The Departure by Neal Asher

**Pennarin** · November 24th, 2011, 02:10 PM

Crusader's review is very different from a lot of the "buyer" reviews on any site you look. Whether one will like this book or not is far less sure-fire than the reviewer's confidence would suggest. Basically, I'm not saying much more than people can find out for themselves.

**Crusader** · November 25th, 2011, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by Pennarin

Crusader's review is very different from a lot of the "buyer" reviews on any site you look. Whether one will like this book or not is far less sure-fire than the reviewer's confidence would suggest. Basically, I'm not saying much more than people can find out for themselves.

That almost sounds as if you think the fact that I go a review copy influenced my review. I can assure you that it didn't. I really enjoyed The Departure and my review reflects that. Perhaps it might be due to the fact that I'm relatively new to Neal's work. I've only finished the Cormac series, read The Engineer Reconditioned and Prador Moon, so I haven't grown as attached to the Polity Universe as other "buyers" might have.

Reviews are by nature subjective and it's just my opinion. Neal does action-filled extravaganzas well and The Departure hit the right spots for me. As with all things you need to make up your own mind.

**Ash** · November 25th, 2011, 05:32 PM

Can't say I was really into this. The political side of it was much to heavy handed for my tastes. It felt like a Daily Mail fantasy of the evils of the EU writ large

.

The politics aside, I didnt really engage with the characters and that was a killer for me.

**Pennarin** · November 26th, 2011, 01:40 AM

Being new to Asher's work will skew your opinion of this particular work, I'm sure, but in this case I suspect the skewing is for the better...somewhat like watching a novel-to-movie port and liking it while fans of the novel dislike it. Judging the book for what it is instead of what you're used to from the author gives more honest results.

One has to say that most of the "buyer" reviews I mentioned were from prior Asher fans.

What does it all mean? Dunno, but I can say I was blown away by The Engineer, in the 2008 collection The Engineer Reconditioned, so much so I went out and bought most of his novels before I discovered they did not deliver like what I'd read. Guess I did it too.

**nealasher** · December 18th, 2011, 05:30 AM

I was going to write out a reply here but, since I've aleady written about this at length, let me direct you all here:

http://theskinner.blogspot.com/2011/...departure.html

Here's a bit of it:

So, what I have to do is just take it on the chin and carry on. The title The Departure, it’s now becoming evident to all, has a double meaning. It is also a dystopia which for me is also a bit of a departure in itself. The Polity books are all usually set on the Line – some border or war zone – but in essence are somewhat utopian and positive in their outlook: the people have all the wonderful toys of advanced technology, the prospect of living forever in a lurid and busy universe full of wonder. In writing The Departure, I half expected to be punished for ‘departing’, for there are those who feel betrayed when a writer doesn’t produce more of the usual. So why did I take this risk? Why not just keep on pumping out the Polity books?

**Asimovking** · July 18th, 2012, 02:39 PM

I just read a review on this and it sounds amazing. Definitely putting it on my To Buy list.

**Crusader** · July 19th, 2012, 02:57 AM

Originally Posted by Asimovking

I just read a review on this and it sounds amazing. Definitely putting it on my To Buy list.

As is evident from this discussion not everyone like it, so you shouldn't base your buying decision on just one review.

That being said, Zero Point, the sequel is being released in 14 days, August 2nd. So if you do end up liking it the wait for the next one won't be long.

**Asimovking** · July 19th, 2012, 05:17 AM

Originally Posted by Crusader

As is evident from this discussion not everyone like it, so you shouldn't base your buying decision on just one review.

That being said, Zero Point, the sequel is being released in 14 days, August 2nd. So if you do end up liking it the wait for the next one won't be long.

I always read several reviews and look at different synopsis of the book before putting it on my list. Including looking it up on Wikipedia and Amazon. That's awesome. Hopefully it doesn't take long for the 3rd book. I have a bunch of books on my list and I'm also debating whether to start with Gridlinked for Asher before reading this. So it could be a little while before I actually get around to it.