The Soldier

By: Neal Asher

Narrated by: Peter Noble

The Soldier is the first novel in the no-holds barred Rise of the Jain series, by bestselling science fiction author Neal Asher.

'A beautifully complex universe where AIs, aliens and post-humans scheme and struggle – magnificently awesome.' – Peter F. Hamilton

Her mission is vital. Her failure is unthinkable.

A corner of space swarms with alien technology, a danger to all sentient life. It’s guarded by Orlandine, who must keep it contained – as it could destroy entire civilizations. An alien intelligence shares her vigil. But she doesn’t share everything with Dragon . . .

Orlandine is hatching a plan to obliterate this technology, removing its threat forever. For some will do anything to exploit this ancient weaponry, created by a long-dead race called the Jain. This includes activating a Jain super-soldier, which may breach even Orlandine’s defences.

Meanwhile, humanity and the alien prador empire also watch this sector of space, as neither can allow the other to claim its power. However, things are about to change. The Jain might not be as dead as they seemed and interstellar war is just a heartbeat away.

The action continues in The Warship.

Critic reviews

Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain (John Scalzi)

The Soldier provides everything we demand from Asher: a beautifully complex universe where AIs, aliens and post-humans scheme and struggle – magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven (Peter F. Hamilton)

A richly imagined, exotic world, nonstop action, and unimaginable stakes - I couldn't put The Soldier down (Yoon Ha Lee, author of Ninefox Gambit)

Neal Asher's coruscating mix of epic space opera, weaponised Darwinism and high-stakes intrigue channels the primal flame of deep-core science fiction (Paul McAuley, author of Four Hundred Billion Stars)

With mind-blowing complexity, characters, and combat, Asher’s work continues to combine the best of advanced cybertech and military SF

Asher is a modern master of Sci-Fi

Wonderful

Perfect hard science fiction. Great story and performance. Personally, I can’t wait for our AI overlords to arrive and replace our politicians. Bonus if it will be in the form of Earth Central. Neal Asher always delivers. I love the grand scale of this story. Looking forward to the next installment.

way too hard to relate to the characters.

The story is jumping all over which makes it hard to relate with the characters.