stand-alone book, and it was going cheap on Kindle, I gave it a shot. It takes place in his Universe of the Polity, a human star-faring culture of great power (think Iain M. Banks' Culture novels). Without giving anything away, the Polity Uni...more

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May 16, 2012 Tim Hicks rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Four stars within its genre, anyway. A good read.

Not a good choice as one's first Asher book, but it doesn't require full knowledge either.
I've read most if not all of the Spatterjay books, and perhaps one other Polity novel, and this worked fine for me.

Very complex plot, great worldbuilding. Maybe a little too much in the way of having most of the AIs capable of making neutronium Q-tips with 20 teraflops of computing power, while ghastly monsters with fangs and claws are doing scrimshaw and...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Mya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: neal-asher-collection

In my mission to consume all things Neal Asher, I just completed The Technician, which has to have one of the most bad ass covers ever. I mean you can actually see the badass beastie popular through many of Asher works, the Hooder itself upon the cover. Either way, this book is unique. While it fits nicely into the grand universe that Asher has created with many of his works, along with many familiar places, characters and events, 'The Technician' stands apart for me because of its aims as a mor...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Allan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Set 20 years after the Polity liberated the world of Masada from Theocracy rule, this tale follows Jeremiah Tombs, an ex-Theocracy Proctor who survived a Hooder attack. Not just any Hooder either, possibly the oldest and most esoteric Hooder on the Planet and they call it The Technician.

Trouble is...no one survives a Hooder attack, their victims are skinned and dismantled before being eaten, but Tombs did and the AIs are sure The Technician put something into his head, something related to a los...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read

The Technician is Neal Asher's latest novel and marks the completion of my resolution to get up to date on all of his releases. I've not done too badly, this being the fifth book of his I've got through since January, each being just as enjoyable as the previous one. I'm actually quite glad I've done it this way, especially as much of what happens in The Technician relates to the Cormac series, mainly the events in The Line of Polity which is set on the same planet. I thoroughly enjoyed completi...more The Technician is Neal Asher's latest novel and marks the completion of my resolution to get up to date on all of his releases. I've not done too badly, this being the fifth book of his I've got through since January, each being just as enjoyable as the previous one. I'm actually quite glad I've done it this way, especially as much of what happens in The Technician relates to the Cormac series, mainly the events in The Line of Polity which is set on the same planet. I thoroughly enjoyed completing the Cormac series and was eager to once again see what was happening in the Polity, but Neal didn't meet my expectations. He exceeded them.

The Technician is set on Masada, a planet recently freed from a theocratic rule that kept the powerful in their orbital habitats away from the dangers on the surface while the workers were forced to live day to day in squaller, risking their lives so the higher echelons could benefit from their work. The Polity is now in control after the events in The Line of Polity brought about intervention, granting amnesty to those in the Theocracy and raising the living conditions of all on the planet. With Masada being under quarantine for many years after the Jain threat that caused the intervention, it has been a slow and steady climb for the population adjusting to the Polity. But there are still some who feel amnesty is unacceptable - the Tidy Squad. This group conducts its covert operations with the sole aim of bringing ultimate justice to former Theocracy members. And Jeremiah Tombs, the only man ever to survive a Hooder attack, has been in their sights for a long, long time.

Tombs is a mess, living in isolation under the eyes of the Polity AI's, supervised by Sanders and still believing the Theocracy is ruling strong after so many years in captivity. The truth he will not believe - the Theocracy is dead and the Polity rules, while the legendary Hooder know as the Technician did something to his brain that not even the great AI's can understand. But time is now short, for an ancient Atheter machine is waking in the depths of space and is heading for Masada, once the homeworld of its creators, with its mission still intact: destroy any signs of Atheter intelligence. Tombs is released and Amistad, the de facto expert on the Atheter, must help Tombs unravel the mystery that the Technician planted in his head.

