Choosing Names (Man Kzin Wars VIII) [Mass Market Paperback]

Larry Niven (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

ROUND EIGHT, MONKEY BOYS!

In a new story, Larry Niven tells of the earliest days of the first Man-Kzin War.

The Kzin had learned of the existence of human occupied space, a find that promised new technologies for the race, and new wealth for the fierce Kzin Warriors in the form of land, slaves .... and food. Kzin had sent ships to probe the Solar System, expecting no danger from mere weed-eating apes. But the Warrior Race had underestimated monkey ingenuity, and the ships were destroyed by "peaceful" technology that the humans had hurriedly changed into weaponry.

The surviving Kzin have been caged and are being studied. "For you, the war is over", the monkey-boys have told the Kzin. Incomprehensible to the Kzin, for whom no war is ever over. The humans are sure that the huge warcats cannot escape their prison. But there is something the humans do not realize. One of the Kzin is a Telepath....

About the Author

Larry Niven (left) is the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of such classics as Ringworld, The Integral Trees, and Destiny's Road. He has also collaborated with both Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes on The Legacy of Heorot, Beowulf's Children, and the bestselling Dream Park series. He lives in Chatsworth, California.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle were the joint winners of the 2005 Robert A. Heinlein Award.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Baen (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671878883
• ISBN-13: 978-0671878887
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bright new star in SF, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Choosing Names (Man Kzin Wars VIII) (Mass Market Paperback)

All good stories, fast moving, with the true feel of Niven's "Known Space". Hal Colebatch, with stories in this and the preceding volume, is a bright new star in SF. His "Telepath's Dance" with its introduction of the Telepaths' War, marks a seminal development in the whole series. There is a lot of subtle humor as well as action. SF as it should be: hard science but an insight into the human condition that has a touch of poetry about it. The Kzin are neither too Alien to be convincing nor too human to be interesting, and the Man-Kzin interface is full of quirks and suspence.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Choosing Names is worth choosing., September 22, 1998

By 

John D Lewallen Jr (Tucker, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choosing Names (Man Kzin Wars VIII) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like most of the other reviewers, I felt this was one of the best of the Man-Kzin series. As mentioned, all of the stories involved telepaths. One of the stories, "Jotok," did not involve humans and the telepath connection was not obvious. Since it was not a Man-Kzin conflict, I wondered why it was in this anthology, although it was certainly a well-done story. I don't suppose there are enough Jotok-Kzin Wars stories to make up a book. This may sound like a complaint, but it isn't. In fact, the more I think about that story, it does serve as background to the Man-Kzin Wars. Another intersting thing about this book is the fact that all the stories involve either first contact between humans and Kzin, or are set early in the first war. That, combined with the Jotok story, which is set very early in the history of the Kzin empire, probably in prehistoric times on Earth, makes this book more of a prequel to the other books in the series. I enjoyed all five stories, and believe any Known Space fans will like it also.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, rousing action stories., January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Choosing Names (Man Kzin Wars VIII) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been reading Larry Niven since I was a kid, and I still love his stories. Although many tales are now written by other authors, the universe he created is the focus of the stories, and these tales are true to that universe. This most recent collection is a prequel to the earlier books in the series. A human race, brainwashed by political correctness, finds itself defenseless and must "revert" to its older, more primitive ways of thinking in order to save itself. Very entertaining stories.