Dark Diamond
By (Author) Neal Asher
Pan Macmillan
Tor
8th April 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Science fiction: military
Science fiction: time travel
Science fiction: cyberpunk / biopunk
Paperback
688
Width 153mm, Height 234mm
Doomed to die. And die again. Dark Diamond is the first in a high-octane space opera trilogy from Neal Asher, creator of the Polity universe. Captain Blite knows that someone, or something, is trying to kill him. But a device he possesses, known only as the dark diamond, won't let that happen. After surviving a series of catastrophic accidents and assassination attempts, Blite realizes that whenever he dies the dark diamond reverses time to a moment before his death. He must go through the traumatic experience again and again until he escapes. Every encounter Blite survives generates a time flash which reveals potential futures. This extraordinary phenomenon attracts the attention of Polity agents and the crab-like p-Prador who wish to acquire this power for themselves. Hunted across space and time, Blite must uncover the true nature of the dark diamond before it causes his destruction . . . Praise for Neal Asher 'Neal Asher's books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly at the brain' - John Scalzi, author of Old Man's War 'Non-stop action and unimaginable stakes' - Yoon Ha Lee on The Soldier 'Imaginative, energetic and insane' - SFX on Brass Man
Magnificently awesome . . . Asher turns it up to eleven -- Peter F. Hamilton on The Soldier
Asher rocks with XXX adrenaline while delivering a vivid future -- David Brin on Dark Intelligence
Nonstop action, and unimaginable stakes -- Yoon Ha Lee on The Soldier
Gleeful but superbly controlled action-adventure -- The Times on Weaponized
A powerhouse cocktail of lurid violence, evocative world-building and typically grotesque monsters -- SFX on Orbus
Without a doubt the most entertaining science fiction author writing today -- SFF World on Line War
Ashers work continues to combine the best of advanced cybertech and military SF * Publishers Weekly *
Asher is a modern master of sci-fi -- Starburst Magazine on Dark Intelligence
Neal Asher divides his time between Essex and Crete, mostly at a keyboard and mentally light years away. His full-length novels are as follows. First is the Agent Cormac series: Gridlinked, The Line of Polity, Brass Man, Polity Agent and Line War. Next comes the Spatterjay series: The Skinner, The Voyage of the Sable Keech and Orbus. Also set in the same world of the Polity are these standalone novels: Prador Moon, Hilldiggers, Shadow of the Scorpion, The Technician, Jack Four, Weaponized, War Bodies and World Walkers. The Transformation trilogy is also based in the Polity: Dark Intelligence, War Factory and Infinity Engine. Set in a dystopian future are The Departure, Zero Point and Jupiter War, while Cowl takes us across time. The Rise of the Jain trilogy, set in the Polity universe, too, comprises The Soldier, The Warship and The Human.