if you thought the first 2 books were good, this one is outstandingly fantastic. I thought that the book would plateau but it kept getting better and better. Without giving the end of the story it is one that you would not expect. ( )

A complex, multi-threaded story culminating in a just-fathomable ending involving black holes, infinity and, perhaps, God... Slightly too complex for me, may improve with a second reading. ( )

Good, but too much with the AI as god stuff. Basically, everyone has faith. The god like knowledge of the future is a bit much, and the twist on that is reminiscent of Dune. ( )

Oh my god. Or, I should say, Penny Royal. :)

I've been steadily raving about Asher's novels more and more because they just keep getting BETTER and BETTER. This Transformation trilogy has got to be my absolute favorite.

Actually, the whole weaving of all these threads from book one to the end was so thoroughly SATISFYING that I may just start raving about it to non-specialized high-tech space-opera fans and just start pulling in normal SF fans to point and say... "Just look at this trilogy, skip the rest, just read this and MARVEL at the juicy characters, epic events, and thoroughly F***ed-up poison chalice wish-granting going on here.

Get your wishes granted! But Penny Royal, the mad AI that almost all of the Polity AIs fear, and rightly so, thinks on a VERY twisted path. The second novel was fantastic for giving us the AI's history, but the third novel gets the Mad AI Factory back online in a big way and EVERYONE is out to put an END to it. And Penny Royal.

And if that wasn't enough, the whole twisted story of Penny Royal creating many teams of creatively uber-powerful peeps of all walks and races JUST to murder the hell out of him because he's JUST TOO POWERFUL and suffers HUGE guilt for the things that broke his mind... well... I can't think of a better or more satisfying end to this trilogy than what we got.

Brilliant! I'm dancing about here in utter glee! :) ( )

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Title: Infinity Engine
Series: Polity: Transformation #3
Author: Neal Asher
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 577
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

All the threads that Penny Royal has been weaving come together.

The Brockle confronts Penny Royal, assured that its upgraded self can handle anything. Until Penny Royal reveals just how powerful it has become and it throws the Brockle into a black hole, where the Brockle is eventually destroyed.

The Atheter gets off of its planet Masada and takes control of the Polity War Factory 101 and turns it into a Atheter space ship.

Thorvald Spear hooks up with a hot chick and has a ton of money so he's supposedly taken care of. He also has a black diamond, which it is hinted might contain a part of the mind of Penny Royal.

Penny Royal itself transcends time and space and realizes that time is a loop of nothing but big bangs and heat deaths of the universe. The book ends with Penny Royal wondering if it can change that cycle.

My Thoughts:

I made the mistake of waiting almost 2 weeks to write this review. I really should have written it the day after I finished the book. I've already forgotten a ton of detail and honestly, the above synopsis is all I can remember of specifics.

I enjoyed my time reading this, hence the 4 stars, but something about Penny Royal has never really clicked with me. I was always more interested in the other characters, the pawn pieces as it were and with this book we don't get quite as much about them because this is truly about Penny Royal.

While I enjoyed this, I don't think I'll be re-reading this particular sub-series again.

★★★★☆ ( )