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tarostar's review against another edition
I read a lot of Larry Niven during my youthful years and I remember the books fondly.
jrskjr's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tessisreading2's review against another edition
4.0
Set in a near-distant future, the worldbuilding is (unfortunately) plausible and the mysteries are well-plotted. Characterizations are thin but not particularly necessary.
tome15's review
5.0
Niven, Larry. Flatlander. Del Rey, 1995.
Flatlander brings together a group of Niven novellas featuring the somewhat psychic agent for ARM (Amalgamated Regional Militia), Gil the Arm. The stories are all classics of their kind and are must-reads for fans of science-fiction mystery mashups. For known-space newbies, a Flatlander is someone from Earth, which Gil is, though he managed to lose an arm in the asteroid belt. Many of the stories deal with the stealing of human organs for a burgeoning transplant industry and addiction to electronic implants that directly stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. “Death by Ecstasy” is a good locked-room mystery with this theme. Of special interest in this edition is an essay in which Niven explains the difficulties of constructing stories that meet the often-conflicting demands of mystery plots and science fiction. Five stars for its narrow audience.
Flatlander brings together a group of Niven novellas featuring the somewhat psychic agent for ARM (Amalgamated Regional Militia), Gil the Arm. The stories are all classics of their kind and are must-reads for fans of science-fiction mystery mashups. For known-space newbies, a Flatlander is someone from Earth, which Gil is, though he managed to lose an arm in the asteroid belt. Many of the stories deal with the stealing of human organs for a burgeoning transplant industry and addiction to electronic implants that directly stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. “Death by Ecstasy” is a good locked-room mystery with this theme. Of special interest in this edition is an essay in which Niven explains the difficulties of constructing stories that meet the often-conflicting demands of mystery plots and science fiction. Five stars for its narrow audience.
mburnamfink's review
4.0
Flatlander is a collection of five sci-fi mysteries by hard scifi master Larry Niven, set in the 22nd century of his Known Space universe, and featuring detective Gil 'The Arm' Hamilton. As expected, Niven is all about the logical extrapolation of his universe. Earth has 18 billion people, and organ transplantation has revolutionized healthcare. The death penalty is in effect for almost every infraction in order to feed the voracious demands of the transplant hospitals, and the resulting new crime is organlegging, finding some victim and breaking them up for spare parts at about a million per. Next to organlegging, the other major crime is violation of the fertility laws.
Gil has his intuition, a steadfast doggedness, and the ace up his sleeves of psychic powers. An accident in the asteroid belt enabled him to develop minor telekinesis, in the form of an imaginary third arm that can reach about arm's length, and has just enough strength to lift a cigarette. It's a far cry from a telekinetic wrecking ball, but he can do some tricks, like reaching into bodies and through television screens.
The four 'old' stories are pretty solid scifi, even if they feel decades old in terms of big clunky computers and Niven attitudes on women. The new story, 'The woman in Del Rey crater', is a lacking one, and feels out of place. Pretty decent vintage scifi, and well worth the $2 I paid for them, but I would wait for a sale.
Gil has his intuition, a steadfast doggedness, and the ace up his sleeves of psychic powers. An accident in the asteroid belt enabled him to develop minor telekinesis, in the form of an imaginary third arm that can reach about arm's length, and has just enough strength to lift a cigarette. It's a far cry from a telekinetic wrecking ball, but he can do some tricks, like reaching into bodies and through television screens.
The four 'old' stories are pretty solid scifi, even if they feel decades old in terms of big clunky computers and Niven attitudes on women. The new story, 'The woman in Del Rey crater', is a lacking one, and feels out of place. Pretty decent vintage scifi, and well worth the $2 I paid for them, but I would wait for a sale.
zivan's review
3.0
This is one Known Space novel I've missed.
Not his best but quite good collection if investigative shorts.
Not his best but quite good collection if investigative shorts.
fuelscience's review
5.0
Niven never disappoints. His detective stories with Gil "the Arm" Hamilton combine good hard Sci-Fi with classic mystery.
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