Customer Reviews

N-space

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A Larry Niven novel, especially lately, can be a hit or miss affair but it's clear the man still knows what he's doing and there's no better way to prove that to pick up this hefty book. Not so much a collection of short stories as a retrospective and an introduction just about every piece here has something to recommend it to new and old readers. Niven has some of the best hard science ideas ever put down on paper but sometimes he forgets about the plot when writing his longer works, in short story form all the brilliance shines right through and you can see why millions revere the man as a writer of ideas. By and large the short stories are all excellent, ranging from the really good ("Cloak of Anarchy" "The Fourth Profession") to the merely okay (the story set in the Smoke Ring). For new readers there are even excerpts from his more famous novels, though only a couple highlight the best portions of the book (especially "The Mote in God's Eye" bit, which reminds those of us who have read it why we loved the book so much in the first place), all are interesting. But even better than the stories are the series of essays interspersed throughout the book. Some are Niven just goofing and having a good time (the bit about Superman's attempt at mating is one of the funniest things I've ever read and is worth the price of the book alone) and others are serious pieces on science fiction and writing in general. Rarely do readers get such a peek inside the mind of one of their favorite writers and it's a welcome look. Overall if you have even a passing interest in Niven you can't go wrong, since it focuses on what he's really good at and with so many stories and essays, the chance of a reader getting bored is very slim indeed.

N-Space and its Companion Playgrounds of the Mind form a wonderful retrospective of the carrer of one of the best science fiction writers. N-Space provides a selection of short stories, especially ones that have not yet appeared in book form, and have been hard to find. It also provides some of his better stories, and gives essays, gossip, and a view into the world of a Science Fiction writer. You really come away knowing Larry Niven, the man, along with a better understading of his fiction. You get some very interesting factiods (did you know that the Kzinti are in Star Trek? neither did I!), and lots of enjoyment, from never read short stories, to anecdotes about your favorite Niven Novel, an unbeatable bargain. N-Space is a great introduction to the various works of Larry Niven (and sometimes co-author in crime Dr. Jerry Pournelle), as well as a great resourse for those who would like to learn more about what they have read and known for years. I rarely give the 5 out of 5 rating, but I have no hesitations here. Highest Reccomendation.

Larry Niven is one of the most inventive Scifi writers ever to live. His work is always brimming with ideas, from Ringworld --a million mile wide habitable ring around a star (a poor man's Dyson sphere) to Moties, a physiologically asymmetrical species made up of biological castes who each represent an aspect of intelligence (communicators, tool-users, decision-makers) or society. It is difficult if not impossible to find authors with more ingenious premises.

Unfortunately, the narrative matrix these gems are embedded in, while often very good, is too-frequently merely average scifi. Plotlines and characters are often clunky, and clearly there simply to provide a setting for his brilliant ideas. Ideas that fit twenty pages are stretched to two hundred, or at best, patched together with other equally bright ideas that are not a perfect fit.

The solution? A book of short stories and clips like N-Space. This is a collection of the jewels, cut and polished. The selections are short very sweet. Long narratives, instead of being sacrificed for the purity of the premise, are dispensed with entirely. The ideas shine out on their own.

Other recommendations: Playgrounds of the Mind (another book of shorts), The Mote in God's Eye (with Pournelle; probably his best novel), Inferno (with Pournelle; personal favorite, but that's just me).

At one time the term "science fiction" caused eyebrows to raise. "Isn't that reading for losers who can't relate to others well?" Larry Niven is one of the authors who forever changed the way SF is perceived, one whose fiction emphasizes science without cutting short on any of the tools of your typical brilliant writer of fiction. This gives us well-sculpted characters, even in the shortest of stories, with eye-opening and theoretically sound scientific concepts, plot twists, and remarkable endings. Satisfying story after satisfying story.

What's unique about this collection isn't that it includes a foreward with comments by other authors and fans, or that the author comments on each piece within the collection. Those are commonplace. But in Niven's world, he likes to let you into his world in a special way, perhaps by dishing some dirt on an SF mag who rejected a story that turned out to win a Hugo, etc. He openly questions his finished product, saying that "Today I'd write this story differently," etc. As if we could lift the lid on his cranium and step inside for a moment, seeing how the stories are crafted. Very interesting.

Not as interesting as the work, however, another unique thing about this collection: Not only short stories are collected here, many of which only appeared in one issue of some now-defunct SF mag or other, dating back to the mid 1960s upward to 1990 when this book was first published. He also includes essays, such as an unforgettable commentary on the problems Superman would have if he tried to mate with Lois Lane, as well as excerpts from his published novels at the time. A terrific sampler of a terrific author, whose early-70s work "Ringworld" stands as one of the most brilliant works of speculative fiction of all time. Intelligentsia still debates the validity of its scientific assumptions, and while even Niven admits that most of these have been disproven, how many SF works do you know that sparked so much debate while still being so widely admired?

Niven is far, far beyond any alien shoot-em-up author. This ain't "Star Trek." This is real scientific fiction told by a natural storyteller who loves what he does. We readers love him for it.

I paid too much for this book on holiday, desperate for an "english read" on foreign soil.

It has become, (and you have to trust me when i tell you that this is in context!), the most memorable part of my honeymoon. They were simply the most interesting and absorbing set of short "AC Clarke" type stories I had read.

My mouth fell open as I turned the pages. It seemed "real" without trying to be an extension of todays technology. The characters were cardboard in most ways - it was about what they had done, and their background. History.

This is what Niven does. He makes history in the future. Its not just one history either. Each story he writes applies to one of a set of "timelines" or I suppose the "scenarios" he has invented in his literal career.

