Prador Moon

By Neal Asher

Prador Moon is one of Neal Asher’s most explosive excursions into the Polity universe – a vivid, visceral, brilliantly intense space opera that you won’t forget.

It takes one encounter to turn peace into war . . .

The worlds of the Polity stretch from Earth Central into the unfathomable reaches of the galactic void. And when humanity finally encounters alien life – in the form of massive, hostile carnivores known as the Prador – there can only be one outcome. Total warfare.

Chaos reigns as, caught unawares, the Polity struggles to regain control. It must try and remake itself into a military society as starships clash, planets fall and space stations are overrun. But for Jebel Krong and Moria Salem, trapped at the centre of the action, this war is far more than a clash of cultures or technology versus brute force. This war is personal.

Prador Moon is a standalone prequel to the dramatic events in Neal Asher's Spatterjay novels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Aug 28, 2008
• ISBN: 9780230739208

Neal Asher

Neal Asher divides his time between Essex and Crete, mostly at a keyboard and mentally light years away. His full-length novels are as follows. First is the Agent Cormac series: Gridlinked, The Line of Polity, Brass Man, Polity Agent and Line War. Next comes the Spatterjay series: The Skinner, The Voyage of the Sable Keech and Orbus. Also set in the same world of the Polity are these standalone novels: Hilldiggers, Prador Moon, Shadow of the Scorpion, The Technician, Jack Four and Weaponized. The Transformation trilogy is also based in the Polity: Dark Intelligence, War Factory and Infinity Engine. Set in a dystopian future are The Departure, Zero Point and Jupiter War, while Cowl takes us across time. The Rise of the Jain trilogy is comprised of The Soldier, The Warship and The Human, and is also set in the Polity universe.

Reviews for Prador Moon

[ennui2342 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent little book providing backstory around the start of the Prador war. Short, fast paced and tightly written, its a great read for those immersed in Asher's universe.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This, for Asher, short novel describes the beginning and some early portion of the war between his AI-human coalition, the Polity, and the crablike and carnivorous Prador. The fast-paced story seized my imagination the first time I read it and this time around I discovered, as with other Asher novels, more detail than I initially remembered but less than in Asher's other Polity novels.

[billycongo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I decided to go back to the beginning to get more of a sense of how this universe works. I realize that you're supposed to be disgusted by the Prador, but their behavior is not that different from various animal species and humans for that matter. There still is a tendency towards unrealistic heroes, but the overall creativity and shifting points of view makes it an interesting book.

[woodge_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Neal Asher's brand of SF is not for the squeamish. Prador Moon is set within his Polity universe. The Polity is the collective group of worlds which is run by AI and policed by Earth Central Security agents. Unlike the first Polity novel, Gridlinked (which I've read), this one does not feature ECS agent Ian Cormac. Prador Moon is a standalone novel which details the first contact with emissaries of the Prador Second Kingdom. The alien race known as the Prador are huge crab-like beasts who give new meaning to the world hostile. For instance they enjoy dining on humans and occasionally will eat their own young. (I found much to admire in their parenting skills.) This tale has two main characters: Jebel Krong and Moria Salem. Jebel Krong becomes a revenge-driven leader of the defensive forces; Moria Salem is getting used to having a new aug implanted on her skull. Think of an aug as like a small super-computing wi-fi connected interface to universe-spanning data bank. That would take some getting used to. Anyway, Prador Moon is a short book that moves quickly. It occasionally gets lost in head-scratching technobabble but only for a paragraph here and there. It's a nice diversion for Asher fans. But if you're interested, I'd suggest checking out Gridlinked first. That said, The Skinner is my favorite Asher tale and one I plan on revisiting some day. The Skinner also features some Prador characters. They are nasty!

[gregandlarry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have read lots of the later stories. It is good to fill in some of the history of the Polity.

[rbeffa_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first foray into Asher's Polity series of novels. Great beginning, but then got a little heavy on the tech side with a bit of techno-babble and info dumps here and there. But not bad at all. The novel was a lot of fun with near non-stop action. The story has great villains with the Prador. I liked it a lot for a hard SF edged military scifi romp. The author suggested this was a good entry point for sampling his style and universe.Read/remarks from March 2010

[shrike58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is pretty much as advertised, in that it's a rip-roaring space opera where Humanity finds itself fighting gloriously B-movie aliens; aliens who find Man tasty with or without ketchup. While Asher's main characters, security guard turned commando Jebel Krong and scientist Moria Salem are reasonable enough, characterization isn't really what you're reading this novel for; you're reading it for plot, for techno-babble, and for sheer wackiness. As has been observed, Asher has a future writing screenplays for the most grusome sort of horror movies if he ever tires of space opera.

[cataloger623 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Get it from the library. This is a quick read 222 pages. The story is well written for a space opera yet not ground breaking. It's self contained so no waiting for the book to be written . I 'll think I'll read more of this guys works.

[erasmusrob · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A moderately-enjoyable First Contact novel, with a cleverly-conceived set of hostile aliens. For a while it looks like things are going to go really badly for the humans, but by the end there's some hope.I would probably have enjoyed this more if I'd read the preceding novels in the same universe; despite a clear attempt to make this book stand on its own, I think some of the concepts were probably addressed more fully in previous novels. Worth reading (some of the scenes of human/alien interaction are kinda gruesome, so if that's not your cuppa you might want to skip this), but I'm not sure if it's worth buying.

[jwilker-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Wasn't really that impressed. I've seen Asher's work referenced several times around other books, so I decided to check him out. Maybe the hype was too much but really not overwhelmed.

The story was interesting but too short, leaving a ton of things out that woulda made it better, IMO.

[vitaly1-930762 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was short but okay.