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  • Dark Intelligence

  • Transformation, Book 1
  • By: Neal Asher
  • Narrated by: Peter Noble
  • Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (239 ratings)

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Dark Intelligence

By: Neal Asher
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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Summary

One man will transcend death to seek vengeance. One woman will transform herself to gain power. And no one will emerge unscathed....

Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, where he finds he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war which ended a whole century ago. But when he relives his traumatic final moments, he finds the spark to keep on living. That spark is vengeance. Trapped and desperate on a world surrounded by alien Prador forces, Spear had seen a rescue ship arriving. But instead of providing backup, Penny Royal, the AI within the destroyer, turned rogue. It annihilated friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction, and years later it's still free. Spear vows to track it across worlds and do whatever it takes to bring it down.

Isobel Satomi ran a successful crime syndicate. But after competitors attacked, she needed more power. Yet she got more than she bargained for when she negotiated with Penny Royal. She paid it to turn her part AI herself, but the upgrades hid a horrifying secret. The Dark AI had triggered a transformation in Isobel that would turn her into a monster, rapidly evolving into something far from human.

Spear hires Isobel to take him to the Penny Royal AI's last known whereabouts. But he cheats her in the process, and he becomes a target for her vengeance. And as she evolves further into a monstrous predator, rage soon wins over reason. Will Spear finish his hunt before he becomes the hunted?

This is the first volume in a no-holds-barred adventure set in Asher's popular Polity universe.

©2017 Neal Asher (P)2017 Macmillan Digital Audio
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What listeners say about Dark Intelligence

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of Ashers best

Splendid voice acting, with that a lesser story would also work. but the story is great!

maybe AIs are bit too human-like and dark AI godlike, but its a minor thing.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A couple of sandwiches short of a picknick

Well it started off so well then like anything I cook it sort of fell apart and left an bit of a shit taste in my mouth. I suspect I’ll still buy (with money) the next one. Fingers crossed I don’t have to use anymore food analogise. As they’re pants. Also like the ending of this book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

All to alien and foreign to keep up with

Loved the first Neal Asher book I heard, but this was so far in the future with alien / AI minds in constant flux, it did my head-in.
An amazing imagination, but I cannot visualise. However, cleaver use of words that gives you an idea of what he is talking about although never really explained.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Neal Asher's works are always well written. The narrator excellently brings the book to life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great story

I enjoyed the story. It had a lot of twists and brought everything together at the end with more food for thought.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Asher keeps you guessing until the last minute

very much looking forward to the other book's in this series after a barnstorming opener with a good balance of futuristic theorem and perspectives on how different zenobes may interact with each other.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

Great story
Great narrator
All in all an amazing experience with a good look out for the rest of the series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Just ok

The story over all was ok but jumped around a lot and felt fragmented as a result of this.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book and narrator

Loved this book. Character and story depth amazing. Had me hooked from start. The story stayed strong to the end

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Never fulfilled a promising start

A lot of the story is spent explaining events that have previously transpired. This became tedious quickly and I was eventually just getting through it. Not awful, which I know is hardly a recommendation but had the potential to be better.

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5 people found this helpful