Listen free for 30 days
-
Jack Four
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for £14.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Weaponized
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ursula has lived twice the normal human lifespan, courtesy of the latest technology. But now she’s struggling to find excitement and purpose, so signs up to the Polity’s military. She excels in weapons development, and progresses rapidly up the ranks. But after botching a powerful new ammunition test, she’s dismissed from service. Hunting for a simpler, more meaningful existence, the ex-soldier heads for the stars. And after founding a colony on the hostile planet of Threpsis, Ursula finally feels alive.
-
-
interesting concept not well executed
- By Mr on 30-07-22
-
The Skinner
- The Spatterjay Series: Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: William Gaminara
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The savage ocean planet of Spatterjay draws visitors with very different agendas. Erlin is immortal and seeks a reason to keep living. Janer hosts a hive mind, which paid him to find this planet. And Keech is an agent of Earth who’s been dead for 700 years – but still hunts a notorious criminal. On Spatterjay’s vast waterscapes, only the Old Captains risk the native life forms and their voracious appetites. However, they are now barely human. And somewhere out there Keech’s target – the Skinner – runs wild.
-
-
Teenager SF
- By Thomas on 01-09-11
-
The Departure
- Owner Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Argus Space Station looks down on a nightmarish Earth. And from this safe distance, the Committee enforces its despotic rule. There are too many people and too few resources, and they need 12 billion to die before Earth can be stabilized. So corruption is rife, people starve, and the poor are policed by mechanized overseers and identity-reader guns. Citizens already fear the brutal Inspectorate with its pain inducers. But to reach its goals, the Committee will unleash satellite laser weaponry, taking carnage to a new level.
-
-
Asher tells a good story
- By Sharon Barron on 05-08-18
-
Prador Moon
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Polity Collective stretches from Earth Central into the unfathomable reaches of the galactic void. But when the Polity finally encounters alien life in the form of massive, hostile, crablike carnivores known as the Prador, there can only be one outcome - total warfare. Chaos reigns as, caught unawares, the Polity struggles to regain its foothold and transition itself into a military society. Starships clash, planets fall and space stations are overrun.
-
-
Great stuff!
- By MR N FURZE on 09-10-17
-
The Warship
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Their nemesis lies in wait.... Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination.
-
-
Asher continue to impress
- By Sharon Barron on 25-11-19
-
Gridlinked
- Agent Cormac, Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In outer space you can never feel sure that your adversary is altogether human. The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming project. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow.
-
-
Narrator not good
- By Mike N. on 19-08-20
-
Weaponized
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ursula has lived twice the normal human lifespan, courtesy of the latest technology. But now she’s struggling to find excitement and purpose, so signs up to the Polity’s military. She excels in weapons development, and progresses rapidly up the ranks. But after botching a powerful new ammunition test, she’s dismissed from service. Hunting for a simpler, more meaningful existence, the ex-soldier heads for the stars. And after founding a colony on the hostile planet of Threpsis, Ursula finally feels alive.
-
-
interesting concept not well executed
- By Mr on 30-07-22
-
The Skinner
- The Spatterjay Series: Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: William Gaminara
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The savage ocean planet of Spatterjay draws visitors with very different agendas. Erlin is immortal and seeks a reason to keep living. Janer hosts a hive mind, which paid him to find this planet. And Keech is an agent of Earth who’s been dead for 700 years – but still hunts a notorious criminal. On Spatterjay’s vast waterscapes, only the Old Captains risk the native life forms and their voracious appetites. However, they are now barely human. And somewhere out there Keech’s target – the Skinner – runs wild.
-
-
Teenager SF
- By Thomas on 01-09-11
-
The Departure
- Owner Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Argus Space Station looks down on a nightmarish Earth. And from this safe distance, the Committee enforces its despotic rule. There are too many people and too few resources, and they need 12 billion to die before Earth can be stabilized. So corruption is rife, people starve, and the poor are policed by mechanized overseers and identity-reader guns. Citizens already fear the brutal Inspectorate with its pain inducers. But to reach its goals, the Committee will unleash satellite laser weaponry, taking carnage to a new level.
-
-
Asher tells a good story
- By Sharon Barron on 05-08-18
-
Prador Moon
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Polity Collective stretches from Earth Central into the unfathomable reaches of the galactic void. But when the Polity finally encounters alien life in the form of massive, hostile, crablike carnivores known as the Prador, there can only be one outcome - total warfare. Chaos reigns as, caught unawares, the Polity struggles to regain its foothold and transition itself into a military society. Starships clash, planets fall and space stations are overrun.
-
-
Great stuff!
- By MR N FURZE on 09-10-17
-
The Warship
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 17 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Their nemesis lies in wait.... Orlandine has destroyed the alien Jain super-soldier by deploying an actual black hole. And now that same weapon hoovers up clouds of lethal Jain technology, swarming within the deadly accretion disc’s event horizon. All seems just as she planned. Yet behind her back, forces incite rebellion on her home world, planning her assassination.