When I came to read The Technician I had a couple of concerns. Firstly, the story is set on Masada, the setting of events from The Line of Polity. Now, I think Masada is a great setting, it has all sorts of dangerous wildlife, a history that has been uncovered throughout Neal's works, and holds the potential to deliver a stunning novel. But The Line of Polity is my least favourite of Neal's novels. It's good, but because of the Theocracy and the in-your-face religion bashing I just found it left a sour aftertaste. Returning to the planet that had all of this history was both exciting and daunting. Secondly, after reading the final volumes in the Cormac sequence (Polity Agent and Line War) I was unsure whether I could enjoy a novel that was once again restricted to one lonely planet in a galaxy that had so much to offer.

Now, regarding my first concern about religion. Asher has certainly grown as a writer in the seven years between The Line of Polity and The Technician. While religion is still an aspect in this novel - it has to be with Tombs as a former member of the Theocracy - it's more subtle, more relevant to the story without being dragged up every other page. Tombs is a disturbed man and his fixation on the fact that the Theocracy survived is a key element to the story, and Asher manages to convey this through his words and behaviour very effectively. As the whole planetary situation has changed these moments with Tombs are a stark contrast to the beliefs of many of the other residents. The Tidy Squad is another aspect to this religious theme, but they are against the amnesty the Theocracy members are offered, living to exact revenge on those that treated them so badly in the past. While this thread could have easily turned into a dig at religion, Asher keeps it relevant to the plot and to those characters it affects.

As to my second concern and limiting the story to one planet. This is Masada, why was I worried? There are Hooders, Gabbleducks, Dracomen, and a whole host of other dangerous and equally interesting creatures wandering its plains. And this time around we're getting a full-on story that has a Hooder at its centre, not to mention the Atheter AI and the Gabbleducks that play a role throughout. While the building blocks of Masada were laid during The Line of Polity, it really does get centre stage here. We find out why Masada is the way it is, and just what caused it to become that way.

Suffice to say, the worldbuilding going on in The Technician is second to none. Asher covers all the bases and manages to add the history from previous books in without it being noticeably repetitive for those that have read them, but equally important for those that have not. Asher's writing is very much a fast paced action orientated style, and when he flexes those muscles in the story it's a joy to read, but experience has also given him some very good story-telling skills that apply to those sections that aren't balls-to-the-wall action. With the combination of world-building, story-telling and all-out action, The Technician has a little bit of everything that adds up to a very satisfactory whole.

The Technician does start slowly though, with sections jumping back and forth through periods of over 20 years, and this can be a little confusing. More than once I had to double check just which period the point of view was from and slipping it into the right place in my mind. Fortunately these are only present for the first part of the story, and once we're brought up to date with events it's full steam ahead. Story and character progression go very much hand in hand throughout the novel, one leading to the other, and vice versa. Tombs is one of the main contributing forces to forward movement for the overall plot and, along with the imminent threat of the ancient Atheter device, we learn plenty of things that have only been hinted at or suggested in past novels. It all comes together surprisingly well, and the revelations kept those pages turning and turning late into the night.

There is so much to enjoy in The Technician it's hard to stop blurting it all out here and let you go out and experience it for yourselves. The titular legendary Hooder, the history and fate of the Atheter, the changes to Tombs and his journey and discovery of these, the advancement of Amistad, the deadly environment of Masada. It's all good, and it all makes for a gripping and extraordinary story. I thought Line War was excellent, but The Technician tops that and is far and away the best thing I've read by Neal Asher.

As I finished The Technician I became frustrated - I've had the pleasure to catch up on the events in the Polity over five novels, to enjoy the settings that Asher has created, and to do so with the knowledge I had another waiting on the shelf. Now, however, I don't. Yes, I've got a couple of his older books to re-read, but with Neal's departure (no pun intended) to a different setting, the wait for something new set in the Polity is going to be a long and painful few years.

But what a way to start a hiatus: The Technician was awesome. (less)

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Dec 30, 2010 Ove rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Technician can be enjoyed as a standalone novel but you will get more out of it if you read the Cormac novels first. Visiting Masada again for me that have is a bit like coming home and I get to enjoy some of the characters from previous books (You can read my review of them below. The Line of the Polity is the one with most Masada in it).

