Niven, Larry

Average customer rating:

resist the temptation to automatically praise the unpraiseworthy
One of the Greats in this category
Decidedly average doomsday thriller
Interesting plot that ultimately fails to impress
IF civilization DOES ever end, save this book!

Lucifer's Hammer
Larry Niven , and Jerry Pournelle
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0449208133
Release Date: 1985-05-12

Book Description

The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....
"Massively entertaining."
CLEVELAND PLAIN-DEALER

Customer Reviews:

resist the temptation to automatically praise the unpraiseworthy.......2007-06-11

No matter what accolades you may throw at Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, whether individually or as a team, they don't apply to Lucifer's Hammer. The book was a crashing bore, an umpteenth rehash of an extremely tired motif, and--a la Stephen King (and I don't mean so flatteringly)--an evident attempt to kill as many trees and expend as much ink as possible. We get well past page 300 before the first hint of significant sci-fi action (as opposed to random sex and violence) crops up. I lost interest shortly thereafter: I believe that 375 pages or so are more than enough to invest in a quest for something to merit further reading. Nope. Pass on this clinker.

One of the Greats in this category.......2007-04-08

I first read this "end of the world" book while on Cold War submarine duty 30 years ago. I read a LOT then, and recall this as one of the most addictive, "can't wait to get back to it" novels of the lot. It is long, and is a believable tale of the world after a comet collides with it. Shocking, scary, realistic. The authors thought this out carefully. Somewhat dated, yes, but so is Tolstoy.

I would weigh in on this matter of racism/stereotyping charges that pop up here and there in these Amazon reviews. Being over 30 years old, the setting is modern, but not "post-modern" enough to fully embrace our current politically correct idiocy. For instance, the black LA gang cannibalism practices as presented in the story. I suppose if it was written today, due to the demographic shift, they would have been Hispanic cannibals. Had this California based tale been centered in the upper midwest, the cannibals would have been blond haired Protestant dairy farmers. There are people groups everywhere. I see no problem with this book as written.

And again . . . considering the slight dating of this tale. Yes, it has a 70's aura. But also recall that following this global scale disaster, all of our computer toys would become trash . . . so this story is not really so dated after all. 2007, 1975, 1875, whatever. Mankind returns to the basics.

A long but very satisfying read. Both entertaining and thought-provoking. I have obtained another copy and plan to read it again. Recommended reading and a 5 star tale.

Decidedly average doomsday thriller.......2007-03-26

Well this sci-fi novel stacks up like so:
Plot - average
Background research - above average
Characterization - below average
Overall - decidedly average

After many pages of buildup during which scientists track a new comet's progress through the inner Solar System, the comet eventually fragments and several of the pieces collide with planet Earth at thousands of miles an hour, sending civilization into the next dark age. I won't describe here exactly what happens when the comet hits, since that's probably the best part of the book. The rest of the novel is about how various groups deal with the aftermath and attempt to rebuild.

Other reviewers have complained of the long buildup and the many plot threads introduced during that phase. Personally I didn't mind it much, because it contained just enough space science to keep me interested. I did not, however, gain any sort of empathy or fondness for any of the characters during this buildup phase. They were just so wooden and uninteresting. To me this is what causes the book to take a sharp downward turn in the second half. At least in the first half we have the big apocalyptic hammer strike to look forward to. But the second half became a fairly mediocre adventure / survival type story involving a bunch of characters I never really cared much for. Yeah there's some politics, some sex, some drama, whatever. It's not particularly well done. If I recall correctly, the authors are scientists. Well, they should just focus on the science since that's what they're good at. Better than attempting these unconvincing forays into other areas.

We have several plot threads that ultimately converge into just two: the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys are making a genuine effort at establishing a new community with rules and assigned duties. The bad guys see the disintegration of law & order as an opportunity for taking everything they can acquire, regardless of who's killed to get it. Also, they have resorted to cannibilism and feed on their enemies' bodies because it makes for an easy food supply.

I'm trying to remember what made me buy this book several years ago. I buy most books on referrals from friends or Amazon reviews. At the time I remember that I was passionately into amateur astronomy and was snapping up space-related books left, right, and center. Also, the great number of glowing reviews (which I don't think this book deserves) probably swayed me.

I'm tempted to recommend that you stop reading after the comet hits and you witness the damage it causes. That part's probably fairly realistic and all I have to say is I sure hope a comet never hits us anytime soon. Anyway, after that point in the book there's nothing more than bog standard pulp sci-fi fare to read for 300 pages. Actually it's not really even sci-fi after that point, it's more like an adventure novel. And not a great one at that.

Interesting plot that ultimately fails to impress.......2007-03-23

Having enjoyed books by Larry Niven in the past and after reading a number of positive reviews, I was fairly certain Lucifer's Hammer would be a page turner. Unfortunately I found it to be a tremendous disappointment. The book follows the stories of several characters before, during, and after a large comet causes major devastation to the Earth and its populace--roughly covering a two year time span.

There are several problems with the book, the first being that it's incredibly dated. Published in the late 70s, the story contains far too many references to the politics, attitudes, and pop culture of the decade. Understandably some of this is unavoidable, but many references could and should have been avoided to keep the book at least somewhat fresh. Also, the language used to discuss science and technology as well as dialog between characters is so incredibly dumbed down that I doubt a third grader would find the story a challenging read.

One of the most frustrating and annoying problems with the book is the introduction of some potentially fascinating topics such as race relations, morality, and changes in marriage practices and mate selection in a post-apocalyptic world that either never quite get off the ground or go in very bizarre and unbelievable directions. While I don't know if this is actually the case, I can understand how many people think the authors are racist because the depiction of various ethnic groups is quite stereotypical from a 'white-conservative' perspective.

In my opinion, the protagonists are all weak characters and major concerns seem to revolve around sex, crushes, and who likes who. There are a couple of interesting characters that seem to have some depth and interesting motivations, but unfortunately they have minor roles. Also, in a book like this I would expect a certain amount of grieving for lost loved ones bordering on heart wrenching, but while there is a considerable amount of death, for the most part the characters seem ambivalent about it. I will admit that I like the direction the authors took with the comet itself in that they made it more of a character in the story rather than just an incident.

The last two chapters were downright insulting to the intelligence of the reader. It felt as if Niven and Pournelle grew bored with their own story and decided to downgrade one of the major plots to something of little importance for no apparent reason other than to reach a quick conclusion.

I am very surprised the book received so many good reviews. With respect to books with post-apocalyptic themes, I've found Warday, The Stand, and Swan Song to be far superior in both writing style and character development. However, if you decide to read Lucifer's Hammer, I recommend checking it out at your local library.

IF civilization DOES ever end, save this book!.......2007-03-14

I read this back in '77 in paperback and only recently acquired a Hardcover copy. Movies and TV shows from 'Armageddon','Deep Impact', 'The Postman' and TV's latest 'Jericho' all tip their hat to this novel written 30 years ago!

Larry Niven is known for 'mining out the entire vein' of ideas and implications of his subject matter. Teamed with Dr. Pournelle it is even more comprehensive. A comet is discovered and as it approaches people as myriad and diverse ranging from: Street thugs, Astronauts hoping for a ride/slot on the next Mission, A Banker who is dreading overages he cannot explain to his Bank, to a Mailman who in view of the End of the World far beyond his Oath decides 'It's optional. I think I'll deliver the mail.'