-
-
Asher continue to impress
- By Sharon Barron on 25-11-19
-
Gridlinked
- Agent Cormac, Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In outer space you can never feel sure that your adversary is altogether human. The runcible buffers on Samarkand have been mysteriously sabotaged, killing many thousands and destroying a terraforming project. Agent Cormac must reach it by ship to begin an investigation. But Cormac has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Pelter, who is prepared to follow him across the galaxy with a terrifying android in tow.
-
-
Narrator not good
- By Mike N. on 19-08-20
-
Dark Intelligence
- Transformation, Book 1
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, where he finds he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war which ended a whole century ago. But when he relives his traumatic final moments, he finds the spark to keep on living. That spark is vengeance. Trapped and desperate on a world surrounded by alien Prador forces, Spear had seen a rescue ship arriving. But instead of providing backup, Penny Royal, the AI within the destroyer, turned rogue. It annihilated friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction, and years later it's still free.
-
-
Never fulfilled a promising start
- By HUGH SHARKEY on 23-09-17
-
The Soldier
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A hidden corner of space is swarming with lethal alien technology, a danger to all sentient life. It's guarded by Orlandine, who must keep it contained at any cost - as it has the power to destroy entire civilizations. She schemes from her state-of-the-art weapons station, with only an alien intelligence to share her vigil. But she doesn't share everything with Dragon....
-
-
Answers some questions from previous books
- By Jamie on 29-05-18
-
Cowl
- By: Neal Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Heliothane Dominion is triumphant in the solar system after a bitter war with their Umbrathane progenitors. But some of the enemy have escaped into the past, intent on wreaking havoc across time. The worst of these is Cowl, an artificially forced advance in human evolution but one who is no longer human. Polly, desperate to obtain funds to support her habits, is unprepared for her involvement with Nandru Jurgens, a Taskforce soldier, and the killers pursuing him.
-
-
The story is mind bendingly complicated but...
- By Anonymous Coward on 21-10-18
-
Inheritance
- A LitRPG Space Adventure (The Last Enclave)
- By: Morgan Cole
- Narrated by: Hal Rayle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Still reeling from the death of his parents, Jake finds a doorway to an abandoned space station in his grandfather's basement. But when he walks through, he discovers he's trapped there, and he’s got company. The station's AI enlists Jake to reclaim the systems needed to support life, but there’s a catch - he has only eight hours to complete the task or he’ll die alone in the cold vacuum of space. With only his trusty wrecking bar, work boots, and some basic survival equipment, he must defeat the horrific monsters that infest the station before his air runs out.
-
-
Sequel soon I hope
- By MrNick on 19-01-23
-
Inhibitor Phase
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miguel de Ruyter is a man with a past. Fleeing the 'wolves'—the xenocidal alien machines known as Inhibitors—he has protected his family and community from attack for forty years, sheltering in the caves of an airless, battered world called Michaelmas. The slightest hint of human activity could draw the wolves to their home, to destroy everything...utterly. Which is how Miguel finds himself on a one-way mission with his own destructive mandate: to eliminate a passing ship, before it can bring unwanted attention down on them.
-
-
Missing text
- By OldSynner on 30-08-21
-
Eversion
- By: Alastair Reynolds
- Narrated by: Harry Myers
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Silas Coade wakes from disturbing dreams, on the steamship Demeter, in pursuit of an extraordinary find almost too incredible and too strange to believe, secreted within a lagoon in the icy inlets of Patagonia. But as they come in sight of their prize, he and the crew see they are not the first to come so far: there is a wreck ahead, and whatever ruined it may threaten them as well. Shaking off his nightmares, Doctor Silas Coade joins his fellow exploders on the deck of the Demeter and realises something has already gone dangerously wrong with their mission.
-
-
A marvellous story
- By Dr. A. P. Glanvill on 10-06-22
-
Shards of Earth
- The Final Architecture, Book 1
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
- Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared, and Idris and his kind became obsolete.
-
-
Excellent, original space opera
- By D. S. on 31-05-21
-
Renegade
- Spiral Wars, Book 1
- By: Joel Shepherd
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity’s new Homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity’s most powerful industrial family, is framed with his murder.
-
-
Aside from the occasional infodump, a pretty good
- By Andrew J Chamberlain on 07-02-21
-
Star Guardian
- Star Guardians, Book 1
- By: G J Ogden
- Narrated by: Doug Tisdale Jr.
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hudson Powell and Tory Bellona are the galaxy’s top Star Scavengers. Travelling to distant planets, they hunt for valuable artefacts inside the wrecks of giant alien starships that mysteriously lie crashed and broken on every portal world.
-
Last Resort
- Zombicide, Book 1
- By: Josh Reynolds
- Narrated by: Joe Hempel
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The zombie apocalypse has driven humanity up into the Adirondacks. Enter Westlake, hardened career criminal on the path of "the Villa", a legendary mafia hideout where he can escape the devastation. When he's ambushed by the undead, an old FBI "friend" and his squad of survivors rescue him...and then force him to reveal his secrets. The jokey myth of the Villa suddenly becomes salvation for the settlements scattered around Saranac Lake. Reluctantly, Westlake is saddled with an oddball team to navigate mine fields, trip wires, and flesh-eating zombies to find their safe haven.
