Shadow of the Scorpion

A Novel of the Polity

By: Neal Asher

Narrated by: David Marantz

Raised to adulthood during the end of the war, between the human Polity and a vicious alien race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn’t remember. Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help restore and maintain order on worlds devastated by the war. There, he discovers that though the Prador remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as treacherous or dangerous as some of his fellow humans - some closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, Cormac will discover in himself a cold capacity for violence, and learn some horrible truths about his own past while trying to stay alive on his course of vengeance.

©2008 Neal Asher (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

ok, better if u kno the series

struggled to care about the story. tried to multitask while listening and it's too hard to follow changing timelines multiple times in a long chapter with very minor voice acting. Very long to an anti-climactic answer to the war drone & MC's dad.

well somebody heard about nonlinear story telling

it is a solid sci-fi action book, could have gone without the tacked on adult scenes. but it can be hard to follow when the narrative jumps around time periods.

Excellent First in Cormac Series

Great intro to the Ian Cormac series. Necessary reading the Neal Asher fans who seek the background and origins of Cormac. Must listen!

Outstanding

This was a great book and made me wanting more. The origin story for agent Cormac, series located in the Polity universe. Lots of action and excitement. I listened to the audible version and the narration by David Marantz was outstanding. I wish more of the Polity Universe was in Audible.

Origin story for Agent Cormac

Neal Asher's Shadow of the Scorpion is the origin story for agent Cormac, a long running series located in his Polity universe. The main tale relates Cormac's early years from a young military grunt with his demonstration of fighting, spying, and deductive skills that gets him into the ESC (Earth Central Security). While the Prador is the alien enemy of the Polity, there is an indigenous insurgent movement that is fighting for independence from the the Polity itself. The story alternates between this present day and Cormac's childhood which involves interactions with the Polity war drone Amistad who worked with Cormac's father, missing and presumed dead during the early Prador war, but never fully explained. Cormac progressively evolves over time into the bigger than life character.

Set in the Polity universe, there's less emphasis on the AI dominated culture. At the same time, the Prador play a limited role with the insurgents taking center stage through a classic underground movement. One distinctive feature is the use of selective memory wipes as a way of dealing with painful experiences and preventing PTSD. Cormac comes to learn that he underwent several during his childhood and deals with that reintegration.

The narration is well done with good character distinction and adequate pacing well aligned with the plot.