It is a long and rich read that starts slow but must do so to weave all these stories and people together. In one scene a JPL 'Rocket Scientist' spends the first day after the comet strikes saving and protecting hundreds of books he knows will be needed to rebuild. I challenge the reader to not speculate on what they would save as he forges out amongst a Post-Comet world with a copy of 'How Things Work Vol II' as proof of his worth IF he can find a haven of saftey.

It will make you look at your Kitchen food supply and gas tank and wonder..'How long could I survive?' and 'What is going to kill me?' Tetanus from a rusty nail or cannibals when the food is gone? It spans the planet and it all works.

Being from 1977 some parts will seem dated such as: 'One thing after Hammer strike was Womens' LIB ended in milliseconds' till you recall the IRS agent on TV's 'Jericho' realize the uselessness of her job and just how far away that Mocha-Latte from Starbucks is!

Read it and you'll know the screenwriters of the works cited above have already!

None better!

Average customer rating:

It's okay, but.....
airport reading..maybe..
Great fun
Footfall
Sequel

Footfall
Larry Niven , and Jerry Pournelle
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345323440
Release Date: 1986-04-12

Book Description

"NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN NIVEN AND POURNELLE.

I LOVED IT!"
--Tom Clancy

They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.

The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.

Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans.

"ROUSING . . . THE BEST OF THE GENRE."
--The New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

It's okay, but............2007-03-29

Footfall is an ambitious novel that succeeds in some areas but falls flat in as many others. There are probably 7 or 8 character threads, and 3 of them are interesting. By halfway through the book you learn which characters are worth reading about and which you can safely skim over. There's nothing wrong with the story, but I kept finding myself putting it down and picking up something else to read.
One conceit of Niven and Pournelle I found amusing was the importance of Science Fiction writers. Something's gone wrong? Ask the sci fi writers. President needs advice? Ask the sci fi writers. It doesn't hurt the story, but it did make me smile at the prominence of writers as portrayed in the book.

airport reading..maybe.........2007-02-22

Well, I have to agree with many of the critiques about the use (or misuse) of the cast of characters. Overall I really wasnt very impressed. One amusing bit is that the book is also a not so subtle anti-liberal screed. Characters mutter about the liberals every 50 pages or so and then of the two characters described as liberal: One ends badly (cowardice apparently) and the last we see of the other he's lamenting his opposition to industry and nuclear power as that might have saved everyone from the aliens (midway through, not giving anything away here).

I was curious about the right-wing slant so I did some googling and found that Jerry Pournelle is apparently well known for this kind of material. Liberals and eco-terrorists figure prominently as villains in his work. Its just an amusing, if slightly nutty, undercurrent. My real problems with the book were the jumble of characters and the somewhat abrupt ending.

Great fun.......2007-02-15

If your sf taste runs to alien invasion -- and, really, whose doesn't -- this is a great weekend. Well-conceived aliens, well-conceived conflict, lots of imagination. It drags in spots, but that's the price you pay for a big novel with lots to entertain you.

Footfall.......2007-01-28

Larry Niven is one of my favorite Authors. This is a very riveting book. Hard to put down. I believe if we had malignant aliens land here in such a way, We would do as much the same as the heros in this book.

Sequel.......2006-11-27

I absolutely loved this novel. The creation of an alien culture based on the herd psychology and biology was good. The insight displayed concerning the human drive to not just survive but overcome and prosper was exhilerating. The end of the book was however, abrupt and unsatisfying.

At the least, a good epilogue describing the further interactions of the humans and aliens would have been cool.

On the other hand, Larry and Jerry are the artists, and they can do it any way they want!

Paul

Average customer rating:

Fleet of Worlds
Larry Niven , and Edward M. Lerner
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765318253
Release Date: 2007-10-16

Book Description

Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven's first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven's first Ringworld novel.

Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten’s people came from….

A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy’s core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them.

Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet’s path—and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.

Average customer rating:

Great vingettes.
Consistently entertaining, but lightweight
Old format with new wit
Really Enjoyable
Niven delivers again

The Draco Tavern
Larry Niven
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765347717

Book Description

When a tremendous spacecraft took orbit around the Earth’s moon and began sending smaller landers down toward the North Pole, the newly arrived visitors quickly set up a permanent spaceport in Siberia. Their presence attracted many, and a few people grew conspicuously rich from secrets they learned from talking to the aliens. One of these men, Rick Schumann, established a tavern catering to all of the various species of visiting aliens, a place he named the Draco Tavern.
From the mind of #1 New York Times bestselling author Larry Niven come twenty-six tales and vignettes from this interplanetary gathering place, collected for the first time in one volume, including:

“The Subject Is Closed”: A priest visits the tavern and goes one-on-one with a chirpsithra alien on the subject of God and life after death.

“Table Mannners: A Folk Tale”: Rick Schumann is invited to hunt with five folk aliens, but he’s not quite sure what their hunt entails, or if he will be the hunted.

“Losing Mars”: In this previously unpublished tale, a group of aliens who call Mars and its moon home arrive at the tavern only to find that humans have mostly forgotten about their neighboring planet.

Customer Reviews:

Great vingettes........2007-06-19

The Draco Tavern stories have always been a favorite of mine among Nivin's short works. I love the way he can create a story and characters that are thought provoking, entertaining, and real in so few pages.

Most of my contact with the Tavern Tales have been in other collections, but this collects all of them, including one never before published, in one place. I found that I had previously missed half of the stories, but finding them here put me over the moon.

I loved this collection. It's not the heaviest of Niven's works, but there's plenty to think about in these stories. For the serious Niven fan, or just for a quick read while waiting in the car, this is a must have.

Consistently entertaining, but lightweight.......2007-06-09

At his best, Larry Niven is second to none in the SF field. When he gets some good, original ideas, and takes the time to crank up a solid plot and a set of convincing characters, the result is something like "World of Ptavvs", "Protector", or the epic Ringworld tetralogy. In my view, those books are hard to fault in any way if you like hard SF.

"The Draco Tavern" is something different: a confection of relatively lightweight short stories, loosely tied in to a common theme. It is eventful, sometimes provocative, and always whimsically amusing. But it never threatens to grip your intellectual or dramatic interest in anything like the same way as Niven's novels. This is partly because of the flimsiness of the underlying premise. In the near future, the Earth is visited by a race of superhuman aliens, the Chirpsithra, whose vast starships periodically bring a menagerie of intelligent beings from faraway worlds. Rick Schumann, the narrator, is the owner and chief bartender of the Draco Tavern, a bar specifically designed as a meeting-place for aliens of all kinds. That implies the ability to provide all sorts of different environments, each with its own pressure, atmosphere, and radiation levels.

