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The Engineer Reconditioned (Cosmos) | 
 enlarge | Author: Neal Asher
Publisher: Cosmos Books
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.25
You Save: $3.74 (54%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 37947
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 319
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0843961619
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780843961614
ASIN: 0843961619
Publication Date: August 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Mysterious aliens, ruthless terrorists, androids with attitude, genetic manipulation, punch-ups with lasers and giant spaceships! What more do you want?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Someone at Cosmos screwed up September 16, 2008
This review is for the recently released MMPB, not the HC the previous reviews cover. I bring this up because the HC may or may not have the technical problems noted below.
If you look at the table of contents, you will be under the impression that the book consists of a 122 page novella, then an 86 page novella, and 3 other stories. None of this is true. It actually consists of 9 stories, seven of which have titles preceded by a 1-page Author's Introduction. Two of them have neither title nor intro but are fused onto the preceding stories without any way for the reader to know that he is starting a new story except that there is a huge disconnect between it and that which preceded it. For the record, the last 18 pages of The Engineer is actually a story called Snairls (it is referred to in the intro to Spatterjay) and the last 19 pages of Spatterjay is actually a story called The Thrake (which I found out only because I read a review of the earlier British version elsewhere on this website). Now that I've forewarned you, there is no need for you to be as annoyed as I was about this, so let's get to the important stuff. How are the stories?
The Engineer: By far the best story in the collection. It's probably no coincidence that it is the only story that the author has reworked from its original form (hence the "Reconditioned" in the book's title). The rest of the stories all (to some extent) show that the author was still learning his craft when they were written. (J.Chang, how could you give a book a 4-star rating when 8/9ths of the stories "fell flat"? I'd give this book 2 stars if this story hadn't been as good as it was.) The Engineer recounts the Polity's first contact with the legendary Jain and is classic Asher---bizarre aliens, war golems, space dreadnoughts, and enough blood and guts to satisfy any fan.
Snairls: Without a doubt the most grotesque story I've read in a long time. Life inside (yes, INSIDE) a gigantic floating snail. Sex amidst the slime. Yuck!
Spatterjay: A prequel to The Skinner with many characters from that novel showing up here. The viewpoint character is Erlin, a normal human (as opposed to Spatterjay's blue mutants). Strangely, the author either forgot about her or didn't know what to do with her near the end when he pulls an alien rabbit (called a Fage) out of a hat in order to finish the story. Rookie writing.
The Thrake: Apparently the only reason for this story to exist is in order to heap disdain upon creationists. Actually, I don't have a problem with heaping disdain on creationists (they deserve it) but I wish it hadn't been done in such a heavy-handed manner.
Proctors/ The Owner/ Tiger Tiger: Three stories from "The Owner" universe. The Owner is a 10,000 year-old human with god-like powers and not so oddly happens to own the planet the stories take place on. Individually, the stories aren't bad but taken together like this they suffer from sameness. In each a member of a somewhat primitive society goes on a mission that violates one of The Owner's rules and a member of the group (in one case a "ghost") turns out to be an avatar of The Owner.
The Tor-Beast's Prison: If I've understood this story (and I'm not sure that I have) the tor-beast is a ravenous monster than has been imprisoned in a time traveling sphere. Somehow it is able to control a human who does his bidding (nasty things of course) and sticks to the outside of the sphere when it time travels (!). Apparently, this story and the novel Cowl were both derived from the same novella. I once considered buying Cowl. Not anymore.
The Gurnard: Carnivorous sheep and a parasite with a complex life cycle that somehow is able to integrate human colonists into said life cycle and control their actions. Sounds pretty silly. It is.
 Great Sampler October 16, 2007
Neal never ceases to surprise me. Let me set the perspctive... I'm not a fan of short story collections. I read a lot and go through books fairly quickly. I like to get immersed in a story, have it drag me along and keep me interested. Short stories generally don't do that for me anymore... Well, simply because they're short.
