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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
The authors have crossed the line between writing the kind of hard science fiction they would want to read, i.e. Not pandering to their readers, to largely abandoning any attempt to build a consistant and engaging plot line. Because tthe authors wrote a novel that, particularly in its later half, degenerates into a sketch of their imagined white board, the reader is left floating adrift. You cant see the forest through the trees, and you can barely see the trees.
This review initially appeared at Dreams and Speculations. Thanks to TJ for having me as a guest reviewer!
Summary:
Louis Wu is dragooned by the alien Nessus into trying to help his species, the Puppeteers, from the possible menace of another species, the Gw'oth. Meanwhile all sorts of machinations are going on within the various species, with potentially disastrous results for all of them.
Brief Version:
I was expecting a grand space opera/adventure. What I got was something that tried to be that but instead left me cold, with no connection to characters and caring little for the outcome.
Review:
The publishers claim that this book can stand alone. It proclaims itself a "Prelude to Ringworld," but there is no mention on the jacket that there are three other books that fall in the same category, all of them covering events chronologically preceding this one. While it is true that enough back story is given that events and references (mostly) make sense, that back story cannot help but feel frankly tedious. And sometimes there just wasn't enough explanation for various characters' motivations or desires to make sense. I think the publishers would have been better marketing this as the fourth in a series, allowing relationships and character nuances to therefore develops organically - and readers like myself, coming in late, be damned.
This review is necessarily biased by the fact that I have read no other Ringworld book. I have no doubt that those who have read the other prequels, or even those who have read the original series, would be more forgiving of its flaws and more understanding of subtleties that no doubt passed me by. Nonetheless, a discussion of the plot and some of the characters:
It's a fairly complex plot, with multiple changes in viewpoint and numerous crosses and double-crosses. There are humans, Puppeteers (they prefer Citizens) and the Gw'oth; there are stationary planets as well as the Fleet of Worlds belonging to the Puppeteers; there are spies, and mercenaries, and politicians. Bad things happen. Some good things happen, but not many. With few exceptions, though, there was little development of motivation for the Evil Deeds. Additionally, the plot sometimes bypassed 'fast-paced' straight to 'chaotic and jumpy'.
It was the characters that seriously let me down. Louis Wu, aka Nathan Graynor, is a seriously boring lead human. He's meant to be the one that the reader can genuinely identify with... but he was so dull. He largely lacks motivation and personality; he's haunted by family memories that are poorly explained; and he mopes a lot. He also gets off a drug addiction so annoyingly fast that it simply screamed Plot Device.
The Puppeteers - so named by humans, apparently, because their double heads look like sock puppets! - could have been very interesting indeed. I don't recall ever reading about a species whose distinguishing characteristic is ingrained cowardice: cowardice such that they flee a disaster still many thousands of years into their future. But... this is a species with space-faring capabilities; a species whose only limbs are their (three) legs - they manipulate things with their lips and tongues. It is totally unclear to me how they developed any technology at all with those two characteristics; perhaps it's covered in another book, but it made them quite implausible to me. I did like that they took classical human names when interacting with our species - it was a nice touch - but there was so little presented of their society that really, I did not care.
The main redeeming feature of this book are the Gw'oth, as a society. Wily undersea critters that I imagine look a bit like anemones - they certainly have wavy tentacle bits - they are divided in this story between two planets, one a traditional monarch-ruled society, the other essentially a science-based, Enlightenment-type place. In the latter, the Gw'otesht - essentially a gestalt of made of numerous individuals - are finally accepted as legitimate members of society. This species is genuinely intriguing, and their motivations and desires made the most sense of all.
Two other things bugged me about Betrayer of Worlds. First, the madey-uppy slang. It felt forced and silly. Second, the women, and lack thereof. The first female who gets any real amount of page-space falls into bed with Louis. There's a female merc, and some female Gw'oth who have a genuine, if cameo, role. And the place of women or reproduction in Puppeteer society is totally opaque; there's a mention of Companions, who might become Brides if necessary, but that's it.
So... yeh. I finished it, but I will admit that I skimmed for the last hundred or so pages; I wanted to know how it resolved - and there were some surprises, which pleased me - but overall, the writing did not warrant a thorough read and the required use of my time.