Presumably the whole scenario occurred to Niven in a visual flash: a bar in which all sorts of exotic alien lifeforms rub shoulders, rather like those in the Star Wars movies. A multi-talented human bartender flits from booth to booth, carrying regular cocktails, Irish coffee, and whatever weird potions suit each species. The Chirpsithra do not eat or drink in the Tavern, preferring to administer electric shocks to themselves with a device called a sparker. The hook lies in Rick's conversations with the Chirpsithra and others, in which he learns otherwise unknowable facts and techniques. How to build an intelligent computer, the real reason why stars go nova, whether there is life after death (and if so, for whom); and, on one especially memorable occasion, what the inhabitants of Earth were like when it had a reducing atmosphere. (Some Chirpsithra are really, really old).

These stories are great fun, but there is something fundamentally insubstantial about them. The whole idea of the Draco Tavern is unlikely; would intelligent aliens who live for millions of years really want to sit in a bar and drink, exactly like primitive, short-lived humans? What would the Chirpsithra get out of talking to us? Besides, Niven hardly scratches the surface of the key question his scenario raises: what effect would alien contact have on humans and their culture? Needless to say, the whole Draco Tavern world is radically incompatible with the Known Space universe with its protectors, Puppeteers, and kzinti.

Hence the four stars instead of five. This is a good book, but not a brilliant one. It will amuse and entertain, but the Chirpsithra not linger in the mind like Protectors, Puppeteers, kzinti, or Moties. Niven has not let himself down - this is just what he likes to do in between novels, and the short story format has very definite limits.

Old format with new wit.......2007-05-09

Niven starts this enjoyable book by saying that the basic format isn't his invention. The "travellers at the inn" vehicle for short stories goes back to Chaucer, at least, though this is told from the innkeeper's point of view. It's where Niven drives the vehicle that sets this book apart from the others.

The Draco Tavern is the inn at Earth's landing site for visitors from many planets. Rick Schumann, the owner and proprietor, provides hospitality for any species that can live in terrestrial conditions, and comfortable environments for many who can't. There are even amenities for beings who live so slowly that they take years to pass through a doorway. When so many beings with so many biologically-defined lifestyles interact, there are plenty of chances to consider the human condition by considering the others, first.

It's a subtler collection than I expected. The first story, "The Subject is Closed," combines religion and humor at multiple levels, with a polite dig at people eager to spread their own ideas without really knowing what they'll be spread onto. Another story comments on youthful recklessness, describing a species where huge mortality among the young is considered normal. Yet another comments on the happy insanity of human mating (Alien: "We grow intelligence when we come into heat," Human: "With us it's pretty much the other way around."), and another describes Peter Pan-like beings for whom growing up is a death sentence.

The most somber of Niven's commentaries apply to humankind, though. When an alien dies a lingering death in a kidnapping, his kidnappers are turned over to the alien's people for justice. The eye-for-an-eye sentence is executed over several days, and over the broadcast news media. Of course, there is a horrified reaction at the punishment dealt to the killers, in odd contrast to the lack of horror at the original crime. Then, in a twenty-first century turn of plot, terrorists bomb the Draco Tavern. Niven barely tests the depths to which that topic can be mined: the relative humanity of the outsiders compared to humankind, the right of such a violent species to join the society of interstellar civilization, and the role that government seems likely to take, vs. the role it should.

I've haven't read much SF lately, and almost no short stories. The Draco Tavern was a warm welcome back to short SF. If you're not a Niven fan already, this might make you one.

//wiredweird

Really Enjoyable.......2007-04-25

I've always like Larry Niven's writing, and particularly his 'hard science' style of sf. I have to admit, this is one of the most enjoyable of his books that I've ever read. It's entertaining, has interesting characters and plots, and will probably make you laugh out loud a number of times.

That said, it's not lite, so while it's a smooth read, there is a lot you can spend time thinking about packed into those short stories.

Overall I'd highly recommend it, and hope LN writes more in short story formats. He does it well.

Niven delivers again.......2007-02-13

How do I get to the Draco tavern? Do they take reservations?
Do they take American Express? How does the bathroom work?

Interesting set of tales, an open-ended collection, of a
gathering place of numerous other intelligent species.
Human-alien, alien-alien interaction, issues of food,
drink, atmosphere, physical configuration, plumbing...

More stories, we need more stories!!!

Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge

Average customer rating:

fine collection forecasting technology vs people
...from the Cutting Edge
Great Anthology...a must for SF readers and writers...

Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge

Manufacturer: Pyr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1591024862

Book Description

Science Fiction is the genre that looks at the implications of technology on society, which in this age of exponential technological growth makes it the most relevant branch of literature going. This is only the start, and the close of the 21st century will look absolutely nothing like its inception.

It has been said that science fiction is an ongoing dialogue about the future, and the front line of that dialogue is the short story. The field has a long history of producing famous anthologies to showcase its distinguished short fiction, but it has been several years since there has been a prestigious all-original science fiction anthology series.

Fast Forward is offered in the tradition of Damon Knight's prestigious and influential anthology series, Orbit, and Frederik Pohl's landmark Star SF. Fast Forward marks the start of a new hard science fiction anthology series, dedicated to presenting the vanguard of the genre and charting the undiscovered country that is the future.

Contributors scheduled for the first volume include: Paolo Bacigalupi, Kage Baker, Tony Ballantyne, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear (Sarah B.E. Kindred), A.M. Dellamonica, Paul Di Filippo, Robyn Hitchcock, Louise Marley, Ken MacLeod, Ian McDonald, John Meaney, Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper, Mike Resnick & Nancy Kress, Justina Robson, Pamela Sargent, Mary A. Turzillo, Robert Charles Wilson, Gene Wolfe, George Zebrowski.

Customer Reviews:

fine collection forecasting technology vs people.......2007-03-10

In his introduction to what he plans as being a continual science fiction anthology containing all new stories, Lou Anders explains the premise is "making sense of a changing world" as "the implications of technology on society ... makes it (SF) the most relevant branch of literature". Bias aside, the contributions of nineteen original shorts and two poems (by Robyn Hitchcock) live up to Mr. Anders' prime objective. The tales focus on people struggling with an exponentially changing world that leaves many behind. The contributors are a who's who of Sci Fi or fantasy to include Larry Niven (with Brenda Cooper), Justina Robson, Stephen Baxter and Louise Marley. All the entries are strong with the best being those concentrating on everyday people dealing with commonplace technology like Paul Di Filippo's Wikiworld" and Justina Robson' The Girl Hero's Mirror Says He's Not the One" (in Mappa Mundi world) and those bringing the past into the future such as Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS and Ken McLeod's "Jesus Christ, Reanimator". This is a fun collection that forecasts where technology will take humans including those left behind struggling with yesterday's artifacts.

Harriet Klausner

...from the Cutting Edge.......2007-03-01

Fast Forward 1 once again demonstrates Lou Anders' editing prowess (his Live Without a Net and Futureshocks are also excellent). The tagline identifies the collection as "future fiction from the cutting edge," and almost every story offers up an intriguing view of the future from some of the field's best writers.

Robert Charles Wilson's "YFL 500" opens the anthology with a gripping character tale regarding intellectual property, art, and theft in a post-scarcity world. Paolo Bacigalupi's "Small Offerings" is a chilling tale of sacrifice on an ecologically damned Earth. "Plotters and Shooters," by Kage Baker, is a lighthearted "Lord of the Flies"-esque chronicle of the rise of hackers and geeks as the defenders of mankind in a new age.

