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stumblingpiper's review against another edition
4.0
Good story ... love the Known Space series ... thank goodness I've read the earlier books. This one jumps around a lot in the story ...
eososray's review against another edition
1.0
As my first foray into the Ringworld universe I don't know if this could have been my best choice. I didn't enjoy the story all that much and I think it would be better as a background book to be read after the original series.
amurph's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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.