War Bodies product reviews

One of the most difficult things, when it comes to reading Neal's works, is finding time to do other things... the little things in life, like your job, housework, eating, sleeping... all distractions from the immersive joy of living through exciting times vicariously through Neal's writings. The next most difficult thing is dealing with the way Neal's writing has evolved significantly over the years, so reading stories written now but set in story-times first encountered years ago... it can lead to a few odd questions in your head.

Questions like "Well, if Jain tech was so well known then why was it still seen as a mystery further down the timeline?" Simple - dangerous information is rarely distributed freely amongst the masses by the elite. It is entirely reasonable to assume that in the Polity universe, the apparently-benevolent AI rulers of the human masses would be unlikely to trust humanity with knowledge of a species-ending technology that is, in many ways, indistinguishable from living protomatter. (Of course, readers of Neal's works will know "The Big Secret" about Jain-tech after reading his Rise of the Jain trilogy.) The same questions, when raised regarding the nature of Piper's 'progression', are dealt with in a much less questionable way - but I'll leave that for the book to reveal, because it is a very satisfying resolution than spoilers.

As always, the characters are addressed well by Neal, with enough exposition and revelation, at appropriate times, to allow the reader to build their own, at-times somewhat conflicted, relationship with them. As with all human conflicts, past, present and undoubtedly future, not all 'bad guys' are really bad - some are forced to choose the lesser evil, some are simply stuck following orders they are unable to disobey without paying too large a price, some were literally reprogrammed to have no other options but obedience. Some are, naturally, the worst sort imaginable, propagating and promoting the cycle of abuse that echos through the history books and our world today... those who want the downfall of the leadership simply so they can have their turn shoving their snouts into the ruling-class feeding trough, not so that they can usher in a better society.

Set just before the end of the Polity/Prador War, this story introduces some interesting technological options that would have been pivotal in stories written earlier but set later, but to avoid horrific contradictions in the overall timeline, Neal was forced to go Biblical on the new tech... Neal giveth, and Neal taketh away. A neat and elegant solution to avoid annoying retcons or paradoxical situations whose only solution would have been a cliche like "...but it was only a dream. All of it, experienced in a moment of waking turmoil, and not years of nightmares made real." I can almost see Neal cringing in disgust at the mere idea of falling back on such a tired old trope.

I have to admit, though I know it to be set in the Polity universe and Polity characters - one in particular, referenced in other titles - did make significant appearances, because the focus of the story was very sharply attuned to Piper and his 'exploration of self', it didn't feel like a typical Polity story. I don't see that as either particularly positive or negative, since the story itself is as polished and immersive as any of Neal's tales. You don't really need to know much about the overall storyline/timeline to enjoy this story either. While the extra awareness of The Polity as a whole is useful, there are no specific bits of the history/future you need in order to follow along. The book stands alone well, providing enough backstory at relevant places, to give you what you need to stay tuned in to this particular thread in the Polity history.

This story is one that was really needed, to fill in some perspective and gaps in the history surrounding the end of hostilities between the Prador and Human realms. Knowing from other titles what the 'big reveal' was, surrounding the newest King of the Prador and why he called an end to the war, that 'twist' was never going to be a twist - Neal's uncanny ability to continually power out these stories means that even when we know the twist before it's revealed, the story remains engrossing. We know what is going to happen at the end, but we still need to know how it came about and why it wasn't avoided somehow.

Overall, this is another great offering from Neal, and it feels like it might be the start of a new thread in the tapestry of Neal's Polity Universe. I certainly hope so, because the potential of Piper's tech is pretty awe-inspiring and I can see how it might have led to some of the megaweapons explored, but never really explained, very early on in the Polity tales. Whatever he chooses to write, if it's set in the Polity, it's going to be on my reading list. While some have been better than others, this was one of the best and the potential of where this thread could lead has be very excited for future tales.