A Greenpeace campaigner claims he was forced to live on bread and water while being held in a Russian prison because it didn’t offer a vegetarian alternative.
Obviously Russian prisons have improved if they’re even claiming to offer meat products in them.
Er…from what I’ve been told about Russian prison cuisine bread & water wouldn’t constitute a vegetarian diet. Not even the water part.
He wasn’t forced to live on bread and water. He ‘chose’ to live on bread and water because of his ‘meat is murder’ views. This is highly risible. Look here and tell me what that sofa is made of: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2530646/I-forced-survive-bread-water-Russian-prison-didnt-serve-vegetarian-alternative-says-freed-British-Greenpeace-activist.html
What a remarkable coincidence, Mr Asher. One of the other windows open on this computer, this morning, contains one of your novels.
BIS, are they worth a read?
This is the perefect example to illustrate why all my lovely principles, freedom of expression, due process etc, go out the bloody window where Greenpeace is concerned. Lock em up in a cell with a stack of meat feast pizzas and throw away the key.
Isn’t that wonderful. Hopefully that will discourage even more of the Greenpeace fellow-travellers from trying it on.
Pity we couldn’t do the same.
I wonder how he looked like before going to prison considering he claims to have “lost a lot of weight” while in prison…
David Moore, yes. Yes, they are!
Ironman, a waste of meat feast pizzas, if you ask me.
Modern mid-hard sic-fi. Person rather than technology centred. Not quite as outré as the Culture novels.
Several series with separate world-views so it is quite important to get them in something-like order.
If you started with them, as I did, “looks good in the airport bookshop when your plane is delayed”, it can be a bit confusing.
He also went to Russia for the specific purpose of breaking the law, despite Greenpeace claims that raiding an offshore rig containing live hydrocarbons constitutes a peaceful protest. Perhaps he should have thought about the Russian prison menu before he left?
“…and the sweet trolley was an absolute disgrace!”.
Are they worth a read?
Well, I am indeed reading one & have read others, so a presumed yes?
Which, for me, says a lot more than obvious. I grew out of the SciFi branch of SF a long while back & prefer Speculative Fiction. Asher’s very much SciFi. Speculating about galactic empires & wormhole transit’s a bit rich on speculation for me. But the guy can handle characterisation & has built an interesting ‘universe’ for his characters to run round in.
It’s certainly light relief from trying to disentangle Ian McDonald’s Brasyl, my other companion on the Xmas sunlounger. But his other works have excelled so I will persevere.
What a facist. Suggesting that thought should be involved when “something must be done” to save the planet from the evil exploiters.
You must be in the pay of the oil industry! 😉
Best form of advertising is personal recommendation. Neal has lucked out. I too will have a look at his books.
Boo fucking hoo.
You just don’t get the quality of martyrs you used to.
I bet it wasn’t even artisan bread and Ty Nant bottled spring water.
Strange that when the USSR was sending millions to the gulags the Guardianistas were cool with that, but be slightly nasty to homosexuals and not offer a vibrant and diverse prison menu and suddenly the klaxons are sounding.
These Greenpeace activists, are they salaried employees of Greenpeace Ltd or do they volunteer with no pay? If the latter, how do they live when they’re back at home?
I was delighted to find one of my favourite authors popping up on one of my favourite blogs!
Neal Asher writes fantastic books, very much worth a read.
Andrew M
How do they live? They are what we used to call “Men of Independent Means”, spoilt twats in other words.
P.S. I have never read any Neil Asher books, but am ready to try, given the quality of those recommending him. So, following SE’s warning, where to start?
“Gridlinked” is a good book. And it is the first in a series. If you like that, you can carry on with the second, “Line of Polity” or go for “Prador Moon” in a different series.
Or, maybe, the Man himself will come along with a recommendation?
I started with “The Voyage of the Sable Keech”. It’s a great book but you miss something without having read “The Skinner” beforehand.
As per the above – just checked and it was 50% off at Books etc, possibly in Stanstead or Liverpool Street in Feb 2008 (yes, I use train tickets as bookmarks!)
Re Mr Asher
If it’s any use to you this was off the net::
Internal Chronological Order
===================================================
Polity 01 – Prador Moon
Polity 03 – The Shadow of the Scorpion
Cormac 01 – Gridlinked
Cormac 02 – The Line of Polity
The Gabble and Other Stories
Cormac 03 – Brass Man
Cormac 04 – Polity Agent
Cormac 05 – Line War
Polity 04 – The Technician
Spatterjay 01 – The Skinner
Spatterjay 02 – The Voyage of the Sable Keech
Spatterjay 03 – Orbus
Polity 02 – Hilldiggers
Publication Series Order
===================================================
Cormac 01 – Gridlinked
Cormac 02 – The Line of Polity
Cormac 03 – Brass Man
Cormac 04 – Polity Agent
Cormac 05 – Line War
Spatterjay 01 – The Skinner
Spatterjay 02 – The Voyage of the Sable Keech
Spatterjay 03 – Orbus
Polity 01 – Prador Moon
Polity 02 – Hilldiggers
Polity 03 – The Shadow of the Scorpion
Polity 04 – The Technician
There’s also some shorts, unrelated novels & his site seems to have a new series.
In other news, the Guardian activist summer cruise in aid of global warming and gap year science seems to be going well. Comments on the thread seem to ensure that the Gaurdian won’t become an irony free zone by 2014.
What the Greenfreaks did was piracy. The Russians would have been within their rights to hang the lot of ’em, or at least put a BrahMos into the side of their boat. It would have been bad PR, though.
I think it would have been fucking awesome PR.