Inventions cross these scenarios, so that the reader recognises instruments or precepts accross "scenarios".

This is why the book is called N-Space.

It is a space where certain good ideas cross literal boundries and where the story comes first and the reader comes second. I'll take second place.

If you dont buy the book, borrow/ steal it and read "The fourth proffesion" - without a doubt the best short sci-fi I have ever read .

Really - enjoy - It is exceptional stuff.

Just1nHolt@AOL.com

I am a lapsed Niven fan having discovered him in the late '70s as a kid. Something spurred me to buy N-Space as a way to rediscover what I cherished about his unique mix of hard sci-fi and realistic human emotion.
Thank goodness! When I was done I had to immediately start picking up where I left off with "The Mote in God's Eye" and I look forward to re-reading treasures like "Footfall." Perhaps I'll just start at the beginning and work my way up? :)

It's hard when you find a book that you really like. You read as often as you can, meaning the cat doesn't get feed and the goldfish go hungry. All that matters is that in all those books out there, you have found one that you can relate to. So you read, and read, and read - until that fateful day when you realise that you only have a handful of pages between you and impending doom. This is how I'm feeling now. Doom approaches with the end of this book - what will I read next? I never really thought Larry Niven was for me - maybe something in me has mutated? I understand his concepts and revel in his imagination. "Inconstant Moon" I've read twice, before I've even finished the book! Many friends are now chuckling over "Shall we indulge in Rishathra?". "Bordered in Black" aroused my curiosity although it was a little hard to get into. "Cloak of Anarchy" feels under-developed to me - I think it could be a small novel - it has definate potential! "Flare Time" and "Locusts" I have read elsewhere and found just as strange then. I'm looking forward to reading the last section - stories from "The Mote in God's Eye". Good luck to all others who fall into this book. May you find reading after Larry Niven!

I haven't bought the book from amazon.com. I haven't bought it at all. I borrowed it at my local library, looking for some leftover Niven after I finished everything else.

Now I am determined to buy it, if not here in Israel then through Amazon.com. That book changed my life.

The short stories are fantastic, carrying unlimited ideas and creating countless playgrounds for the mind. "The Fourth Profession" in the lead, along with "Cloak of Anarchy" and others, make up some of the finest short stories I've ever read. The essays are mavellous, making you ponder, wonder, and occasionally laugh. The parts taken from other novels are a nostalgic aroma, reminding the reader once again that reading on Niven novel connects you, inevitably, to the world of ideas that had come to life by this man's writing.

I've read the book AFTER reading most of the important Niven stuff. I believe this is wrong: one should read it once, then read the other stuff, and then return to N-Space for a whole new reading experience.

Buy it. You won't regret it.

I purchased "N-Space" and its sequel "Playgrounds Of The Mind" in summer of 1992, totally unaware of who Larry Niven was, or that he already had such a lengthy history in the science fiction community. At that point (my first year in college) I had not read a lot of SF beyond the confines of Star Trek novels; save the space opera of W. Michael Gear and the military SF of Chris Bunch & Allan Cole. I didn't even really know what 'hard' science fiction was, and picked up "N-Space" and "Playgrounds Of The Mind" because I was pining for something different--perhaps more challenging?

Oh boy, did I ever get my wish! I soon discovered that "N-Space" is not a straightforward science fiction novel, but rather a mega-compilation of short stories, novellas, and outtakes from novels, spanning Niven's (apparently) decades-spanning SF career. I spent the fall and winter of 1992 totally falling in love with Niven's various universes, and the characters that inhabit them. Moreover, I fell in love with the 'hard' aspect of Niven's work, which compared to the space opera I had been previously reading, was rigorously rooted in the realities of physics and science. I was enchanted by the idea that you could stick to real science (mostly) and still tell amazing and adventurous science fiction stories. In fact, much of Niven's hard SF ranks superior to a great deal of softer material precisely because of its 'realistic' flavor. The generic, and often rubbery gadgets and technology of softer fare is religiously replaced in Niven's work by concrete extrapolations, based on what we understand about the universe in the present time.

Now, with that in mind, I would caution younger or less experienced readers, where "N-Space" is concerned. Especially since the book is not a novel unto itself, it's easy to get lost or distracted in this book. So many different ideas, concepts, times, places, and characters, are all hurled at you at once. If you're not ready to hang on for the ride, you're liable to get thrown off! Thus, if you're brand new to science fiction, or if you were like I was, and only familiar with media SF or military/opera, you need to understand that "N-Space" is a very different kind of book that gives a very different kind of read.

Still, Niven has enormous talent, not just for telling hard SF stories, but for telling them with wit, insight into character, and not just a little humour. His imagination when it comes to world-creation is dazzling, and his alien races and places are some of the most memorable I have ever read. Like a smorgasbord, "N-Space" gives us a healthy portion from virtually all of Larry's playgrounds, both well known and obscure. By the time I was done with "N-Space" I launched voraciously into "Playgrounds Of The Mind", which is essentially the second half of "N-Space"; the two books serving as the first and second parts of one, giant collection.

I've since gone on to explore the majority of the works that "N-Space" touches upon, and after a decade of consuming Niven I consider him to be, perhaps, my all-time favorite SF writer. "N-Space" is not his best single work, it is the best from his best, and as such, makes an outstanding primer for anyone who has never read Niven, but wants to becoming broadly and deliciously acquainted with his work.

This is just great, man. All these stories just rock. Like, "All The Myriad Ways," and etc. And then there was those series of stories involving a whole nother Niven universe I had never read or heard about with those weird aliens(different than the ones from Known Space). You gotta read this. I definitely give this one the Brian Altmeyer official Seal Of Approval.