The Voyage of Sable Keech

[Vertigo]

No offense Bugg but that seems a slightly odd reading order You might want to check out this In what order should I read this? thread where Ashers lays out the timeline of all of his Polity books. Although many choose to read in publication order.

[Bugg]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

No offense Bugg but that seems a slightly odd reading order

None taken! I know I'm reading them in the wrong order - something I wouldn't normally do, admittedly. Thing is, The Skinner was my first Asher, bought purely on a whim, and I just fancied reading Prador Moon next as it's short - I didn't think it would matter as it's a standalone (same for Cowl). Thoroughly enjoying it. I'll read Orbus next to finish the Spatterjay series, then at some point read the Cormac novels in order.

Have I really stuffed it up?

[Vertigo]

Sorry I missed your reply and question there Bugg

No it doesn't matter and probably good to get Prador Moon read as it is farily key background history to the same world.

[Neal Asher]

Some are okay reading things out of order, some not. I've noticed American readers enjoying the Cormac series and being unaware of The Line of Polity, which isn't published by Tor US.

[Vertigo]

Sniper rocks! Lets load a bit of attitude!

This was actually the first Asher book I read some years ago from the library shortly after it was published. I hadn't read any other Polity books previously, not even the Skinner and to be honest I'm surprised I didn't give up in confusion on that first read. Not that I'm saying anything against the book - I've just finished it again and think it excellent, but let's face it diving into the second Spatterjay book without any background was, looking back, pretty crazy!

I find it interesting that I found both this and the Skinner quite difficult books to get started into, certainly harder than other Asher books, but by the end of each I would rate these two books as the best Asher books I've read so far. I wonder if it's because the Spatterjay world is so bizarre that the books need quite a lot of heavy world building at the start. But once that's over they are both fascinating and rewarding reads.

Looking forward to Orbus, which will be my next Ploity read.

By the by, just out of curiosity why didn't Tor take up Line of Polity? Seems to me that it leaves the Americans with a bit of a hole in the Cormac story arc.

[Neal Asher]

I was told the book was too big, but they published others that were larger. Perhaps they thought some of the anti-religion stuff wouldn't go down well. I don't know.