This book is different.
Having read most of Neal's other works, some of the characters were already familiar and that does help give them some additional depth that you would get from a stand-along short story. The first story, the one on which the book was named is about a Jain engineer found in stasis, lost in space and is stunning. He revisits Spatterjay. He introduces to a character called "The Owner" which thankfully he will be spending some more time with in the future.
It's clear that this is early work and that Neal is still developing his craft. But wow, what a start. This is an excellent volume to consider whether you're sampling his work or expanding your view of his worlds.
 Asher's Old Stuff is Pretty Good! March 18, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"The Engineer Reconditioned" is mostly a collection of Neal Asher's earlier stories, with about 90 pages taken up by the title story- "the Engineer." Like Julie Czerneda, Asher can produce fascinating aliens with weird biological twists at the drop of a hat, and the Jain in the first story are a classic example. Certainly his alien life forms are very well characterized and have sufficient interest in themselves.
Several of the stories are related to his full length (and riveting) novel "The Skinner" and his other stories are just as full of bizarre life forms, strange planets or weird situations, all masterfully handled in ways that keep one reading. As a professional biologist I like my science fiction to have some biological sense, and I am amazed at the number of life forms and weird life cycles (many of which can be found on a different scale here on earth) Asher has invented or altered.
These are science fiction stories for hard core sci fi aficionados. Until Asher and Czerneda showed up I was beginning to think that the art had died (or at least been crippled) with the death of Isaac Asimov and the rise of novels associated with "Star Trek" or "Star Wars."
This is a very good read and I heartily recommend it!
A Wonderful Collection of Stories May 16, 2006
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
Well, I have been ranting and raving about how great Neal Asher is for some time now but I must admit I approached this short story collection with some trepidation. This was not due to any perceived shortcoming of the author, but rather that I have had a bias against short story collections for many years. I haven't truly analyzed my prejudice but I think it mostly stems from the fact that when a story is great you want it to go on and on, which definitely doesn't happen with a short story. Asher's collection, and a collection of short stories from Karl Schroeder, have made me seriously question my previous reservation. This book is wonderful and is chock-full of the trademark Asher icons we love and expect: fearsome and fantastical creatures, crazed religious cults, crazier terrorist organizations, artificial intelligences, crafty and devious humans, exotic locales, sentient machines, designer drugs, and struggling protagonists who must contend with all of the above in adrenaline fueled, blood-spattered, tension-ratcheting stories that leave you panting for more. Asher is simply a ripping good story-teller and in this book you get a dozen great stories under one cover.
Many of these short stories are set in his Polity universe and add welcome bits of information for fleshing out that world and fans of his Polity series will definitely want to devour these. There are also a few stories here that are not Polity based....but they are so good that I found myself hoping that Mr. Asher might develop some novels around them. No, wait, I didn't say that!! I love the Polity novels too much! Maybe if Mr. Asher could clone himself as happens in some of his stories?
I devoured this book during a five hour flight last week and it truly made for a wonderfully enjoyable, and very quick, flight if you can imagine that in this day and age. I highly recommend this book for both current followers of Mr. Asher and for those who may not have read him before. This would be a wonderful introduction to Mr. Asher's work and I am sure it would leave new readers wanting more.
Careful, this is a reprint with some minor additions! March 26, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I really enjoy Neal Asher's work. He can develop atmosphere, characters and plot quickly and believably with incredible imagination. The short story, The Engineer, is no exception, and is my favorite Asher work. However, I was quite disappointed that this release of short stories, The Engineer Reconditioned, is nothing more than an update of the The Engineer published under a different label in 1998. I was expecting a full novel continuing the premise of the earlier work. Instead I received the same short story under a new name with some slight revisions. Amazon needs to make this clear so people don't waste their money on something they have already read. However, if you have not read it, it is a great read, brissling with great concepts and intrigue.
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