devinr's review against another edition
2.0
Not really sure what to think of this book. Parts of it were interesting, but as I've never read any of the Ringworld books I felt for a lot of it like I was missing out on a lot of allusions and Easter Eggs. Wouldn't keep me off Larry Niven for life but I'm not exactly running to get the first Ringworld book either.
thesmudge's review against another edition
4.0
I was a big fan of Larry Niven back in the day when he was writing Ringworld, Tales of Known Space, Ringworld Engineers, Protector, etc. I had know. This series existed but never took the time to look into it after so many years.
I finally read this one and was pleasantly surprised. It all came back with reading about Nessus, puppeteers and the explosion at the core.
I was somewhat concerned going in that the familiarity would it be there because of the co-writer. Nothing against him but I thought it might be more his story than a tale in the original universe. I was wrong.
This book takes place, as the subtitle says, around 200 years before Ringworld. Touch points with the older novels is with Nessus and the puppeteers of course. With touch points to other aspects of the known universe setting. There is a great plot set up with humans who are with them on the Fleet of Worlds and the discoveries they make about their place and past. Good stuff!
I finally read this one and was pleasantly surprised. It all came back with reading about Nessus, puppeteers and the explosion at the core.
I was somewhat concerned going in that the familiarity would it be there because of the co-writer. Nothing against him but I thought it might be more his story than a tale in the original universe. I was wrong.
This book takes place, as the subtitle says, around 200 years before Ringworld. Touch points with the older novels is with Nessus and the puppeteers of course. With touch points to other aspects of the known universe setting. There is a great plot set up with humans who are with them on the Fleet of Worlds and the discoveries they make about their place and past. Good stuff!
ctopherrun's review against another edition
4.0
I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. It was nostalgic, reminding me of how it felt to read a new Known Space book when I was 14. Not without it's faults, but a lot of fun.
celestelee's review against another edition
3.0
I actually read the entire series in one fell swoop. Heavier science fiction so not really my thing. May or may not have been technically valid. I'm fairly well ignorant in this realm so it's hard for me to say. Not enthralled enough to move on to the next series by this author. I did however enjoy some of his short stories.
neilfein's review against another edition
4.0
Known Space is alive and well!
The first novel by this collaboration team and the first Known Space book since the plodding Ringworld's Children, Fleet of Worlds is a pleasant surprise. The two writing styles work well together, the characters are very good, and five worlds fleeing through space is a mind-expanding setting.
When the race of aliens known to Humans as the Puppeteers find that a wave of hard radiation from supernovae in the core of our galaxy will reach Known Space in the distant future, their natural caution (or cowardice) prompts them to flee the galaxy now. Bringing their planet and four attendant farming worlds provides the setting for a human colony that has been bred to serve the puppeteers as farmers and advance scouts, which the colonists defer to as "citizens".
The characters are a little pale for the first hundred pages or so, but this is the only fault of this wonderful novel. A prequel to Mr. Niven's Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds is the first of a projected two-book arc.
The first novel by this collaboration team and the first Known Space book since the plodding Ringworld's Children, Fleet of Worlds is a pleasant surprise. The two writing styles work well together, the characters are very good, and five worlds fleeing through space is a mind-expanding setting.
When the race of aliens known to Humans as the Puppeteers find that a wave of hard radiation from supernovae in the core of our galaxy will reach Known Space in the distant future, their natural caution (or cowardice) prompts them to flee the galaxy now. Bringing their planet and four attendant farming worlds provides the setting for a human colony that has been bred to serve the puppeteers as farmers and advance scouts, which the colonists defer to as "citizens".
The characters are a little pale for the first hundred pages or so, but this is the only fault of this wonderful novel. A prequel to Mr. Niven's Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds is the first of a projected two-book arc.
sloshydolphin's review against another edition
3.0
The story of the Puppeters 200 years before Ringworld. The story is nothing amazing but still a good read and if you are a fan of the Ringworld universe it had more things to interest you.