Indeed, in a collection of 19 short stories and 2 poems (the latter a refreshing addition courtesy of Robyn Hitchcock), only 4 stories don't seem to belong. Elizabeth Bear's "The Something-Dreaming Game" and Louise Marley's "p dolce," while well-written, deal in concepts already well-traversed throughout the genre. Pamela Sargent's "A Smaller Government," while an entertaining satire, is more of a political fantasy than a work of science fiction. And George Zebrowski's "Settlements" is too trite and rife with tropes to be considered "cutting edge" - a story of mysterious aliens with advanced technology imposing peace on a violent, adolescent humanity.

Where the collection truly shines, though, are in the off-kilter stories. Tony Ballantyne's "Aristotle OS" is a comedic, philosophical view of the world through one of the most pervasive, defining facets of our society: the computer operating system. "Jesus Christ, Reanimator" is Ken MacLeod's rational look at the possible second coming of the Christ - charming in its grounded outlook amidst a momentous religious event. Mary A. Turzillo's "Pride" is the endearing tale of a boy and his sabretooth kitten. Finally, the perfect capstone to the anthology is Paul Di Filippo's "Wikiworld" - one of the most brilliant short stories I've read - an adventure through a foreign but realistic near-future, where political lines are drawn between usergroups and power, prestige, and popularity ebb and flow organically between the real world and the virtual.

While the writing and stories are excellent, it is the variety of worlds and tales that makes the anthology truly compelling. Having enjoyed the majority of the book, I can safely say that Fast Forward holds something for everyone. One can only hope that Fast Forward 2 is future fact.

Great Anthology...a must for SF readers and writers..........2007-02-14

I was able to read the ARC of this book prior to its release, and I was very, very pleased with the selections. I enjoyed 14/21 stories in this, with Robert Charles Wilson's, Paolo Bacigalupi's, Elizabeth Bear's, Louise Marley's, and the Mike Resnick/Nancy Kress piece being my personal faves for their "wow" factor. I recognized some of the stories in this anthology were not to my particular SF taste (and some stories I wished were written a bit differently, but that's me), but most of these pieces had good/fun premises, and it was nice to see a variety of stories in this anthology.

I'd definitely recommend this anthology to anyone reading (or writing) science fiction, and I'm not just saying that because I got the ARC: I think I'll pick up the actual copy myself, when I get the chance. Some of these stories really blew me away, and while I would've bought the anthology solely for Bacigalupi's work, I wouldn't have minded paying for the rest of it either, if that makes sense. In other words, there's something in here for everyone, and there's some really, really good stories here.

Also, an interesting stat that some people won't care about: 9/21 stories are penned by women (though two of those nine are co-written by men). The reason this stat jumps out at me is the fact that I've heard several women complain about how when you pick up an anthology of SF stories, there are few to no women featured. It's something I've noticed myself, so a big shout-out to Lou Anders for both sampling a variety of SF and not limiting anthology slots to the male population of the SF community.

Great anthology. Check it out.

Average customer rating:

Awesome Book!
great alien species, solid read
Better than Ringworld
Uneven
First Contact

The Mote in God's Eye
Larry Niven , and Jerry Pournelle
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Gripping Hand
Lucifer's Hammer
Footfall
Ringworld
Ringworld's Children

ASIN: 0671741926

Amazon.com

In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.

In the Mote the humans find an ancient civilization--at least one million years old--that has always been bottled up in their cloistered solar system for lack of a star drive. The Moties are welcoming and kind, yet rather evasive about certain aspects of their society. It seems the Moties have a dark problem, one they've been unable to solve in over a million years.

This is the first collaboration between Niven and Pournelle, two masters of hard science fiction, and it combines Pournelle's interest in the military and sociology with Niven's talent for creating interesting, believable aliens. The novel meticulously examines every aspect of First Contact, from the Moties' biology, society, and art, to the effects of the meeting on humanity's economics, politics, and religions. And all the while suspense builds as we watch the humans struggle toward the truth. --Brooks Peck

Book Description

Writing separately, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are responsible for a number of science fiction classics, such as the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ringworld, Debt of Honor, and The Integral Trees. Together they have written the critically acclaimed bestsellers Inferno, Footfall, and The Legacy of Heorot, among others.

The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome Book!.......2007-05-25

A Science Fiction novel set in the distant future, when humans have spread across the galaxy, is not a new premise, nor was it when Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote The Mote In God's Eye in the early 1970's. A similar novel, in terms of setting, was Frank Herbert's DUNE, published nearly a decade before The Mote In God's Eye. Having read both of the aforementioned books, I must agree with Robert A. Heinlein's description of The Mote In God's Eye as, "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read (The quote was on the front cover of the book.)."
The first of the book's four parts, "Meet Crazy Eddie", begins on the spaceship MacArthur, where a rebellion against The Second Empire of Man has been quelled. The ship's Commander, Roderick Blaine, is the protagonist of the story. He is instructed to take Horace Bury, a wealthy trader suspected of plotting the uprising, to the imperial capital of Sparta, after repairs are made in the New Caledonia system. Sally Fowler, the niece of a prominent senator, is along for the ride after being rescued from the rebels. Once the ship arrives at New Caledonia, which is when events begin to get interesting.
The title of the book is explained on New Caledonia. From there and only there, the Coalsack nebula looks like the outline of a hooded face, the star Murcheson's Eye always watching the people on the planet. A strange ship enters the system, having originated within the Coalsack, at a star called the Mote. With the line, "And something he couldn't see was coming at him out of the Mote In God's Eye (Mote, pp. 54)." The story truly begins. Needless to say, Blaine attempts to communicate with the probe. Failing that, the MacArthur sets out for the Mote, to find the probe's origin, and learn about the aliens who had built the probe.
I would recommend The Mote In God's Eye to anyone who likes Science Fiction books. The story is well written, the characters are interesting, and there are very few boring lulls in the story. Something is always happening somewhere. This was a welcome change from some of the books that I read. While some books are superbly written, there can still be parts that are essential to the plot, but as boring as C-SPAN. The writers took a unique approach to the idea of first contact with aliens, and made them truly that, alien. Their culture is completely different in many respects, and yet similar in just as many others. While some parts are a bit difficult to understand, the end result is a book which should be read by all Science Fiction fans.

great alien species, solid read.......2007-04-26

Of all the alien races I've read in sci-fi books, the Moties are described, perhaps, the most completely. The Moties in the book even rank as one of my top-five favorite alien races. Number one would be the Braid aliens in Greg Bears Anvil of Stars.

I think the portrayal of the human-Motie relationship is what made this book such a classic. Exploring the Motie's social strata (and it's evolution) is very interesting and would even make a nice off-shoot series.

From the start of the book, it's a solid good read all the way till the satisfying end.

Better than Ringworld.......2007-04-10

This novel's characters and plot are both more fleshed out than Ringworld, though that's not saying much. The characters are pretty much standard adventure-potboiler stock, defined by a single personality trait or idiosyncrasy, but there is enough of a variety, and he plot keeps moving so it's not so bad. The thing that raises this whole book above the 3-star middle-of-the-road summer poolside read is the aliens. They are interesting enough to make for a really decent third act. For those who enjoy the really character-intensive sci-fi like Simmons or Butler, this one might not cut it. But for those who prefer a more 'page-turner' style, this would be a good one. And probably my second favorite 'first contact' book behind Clarke's Rama. The aliens are really quite interesting.

