Andreas' Other Books - (Ni by author)

Larry Niven - The World of Ptavvs

Chronologically the first of Niven's Known Space books. These are not strictly speaking a series, but are set in the same universe. There are advantages to reading the in order, though, as understanding of earlier events enhances the (chronologically) later novels. This is pure SF, and really good stuff.

Larry Niven - Protector

One of the best Known Space books, in which the origin of man is "revealed". A great yarn.

Larry Niven - Flatlander

All the Gil "The Arm" Hamilton stories collected in one volume with an unpublished story. These are good SciFi murder mysteries set in the Known Space universe. It just goes to show that Niven has a devious mind. As he says himself, SciFi murder stories are tricky since the reader must know all the "rules" of the environment in order to have a shot at solving the mystery himself.

Larry Niven - Crashlander

All the Beowulf Shaeffer stories in one volume. All but one have earlier been published separately as part of various short story collections, most notably Neutron Star, but for the new Niven reader, I can highly recommend this book.

Created by Larry Niven - The Man-Kzin Wars

A long running anthology series based on Larry Niven's Known Space universe. Niven started this thing up because he felt that the only things he had not described in his universe were the wars, and that he was not very good at writing abou war. The writing is, on average, of high quality. Recommended if you are a Niven fan. 20031104

Larry Niven - A World out of Time

An expansion of the short story Rammer from the collection A Hole in Space. While the short story about a man who wakes up after having been frozen after death is great, this novel lenght expansion falls a bit short of the mark. Jaybee Corbell must repay his debt to society (being cured and woken up cost money) by piloting an exploratory ramship to seed planets around the galaxy. He rebels and takes his ship on a long tour of the galaxy at relativistic speeds, ending up back on earth millions of years later. Reminded me a little of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, except for the lack of a means for return.

Larry Niven - The Integral Trees; The Smoke Ring

Set in the same universe as A World out of Time but only very tenously connected to that novel, these two, which should be read as a set, postulate a world, which is not a world. A "smoke rIng" of atmosphere and biomass orbits around a neutron star, forming a habitale donut-shaped space. In other words, no gravity. Humans have colonised this smoke ring in various ways. Pretty good, but more for the setting than for the stories.

Larry Niven - The Flight of the Horse

Hilarious short story collection in which time traveller from the future Svetz has to go back in time and collect fauna from our time in order to populate the ruler's zoo. Unfortunately, the time machine has some unexpected effects. The horse is actually a unicorn and so on. In other words, the past is the fantasy version of the past. Poor Svetz has to contend with quite a few mishaps with dragons and the like. A lot of fun to read.

Larry Niven - Rainbow Mars

Novel-length sequel to the Flight of the Horse. Confusing and unexciting.

Larry Niven - The Ringworld Throne

As most of Nivens later work, this is confused plotwise and unfocused.

Larry Niven - Ringworld's Children

"Ringworld" and "The Ringworld Engineers" are some of the best pure SF books ever written. In this latest novel, Louis Wu is, as usual, conscripted to do a powerful being's bidding. In this case it is the protector Tunesmith. After the abysmal "The Ringworld Throne" I expected to dislike this offering, but the novel is a welcome surprise. The characters are well defined as usual with niven, and the story, while not too complex, runs along nicely. The days of truly epica tales from Niven seem to be over. Nowadays, he writes little idea pieces like this one, or collaborates with other authors. If you enjoyed the first two Ringworld novels, you will like this one. However, I think it would be impossible to read without having first read the other ones, and probably some of the other Known Space stories. 20050710

Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner - Fleet of Worlds

A new novel in the Known Space universe, "Fleet of Worlds" fills in some gaps in the story of the Puppeteers and the migration of their worlds (the "Fleet of Worlds). It tells the previously unknown story of a society of humans living with the Puppeteers without knowledge of their heritage. The Puppeteers have some deep, dark secrets revealed. There are some excellent descriptions of Puppeteer society. We are also introduced to a younger Nessus, the Puppeteer from Ringworld.

