Brass Man begins with a salvage vessel, whose pilot is seeking fortune out beyond the limits of Polity-controlled space. He finds an asteroid, rich in rare metals, and containing the wreck of a dreadnought, which proves too tempting to resist. After the expected perilous encounter with rogue tech, Asher switches focus to Ian Cormac, the Polity agent who is apparently responsible for the dreadnought's plight. Cormac's superior, a rare survivor of Hiroshima, sends him to investigate. Cormac is sent after a criminal brought back to life by the same unknown, illegal, and very alien technology that led to him being branded a renegade. Cormac travels in an intelligent starship. The ship is an example of the AI which long ago decided that humans were far too stupid to order their own affairs. Meanwhile, on a world named Cull, outside of Polity space, an old timer named Anderson and his young protégé, Tergal, are on a mission to kill a dragon. From these starting points, ideas tumble in rapid, often disorienting sequence, but always in an entertaining manner. In the past and present, many authors have tried Asher's technique and fallen flat on their faces, but somehow he manages to turn all of the swirling chaos and manic confusion into an art form.

Helping to create an impression of immenseness are the self-aware ships and world-controlling AI. They interact with each other at a level where there is no human participation. Indeed, it is made clear that the human mind is physically and mentally not equipped for such interaction. The Brass Man of the title is a golem named Mr. Crane. Golems are highly sophisticated androids owned by the rich, but in the case of Crane, just about everything has gone wrong, resulting in a deranged killing machine. A machine akin to a T3 with refried circuits, that is on a murderous mission. As the story tumbles onward, like an unstoppable asteroid, we're treated to a smorgasbord of characters, sharp sometimes acerbic humour, and a plot which stretches so far and wide, it's impossible not to feel lost. My impression was that this is entirely by design, and Neal Asher wants his readers to feel small as they journey through his deadly universe. On occasions, the effect is every bit as suspenseful as the first Alien movie, and Mr. Crane comes across as a fine addition to the long line that began with Frankenstein's monster. In summary, Brass Man is a novel of total world immersion, presented in a style that left me feeling dazed and confused, as Led Zeppelin might have put it. I knew I'd had a good time reading, I just couldn't remember all the details.