Uneven.......2007-04-09

Reading a book written in 1974, about the year 3000 can have some amusing repercussions. The human world does not only seem dated now, as other reviewers are arguably pointing, it would seem dated even back then. Actually, the Mote's world is exactly the Stereotypes Circus that has given science fiction its bad name. There is a society bordering on victorian, the engineer with a scottish accent, the crazy astronomer, the bad (but perhaps not that bad) Arab, the young woman of the aristocracy who falls in love with the young captain, the Russian commander who acts like a robot, a benevolent but sceptical priest.... Compare for an instance, the Mote's woman with let's say Lamia in Simmons' Hyperion or the priest with Father Dure in the same novel and you 'll know the difference.
However, the part of the novel in italics (the part where the aliens act and think) is decent and has stood the test of time well. The aliens are believable, free of cliches and especially in the last part of the book, stressed in a way one feels one should be stressed when the survival of the race is upon him. The novel could have been much better and less uneven if the humans had more depth than the depth of an unaired Star Trek episode.

First Contact.......2007-03-17

The Mote in God's Eye (1974) is the first SF collaboration by these authors and is considered a classic by many fans. This story is set within the CoDominium Universe in the Trans-Coalsack Sector. As seen from the New Caledonia system, Murcheson's Star, a red giant, appears to be the Eye within the Face of God in the Coal Sack nebula. The Mote is a G2 star offset before God's Eye.

In this novel, the HMS MacArthur is an Imperial battle cruiser that has been badly damaged in action against a rebel ship near New Chicago. She is still capable of maneuvering, but is not ready for battle. The Executive Officer, Commander Roderick Harold, has just returned from offship duties and has conducted a thorough inspection of the ship.

Responding to an order to report to the Admiral, he finds that his commanding officer will remain on New Chicago. Rod is given a brevet commission as Captain and commanding officer of the MacArthur. He will be taking her back to Sparta for further repairs, although Rod is unlikely to keep her after reaching the Imperial Capital.

Rod is pleased to have Lady Sandra Fowler aboard as a passenger as she returns to the Capital. Sally was interned within a rebel prison camp after the insurrection began. There most Imperial citizens were brutally treated and murdered, but she was protected by the other inmates.

Sally was rescued when Rod led a raid on the facility. She has not yet recovered from her ordeal, especially from the total disappearance of her friend and classmate Dorothy. She seems to be coasting on autopilot.

Rod is less pleased over his other passenger, Horace Hussein Bury, a bigwig in the Imperial Traders Association. Accompanying Bury is his servant (and assassin) Nabil, who is even smaller than his master. Naval Intelligence suspects that Bury created the rebellion on New Chicago.

The MacArthur is traveling to Sparta via the New Caledonia system. She will be refueled at the Navy base on Briget, a moon of Dagda, then proceed on to the Capital. However, the MacArthur receives an official message shortly after her emergence from the Alderson point that orders the ship to intercept an alien vessel heading in toward Cal, the local sun.

It seems that the alien ship has traveled thirty-five lightyears in normal space from the Mote in God's Eye. When the MacArthur reaches the alien ship, she is attacked by focused light off the lightsail. Rod takes her through the sail and blows away the shrouds holding the passenger capsule.

Rod has the capsule bow taken into the hangar deck and closes the hangar doors on it. The boats and other equipment in the hangar are mostly destroyed, yet the alien vessel is firmly enough anchored. The MacArthur then takes it into orbit around New Scotland.

In this story, the Imperial Viceroy and his advisors decide to send the MacArthur and the battleship Lenin to the Mote to investigate the aliens. The expedition will be commanded by Admiral Lavrenti Kutuzov, the Butcher of Istvan. The Lenin will ensure that the aliens do not take control of the MacArthur, destroying her if necessary.

The MacArthur will house a cadre of scientists, who will conduct all contacts with the aliens. Luckily, the MacArthur was lightly manned for the run back to the yards, for the crew and scientists are tightly packed into the living spaces. It doesn't help that the scientists have brought every available type of equipment that could be moved into the ship.

The Lenin and the MacArthur take the tramline to the Eye of God. There the Lenin leads the MacArthur as they search for the Alderson point leading to the Mote. From Murcheson's Star, they instantly travel to a point in the outer system of the Mote.

As soon as they emerge into the system, a Motie Engineer takes her ship out to meet them. Within an hour of emergence, another ship is launched from Motie Prime, the home planet. However, the Moties are definitely not confined to the planet, for the Motie Engineer had been investigating modified asteroids at the Trojan point.

Gradually the humans learn that various breeds of Moties occupy the system. The ship from Motie Prime contains Mediators and two Engineers. Moreover, unknown to the humans, it also contains a Master.

The Motie civilization is very old. They first reached orbit thousands of years before the humans came. Their space vehicles are truly refined and efficient and they have long ago built space habitats. But they lack access to the stars.

It turns out that the Moties have long since invented the Alderson drive, but the only known access point terminates inside Murcheson's Star. Spaceships have been equipped with this device and vanished into the tramline. Without the Langston Field, however, vital external components were melted in the photosphere and the ships were destroyed before they could return.

This novel and its sequel, The Gripping Hand, are set in the same universe as A Spaceship for the King, the Legion series, and other stories by Pournelle. Only these two works were set in this universe; other collaborative works were set in totally independent milieus.

Niven had published several earlier works, including Ringworld, prior to this novel. Pournelle, however, had only published one other SF novel, yet the team used his universe for the background of this story. Some reviewers have speculated about who wrote what; any fan of Pournelle's works would probably suggest that he wrote the Naval scenes. Yet this work also has some characteristics of a Niven novel. Overall, this seems to have been a true team effort, with significant contributions from both authors.

Highly recommended for Niven & Pournelle fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of first contact with alien societies.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Average customer rating:

Only slightly better than Throne
Not his best, but definitely worth the journey...
Niven is great!
Dissapointing to a longtime fan of the series.
Fascinating, but too short, final tour of the Ringworld

Ringworld's Children
Larry Niven
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765341026
Release Date: 2005-04-05

Amazon.com

Larry Niven may be America's greatest living hard-SF writer. Much of his SF belongs to his famous future history, the Tales of Known Space. His preeminent creation is the Ringworld: an immense, artificial, ring-shaped planet that circles a Known Space star. Possibly SF's greatest feat of world-building, the Ringworld is featured in four novels: the Hugo and Nebula Award winner Ringworld (1970); The Ringworld Engineers (1980); The Ringworld Throne (1996); and Ringworld's Children (2004).

Ringworld's Children returns series protagonist Louis Wu to the titular world. Louis and his friend The Hindmost, an alien of the Pierson's puppeteer race, are prisoners of the Ghoul protector Tunesmith, a Ringworld native, who is deliberately provoking the warships that surround his world. All the star-faring races of Known Space have sent warships to the Ringworld, and they are already at the brink of war. If fighting breaks out, the near-indestructible Ringworld will be destroyed: dissolved by antimatter weapons.

