The Polity series by English science fiction author Neal Asher is a limitless thrill-ride of grotesque aliens, badass hardware, rogue AIs, and deadly secret agents. It's got everything a science fiction fan could want from an action-adventure story, and that's definitely by design. "I wanted a universe--a future history, if you like--big enough to tell just about any science fiction story I'd want to tell," Asher says in Episode 319 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "And that's how The Polity came about." The series is set hundreds of years in the future, when humanity has expanded throughout most of the galaxy, and a benevolent civilization called the Polity has brought peace and stability to thousands of worlds. The stories are mostly set on the periphery of this civilization, where Polity agents struggle to exert control.