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
Niven, Larry, and Edward M. Lerner. Fleet of Worlds. Fleet of Worlds, No. 1. Tor, 2007.
The Fleet of Worlds series is a late addition to the Known Space universe. I would love to know more than I do about the nature of the collaboration between Niven and Lerner. Niven, of course, owns the franchise, but Lerner is a hard-science guy and frequent contributor to Analog. We know from earlier works that when Pierson’s Puppeteers, Niven’s race of cowardly, but technologically advanced, herd animals discovered there was a black hole at the center of the galaxy, they decided to move their entire multi-world civilization out of the galaxy. What we did not know until this novel was how far back their relationship with humans extended and what role they played in their civilization. It turns out that humans under their influence have not been told the whole story. The novel takes us into the inter-species conflict and internal Puppeteer politics.
The Fleet of Worlds series is a late addition to the Known Space universe. I would love to know more than I do about the nature of the collaboration between Niven and Lerner. Niven, of course, owns the franchise, but Lerner is a hard-science guy and frequent contributor to Analog. We know from earlier works that when Pierson’s Puppeteers, Niven’s race of cowardly, but technologically advanced, herd animals discovered there was a black hole at the center of the galaxy, they decided to move their entire multi-world civilization out of the galaxy. What we did not know until this novel was how far back their relationship with humans extended and what role they played in their civilization. It turns out that humans under their influence have not been told the whole story. The novel takes us into the inter-species conflict and internal Puppeteer politics.
davidr's review against another edition
2.0
I like to read science fiction novels that introduce original ideas, or that have interesting perspectives on psychology, history, or science, or that have interesting characters. Unfortunately, this novel had very little of this--it just did not grab my attention. I have enjoyed some of Niven's previous books, but this one was too--predictable, and the human characters just seemed cliche.
Many other reviewers mention that this book "fills in the details" of worlds that first appeared in other novels. As a stand-alone novel, this filling-in the details just does not help me at all.
Many other reviewers mention that this book "fills in the details" of worlds that first appeared in other novels. As a stand-alone novel, this filling-in the details just does not help me at all.
sleeping_while_awake's review against another edition
3.0
Fleet of Worlds is set about 200 years prior to the events of Ringworld. My recommendation is to read Ringworld before reading this, even though you could read Fleet of Worlds without having read anything else in the Known Space universe.
Mainly because I think Fleet of Worlds is going to be more enjoyable if you've read Ringworld first, versus the other way around. Fleet of Worlds doesn't have a particularly strong plot.
Fleet of Worlds refers to the traveling planets of the Puppeteers. As noted in the Ringworld books, the Puppeteers are fleeing the core of their galaxy, which exploded.
The prologue of the book starts about 400 years before the main events take place. A ship crewed by humans exploring space, Long Pass, sends out a signal to an ice world, hoping there may be friendly sentient life. Unfortunately, it's hostile, and the crew is boarded.
Fast forward in time. Nessus and some Colonists are studying an alien race, the Gw'oth. The Colonists are human, but they're humans the Puppeteers have raised on their planets that are essentially slaves.
One Colonist, Kirsten, gets a spark of revelation during the study of the Gw'oth. She realizes how the Puppeteers are quick to destruction, and have manipulated her people and hid their history. This causes her to secretly investigate the origins of Long Pass and what the Puppeteers have really been doing.
The middle of the book is slow. The story switches between the Colonists and the Puppeteers. The Puppeteer povs provide background on their race, such as breeding, social customs, foreign policy, and is a great insight. However, as interesting as these parts were for my own knowledge about the universe, I found they slowed the story down.
Kirsten and the other Colonists provide much of the intrigue and action. I thought Kirsten was a strong female character. She constantly questions why. There wasn't much time for character development, but I liked the glimpses I got from characters.
There's some light focus on the morals of breeding another race, and hiding their origins, but it's never explored in depth. I would have liked Niven and Lerner to go into more depth as I think this would have also lent itself to more character development.
The ending had a lot of action and redeemed a lot of the slowness. Overall, if you're interested in learning more about the Puppeteers, then pick up this book.
