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The Warship

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About this listen

In this second volume of Rise of the Jain, Neal Asher takes us on a thrilling ride into interstellar politics and impending war.

Their nemesis lies in wait . . .

Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination.

Earth Central, humanity’s ruling intelligence, knows Orlandine was tricked into releasing her weapon, and fears the Jain are behind it. The prador king knows this too – and both foes gather fleets of warships to surround the disc.

The alien Client is returning to the accretion disc to save the last of her kind, buried on a ship deep within it. She upgrades her vast weapons platform in preparation, and she’ll need it. Her nemesis also waits within the disc’s swirling dusts – and the Jain have committed genocide before.

The Warship is set in Neal Asher's popular Polity universe.

 Adventure Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Cyberpunk Black Hole

Critic reviews

Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain (John Scalzi on The Soldier)
The Soldier provides everything we demand from Asher: a beautifully complex universe where AIs, aliens and post-humans scheme and struggle – magnificently awesome. Then Asher turns it up to eleven (Peter F. Hamilton on The Soldier)
A richly imagined, exotic world, non-stop action and unimaginable stakes - I couldn't put The Soldier down (Yoon Ha Lee, author of Ninefox Gambit, on The Soldier)
Neal Asher's coruscating mix of epic space opera, weaponized Darwinism and high-stakes intrigue channels the primal flame of deep-core science fiction (Paul McAuley, author of Four Hundred Billion Stars, on The Soldier)
All stars
Most relevant
Neal Asher is the master of techno-military SciFi. He populates his books with a bewildering array of technological Marvel's, alien species and AIs. The story is simple and linear, but satisfying enough for my daily commute. His descriptions are complex and sometimes arcane, but they serve to illustrate the universe he portrays perfectly. Looking forward to the next novel.

Asher continue to impress

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With most SF now being of the form of militaristic expansion of humanity, Asher’s efforts are a breath of fresh air reminiscent of Iain Banks.
Can’t wait for the Audible version of Human

At last!

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With the Polity he constructs a universe to challenge the Culture writing with his usual brilliance but I still miss Ian M Bank's (RIP)

usual brilliance but still miss Ian M Bank's (RIP)

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Following on from the solider, the story stays with the main characters and expands with more in-depth prador characters which work well.
The narrative is exciting although sometimes I think the battle detail takes away from the main story arc.

If you liked the solider you’ll like this.

Solid follow up

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Tech level is ramped up again, the Jain tech we've seen so far has been the equivalent of wooden ships...here come the dreadnoughts...epic stuff.

Holy Bejesus, that's the biggest f***** ship ever.

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