smiorganbaldhead 's review for:

A Gift from Earth by Larry Niven

4.0

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This book has a cool premise, and features an interesting exploration of how circumstances influence society’s concepts of right and wrong (for better or worse). As I often find with Niven, the characters aren’t as memorable as the big ideas. However I found the villain an interesting character, as he sees himself as morally right despite his horrific actions. The hero’s abilities were interesting, though sometimes seemed too powerful. It seems the countermeasures to his abilities would be possible, and it might have been interesting to explore those possibilities further and how he might overcome them. Still, I enjoyed the book, and currently rate it my second favorite of the Known Space books after Protector.