Rating: 6 of 10
I acknowledge being biased by my lack of knowledge about the rest of the series. However, that should not make as much of a difference as it did to feeling a connection - or emotion at all - towards the characters. It should, in a good book, make me itch to go read the rest of the series. Sadly, the writing and characterisation let what could have been quite a good story down. I may one day track down the original Ringworld, and if it's amazing I might try the others, but they by no means go to the top of my (teetering, slightly perilous) to be read pile.
Summary:
Louis Wu is dragooned by the alien Nessus into trying to help his species, the Puppeteers, from the possible menace of another species, the Gw'oth. Meanwhile all sorts of machinations are going on within the various species, with potentially disastrous results for all of them.
Brief Version:
I was expecting a grand space opera/adventure. What I got was something that tried to be that but instead left me cold, with no connection to characters and caring little for the outcome.
Review:
The publishers claim that this book can stand alone. It proclaims itself a "Prelude to Ringworld," but there is no mention on the jacket that there are three other books that fall in the same category, all of them covering events chronologically preceding this one. While it is true that enough back story is given that events and references (mostly) make sense, that back story cannot help but feel frankly tedious. And sometimes there just wasn't enough explanation for various characters' motivations or desires to make sense. I think the publishers would have been better marketing this as the fourth in a series, allowing relationships and character nuances to therefore develops organically - and readers like myself, coming in late, be damned.
This review is necessarily biased by the fact that I have read no other Ringworld book. I have no doubt that those who have read the other prequels, or even those who have read the original series, would be more forgiving of its flaws and more understanding of subtleties that no doubt passed me by. Nonetheless, a discussion of the plot and some of the characters:
It's a fairly complex plot, with multiple changes in viewpoint and numerous crosses and double-crosses. There are humans, Puppeteers (they prefer Citizens) and the Gw'oth; there are stationary planets as well as the Fleet of Worlds belonging to the Puppeteers; there are spies, and mercenaries, and politicians. Bad things happen. Some good things happen, but not many. With few exceptions, though, there was little development of motivation for the Evil Deeds. Additionally, the plot sometimes bypassed 'fast-paced' straight to 'chaotic and jumpy'.
It was the characters that seriously let me down. Louis Wu, aka Nathan Graynor, is a seriously boring lead human. He's meant to be the one that the reader can genuinely identify with... but he was so dull. He largely lacks motivation and personality; he's haunted by family memories that are poorly explained; and he mopes a lot. He also gets off a drug addiction so annoyingly fast that it simply screamed Plot Device.
The Puppeteers - so named by humans, apparently, because their double heads look like sock puppets! - could have been very interesting indeed. I don't recall ever reading about a species whose distinguishing characteristic is ingrained cowardice: cowardice such that they flee a disaster still many thousands of years into their future. But... this is a species with space-faring capabilities; a species whose only limbs are their (three) legs - they manipulate things with their lips and tongues. It is totally unclear to me how they developed any technology at all with those two characteristics; perhaps it's covered in another book, but it made them quite implausible to me. I did like that they took classical human names when interacting with our species - it was a nice touch - but there was so little presented of their society that really, I did not care.
The main redeeming feature of this book are the Gw'oth, as a society. Wily undersea critters that I imagine look a bit like anemones - they certainly have wavy tentacle bits - they are divided in this story between two planets, one a traditional monarch-ruled society, the other essentially a science-based, Enlightenment-type place. In the latter, the Gw'otesht - essentially a gestalt of made of numerous individuals - are finally accepted as legitimate members of society. This species is genuinely intriguing, and their motivations and desires made the most sense of all.
Two other things bugged me about Betrayer of Worlds. First, the madey-uppy slang. It felt forced and silly. Second, the women, and lack thereof. The first female who gets any real amount of page-space falls into bed with Louis. There's a female merc, and some female Gw'oth who have a genuine, if cameo, role. And the place of women or reproduction in Puppeteer society is totally opaque; there's a mention of Companions, who might become Brides if necessary, but that's it.