The Ringworld series is so complex and ambitious that Ringworld's Children opens with a glossary and a cast of characters, inclusions that even many Known Space fans will need. Newcomers to Niven's artificial planet should start with Ringworld. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

Welcome to a world like no other.The Ringworld: a landmark engineering achievement, a flat band 3 million times the surface area of Earth, encircling a distant star. Home to trillions of inhabitants, not all of which are human, and host to amazing technological wonders, the Ringworld is unique in all of the universe.Explorere Louis Wu, an Earth-born human who was part of the first expedition to Ringworld, becomes enmeshed in interplanetary and interspecies intrigue as war, and a powerful new weapon, threaten to tear the Ringworld apart forever. Now, the future of Ringworld lies in the actions of its children: Tunesmith, the Ghould protector; Acolyte, the exiled son of Speaker-to-Animals, and Wembleth, a strange Ringworld native with a mysterious past. All must play a dangerous in order to save Ringworld's population, and the stability of Ringworld itself.Blending awe-inspiring science with non-stop action and fun, Ringworld's Children, the fourth installment of the multiple award-winning saga, is the perfect introduction for readers new to this New York Times bestselling series, and long-time fans of Larry Niven's Ringworld.

Customer Reviews:

Only slightly better than Throne .......2007-02-25

Not quite the crapfest that was book 3 in the Ringworld series, but still a gigantic disappointment coming from Niven. Children is plagued by the same things that made the previous novel so unbearable: flat, uninteresting characters, ridiculous names, obsession over interspecies sex for no reason other than to include sex in the story, and overall a poorly written plot. To be fair, I didn't come out of this one as bewildered as after Ringworld Throne - don't even ask me to summarize THAT plot, I've yet to come across a decent one myself, mostly because trying to figure it out can cause lasting brain damage. But even so, this novel is nowhere near the original Ringworld novel, or even Engineers for that matter. Avoid if possible.

Not his best, but definitely worth the journey..........2007-02-06

I didn't see the disjointedness that some other reviewers are claiming, I felt the book had a healthy, mostly linear pathway from beginning to end. I wouldn't place it with my favorite Niven books, but I definitely enjoyed it and felt the ending made a great finale to the Ringworld story (assuming that's what it is).

Niven is great!.......2007-01-16

My husband has read this whole series, and he really loves all the books. Ringworld is an amazing setting, and the stories are awesome. This is one of his favorite series, and we both recommend it!

Dissapointing to a longtime fan of the series........2006-08-25

Unfortunately this book reads like a sereis of incomplete notes for two or more books that was hastily joined up into one novel.

There are repeated jumps in time that are explained but are still so disorienting that they distract you from what is taking place as you read the book. Niven's usual detailed depiction of the alien or foreign is almost completely absent from this work, and the reader spends much of his or her time re-reading to try and figure out if they missed a page by accident.

The treatment of the primary personas in the book is almost offhandedly shabby.

Louis Wu, the longtime main hero of the series is swep along with the story rather than being the guide for the reader that he had been up until this book. He is constantly distracted by self doubt, lament over Teela Brown, and his desire to bone anyone he meets.

Chmee: Pretty much absent. His one appearance late in the book is exempt of flavor.

Hindmost: bleh. This one has been one-note since the first appearance. Typical Puppeteer "I'm scared! But I can be manipulated int doing scary stuff."

Chmee's son "Acolyte": starts out as an interesting persona in the first 1/3rd of the book, but becomes just a minor note lost in the confusion of the jumpled plotline.

Tunesmith (the Ghoul Protector): Banal. While he shows some potential to live up the the Brennan monster, the original sentient Protector from the novel "Protector", he ends up being not much more than a step ladder.

The new characters in this novel are:

Roxanny: An ARM agent, crashed on the surface of the ring. Dick-fodder for Wu, and other male characters. The dynamic between her and Wu has moments but they are never adequately explored.

Wembleth: A "native" of the ring. A plot-point involving this guy is one of the only interesting ones in the book, sadly it is explored and dropped in about two pages.

An actual Pak Protector: Who is so uninteresting that even though I finished the book last night I already forgot her name.

This book had so much potential, with the introduction of an original Pak I would have loved to learn more about them and the origins of the ring, but all of that is glossed over.

Fortunately the hardover was very cheap an I'm a Amazon Prime member so shipping was free.

Summary: Worth reading if you have read the previous three and can get it cheaply enough. Not a good intro to Niven, who is usually so much better than this.

Fascinating, but too short, final tour of the Ringworld.......2006-02-19

I agree with those who think this book was too short. The Fringe War, barely touched on in "Ringworld Throne", could have provided a substantially-sized volume of material with which to work. Unfortunately the War itself seems to be nothing so much as a plot device for getting Louis Wu a bona fide human girlfriend, not long before Wu meets a final(?) destiny set for him since his first return to the Ringworld in "Ringworld Engineers".

Having now re-read the entire Ringworld series in succession, I can't agree with those who have so violently disliked "Throne" and "Children". Both books read very much like standard Niven work, and standard Niven work is several cuts above the average SF novel, so why all the complaining? This book was a page-turner for me and I enjoyed very much getting one more glimpse at this fantastic "playground of the mind" and the denizens who inhabit it.

Is this the end of the series? Niven seems to be angling that way. Though I think there are a lot of Ringworld stories that could still be told, even without Carlos Wu or Known Space being a part of the equation.

*** SPOILER ALERT! ***

My only real beef with this book is how Louis Wu's transformation into the Wu-monster turned out to be so anticlimactic. Such a life-altering experience should have profoundly affected the outlook and thoughts of Louis, but when he awakes after having consumed Tree-of-Life he seems only like a mildly-smarter version of himself. The accentuated hyper-intelligence of the Protector is not much in evidence, nor does Louis seem to experience any profound emotions regarding his unexpected transformation.

Of course, the instant Wu awoke as a Protector, I knew he'd use the super-autodoc to reverse-engineer himself back down to normal "breeder" capacity. This too should have been further expounded upon, psychologically and emotionally, but throughout it all, turning Protector and then back to breeder, Louis still reads and feels like the same old Louis. And while some fans might have found that comforting, I found it to be not very consistent, given the fact that Niven has spent most of his professional career hyping the Protector and how transforming into a Protector drastically alters the mind (and body) of a normal human being.

Average customer rating:

From the Mote in God's Eye to a Pain in my....
Pleasing Sequel, But Rather Long-Winded
A Worthy Sequel
It could have been five star...
The Motie version of the Eveready battery... it goes on and on and on...

The Gripping Hand
Larry Niven , and Jerry Pournelle
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671795740

Book Description

Robert Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The San Francisco Chronicle declared that "as science fiction, The Mote in God's Eye is one of the most important novels ever published." Now Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, award winning authors of such bestsellers as Footfall and The Legacy of Heorot, return us to the Mote, and to the universe of Kevin Renner and Horace Bury, of Rod Blaine and Sally Fowler.

There, 25 years have passed since humanity quarantined the mysterious aliens known as Moties within the confines of their own solar system. They have spent a quarter century analyzing and agonizing over the deadly threat posed by the only aliens mankind has ever encountered-- a race divided into distinct biological forms, each serving a different function. Master, Mediator, Engineer. Warrior. Each supremely adapted to its task, yet doomed by millions of years of evolution to an inescapable fate. For the Moties must breed-- or die.