Mainly because I think Fleet of Worlds is going to be more enjoyable if you've read Ringworld first, versus the other way around. Fleet of Worlds doesn't have a particularly strong plot.
Fleet of Worlds refers to the traveling planets of the Puppeteers. As noted in the Ringworld books, the Puppeteers are fleeing the core of their galaxy, which exploded.
The prologue of the book starts about 400 years before the main events take place. A ship crewed by humans exploring space, Long Pass, sends out a signal to an ice world, hoping there may be friendly sentient life. Unfortunately, it's hostile, and the crew is boarded.
Fast forward in time. Nessus and some Colonists are studying an alien race, the Gw'oth. The Colonists are human, but they're humans the Puppeteers have raised on their planets that are essentially slaves.
One Colonist, Kirsten, gets a spark of revelation during the study of the Gw'oth. She realizes how the Puppeteers are quick to destruction, and have manipulated her people and hid their history. This causes her to secretly investigate the origins of Long Pass and what the Puppeteers have really been doing.
The middle of the book is slow. The story switches between the Colonists and the Puppeteers. The Puppeteer povs provide background on their race, such as breeding, social customs, foreign policy, and is a great insight. However, as interesting as these parts were for my own knowledge about the universe, I found they slowed the story down.
Kirsten and the other Colonists provide much of the intrigue and action. I thought Kirsten was a strong female character. She constantly questions why. There wasn't much time for character development, but I liked the glimpses I got from characters.
There's some light focus on the morals of breeding another race, and hiding their origins, but it's never explored in depth. I would have liked Niven and Lerner to go into more depth as I think this would have also lent itself to more character development.
The ending had a lot of action and redeemed a lot of the slowness. Overall, if you're interested in learning more about the Puppeteers, then pick up this book.
sisyphus_dreams's review
4.0
This gets four stars from me, but if fractional stars were possible I'd have given it a 3.8.
Larry Niven's Fleet of Worlds is a welcome reversion to Niven's better writing style. His work had become rather weak in the past ten to fifteen years; it seemed that like so many writers, age was robbing him of his abilities and voice.
His many co-authors didn't help, either. Most of them weren't that good, and they brought him down. At his best, Niven used beautifully clear, diamond-like prose to convey startling hard-science concepts and speculation; his fantasy was equally clever and imaginative.
Compared to his best works, his many recent novels plodded. They were better than a lot of the crap that's coming out under the SF label lately, but they were disappointing nonetheless.
While Fleet of Worlds doesn't attain the heights of Niven's best work, it is a quite respectable book and definitely worthy of Niven's literary legacy. It ties in to plot elements from previous Known Space stories without exploiting or ruining those stories, and without being annoying. All in all, it works. I haven't heard of the co-author, Edward M. Lerner, before, but so far I'd rate him the best co-author Niven has worked with. Although some of his work with Pournelle was also quite good.
I'll definitely read this one again, and will probably buy it when I get the chance.
Larry Niven's Fleet of Worlds is a welcome reversion to Niven's better writing style. His work had become rather weak in the past ten to fifteen years; it seemed that like so many writers, age was robbing him of his abilities and voice.
His many co-authors didn't help, either. Most of them weren't that good, and they brought him down. At his best, Niven used beautifully clear, diamond-like prose to convey startling hard-science concepts and speculation; his fantasy was equally clever and imaginative.
Compared to his best works, his many recent novels plodded. They were better than a lot of the crap that's coming out under the SF label lately, but they were disappointing nonetheless.
While Fleet of Worlds doesn't attain the heights of Niven's best work, it is a quite respectable book and definitely worthy of Niven's literary legacy. It ties in to plot elements from previous Known Space stories without exploiting or ruining those stories, and without being annoying. All in all, it works. I haven't heard of the co-author, Edward M. Lerner, before, but so far I'd rate him the best co-author Niven has worked with. Although some of his work with Pournelle was also quite good.
I'll definitely read this one again, and will probably buy it when I get the chance.