So... yeh. I finished it, but I will admit that I skimmed for the last hundred or so pages; I wanted to know how it resolved - and there were some surprises, which pleased me - but overall, the writing did not warrant a thorough read and the required use of my time.
Rating: 6 of 10
I acknowledge being biased by my lack of knowledge about the rest of the series. However, that should not make as much of a difference as it did to feeling a connection - or emotion at all - towards the characters. It should, in a good book, make me itch to go read the rest of the series. Sadly, the writing and characterisation let what could have been quite a good story down. I may one day track down the original Ringworld, and if it's amazing I might try the others, but they by no means go to the top of my (teetering, slightly perilous) to be read pile.
There was a bit of a scramble at the end, to sync things up to Ringworld. I kind of hoped that there'll be more of a tie in. Also, Gw'o's motivation seems bit weird - surely they know word "sociopath" and would think twice before teaming up with Achilles.
Here's to hope that they'll wrap it up nicely in the last book.
Here's to hope that they'll wrap it up nicely in the last book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the story of Louis Wu and how he came to be mixed up in the Fleet of Worlds' business. If you've read the Ringworld series, you'll already know of him; I hadn't, so he was completely new to me and that was fine. Nessus brought him in to find Louis' stepfather, who we've met before in this series - but it turned out to be not-that-easy, of course.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go and read the three books in this series that come before it - I think it's pointless reading this book on its own, and it will make much more sense if you've got that history behind you.
Like the others, it's not a long read at just under 400 pages. I recommend it! Might have to go and dig out the four Ringworld books published in the 1970s now, and see what all the fuss is about - it sounds interesting. Niven has never disappointed me.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go and read the three books in this series that come before it - I think it's pointless reading this book on its own, and it will make much more sense if you've got that history behind you.
Like the others, it's not a long read at just under 400 pages. I recommend it! Might have to go and dig out the four Ringworld books published in the 1970s now, and see what all the fuss is about - it sounds interesting. Niven has never disappointed me.
Moves the story forward. Still tying things together. I did enjoy it but the series is getting tedious for me. Not so much a criticism on the book rather how long series impact me. I love the stories but slogging through a series gets old.
The Known Space universe is a place I've become very impressed with recently. It is full of aliens and ideas I'd never seen before and I like it.
Larry Niven and Edward Lerner have teamed up again for a sequel to Destroyer of Worlds (2009) [US] [UK] and another prequel to Ringworld (1970) [US] [UK]. Betrayer of Worlds (2010) [US] [UK] is the fourth in this series and as far as I'm aware, also the final installment...for now. :)
Ringworld has made famous the idea of worlds circling a star, a result of Niven imagining a more efficient version of the Dyson Sphere. This idea has permutated the genre showing up in Iain M. Banks' Culture series, Alistair Reynolds' House of Suns, and even Halo (the video game).
Betrayer of Worlds begins with Nathan Graynor (a.k.a. Louis Wu), who is someone people who've read the original Ringworld will recognize. I've yet to read the original, but I did just find it at a used bookstore, so expect a review of that sometime (just don't hold your breath).
Nathan Graynor ended up on the planet Wunderland after a series of unpleasant occurrences, one of which landing him in a hospital, addicted to painkillers.
It is in these set of circumstances that Nathan/Louis is found by Nessus, a member of one of the craziest species of aliens/creatures I've probably ever encountered in my readings. They have two heads, two hearts, two mouths, and hooves. They are also prone to extreme bouts of paranoia and easily apt to catatonia under the smallest amounts of pressure or fear. They are the Puppeteers. So named by humans because of their tendency to do whatever they possibly can to reduce their paranoia - involving no small amount of scheming and conniving to get their way.
At first, I was afraid that the tendency of the Puppeteers toward paranoia would be too comical or take too much away from the story, but it really just ends up being a funny aspect that plays well into the world and plot. Really well done.
After searching, with futile results, for Louis' famous fathers (step and natural), his last option is their offspring, Louis, hoping he will have similar skills to save Nessus and the rest of the Puppeteers from possible disaster caused by the sociopathic, Achilles, who has possibly brought the Puppeteers into conflict with another alien species, the Gw'oth.
