J-Sun
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- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
- Messages
- 5,323
How does it compare with Prador Moon, which is the only Asher I've read. I enjoyed it, while recognising it was popcorn.
It's been awhile since I've read it, so that's a necessary disclaimer. Gridlinked is a much larger book and, relative to Prador Moon, more melancholy, sort of, and slower overall - more internally contemplative. Fans of character might prefer it in that it has a focus on Cormac. Fans of tight plot and action might prefer Prador Moon. But this isn't to disagree with Ryan that Gridlinked is action-packed - just not relatively to Prador Moon's weapons-grade concentrated explosives. And I think Asher gives a surface popcorn feel but he's never just that so I'm not sure how to reply there. (Though, of course, I don't think popcorn is a bad thing - I think we're using it in the same sense.) However, whatever Prador Moon is, it's probably fair to say Gridlinked is less popcorn. It also starts out the five book "Dragon" series which, I think, is sort of Asher's magnum opus at this point though other subseries definitely have fans, too. Prador Moon fits into the Polity universe but is otherwise pretty stand-alone. That also allows Prador Moon to hit much harder with no strings attached - all the Dragon books have to blunt a little of their effect by leading into and/or coming out of another novel. (Though another important disclaimer is that, if I recall correctly, Gridlinked does wrap up most of its own threads and it's not like the first part of one novel with the end missing. It's just that there's definitely a sense of sequels coming for the larger story that you'll probably want to read.)
Basically, I like them both but, one-on-one, I enjoyed Prador Moon more but, five-on-one, the subseries which Gridlinked starts is more important and more substantial overall.
Not sure how clear I'm being, but I hope that helps.