As usual with Neal’s books this one also has an intriguing and well developed back story that tightly fits together with what happened before. I can unders...more The Technician can be enjoyed as a standalone novel but you will get more out of it if you read the Cormac novels first. Visiting Masada again for me that have is a bit like coming home and I get to enjoy some of the characters from previous books (You can read my review of them below. The Line of the Polity is the one with most Masada in it).

As usual with Neal’s books this one also has an intriguing and well developed back story that tightly fits together with what happened before. I can understand why he went back to Masada. It is such a wonderful quirky place with huge hooder predators that can swallow a man or a minor car and gabbleducks walking around copying human talk but not making any sense; the whole world is wrapped in the mystery of a disappeared alien civilization called the Atheter. On top of this an oppressive theocracy was toppled by rebellion facilitated by the Dragon’s destruction of their orbital lasers. Masada is also the homeworld of the Dracomen created when the Dragons crashed on the planet.

Amistad the war drone from Shadow of the Scorpion is back in charge of Atheter research as events set in motion by the Dragon once again threatens humanity. Amistad is one of my favorites. With him we get to follow a bit of personal growth and development, ai style.

I might be the only one but I thought it was hilarious when Blue, the only blue Dracowoman was introduced, I immediately thought; Neal your rascal, you sneaked in a Na’vi on us. The other explanation that came to mind was the blue pill from Matrix in reverse.

The plot centers on Jeremiah Tombs and his journey back to sanity. A theme he also used success with Mr Crane/The Brass Man. Tombs is not the only point of view or main character in this novel but I enjoyed him most because he changes the most. The characters are well developed with much more ‘meat’ than in his early novels something I as a character person like and appreciate.

The Dragon’s hidden agenda goes like a chain from Grindlinked to this one. That is a nice touch even if there is not much Dragon action in this one. It is more like a heritage.

The Technician is no doubt one of the best new novels I have read this year. It got a fantastic inner journey with fast-paced alien-world action. I am in awe of Neal Asher for this amazing feat of original writing. If you haven’t read Neal before you might as well start with this one, you will not be sorry. Maybe I should add that Mr Asher is very fond of gigantic insects and might get a bit graphic in his descriptions.(less)

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Jul 29, 2011 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010_release_read, review_fbc, genre-sf, read_2010, top_25_2010_novels, all_time_favorites

I finished The Technician by Neal Asher and it was a blast to the end; while I still like the Cormac arch the best for its complexity, this standalone - sort of at least - Polity novel that takes place mostly on Masada some 20 years after Line of polity and deals with Gabbleducks, the Atheter and Hooders, most notably the Albino sculpture making out of bones of his meals one nicknamed The Technician is one of the best that Neal Asher wrote.

Separatists, fanatics, super drones - most notably the i...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

This was actually about 3.5 stars, not 4. I'm not familiar with the Polity series from Neal Asher, so I read this standalone. It's probably a good sign that if another Neal Asher book crosses my path, I will probably pick it up and read it.

It took a while to get into but about a third into the book I swallowed the rest up. Nice tight plot with lots of seeds early on. Strong characters (though I wasn't entirely convinced of them). Easy to read style. Enjoyed.

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Mar 17, 2013 Mike Franklin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, all-read

Another very good book from Neal Asher, with great action and an intriguing and complex plot, though with some weaknesses. The characters were mostly well rounded, believable and sympathetic, with one or two exceptions: both Shree Enkara and Ripple-John were, I felt somewhat two-dimensional and seemed to behave way in excess of their motivations.

In particular I thought one major plot element was out of proportion; the excessive attempts to assassinate one of the main characters. These assassina...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Tom Zunder rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good read that finishes off the Atheter and Masada plotlines and yet, since it is utterly dependent on the previous books, not a good read for anyone who has not read the Polity Agent - Cormac books. Like a lot of 'finishing off' books there is a lot of truncated summarising at the beginning, which is a pain if you have read the previous books, and frankly not enough if you haven't.
It has the usual 2-3 strand plots that Asher is good at, with a long slow plot coming to fruition at the end afte...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Psychophant rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: far-future, reviewed

First of all, this book requires the reader to be familiar with the author's Polity universe, and specially to have read The Line of Polity. Otherwise the enjoyment will be severely diminished. It presents a nice view of how intervention and salvation look years later, in the same setting as the previous book.

