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50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The early material is great, but Niven's latest is awful, April 10, 2002
In 1966 Larry Niven created the ultimate tourist with his short story "Neutron Star." It was the tale of Beowulf Shaeffer, a laid-off pilot heavily in debt and easy to blackmail, and how the alien race the puppeteers convinced him to make a dangerous flyby of a neutron star. Throughout the late sixties followed several other Beowulf Shaeffer stories, which were previously to be found only in the out-of-print collection NEUTRON STAR. In 1994 Del Rey released CRASHLANDER, which brought back into print the Beowulf Shaeffer stories of the late 60's, together with "The Borderland of Sol" (1975), a new story "Procrustes," and interim material that Niven had just penned to bind the stories together into one novel, as it were (there's no table of contents and the title of each story isn't listed at the head of the page). CRASHLANDER has some good material, but the latest writing shows that Niven's treatment of his Known Space universe has become very poor indeed.The late-60's Beowulf Shaeffer stories were classics of science fiction, mixing hard science with colourful alien races and futuristic fashion. In "Neutron Star" the reader travels with Shaeffer as he visits what was then a revolutionary concept in astronomy. In "At the Core", the puppeteers convince Shaeffer to take an experimental hyperdrive all the way to the galactic core, where he makes a discovery that spurs the puppeteers into fleeing Known Space. "Flatlander" begins with Shaeffer as a tourist on Earth, and takes him on a journey with a millionaire to a very unusual planet. "Grendel", the last of the golden age of the Shaeffer stories, has Shaeffer foil a kidnapping on a newly-colonized world. These stories are all excellent and are recommended reading for any fan of science fiction. The last two stories, however, are incredibly disappointing, nearly enough so to taint the eariler works. "The Borderland of Sol" was written after the decline of Niven's writing in the mid-1970's. It nearly repeats the theme of "Grendel" (with Shaeffer becoming something of a detective), but with unbelievable characters, B-movie shoot-outs, and uninspired futurisms. The last story, "Procrustes" dates from the 1990's and is nearly as bad as Niven's novel from the same time THE RINGWORLD THRONE. "Procrustes" has a plot that is convoluted to say the least, and none of the characters act like they have in previous stories. Most disturbing is the Robert Heinlein-esque turn into sexuality explicit scenes that Niven made in the early 90's, as "Procrustes" begins with an orgy. The frame stories were written at the same time as "Procrustes" are are just as bad. They contradict previous Niven stories (such as mentioning the Trinocs when they won't be met for another 200 years, the Puppeteer Fleet of Worlds, etc.) and end in an inexplicable murder that is nothing but a deus-ex-machina. My recommendation: skip CRASHLANDER and find the out-of-print collection NEUTRON STAR, which brings together all the golden age Shaeffer stories as well as several other fascinating Known Space short stories.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A strange hybrid, but the stories are great, August 24, 2000
Crashlander contains the collected stories of Beowulf Shaeffer, the man who, in Niven's Known Space, discovered the core explosion and, as it turns out, did a number of other things as well. Beowulf is an interesting character, and although not every story is great, most are very good and quite worth reading. The stories were written over a range of time, which is obvious from the internal differences - the social and moral aspects of Beowulf's world change quite a bit from first to last. And the "binder" material - the stuff Niven interpolated between the stories to bring them together, make them more cohesive - is only moderately successful. Frankly, Beowulf's past is just more interesting than his present. But the stories themselves are truly gripping, and as a short story collection, this book really works. One tiny caveat: the book as a whole implies certain things about the origins of Louis Wu (of Ringworld fame) that contradict the beginning of the Ringworld series itself. Doesn't matter, of course, unless you're a real stickler for detail. Over all, a book well worth reading for those into Niven or his Known Space.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Same old, same old, August 12, 1998
By A Customer
Niven is an excellent writer, and if you haven't seen his previous "Known Space" collections, this will be a treat. This is a rehash of his classics, "second verse, same as the first." If you've been following him for a while, don't bother, you've read 'em...
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