-
Beyond the Hallowed Sky
- Lightspeed, Book 1
- By: Ken MacLeod
- Narrated by: Elliot Chapman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a brilliant scientist gets a letter from herself about faster-than-light travel, she doesn't know what to believe. The equations work, but her paper is discredited - and soon the criticism is more than scientific. Exiled by the establishment, she gets an offer to build her starship from an unlikely source. But in the heights of Venus and on a planet of another star, a secret is already being uncovered that will shake humanity to its foundations.
-
-
Old fashioned
- By R. Maines on 08-01-22
-
Deadzone Mercenary: The Complete Series
- By: Liam Clay
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago, a meteor storm strafed the earth with deep space shrapnel. In the aftermath, crash sites around the world went radio silent. Permanently. Most of these Deadzones were claimed by cartels and warlords. The low orbit corporates use others for weapons testing. And biosphere mutations have altered some beyond recognition.
Summary
Created to die - determined to live.
Jack Four - one of 20 human clones - has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador, and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that’s been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity’s Polity worlds would have this information.
The prador’s king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King’s Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons - and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.
Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren’t as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.
Critic reviews
"Neal Asher’s books are like an adrenaline shot targeted directly for the brain." (John Scalzi, author of the Old Man’s War series)
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Jack Four
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kaira
- 08-07-21
Preder Preder Preder
Neal, I know you look at these things, For my perspective, i'd just started playing a game called "Empyrion" You wake up as a clone in hostile territory with a hunger... and I seem to eat every 5 mins in that game or i'm in real danger of dying of hunger - good to see Jack feels the same way..or was it me ? Bravo for the uncanny timing of this coming out. FOR THE LOVE OF BROCKLE never ever use this Narrator again, ever. For every one of your other books, the wonderful narrators say the word "Prador" and pronounce the "o" The genius narrator of this book has decided to pronounce it " Prader" with fekcin E instead of an O. It really really hurts to listen to the name diminished, it's just wrong.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wayne Fitzgerald
- 27-08-21
Nasty Book
The synopsis for this was quite interesting, there the interest ended. Pity you can’t give a review negative stars! I listened for a couple of hours, you have to give things a chance, It started with violence and rape and quickly went down hill (if that is possible). A nasty piece of work from a mind which seems to me to be very warped. Perhaps the “Author” has spent too much time playing zombie/alien shoot it ups on his chosen console
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul J.
- 31-08-21
Mediocre at best
Maybe this genre isn't for me, but I don't get the 4.5 current rating. Good imagination and the story rounds off well, but how many times can someone be stupid enough to get captured time and time again? Get tortured? Get eviscerated? Rescued? And start all over again. the 3 stars is because there are some smart ideas in the story, but by the end, I couldn't wait for it to finish, then didn't realised it had until I realised I was listening to the glossary. Do I recommend this one, it's a marmite book obviously. Not for me.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ChrisH
- 03-08-21
Has the feel of a spaghetti western .
Annoying mispronunciation of Prador throughout which grated during a fast paced action adventure which just happened to be based in the Polity.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter Comninos
- 18-07-21
One of my favourite SF writers.
Good hard SF book with plenty of action in his familiar universe. Excellent narration.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamie Gray
- 04-02-23
Excellent
Loved the high octane pace you always expect from Asher. Another fine thread woven into the polity tapestry.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BrianP
- 15-05-22
Sorry, Neal, juvenile drivel
I did eventually listen to this all the way through, but it was hard work. Apart from the unnecessary gore-fest, the flaw with this book is that over and over again, the protagonist would be put into a dire situation and then at the last moment, "With one bound, Jack was free". Over and over again, bullets and missiles would just miss him, whereas he killed hundreds of opponents. Over and over again, his armour would stop him from being killed, whereas opponents' armour wouldn't protect them at all. Over and over again, he would be brought back to full health by magic so-called "autodocs", conveniently being given enough time between engagements to fully heal. I hate to criticise someone's creative effort, but this is just juvenile tosh. The narrator does a good job, but like many SF stories set lightyears from Earth, the protagonists seem to have a variety of UK regional accents - necessary I suppose to allow you to distinguish the characters, but bizarre all the same
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 30-10-21
Narrator was passionless and flat
I thought the narration was very poor, monotonous and really flat - I’ll have to read this one as after 14 hours of listening, I really couldn’t tell you very much about the plot or characters etc - found the presentation so dull, my thoughts would wander else where. Disappointed as I’m a Neal Asher fan
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 05-08-21
So good
It is hard to believe that someone can conjure such a detailed storyverse
One of the best Neal Asher books
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- SF
- 26-06-21
Not up to Asher’s usual standard
Being a longtime fan of Neil Asher and the rich and terrifying universe he has created I couldn’t help at being disappointed with this one. Perhaps it was the first person perspective. Rather than creating a sense of intimacy or urgency it played out like a rather long winded first person shooter. Even the hooders, usually a terrifying menace in prior stories, felt like props that popped up at the end of a level and then went on their merry way. Overall entirely missable.