I don't think you can really enjoy this without at least having read "Crashlander" or "Neutron Star" ("Crashlander" reprints all the stories from "Neutron Star"). It is a great book, and long awaited for any fan of "Known Space". Unlike the later two Ringworld novels, it really manages to capture the tone of the main "Known Space" novels. I hadn't realized how much I missed that. 20090212

Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner - Juggler of Worlds

In this quasi-sequel to Fleet of Worlds, ARM agent and professional paranoid Sigmund Ausfaller is obsessed with the enigmatic Puppeteer race. The book follows his career from recruitment to ultimate savior. It is a long and complex tale that touches on many points and characters covered in Niven's Known Space stories from decades past.

Fleet of Worlds was a great book. It really took me back to the Niven's classic Known Space Tales. Juggler of Worlds, not so much. The plot is razor thin. The objective seems mostly to fill in the gaps between various Beowulf Schaeffer stories. Cute, for the Niven fan, but it falls wells short of what I feel entitled to expect. Love the cover though. 20090927

Larry Niven - Destiny's Road

A great idea for a story, but it isn't very well written. This just couldn't keep my attention.

Larry Niven - N-Space and Playgrounds of the Mind

If you've never read Larry Niven, these two books are a great place to start. A mix of essays, short fiction, and excerpts from novels. If you already own practically all of Niven's work (guilty!), there is not a lot of new material, but the convention essays still make the books worth the read.

Larry Niven - Scatterbrain

Well, he certainly is one, as he readily admits in the introduction. Although I feel that Niven's writing has been in a steady decline for the past decade or more (starting with The Gripping Hand) his short fiction and especially his articles are always great fun. Like N-Space and Playgrounds of the Mind this is a mix of new and old short fiction, book excerpts and articles. Enjoyable reading for the Niven fan. 20040823

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - The Dream Park series

Consisting of:

• Dream Park

• The Barsoom Project

• California Vodoo Game

These novels are set in a theme park named "Dream Park". Dream Park uses holograms and other methods to create totally lifelike environments for adventures. For example, one can become a group of medieval knights on a quest, and be totally immersed in the experience. The novels are very enjoyable, with some nice twists to the tale. It is also interesting to note how role playing as a sport evolves from the first to the last book.

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - Achilles' Choice

In this novel, olympic athletes are allowed to "enhance" their bodies, to the point that they will not survive more than a few years after the competition, unless they win. Mildly entertaining.

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - The Descent of Anansi

Near future attempt at a technothriller. Pretty nifty orbital combat, but all in all nothing makes this one stand out.

Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - Saturn's Race

As in so many of Niven's later works, there is a great backstory, but the novel falls short of the mark. A great offshore colony is dabbling in genetic engineering. There is a great feeling of hope that mankind will have a bright future. Needless to say, this doesn't happen. Not very good, but it has some cool ideas and settings.

Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes - The Legacy of Heorot; Beowulfs Children

A peaceful offworld colony is attacked by evil beasts. Very exciting stuff. The second book is not quite as good, but still a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed these.

Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes - Fallen Angels

Fun and slightly bizarre novel about a world where the greens have won and technology is, if not exactly outlawed, frowned upon. The lack of industry has brought on a new ice age. As a few astronauts (they stayed up there) are stranded on earth, Undercover SciFi Fans to the rescue. A lot of fun.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Lucifer's Hammer

So asteroid/comet impact stories have been done, but seldom as well as this. If you want to read such a story, you can't go wrong with this one. A fabulous read.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Footfall

Alien invasion stories have been done many many times. This one is better than most, with unusual and interesting aliens, and quite a few cool tricks from the monkeyboys. A great read.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - The Gripping Hand

While The Mote in God's Eye is easily one of the best Science Fiction novels of all time, this sequel is barely worth slogging through. All the epic elements are lost, and the few good ideas aren't developed properly. Shame.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - The Burning City

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This book has no discernible story. Some good ideas get squandered too. I wish these two geniuses could just hire some young fireplug to do all the hard work (writing the darned thing) so that their concepts were given a better form. They just don't seem to have the same energy that they used to.