And now the fragile wall separating them and the galaxy beyond is beginning to crumble.

Customer Reviews:

From the Mote in God's Eye to a Pain in my...........2007-03-21

What a tremendous disappointment! I have read "The Mote in God's Eye" perhaps a dozen times over the years. When I recently discovered an old copy of this sequel I was delighted. Until about the fifth page. After that, it just kept going downhill. Gone from this is any concern for character development which so enlivened the first book. Gone are intuitive and creative insights into the minds of the moties (remember how the first novel gave us large sections of their thinking in italics?). Gone is any sense of a coherent plot (whatever happened to Jennifer and her colleague trapped aboard the Khanate mother ships?). Perhaps most sadly, gone is any sense of the danger and mystery of these strange creatures. There is nothing surprising or interesting or frightening about them any more. They are more like a plague of ants than a fearsome race that actually could destroy mankind. It reminded me of the difference between the creature in the movie Alien who was impossible to kill, compared to the way the sequel, Aliens, showed them dying left and right as though they were mere bugs.

What has replaced these wonders from the first book are: more of the authors' juvenile sexual fantasies (yes, again, we see young girls being forced to strip in front of moties, a promiscuous Kevin Renner moving from one meaningless lustful relationship to another, even poor Horace Bury has a concubine/MD/amazon guardian who actually lays on top of him in the final scene!); a boring and really bad "chase sequence" (really dull); incoherent dialogue; tedious allusions to a "gripping hand;" broken plot lines and dropped characters (why introduce Sarah if she's going to just disappear halfway through the novel for no reason?); and endlessly boring Nivenesque discussions of space travel and starship warfare and the mechanics and mathematics thereof.

I actually threw the book across the room when finished. So disappointing.

Pleasing Sequel, But Rather Long-Winded.......2007-01-23

Eighteen years after the release of the hard SF "The Mote In God's Eye" Niven and Pournelle finally produce its much-awaited sequel. Thirty years have passed since humans have blockaded the only Alderson point in the Mote Prime system, essentially sealing the threatening "Moties" in their own solar system.

Two minor players from the first novel are back, this time as members of Naval Intelligence. During a routine investigation, the two hear an innocuous reference to the alien race. The memories that the phrase brings back overwhelms one of the Intelligence investigators, and, driven by fear for the safety of the human race, the investigator embarks on a quest to confirm that the human Empire remains safe from the Moties. Sure enough, knowledge that the Moties may be on the verge of breaking free of the human blockade arises, spawning a new expedition to the Motie system.

The plot is rather straightforward, but the writers are able to build some tension along the way. While this may sound like a great premise for an action-adventure SF tale, and a worthy follow-up to the original, I found this book to be relatively short on action (other than a few space battles). That being said, there is more than enough intrigue, political wrangling, and diplomatic diatribe. Much more insight into the Mote psyche is revealed. A good working knowledge of the plotlines of the first book are a must - in fact, a hundred pages into "Gripping Hand" I put it down, and re-read "Mote" before picking up the sequel again. Worthwhile read, especially if the two books are read consecutively.

A Worthy Sequel.......2006-08-28

I was well pleased with this novel. The Mote in God's Eye was one of the best science fiction novels that I have ever read -
and The Gripping Hand is well plotted, and has the return of some of the most entertaining characters along with interesting insights into life in the empire and the Moties. A Must Read if you liked The Mote in God's Eye as much as I did !

It could have been five star..........2006-06-06

Others have written eloquently about the many problems with this sequel to "The Mote in God's Eye": lack of characterization, things seems to go on and on -- even in a short 412 page novel, but I want to zero in on one thing:

This could have been a five star book, if it hadn't been so confusing! There were too many splinter Motie groups brought into the picture at nearly the same time, (quick now, tell me who the Byzantium were?). Too many interrelationships to keep track of accurately, and too many ships going back and forth and back and forth for unfathomable reasons near the end. Niven and Pournelle did not excel in their Space Opera - War Epic class.

The complexity of the Motie civilization did not also have to be confusing, if the authors would have let the reader learn well about the new group for 30 pages or so before introducing the next splinter group. (Quick now, which group was Victoria with? And where did Pollyanna fit in?)

Maybe someday there will be a third Motie book (1975, 1993, and 2011? following the every-18-year pattern)
If so, I hope they have editors that will detect and disallow 200 pages of confusion.

The Motie version of the Eveready battery... it goes on and on and on..........2006-05-23

The Mote in God's Eye... fantastic!

The Gripping Hand... the authors are getting paid by the word?

I know, this is too critical. The first 75% of this book is what I expected... MORE of the Moties, and their interations with themselves and humans. The slow chase through the Sister and the Crazy Eddie Point... enough already! I still don't understand this long, drawn-out experience. What was happening with the fleet? Or on the planet? ANYTHING BUT THIS SLOW MOTION CHASE.

Oh, and did I say I've still read this book four times?

I'm waiting for the movie!

Average customer rating:

Spectacualar Sci-Fi!!!
lacked a "greater sense of greatness"
Monument of hard scifi
Yamabushi's mini reviews XV
Cool concept, crappy characters

Ringworld
Larry Niven
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345333926
Release Date: 1985-09-12

Book Description

A new place is being built, a world of huge dimensions, encompassing millions of miles, stronger than any planet before it. There is gravity, and with high walls and its proximity to the sun, a livable new planet that is three million times the area of the Earth can be formed. We can start again!

Customer Reviews:

Spectacualar Sci-Fi!!!.......2007-06-18

I had just finished "Protector" by Niven, and upon enjoying that little book very much, decided to continue reading in the "Known Space" series with the hard sci-fi classic, "Ringworld". The basic story of Ringworld starts off with an adventurer named Louis Wu, who in his prolonged existence has seen all marvels of Known Space and is in dire need of a new challenge to rekindle his swashbuckling spirit. After recently celebrating his 200th birthday (and also extending it via traveling westward through instantaneous portal devices) is sequestered by a member of a peculiar alien species, who offers Louis the adventure he has been seeking. The alien species, the puppeteers, have detected some kind of derelict alien artifact floating out in deep space, of which knowledge concerning it are desperately sought after; although, the puppeteers are reluctant to obtain it themselves, because of their extreme cowardice in all things from confrontation to spaceship travel. However, this particular Puppeteer that Louis meets is an outsider from the species, displaying a shred of bravery in his willingness to investigate this structure. With Louis already recruited, other members soon join the foray, from a ferocious feline like Kzin species to another human who possesses a genetically enhanced propensity for luck...of which may be needed in this expedition.

