Author: Larry Niven
Plot:
You've been unemployed for eight months now, since the stock market crashed. Your debt isn't slowly rising- its skyrocketing, and you know debtors prison is right behind you. Laying low on the freezing planet "We Made It", you hope everyone has forgotten you exist. But one person knows your do- well not exactly a person, but one of the Pierson Puppeteers, those strange aliens from a hidden planet. And this Puppeteer has a job for you- full payment of your debts to fly a simple mission. All you need to do is orbit and observe a neutron star, something never attempted before, barring the team of scientists that were just found drifting in their space ship, dead. The Puppeteers are very interested in how this happened.
You agree to the mission- but you don't intend to complete it, because the Puppeteers are giving you a one of a kind ship, the fastest ever made, and heavily armed, worth plenty more than your debts. But don't count your chickens yet- these aliens are called the Puppeteers for a reason...
Alex's Opinion:
This is the first book I read by Larry Niven, and it is a great introductory to the fictional universe called "Known Space" that Niven explores in volumes of other novels. What I enjoyed most about this book is the world- or should I say, Universe building that goes on. Niven goes the extra mile to create an entire universe of aliens and humans, space ships, economies, ancient history, wars, politics, everything. This makes the book very immersive, and Niven does this without seeming to drag on and on about unimportant facts, as some authors fall prey to when creating elaborate worlds.
Who would like it:
Fans of hard science fiction, especially short stories, and world building will really enjoy this book. If you like it, there are loads of other books exploring the same universe, so you may find yourself a whole new pile of books to look forward to. If you haven't read hard sci fi before, try this one out- its a short story, so its a little faster pace, while still representing the genre.
Read it!
Amazon Paperback
An excellent book, I picked it up randomly in 8th grade and loved it.
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