Book Impressions - The Engineer Reconditioned by Neal Asher

I'm a big fan of the author's novels but these are the first of his short stories that I've read and I'm pleased to report that they're a fine read. The opening story was the highlight for me and for me is one of those stories that illustrates what I love about science fiction. It tells the story of first contact with an alien that has been dormant for millions of years. What I enjoyed was the attention to detail and the unraveling of the mystery of the Jain (the alien race if you're not familiar with the books).

There's stories in this collection that touch on all of the major book series he's written and provide some interesting insights and  connections. While I'm a big fan of the Owner series the short stories didn't grab me as much as the novels did. They're an interesting hint as to the Owner's future and it also reminded me of the adage of sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic.

Overall I enjoyed these stories, not quite as much as the author's novels but they were a fine read.

Click on image to buy book from Amazon

Mysterious aliens, ruthless terrorists, androids with attitude, genetic manipulation, punch-ups with lasers and giant spaceships! What more do you want?

Reprint of The Engineer with three additional stories.

The Engineer
Spatterjay
The Owner
The Tor-beast's Prison
Tiger Tiger


Buy The Engineer Reconditioned from Amazon US UK (and it's an excellent sci-fi read)