"It is nearly fifteen years since Neal Asher first introduced us to the Polity, an alliance of humans spanning the galaxy and governed by artificial intelligences, while under constant threat from alien technology. His is a brilliantly conceived universe that grows in intricacy and complexity with every new novel, increasingly populated with astonishing characters and intriguing wonders... with unimaginable ecosystems surviving in bizarre colony worlds and under vicious hierarchies. " "The technology is dazzling, the hypersonic warfare violent and turbo-charged, and as for the monsters... nobody does monsters better than Neal Asher. Not least the legendary gabbleduck. " "So, in this fantastic collection of Polity-based stories, be prepared to visit diverse new nooks and crannies of that favourite universe. "--BOOK JACKET.