The Departure by Neal AsherMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: Visible in the night sky the Argus Station, its twin smelting plants like glowing eyes, looks down on nightmare Earth. From Argus the Committee keep an oppressive control. Soon they will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet - twelve billion human beings need to die before Earth can be stabilized.
Read for February book group.
I greatly enjoyed this installment from Neal Asher. While I've quite like all the books of his I've read to date, this one was probably at the top of my list.
And as with Asher's books, I'm not going to try and recap the plots.
What I liked: less technology, less strange creatures, less convoluted political maneuverings. Now, don't take this to mean there wasn't the future technology - there was. And don't take this to mean there wasn't a political agenda - there was. These items were set against a back drop of a future version of George Orwell's 1984 and mankind has turned into a "manswarm" that cannot be sustained and those in power will be eliminating.
Yes, it's a bit of a dark and unpleasant time on Earth.
I also quite enjoyed the dual plots bouncing between Earth and Mars. Despite the time difference of events on Earth playing out over years and the events on Mars happening in less than a week, it worked. And readers of Asher will make the connection between Earth and Mars in a matter of pages.
I could go on about what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy, but overall this was a most excellent start to a new trilogy and you're wasting time reading this instead of that. Off you go!
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