Niven really creates a fantastical future in which to immerse one's self in; contrasting the world of "Protector" (being set in the near future) as a welcomed abandonment to believable futuristic technology. FTL travel, nigh instantaneous terrestrial travel, substances which extend life, the incredible rosette of worlds (the ultimate spaceship), to the Ringworld itself, Niven has developed here an exercise to seemingly extend your imagination to the limit. So many interesting and marvelous ideas are on display, but Niven, having a talent for storytelling, melds this wonderful future together with just the right amount of mystery and intrigue to keep the pages turning, leaving one wanting more. As with "Protector", Niven keeps this wealth of entertainment contained within a reasonable amount of pages, neglecting chapters and chapters of useless filler other Sci-Fi authors are known to do (e.g. Brin). The only criticism I can offer is with the way Niven handles dialogue between his characters. Sometimes he doesn't properly announce who is speaking in the narrative, which leads to some confusion and interrupts the flow of the book. However, this book truly deserves all the awards given to it...a true Sci-Fi classic!!!

lacked a "greater sense of greatness".......2007-04-28

It's nearly impossible to visualize the size of this Ringworld, the construction of it, the composition of it and the maintenance of it. Having my mind tested like this keeps me entranced with the expectation that more will be revealed eventually. But I hate being disappointed, as I was here. Not much was revealed to my begging intellect. The author's take on alien species was refreshing to read, as well as the relationship between the two aliens and the two (frequent fornicating) humans. It's humorous at times when the aliens relate their observations on the humans.

All in all, it lacked a "greater sense of greatness."

Monument of hard scifi.......2007-02-23

Larry Niven's Ringworld is considered by many to be one of the best hard science fiction novels ever written. The term "hard" in scifi refers to a work's tendency to focus on the science of the story, often at the expense of plot or character development.

Such is the case with Ringworld. The defining quality of the story is the ringworld itself: a gigantic ring 93 million miles in diameter encircling a sun. On the ring is a completely livable habitat, complete with air, oceans, mountains, and plant life. The origins and nature of the ringworld are shrowded in mystery. Who built it? Do people live on it? How many? How old is the ring?

Some of these questions are answered in this book, others in the sequel. But one thing is clear: it is the Ringworld itself which makes the novel. Niven spends a lot of time and effort describing the dimensions and motion of the ringworld in very scientific terms, as well as documenting space travel and star activity. So the science in the book is pretty sound. The characters and plot, however, are where some people critique the book. For me, the characters weren't really all that terrible. Admittedly, it did take about half the book for me to warm up to the main characters and actually care what happened to them, but that's true of many books. And really the plot wasn't all that bad: no real holes to speak of, although at times it seems the story is just used as a vehicle to explore the Ringworld. But I see nothing wrong with that. When you come up with a cool concept like the ringworld, it seems natural to focus on that, and think of the characters as secondary to the overall story.

So sure, the plot and characters could use a little polish. But the book is still great, and should not be missed by any scifi fan. And to any Halo fans reading this, guess where the concept for that ringshaped structure came from.

Yamabushi's mini reviews XV.......2007-02-09

lots of interesting places, concepts, and peoples, little tension or excitement

Cool concept, crappy characters.......2007-01-07

The characters are shallow and static. The ringworld is kind of cool, but, unlike many reviewers here, I need my books to have interesting and complex characters. The plot is also very thin. In fact, everything in this book is just some cheap window dressing on the ringworld.

Average customer rating:

Good things DO come in small packages...
enjoyable read
Raggedy old classic!
WOW!
A MUST read for Known Space Fans

Protector
Larry Niven
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Ringworld's Children
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Ringworld

ASIN: 0345353129
Release Date: 1987-09-12

Book Description

Phssthpok the Pak had been traveling for most of his thirty-two thousand years. His mission: save, develop, and protect the group of Pak breeders sent out into space some two and a half million years before...

Brennan was a Belter, the product of a fiercely independent, somewhat anarchic society living in, on, and around an outer asteroid belt. The Belters were rebels, one and all, and Brennan was a smuggler. The Belt worlds had been tracking the Pak ship for days -- Brennan figured to meet that ship first...

He was never seen again -- at least not by those alive at the time.

Customer Reviews:

Good things DO come in small packages..........2007-06-05

"Protector" by Larry Niven is a very short book of around 215 pages, but it is jam packed full of intriguing futuristic technologies, plenty of space-operatic drama and a very thought provoking idea of the origin of the human species...all wonderfully self-contained and fabricated in a few pages! The story starts to take off immediately within the first few pages, of which we learn of Phssthpok, the protector, and his long journey across the galaxy in his spaceship using a Bussard ramjet fusion drive. Phssthpok has survived a thousand year long interstellar journey solely off of the "nourishment" of a tree-of-life root and his resolve of finding those of his Pak species that he must protect. Those of the Pak species left their homeworld thousands upon thousands of years ago, and Phssthpok, with his enhanced intelligence, believes to have triangulated them to a blue orb somewhere in the spiral arms of the Milky Way...

The main features of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed were the adherence to basic scientific principles, which I believe is entirely lost on most Sci-fi authors. Niven's handling of time dilation and relativistic corrections due to interstellar space travel are extremely well done; there are no instantaneous hyper-accelerations to the other side of universe, because the farthest the reader travels is Alpha Centauri (quite the believable destination for Niven's technology). His grasp of plasma physics and similar concepts are well envisioned in discussions of ramjet fusion drives spaceships, as well as the "singleships" used in cruising through the asteroid belt and outer Trojan points, i.e. space travel in Niven's universe seems completely plausible and not a contrived fantasy. Plus, the idea of a populated asteroid belt at places like Ceres, Vesta, etc. was great to imagine with an entirely new "Belter" society complete with their trademark haircuts and low gravity quirks. But the coup de grace, was Niven's playful approach he took towards gravity, and especially his concept of the "gravity polarizer". A lot of awesome ideas, from a gravity lens telescope, to stasis field contained Neutronium spheres and Moebius toroid ecosystems abound, plus lots of other interesting off the wall ideas. For being such a short book this is definitely worth your time, as there is enough science fiction in this one volume to fill up Brin's entire catalogue of Uplift rubbish. A word to all the Robert Jordan's out there...you don't need a millions pages for an awesome story!!!! Quality not quantity!!!

enjoyable read.......2007-05-27

This is a fast-paced action-adventure SF story, written by one of SF's luminaries in his hey-day. Premise: that humanity is an evolved offshoot of an alien species, that has decided to come knocking after 3 million years. This alien species has a third stage in its life cycle, and the consequences of this third stage provide the motivation for the actions of the main characters in the storyline. Definitely an enjoyable quick read.

Raggedy old classic!.......2007-04-26

Cunning. Let's just start with that word - cunning. This can describe the penmanship of Larry Niven and it can also describe the Brennan-monster, or the species of the Pak (which in Thai can mean vegetable). Cunning can also describe the plot, though I think the word "original" would be more fitting.

I just loved scope of this book and it's originality. The concept could have dragged out into a longer epic, however. I wasn't satisfied enough in the end.

WOW!.......2007-04-10

This is the first book that I read by Larry Niven and I have about six more waiting to be read. It was (sorry to sound so 80's) awesome. The intelligence that it is behind the writing was what I was most impressed with. I loved the story line and I loved the book.

A MUST read for Known Space Fans.......2007-03-07

Throughout the Known Space books there's mention of the Tree Of Life Root and Protectors. This is the book that provides the underpinning of the Tree Of Life and Protector cycle. Why do "those in the know" avoid the tree when it's nearby? What are the effects of it? Where does Arthritis *really* come from? Curious? Read the book!

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