Books like Zero Point

So here we are at part two of Neal Asher’s ‘Owner’ trilogy and it’s fair to say that this volume takes a while to get going. Whereas the first book was an exciting rush of adrenalin pumping events, racing along as if believing that every one of its readers was addicted to high-octane videogames, this one opens slower, consolidating the ideas raised thus far. This makes (for the first half at least) a much less exciting and riveting book. But it also gives the reader time to ponder the politics of all of this. It does seem that the world government here, the one which terrorises most of the Earth, grew out of the European Union. Now I’m a bit sceptical of the European project myself, but to suggest that it will inevitably evolve into a global dictatorship which lets most of the world starve and uses tactical nuclear strikes against inconvenient territories, seems a hell of a stretch. It’s like science fiction for UKIP members. There’s also a rabid strain of libertarianism, but its libertarianism combined with mile-wide misanthropy: misanthropy which suggests the ‘man-spawn’ breeds far too fast and needs to be curtailed, and that people will generally make the worst and most heinous choice in any situation. The book therefore posits that everybody should be free to make their own choices, but people being people, those choices will inevitably be bad. It’s a distinctly weird message. Fortunately the action ramps up again in the second half, and the sensitive-minded reader can stop worrying about the politics and just enjoy the tension and the explosions. It isn’t as good as ‘The Departure’, but it still knows how to stage a set piece and keep its audience gripped. Okay, it also doesn’t go for deep characterisation, has a villain who a James Bond movie bad-guy would think was over the top in her sheer unrepentant evilness, and occasionally throws in clunky metaphors like “wrapping a warp bubble around himself like someone burrowing into a duvet”. But, as I said last time, this is junk food for your mind – and like all junk food you shouldn’t have it too regularly and shouldn’t worry too much about what’s actually in it, but just try to enjoy it as best you can.