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A Time's Shadow
A Time's Shadow
Series · 2 books · 2025-2026
By
Neal Asher
Books in series
#1
Dark Diamond
2025
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
#2
Dark Agent
2026
Neal Asher's second suspenseful space opera returns to the Polity universe, and this time, the stakes are even higher. ". . . Balls-to-the-walls levels of exuberance and inventiveness . . ." —Locus Magazine on Dark Diamond FORGE A NEW FUTURE. OR BE CONSUMED BY THE PAST. Captain Blite and Agent Cormac thought they had defeated the malevolent AI Straeger. But Straeger’s mission to plunge the galaxy into a devastating war is far from over. With a twisted p-Prador army bred from the Spatterjay virus, Straeger sets his plans in motion. Meanwhile, in the war-struck world of Yossander’s Hold, Blite and Cormac are trapped in a maelstrom of betrayal and violence. They must fight their way through the chaos as they seek to repair Blite’s damaged ship. But their escape requires resources from the Bracken, and aboard that ship, a terrifying transformation is underway . . . Recognizing the threat posed by the p-Prador, the Prador Kingdom and the human Polity’s ruling AI form an uneasy alliance. But with Straeger’s plans unfolding and reality itself under threat, the galaxy is poised on the brink of destruction. Can Blite and Cormac survive the escalating war and the collapse of time itself?
Author
Neal Asher
Author · 38 books