The Gw'oth are another interesting species who have developed in technology in a fraction of the time of any other advanced species, having the ability to reverse-engineer almost anything and then improving greatly thereon. The Gw'oth don't play a huge role in the story, outside of the looming threat, but they do add something I don't think I've ever seen in a naming scheme, the second apostrophe. A major player of the Gw'oth, Ol't'ro, is a 16-plex mind that is the leader of a colony planet of the Gw'oth. I really just wanted to show you his name though. :)
There's lots of good space action and only limited reference to the technology used, probably because most of it's been explained already, but I know that scares some people away. The focus is mainly on the story, the action, the "betrayals" as mentioned in the title and it's certainly entertaining.
A lot of the story revolved around the hulls of the ships, the indestructible General Products hulls, which I thought was a bit odd and I really wish the Gw'oth played a bigger part, but other than that I quite enjoyed Betrayer of Worlds and definitely need to get back to the story's roots with Ringworld and its sequels.
Why Should You Read Betrayer of Worlds?
Betrayer of Worlds gives a lot of backstory to a universe made famous by Larry Niven. It's entertaining enough in its own right, but for fans of the world/universe, it's really worth it. Betrayer of Worlds stands on its own with a fully-contained story, although it does reference plenty of earlier events, so beware of spoilers if you plan on only grabbing this one.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Larry Niven and Edward Lerner have teamed up again for a sequel to Destroyer of Worlds (2009) [US] [UK] and another prequel to Ringworld (1970) [US] [UK]. Betrayer of Worlds (2010) [US] [UK] is the fourth in this series and as far as I'm aware, also the final installment...for now. :)
Ringworld has made famous the idea of worlds circling a star, a result of Niven imagining a more efficient version of the Dyson Sphere. This idea has permutated the genre showing up in Iain M. Banks' Culture series, Alistair Reynolds' House of Suns, and even Halo (the video game).
Betrayer of Worlds begins with Nathan Graynor (a.k.a. Louis Wu), who is someone people who've read the original Ringworld will recognize. I've yet to read the original, but I did just find it at a used bookstore, so expect a review of that sometime (just don't hold your breath).
Nathan Graynor ended up on the planet Wunderland after a series of unpleasant occurrences, one of which landing him in a hospital, addicted to painkillers.
It is in these set of circumstances that Nathan/Louis is found by Nessus, a member of one of the craziest species of aliens/creatures I've probably ever encountered in my readings. They have two heads, two hearts, two mouths, and hooves. They are also prone to extreme bouts of paranoia and easily apt to catatonia under the smallest amounts of pressure or fear. They are the Puppeteers. So named by humans because of their tendency to do whatever they possibly can to reduce their paranoia - involving no small amount of scheming and conniving to get their way.
At first, I was afraid that the tendency of the Puppeteers toward paranoia would be too comical or take too much away from the story, but it really just ends up being a funny aspect that plays well into the world and plot. Really well done.
After searching, with futile results, for Louis' famous fathers (step and natural), his last option is their offspring, Louis, hoping he will have similar skills to save Nessus and the rest of the Puppeteers from possible disaster caused by the sociopathic, Achilles, who has possibly brought the Puppeteers into conflict with another alien species, the Gw'oth.
The Gw'oth are another interesting species who have developed in technology in a fraction of the time of any other advanced species, having the ability to reverse-engineer almost anything and then improving greatly thereon. The Gw'oth don't play a huge role in the story, outside of the looming threat, but they do add something I don't think I've ever seen in a naming scheme, the second apostrophe. A major player of the Gw'oth, Ol't'ro, is a 16-plex mind that is the leader of a colony planet of the Gw'oth. I really just wanted to show you his name though. :)
There's lots of good space action and only limited reference to the technology used, probably because most of it's been explained already, but I know that scares some people away. The focus is mainly on the story, the action, the "betrayals" as mentioned in the title and it's certainly entertaining.
A lot of the story revolved around the hulls of the ships, the indestructible General Products hulls, which I thought was a bit odd and I really wish the Gw'oth played a bigger part, but other than that I quite enjoyed Betrayer of Worlds and definitely need to get back to the story's roots with Ringworld and its sequels.