Although we have a recurring secondary character, the war drone Amistad, this book is a refreshing change from the latest Polity books, taking a different narrative and with quite interesti...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Dodie Reed rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't like this book very much although I did read the whole thing. There were many diverse parts that were just stuck in any place then incorporated into the book in the last few pages. This was hard for me t understand at the beginning and finally an "aha" moment toward the end when things were finally put together. I'll probably try one more of his books, but if they are all like this I won't read anymore.

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Sep 07, 2010 Mikolaj Habryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I still enjoy the writing, but with each new book I get a stronger sense of retroactive redesign of world and plot history to accommodate more stories. It isn't necessarily a huge problem - I've always been willing to gloss over inconsistencies or plot stretches for a sufficiently good read - but it does wear somewhat when reading a lot of Asher back to back.

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Jan 26, 2013 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This is really Part Two of The Line Of Polity, itself part of the whole Polity / Cormac mythos. And if you'll come at having read that book, you'll enjoy this immensely. It clears up much of back story to Masada and introduces new and fascinating angles.

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Mar 14, 2012 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I would have given this 3.5 stars if half stars were allowed as it's not quite up there with my 4 Star books, however as a fan of the Spatterjay series I had a good time reading this one. Lots of wondrous and deadly fauna and flora that can kill you in some pretty nasty ways, an assortment of AIs, humans, adapted humans, villains, and a mysterious creature that builds twisted sculptures from it's victims bones! I did miss the cheeky humor of the Spatterjay novels, however the story was intriguin...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Althepal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really one of his best... plenty of ground warfare .. hooder , gabbleduck action.. with space warfare, wardrone action to boot. Great characters... you have to read it after Line of Polity and the earlier Ian Cormac novels ... Im liking Amistaad as a main character ...

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Jul 09, 2012 Pontus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ashers first book for me. His sentences are a bit messy, long-winded and highly technical, the more heavy-weighing upside is that the story is good and he knows what he writes about. Easily recommended for anyone into scifi.

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May 15, 2011 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There were a few slow bits, but overall a great story, and it tied up some loose ends that I didn't even know were there. Masada is second only to Spatterjay in fantastic world-building, in my opinion.

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Apr 20, 2011 Joshua rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another good effort by Asher, but this one has a lot more relevant backstory than most. As such, I wouldn't recommend it as a first book for people interested in the author...more like a 9th or 10th book.

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May 18, 2012 Pablo Martinez rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A nice romp thorugh Neal Asher's Polity Universe. With a few old characters like Amistad and a return to the world of Masada to end the storiline about the Gabbleducks.

A little predictable, of average quality. You can do better on other books within the series.

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Apr 01, 2013 Daniel Dougherty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love it. Friends hate it but you've got to put it effort to read it if you want to understand.

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Dec 11, 2011 Derrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, scifi

Blood, guts, Jain tech and Atheters!

Another excellent addition to the Polity Universe.

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Jul 17, 2011 Kelvin Clements rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: n_asher

Another excellent book, with enough twists and turns too keep you guessing to the last pages.

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Jan 02, 2011 Alison Gow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

No point reading this if you haven't read his others from the Polity Agent series as it will be confusing and frustrating. But as an evolving series I enjoyed this - it got a little AI heavy at times but on the whole an entertaining read.

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Sep 23, 2011 Kip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loved it, but if you haven't read Asher's Polity novels, you will have NO idea what the hell is going on. :-)

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Oct 10, 2010 Nick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not 'cut your face off' fun, but close. Good drones and disaster.

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Aug 03, 2011 Dennis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

AI, (Artificial Intelligence) has taken over the universe, humans are under their thumb, (not literally, they have other and all sorts of appendages). Scary eh!

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About Neal Asher

I’ve been an engineer, barman, skip lorry driver, coalman, boat window manufacturer, contract grass cutter and builder. Now I write science fiction books, and am slowly getting over the feeling that someone is going to find me out, and can call myself a writer without wincing and ducking my head. As professions go, I prefer this one: I don’t have to clock-in, change my clothes after work, nor scru...more

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Technician (Polity #4)

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