If you’ve read my other reviews of Asher’s books (The Skinner and Cowl) you know I’ve his books a great deal. While I didn’t find Grindlinked as good as those first two, it’s still an excellent read.

Gridlinked is set in the same universe as The Skinner (which I will call the ‘Polity’ universe) but shares none of the latter’s characters. The story is two pronged. Both start and end (more or less) with Earth Central Security agent Ian Cormac. The Cormac character figures into both but for the middle 3/4 of the book he is only in one of the branches. The Cormac branch deals with his investigation into the explosion of a runcible (think an interstellar gate a la Stargate but not near so baroque). The other branch deals with Separatist/terrorist Arian Pelter’s quest for vengeance for Cormac’s slaying of his sister in the openning scene of the book.

As with the other Asher novels I’ve read, the action is top notch, the tech is very cool and the plot is not as simple as it seems as well as containing a nice dose of mystery. Where I felt Gridlinked falls short is in the characterizations. Now, I am not going to claim that Asher’s characterizations are the best I’ve ever read (that honor goes to M. John Harrison), but I’ve found them more than adequate and I’ve connected with his characters in the past. This time though, while several characters are developed nicely throughout the book, I never really got connected with them like I did in his other books. (And maybe that’s just me or my mood this week, but there it is.)

So, bottom line, it’s still a good book, and if you are looking for a Polity novel to read definitely get it. I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction to Asher’s work though, of the three books I’ve read I’d have to go with The Skinner (it edges out Cowl by virtue of not being a time travel novel, which I think some people tend to not find as accessible).

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