A World Out of Time ~Larry Niven

–1976, Del Rey Books
–246 pages

REVIEW SUMMARY: Niven begets Niven as I revisit a cherished book to give it a proper review. A smattering of hard-sci fi and a large dollop of space opera are mixed to create a page-turning adventure set 3,000,000 years in Earth’s future.

MY RATING: 4.75/5 stars

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Jaybee Corbell, his cancer-ridden body frozen in 1970, is revived 200 years later in a body that is not his own. Stripped of his own free will, as well as his body, he is a servant to the all-powerful State. His one chance at remaining alive is to rise to the task set before him: pilot a one-way mission out into the universe to seed planets for future population. A last ditch effort at rebellion propels Corbell on a journey through space that will eventually lead him back to Earth…an Earth three million years older than when he left it. It is there, on a world that has reverted to a more primitive state, that Jaybee Corbell’s true adventures begin.

MY REVIEW:

PROS:

-Likable ‘everyman’ protagonist.
-A mixture of space travel and the exploration of a primitive world, with ruins of a far-advanced civilization, make for an interesting, multi-setting tale that keeps a brisk pace.
-The ‘hard sci fi’ elements are brief, engaging, and seeded throughout the tale in such a manner that they are a part of the story rather than becoming the story itself.
-Verbal imagery that makes the imagination run wild.

CONS:

-Characterization is not deep. This is an adventure story with interesting characters, not a deep character study.
-A few deus ex machina moments may be too coincidental for the literary connoisseur.

BOTTOM LINE: A World Out of Time is one of the reasons that science fiction is my first love. A lone traveler, enemies real and perceived, a journey through two frontiers: an enormous universe and a primal earth. Adventure! My soon-to-be-admitted decades-old bias aside, this is a novel that I would recommend as a good entry-level novel for those wanting to get a taste of the hard science fiction genre and for those comfortable with the genre.

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Ringworld ~Larry Niven

–1970, DelRey Books
–352 pages

REVIEW SUMMARY: My foray into the classics continues with my first read of Larry Niven’s award-winning classic. While definitely hard science fiction, I found the day I spent with this nearly 40 year old masterwork to be one of imagination and adventure.

MY RATING: 4.25/5 stars

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Nessus, a member of a strange race of aliens known as the Puppeteers, gathers together a disparate crew consisting of a human male (Louis Wu), a human female (Teela Brown), and a large, ferocious creature of the Kzin race by the name of Speaker-to-Animals, to travel in a vessel faster than anything known to either race to investigate a mysterious artifact. This artifact, an enormous self-contained world, a Ringworld, is beyond anything that the Known universe has ever seen or imagined.

MY REVIEW:

PROS:

–All four major characters are interesting and well-realized.
-Mystery, suspense, drama, romance, adventure…all that in an exciting science fiction setting.
-Engaging frontier exploration aspect.
-Fantastic world-building.
-A variety of intriguing revelations keep readers on their toes.
-Many sequels for those who would like to continue on with these characters/this universe.

CONS:

-A great deal of scientific language and introduction of a variety of scientific concepts may throw off new science fiction readers or those who are not interested in hard sci fi.
–Ringworld desperately needs a special edition hardcover graced with a Stephan Martiniere illustration.

BOTTOM LINE: A must-read for those interested in exploring the various classics of science fiction. In the midst of varied scientific concepts lies an inventive, engaging adventure in a fantastically realized universe. The characters the reader travels with are interesting and worth getting to know.

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