Product Description

During a war between two planets in the same solar system – each occupied by adapted humans – what is thought to be a cosmic superstring is discovered. After being cut, this object collapses into four cylindrical pieces, each about the size of a tube train. Each is densely packed with either alien technology or some kind of life. They are placed for safety in three ozark cylinders of a massively secure space station. There a female research scientist subsequently falls pregnant, and gives birth to quads. Then she commits suicide – but why?

By the end of the war one of the contesting planets has been devastated by the hilldiggers – giant space dreadnoughts employing weapons capable of creating mountain ranges. The quads have meanwhile grown up and are assuming positions of power in the post-war society. One of them will eventually gain control of the awesome hilldiggers . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64862 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 551 pages

SFX Magazine
'If there's a more enjoyable and provocative sci-fi action saga this year, we'll be seriously surprised.'

Death Ray
'An excellent tale to Asher's usual exhilarating action standards...'

From the Inside Flap
A terrible war once raged between the two rival planets within
a distant solar system. Over the centuries their human inhabitants had
`adapted' themselves to the extremely different conditions of their new
homes, far outside Polity influence.

In the midst of this merciless conflict, one side encountered a bizarre
object suspected of being a cosmic superstring employed as a new weapon by
the rival side. Their attack on it caused the object to collapse into four
parts, each found to be packed either with alien technology or some unknown
form of life. Pending further study, these were quickly encased inside four
separate Ozark cylinders and stored in a massively secure space station in
orbit.

Sometime later, while conducting research on this alien entity, which they
now call `the Worm', a female scientist falls pregnant and subsequently
gives birth to quads. She then inexplicably commits suicide by walking
directly out into space . . .

The war was finally brought to an end by the use of new weapons arising as
a result of research on the Worm. These weapons were deployed by giant
space dreadnoughts nicknamed `hilldiggers' - and their destructive power
was sufficient to create entire new mountain ranges out of the vanquished
planet's ravaged terrain. Twenty years after the dust has settled, those
four exceptionally talented orphans have grown up to assume varying degrees
of power and influence within a post-war society.

And one of this exceptional breed now seems determined to gain total
control over the deadly hilldiggers. But why?

Customer Reviews

A very boring book
"Hilldiggers" is very much unlike other Asher's books. It is as if it's written by a different person. It's boring.

I love his "Skinner" and still re-read it every now and then; the "Voyage..." is almost just as good. His Cormac books are also finely written. This one, I could barely finish it. The plot is predictable, all characters are flat and the writing style is extremely boring: page after page of monotonous narrative, irrelevant details and dry dialogs. No sense of humor whatsoever, and in fact very little emotions at all.

Despite his obsession with details, Asher doesn't bother to be consistent with his prior Spatterjay books (one example: in both the "Skinner" and the "Voyage..." hoopers occasionally get dunked into the deadly Spatterjay sea and, while being eaten alive by various creatures, they do keep afloat like any normal human would. In "Hilldiggers", the Hooper character McCrooger is for some reason much denser than normal people and would instantly sink to the bottom). Not to mention the idea of sending the Hooper, twice-infected by conflicting viruses, to make first contact with a paranoid and warlike civilization... Not to mention the silly "tiger-on-the-ball" Tigger drone... Or the four obviously suspicious "worm children" so easily allowed to raise to the top of the society...

If you like Asher and don't want to be disappointed, stick to his earlier Spatterjay books and avoid this one.

Bloody good read but...
Deeply enjoyable, page turner with great characterisation from on of my favorite novelists, but it doesn't get 5 stars from me because I couldn't shake off my nagging concern that this book was shared just a little too many concepts with "Inversions" by Iain M Banks, which isn't that great a book. I know it's ridiculous but my "familiarity" with these narrative devices took the edge of the book for me, even though Asher treats the concepts he shares with Inversions, like the low(er) tech civilisation viewpoint, the hidden agent/observer in a more accessible manner than Banks did but I couldn't help shaking off the feeling of deja-vu as each shared concept clicked into view.

Must-read
There are some authors who go on my must read list in the category "get the hardback the moment that comes out". In the sci-fi genre Neal Asher is such an author. His latest is perhaps his best. It's a real page turner, but the story is only a part of the pleasure of reading it - like all his books it is well written and also crackles with ideas and paints a bold, dramatic, detailed and engaging vision of the future that also offers additional details aplenty along the way. His universe is a tough place and pulls no punches, in this tale, which takes place in the aftermath of an interplanetary war, three groups of future-evolved humans engage in a struggle that is more than it seems.

If you have never read Neal Asher before, start now (perhaps with his first book "Gridlinked")- if you are already a fan, then rest assured he is growing in stature and becoming even more of a must-read as he goes on. More anon, I hope.