17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good intro to the series, June 15, 2005
This review is from: The Best of All Possible Wars (Mass Market Paperback)
If you haven't read any of the Man-Kzin Wars books, then this is a good introduction to the series. If you have, then don't bother with this one. The four stories in this book appear in volumes 1,2,4,and 5. If you want to read All the stories that qualified for the books, then I definitly recommend reading each of the other books.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very nice intro (or refresher) to the Man-Kzin Wars, January 3, 2004
This review is from: The Best of All Possible Wars (Mass Market Paperback)
____________________________________________
The Man-Kzin Wars is probably the best -- and most successful --
of the shared-world series. Now up to #8, it has spawned a "best-
of", and it's pretty good: two Niven shorts, a Bear/Stirling
novelette, and a Pournelle/Stirling short novel.
The Niven opener, "The Warriors"(1966) has a certain clunky
charm - it was his first Kzin story *and* the first story he tried to
sell. He dreamed it up in math class, working up to flunking out
of Caltech, and rewrote it for years, "trying out what I was learning
from my correspondence writing course." It's enough to give an
amateur writer hope.
Niven #2, "Madness Has its Place" (1990), is professional but
minor. In "The Man who would be Kzin"(Bear & Stirling, 1991), a
powerful projective telepath leads the Kzin Second Invasion Fleet
into disaster. It's clever, logical and smoothly-written. I enjoyed
rereading it.
Pournelle & Stirling's "In the Hall of the Mountain King"(1992)
occupies 2/3 of the book. It's not flawless, with a pointless Buford
Early/ARM-as-Illuminati subplot, plus it's a sequel (to "The
Children's Hour") -- but it moves smartly (after a slow start) and if
the ending doesn't raise up the hair on the back of your neck, you
probably shouldn't be reading this stuff.
I believe all 8 of the Man-Kzin collections are still in print, and
the publisher obviously hopes you'll go out and buy more after
reading this "teaser" collection. Be warned -- they're habit-
forming. The series remains high-quality throughout, tho there
are a few clunkers. It's pretty much required reading for Known
Space fans. My personal favorite is Dean Ing's "Cathouse" &
"Briarpatch", actually a novel, awkwardly split between MKW#1
& #2.
Review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
