Neal Asher

Neal Asher (born 1961) is an English science fiction author known for fast-paced, violent space opera. Raised in Billericay, Essex, he worked as a machinist, gardener, and in other manual trades before securing a three-book publishing contract in 2000; his debut novel, Gridlinked, appeared in 2001. He is best known for the Polity series, a sprawling future history governed by benevolent but ruthless artificial intelligences and populated by augmented humans, hostile aliens, and rogue biotech, spanning the Ian Cormac, Spatterjay, Transformation, and Rise of the Jain sequences among others. Asher cites J.R.R. Tolkien and Roger Zelazny as early influences, though his own work leans toward hard-edged action and body horror rather than traditional fantasy. His novel Cowl received a Philip K. Dick Award nomination, and his short story "Mason's Rats" was adapted into an episode of the Netflix anthology series Love, Death & Robots.