Books like Africa Zero

Another high octane orgy of gore-strewn violence, savage technology and uber badassery, delivered with a droll casualness that masks the emotional underbelly hiding at the core of the story…in other words, another fine outing by Mr. Neal Asher. This is a fix up novel combining a pair of linked novellas both set in far future Africa long after civilization has collapsed under the weight of a myriad of the usual suspects (wars, plagues, over-population, exhaustion of resources, etc.). Earth of the now is a vast, wild savannah where nature has reclaimed its birthright from the cities, except for small pockets of well fortified, high-tech compounds run by “family corporations” reminiscent of the Japanese keiretsu. These corporate interests have mostly removed their footprints from Earth and reside above the planet in massive orbital space stations where they work to expand their holdings with Mother Earth at their back. The main character of our twin tales is an immortal, mostly invulnerable cyborg known simply as the Collector. The Collector roams this future “anti-Eden” gathering genetic material on all forms of life in order to preserve Earth’s biological heritage. As a guardian of species, the Collector’s sympathies lie not with the survival of individuals but only with the survival of genetic lines. While not inherently cruel, the Collector’s unique perspective (and incredibly long past) does make him less than warm and cuddly in the face of individual suffering. But this is a Neal Asher novel so what do you expect. In addition to safeguarding the Earth’s indigenous biome, the Collector also keeps safe the numerous genetic engineered species that survived the fall of civilization. Thus, the Africa of the story is populated by a host of throwback creatures like the woolly mammoth and the sabretooth tiger and bizarre, intelligent, non-human hybrids like Pykani, Sauramen and the Great African Vampire (I’ll let you discover the specifics of these nifties on your own). During his planetary travels, the Collector runs across ecological terrorists, a sadistic…and I mean SADISTIC religious order of torture-loving freaks and the usual dose of ruthless, greed-driven corporate douchetards. While there are certainly some characters who can be seen as basically good and an even larger number that are completely vile, the beauty of a good Asher story are the larger-than-life characters harboring complex motivations that make them various shades of gray along the good/bad spectrum. Asher is terrific at this type of player and there are a number on display in Africa Zero, making for some interesting theater. Add to the memorable characters a full menu of non-stop action, liberal helpings of violence, mayhem and stomp-your-nutsery and add a garnish of future politics and you have a story that bears all the hallmarks of a Neal Asher production. As far as gripes go, I do have a few. This is clearly an early work and the prose and story-telling is not as polished as you will find in his later efforts. Also there are some inconsistencies in the two stories resulting from them being originally released separately. Still, despite its less than perfect execution, the enjoyability quotient of the story is high. Asher novels are fun to read. They entertain and satisfy and they do so with gusto. 4.0 stars. Highly Recommended.