Better than the sequels, but still no Ringworld

books:


	• Fleet of Worlds Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner Tor Books, 2007 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Recommended!

If you are a fan of Larry Niven and his Ringworld "UNIVERSE" this is one book that must be read. It made me want to go back and read everything I have from Niven.

A Worthy Addition to the Ringworld Universe

Having read and re-read Larry Niven's books on Ringworld, I was intrigued by the addition of a prequel to the series which takes place 200 years earlier. It was of further interest to meet Nessus, the Puppeteer who plays such a big part in the later books.

Niven and Lerner have written a page turning tale of intrique and deception which held my attention to the last page. It was so good that I gave a copy to my son for his collection. The race of Puppeteers have deceived the humans who live on their worlds for generations; but that deception is about to be discovered.

I recommend it highly to anyone who has enjoyed the Ringworld series. If you are a science fiction fan and have not discovered the Ringworld series I suggest you have a treat in store.

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Lacks the classic Niven flavor.

As a long time Niven and Known Space fan, this was a must read- but...

I was somewhat disappointed to find little of the Niven characterizations and plot flavor I enjoyed in the earlier works. Pluses were the narratives from the Puppeteers' viewpoint and the expansions to the Known Space cannon. An established Niven fan will certainly want to read it, but it's not the best one to introduce a reader to the author.

Better than the sequels, but still no Ringworld

A prequel to Niven's award winning Ringworld series, featuring a couple of familiar characters and of course all the trappings of the future history Niven calls "Known Space". The original Ringworld novel is a masterpiece of the genre, with world-shaping hard science, breath-taking adventure, mind-boggling concepts, and unforgettable aliens; but then the sequels... are pretty weak. In this book Niven takes us back in time to fill in some details about the major events that led up to the time of Ringworld. Fortunately, these events are pretty strong material in themselves, dealing with humanity's early contacts with the alien race known as the Pierson's Puppeteers. Lerner's contribution adds a welcome level of characterization and emotional investment that is not common in hard science fiction. Sure it's pretty lightweight, and ultimately pretty forgettable, but still a fun, engrossing read. Will the Puppeteers save humanity, or enslave it? Do they really have a choice? Good, but certainly not great science fiction, far better than any of the sequels, but still pale in comparison to the original novel.

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A Revolting Development

Fleet of Worlds (2007) is an SF novel in the Known Space universe, following Ringworld's Children. The prologue takes place about five centuries before the disappearance of the Puppeteers from Known Space. The main body of the work occurs after the flight of the Puppeteers.

In this novel, the Long Pass -- a manned interstellar ramjet -- is taking a human crew, hibernating passengers, and frozen embryos from the Solar System to a new planet. The course varies to take advantage of denser clumps of hydrogen gas within the void. The navigator -- Diego McMillan -- is plotting the thickness of the gas in potential courses when he notices an anomaly.

Diego calls a meeting of the crew to present his results. After an elaborate introduction, he shows them that something is making a shock wave in the interstellar medium. Further search finds a full sized planet only a lightyear away and accelerating through the void. The crew sends a message to the planet with their communications laser.

A year later, they assume that a response will soon be sent back to them. To their surprise, a ship appears and their hull is punctured in various places. Strange creatures roam the corridors and stun the crewmembers.

In this story, five centuries later, the descendents of those onboard the Long Pass mostly live on Nature Preserve #4 within the Puppeteer Fleet of Worlds. They know nothing about their ancestors except that the Citizens had saved them from a plundered spacecraft. Neither do they know anything about their native planet.

The Citizens select three Colonists in a trial of their abilities to become scouts for the Fleet in its journey out of the galaxy. Under the leadership of the unsane Nessus, they take the Explorer -- built on a General Products #2 hull -- to check out radio signals emitted from an Ice Moon near the path of the Fleet. They find a species of small marine starfish-like sapients busily constructing a technology above the ice.

The radio signals have evolved into television and digital transmission within the past decade. The progress of the Gw'oth is fantastic, even enough to frighten the Citizens. Nessus commands the Colonist crew to prepare a comet to slam into the Gw'oth planet upon command.

Navigator Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs argues about the need for destroying the alien civilization. Then she begins to wonder about the things she has been taught and is being told. She discovers a listening device in the pilot board that is monitoring their conversation and suspects other such devices elsewhere on the ship.

Kristen informs the other two Colonists about her suspicions. Captain Omar Tanala-Singh obviously knows some of this, since he blocks a sensor that Kristen has previously deactivated. However, all this is new to Engineer Eric Huang-Mbeke and he is very reluctant to accept her speculations.

Then Kristen gains temporary access to the computer via the superuser logon of Nessus and creates a similar account for herself. With this access, she discovers that huge amounts of information are inaccessible despite her privileges. She finds evidence that this data relates to the history of the Colonists and their homeworld.

This tales takes Kristen and her friends into strange places looking for, and finding, more information on their origins. She also finds that most Citizens are also not aware of this knowledge. She seeks another source of information and finds it within a huge GP #4 hull orbiting NP5.

The story looks at the history of the Puppeteers in greater detail than the other works in this series. It also provides a closer look at Nessus himself, who has influenced other key events in human history. This collaboration has produced a work at least as readable as others by the senior author. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Niven fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of known space, Puppeteer culture, and a touch of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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.

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