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  • The Soldier

  • By: Neal Asher
  • Narrated by: Peter Noble
  • Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (282 ratings)
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The Soldier cover art

The Soldier

By: Neal Asher
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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Summary

Her mission is vital. Her failure is unthinkable. 

A hidden corner of space is swarming with lethal alien technology, a danger to all sentient life. It's guarded by Orlandine, who must keep it contained at any cost - as it has the power to destroy entire civilizations. She schemes from her state-of-the-art weapons station, with only an alien intelligence to share her vigil. But she doesn't share everything with Dragon.... 

Orlandine is hatching a plan to obliterate this technology, removing its threat forever. For some will do anything to exploit this ancient weaponry, created by a long-dead race called the Jain. This includes activating a Jain supersoldier, which may breach even Orlandine's defences. 

Meanwhile, humanity and the alien prador empire keep a careful watch over this sector of space, as neither can allow the other to claim its power. However, things are about to change. The Jain might not be as dead as they seemed - and interstellar war is just a heartbeat away. 

The Soldier is the first novel in the Rise of the Jain series by best-selling science fiction author Neal Asher. 

©2018 Neal Asher (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio

What listeners say about The Soldier

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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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

Answers some questions from previous books

If you’ve enjoyed previous Neal Asher books, you’ll enjoy this one :-)

Expands the story of the Jain, where they came from, what caused the Jain nodes, and what happened to the Jain themselves ... looking forward to more in the series.

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6 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

Excellent book and narration

I’m late in coming to Neal Asher books but I’m glad I did, it has been many years since a book so thoroughly held me that I can’t wait to listen to the next chapter, the narration is top notch too

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4 people found this helpful

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

Complex, gripping and exciting

Asher tells a good story and "The soldier" doesn't disappoint in this respect. It's filled with great characters to which you can attach your emotions as they whirl and dance through a story of immense complexity. Yet despite it's arcane nature, not a moment of this audiobook leaves me feeling unsatisfied.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Great book. Love the Universe

This was my fourth book in the Polity Universe and the new story started by Neil is amazing and I cant wait for the next part.

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2 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
  • Mr
  • 19-07-18

Never diss appointed

With a Neal Asher book, taking his universe even further, great narration from Peter Noble, I could not put the book down, can’t wait for the next one.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great exciting story, great characters, well told

A great exciting story with varied and interesting characters. Love the hoopers and the drones. Setup nicely for the next book. Good narration. Recommended .

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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

Neal Asher again superb

another superb glimpse into the polarity, masterly crafted, descriptive and exciting, awaiting more as ever

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

Convuluted and immensely boring.

In the end I gave up on this. It totally failed to get my interest.

Did I mention it was boring?

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1 person found this helpful

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

Dull, dull, dull

Have really tried to get into this book but there is the thinnest of stories and characters (and character development) - I simply don't care what happens and wanted it to end. I gave up 16hrs in - can't say I didn't give it a fair go.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Big hard scifi set in Polity universe

Peter Noble has an excellent reading voice. He brings out the characters of human, Prador, AI, psychopath assassin drones and ancient alien species. He is easy to listen to with clear speach.

The story itself is typical Asher. Big, big science. Huge spaceships, vast solar building projects and exotic weapons. Asher's skill is to weave in human scale characters. The listener is never detached from the little people. Small story arcs intersperse with great space battles.

As ever Asher gives us another piece of the galactic jigsaw that explains how the current state of the universe comes to be.

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1 person found this helpful