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badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
This summer I have chose to re-read books I read or tried to read back in high school. I'm positive that books I read when I was 15, or 16 years old will read differently now that I'm in my 40's. The Integral Trees and it's follow-up book, [b:The Smoke Ring|100351|The Smoke Ring (The State, #3)|Larry Niven|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386922036s/100351.jpg|2207228] were such books.
I remember this book as a book about "space fairies." Humans live in this weird alien fairy type planet where they mutate into flying fairy-like creatures due to the low gravity environment.
Well......I guess this book was sort of like that, if you squint your eyes and cross them as you read it.
I'm not sure how I managed to forget how much real hard science is in this novel. I also shudder to realize that Larry Niven would probably die if he heard this novel described as "the space Fairy novels." The interesting question would be, would he die of horror or would he die of laughter?
In reality, this novel is an intricately built world with plausible mutations based on the science of low gravity living. I found the geopolitical struggles to be fascinating. My one negative would be that the characters might have been a little flat compared to the glorious and gorgeous world building. I must say I am looking forward to re-reading the third and last book in this series.
I remember this book as a book about "space fairies." Humans live in this weird alien fairy type planet where they mutate into flying fairy-like creatures due to the low gravity environment.
Well......I guess this book was sort of like that, if you squint your eyes and cross them as you read it.
I'm not sure how I managed to forget how much real hard science is in this novel. I also shudder to realize that Larry Niven would probably die if he heard this novel described as "the space Fairy novels." The interesting question would be, would he die of horror or would he die of laughter?
In reality, this novel is an intricately built world with plausible mutations based on the science of low gravity living. I found the geopolitical struggles to be fascinating. My one negative would be that the characters might have been a little flat compared to the glorious and gorgeous world building. I must say I am looking forward to re-reading the third and last book in this series.
charlie9_9's review against another edition
3.0
the book was a interesting read it just didn't grab my attention. Although after reading it i found out it was the second in a series so reading the first one may have made the book more enjoyable
jclermont's review against another edition
3.0
Not as engaging as A World Out of Time (the first book in this series), but interesting in its own right.
spitzig's review against another edition
2.0
I'm beginning to think I just don't like Niven's stuff. I LOVED Ringworld. I read it and got a sense of AWE from the world. Also, his aliens(and "versions" of humans) were interesting. This book didn't awe me AT ALL.
The "world" in this book is loosely a world. It's gas surrounding a gas giant-with minimal gravity. I have doubts that since they don't have gravity, enough gas would stay close enough to the planet to breathe. Also, where does the heat come from?
Like most of Niven's stuff, his characters are barely there.
The plot was uninteresting.
I was disappointed that there were no intelligent aliens.
The "world" in this book is loosely a world. It's gas surrounding a gas giant-with minimal gravity. I have doubts that since they don't have gravity, enough gas would stay close enough to the planet to breathe. Also, where does the heat come from?
Like most of Niven's stuff, his characters are barely there.
The plot was uninteresting.
I was disappointed that there were no intelligent aliens.
pptphile's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
villianess's review against another edition
2.0
I just couldn't get into this story and there are so many other books to read why waste time on uninteresting ones.
halmstad's review against another edition
5.0
Good read
I had a teacher in school give me this book many many years ago. It started me to reading sci-fi and I have loved it ever since. Larry Niven wrote an amazing book in this one to me.
I had a teacher in school give me this book many many years ago. It started me to reading sci-fi and I have loved it ever since. Larry Niven wrote an amazing book in this one to me.
fisk42's review against another edition
2.0
I have no clue what is going on. I've totally loved several Niven books, and now have found a couple completely unenjoyable. The Integral Trees is such a cool concept and a fun exploration of physics but I never found myself caring for any of the characters or the plot. This might have been worked into a really good short story, but failed me as a novel.