Why Should You Read Betrayer of Worlds?
Betrayer of Worlds gives a lot of backstory to a universe made famous by Larry Niven. It's entertaining enough in its own right, but for fans of the world/universe, it's really worth it. Betrayer of Worlds stands on its own with a fully-contained story, although it does reference plenty of earlier events, so beware of spoilers if you plan on only grabbing this one.
3.5 out of 5 stars
tense
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Betrayer of Worlds is the fourth book in the Fleet of Worlds prequel series to Ringworld. Out of the four books, it's the laziest one and was rather boring.
Nessus, the Puppeteer, decides to rescue a young Louis Wu from the dangerous civil war raging on Wunderland. He tells Louis he needs him to help stop a plot by Achilles, a power hungry Puppeteer, to destroy the Gw'oth, an alien race that has a colony right in the middle of the Puppeteer homeworld flight path.
Betrayer follows where Destroyer of Worlds ends. However, Sigmund has a smaller role. Louis is promoted to main interesting human character, but unfortunately he is not very interesting.
Neither are really any of the characters in the book. It's surprising, since some of them have been around for multiple books and have established backstories and personalities. All the characters are flat on the page. Even Nessus, my favorite, felt like a pale imitation.
Much of the Fleet of World series involves a lot of ret-conning. Ringworld was written in 1970, and since then Niven has had new ideas about the characters, and he's tried to put it all in the Fleet of World series with an attempt to match it up to the original source material.
It works with the alien characters, since they are generally mysterious, but the human characters it doesn't work so well. Louis Wu, as an adult, is the main protagonist of Ringworld.
In Betrayer of Worlds he goes on a grand adventure with Nessus when he is younger, but his memory gets wiped at the end, so that's why in Ringworld Louis has no idea. Very convenient. Louis's parentage is also ret-conned a lot in the series, but it didn't seem as bad as making up a whole adventure to be forgotten.
The writing style felt especially choppy and short. I don't know if Niven was maybe less involved in the writing in this one, and Lerner took on most of the duties? At times it was really hard to read because there was no flow. Just short, punctuated sentences.
I'll be glad to finally get to the last book in this Ringworld extended series. Known Space is a great universe, but it doesn't seem like Niven wants to explore new characters and places so much, and instead keeps recycling back what he has already used.
Nessus, the Puppeteer, decides to rescue a young Louis Wu from the dangerous civil war raging on Wunderland. He tells Louis he needs him to help stop a plot by Achilles, a power hungry Puppeteer, to destroy the Gw'oth, an alien race that has a colony right in the middle of the Puppeteer homeworld flight path.
Betrayer follows where Destroyer of Worlds ends. However, Sigmund has a smaller role. Louis is promoted to main interesting human character, but unfortunately he is not very interesting.
Neither are really any of the characters in the book. It's surprising, since some of them have been around for multiple books and have established backstories and personalities. All the characters are flat on the page. Even Nessus, my favorite, felt like a pale imitation.
Much of the Fleet of World series involves a lot of ret-conning. Ringworld was written in 1970, and since then Niven has had new ideas about the characters, and he's tried to put it all in the Fleet of World series with an attempt to match it up to the original source material.
It works with the alien characters, since they are generally mysterious, but the human characters it doesn't work so well. Louis Wu, as an adult, is the main protagonist of Ringworld.
In Betrayer of Worlds he goes on a grand adventure with Nessus when he is younger, but his memory gets wiped at the end, so that's why in Ringworld Louis has no idea. Very convenient. Louis's parentage is also ret-conned a lot in the series, but it didn't seem as bad as making up a whole adventure to be forgotten.
The writing style felt especially choppy and short. I don't know if Niven was maybe less involved in the writing in this one, and Lerner took on most of the duties? At times it was really hard to read because there was no flow. Just short, punctuated sentences.
I'll be glad to finally get to the last book in this Ringworld extended series. Known Space is a great universe, but it doesn't seem like Niven wants to explore new characters and places so much, and instead keeps recycling back what he has already used.
Worst of the tetralogy. You have to read it to get the last book but it has little to recommend it except for setting up the grand finale.