Juggler of Worlds (Hardcover)

by Larry Niven (Author), Edward M. Lerner (Author)
Key Phrases: known space, court jester, alien affairs, General Products, New Terra, Hobo Kelly (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
As an agent for the Amalgamated Regional Militia, Simon Ausfaller uses his innate paranoia to ferret out alien conspiracies and protect earth’s colonies from harm. He meets his match in the obsessively protective puppeteers, a race of two-headed extraterrestrials whose impermeable General Products spaceship hulls come with an expensive guarantee of safety. In his latest investigation, Ausfaller probes the reasons why one GP hull apparently failed to protect the humans inside and discovers that tidal waves from a neutron star had some part in their demise. The case quickly becomes more complicated, leading Ausfaller on a trail across multiple worlds that branches into an even deeper mystery—puppeteers everywhere are deserting their posts for unknown but ominous reasons that may also spell disaster for humans. In their second collaboration, Niven and Lerner return to the era of Known Space history predating human discovery of Niven’s iconic Ringworld. They clearly enjoy revisiting aliens familiar from Niven’s menagerie while spinning an elaborate tale of interplanetary intrigue. Their many fans will, too. --Carl Hays

Review

“Niven and Lerner…clearly enjoy revisiting aliens familiar from Niven’s menagerie while spinning an elaborate tale of interplanetary intrigue.  Their many fans will, too.”--Booklist

"Niven and Lerner...adroitly expand upon familiar ground...and, at the same time, pour it into an entirely new bottle."--Starlog

"A lively prequel to Niven's 1970 classic, Ringworld. . . .  Fans of hard SF will be well rewarded."--Publishers Weekly on Fleet of Worlds "Exceptional freshness and suspense . . .  full of startling revelations about human and puppeteer politics."--Booklist on Fleet of Worlds "A far-future SF mystery/adventure set two centuries before the discovery of the Ringworld by humans. . . . . Intriguing human and alien characters and lucid scientific detail."--Library Journal on Fleet of Worlds

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765318261
• ISBN-13: 978-0765318268
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,586 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Different perspective on existing stories, October 26, 2008

By	E. M. Van Court "Van, emvc (at) lycos.com" (Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is a revisiting of a number of the "Known Space" stories, from the perspective of a professional paranoid. Sigmund Ausfaller is a UN law officer, and professional paranoid, albeit a natural paranoid rather than a chemically induced one, like some of his peers.

Sigmund gets a human face, as his sordid past is revealed, his romantic life is considered, and his fears for the human race are discussed. And the key question; 'is he paranoid enough' is addressed. Even uglier than his role as a paranoid cop is his background as... [say it in hushed tones] a revenuer. His girlfriend is industrial grade crazy (as bad as your story is, his takes the cake). And his worst paranoid concerns for humanity fall short of the reality.

I enjoyed it immensely. This one filled in the gaps between many of the 'Known Space' stories from a very different perspective, and shed light on the wherefores and whys behind the incidents described in other works. Because of this, the criticisms of recycled material are valid, as they included much earlier work, and invalid, as the material was needed to make the story work for someone who hadn't read any of this body of work earlier. And in the end, it heads off in a new direction.

An excellent addition to the "Known Space" series, and a worthwhile read.

E. M. Van Court

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Warning: 60% recycled content, September 22, 2008

By	Eric Kramer (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is set in Niven's Known Space universe. It follows the career of Sigmund Ausfaller, intelligence analyst for the UN world government in the 27th century. However, since many of Sigmund's adventures, and the focus of his investigations, have been described in other Niven stories (especially the Beowulf Shaeffer series), the first 2/3rds of the book reads like a tedious connect-the-dots. Only in the last act does it develop new story lines, and finally achieves the status of a sequel to Fleet of Worlds.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What's my Motivation?, October 14, 2008

By	David A. Lessnau (Niceville, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Niven and Lerner's "Juggler of Worlds" starts a bit before their Fleet of Worlds, intertwines with it (and with other works) for a stretch, and then finishes a tad after it. If you're going to read the pair, "Fleet of Worlds" should come first as the latter part of this book depends on what happened in the other book.

*Technically*, the writing, science and linkages to Niven's "Known Space" are very good. But, that linkage leads to this book's downfall. It feels more like a connect-the-dots chronicle than a story in its own right. Specifically, for two thirds of the book, there's really no explanation of why we're reading the book. It's just one thing after another relating to material in other Niven works with nothing explaining where THIS material is going. It's not until the last third of the book (after "Fleet of Worlds" ends) that anything resembling a motivation appears.

It pains me to have to rate the book down since it should have been a very good book. But, its choppiness and lack of motivation mean I can only rate it at an OK three stars out of 5.