My Mr Sci-fi

kw: book reviews, science fiction, collections, stories

This figure, usually much smaller, seems to be a logo for recent work by Larry Niven. Somehow, as I read his latest volume STARS AND GODS (his capitalization, even in the colophon), and saw strings of these at every chapter head, I began to think about them.

Each half of the figure is seven of the eight cubes in an unfolded hypercube. If you add one more cube to the end of one of the "arms" you get a "supercross", just as an unfolded cube produces a cross. To me, this represents Larry Niven's ability to unpack unfamiliar concepts in his stories and make us believe in them.

STARS AND GODS gathers excerpts from seven recent novels, 17 short stories, both solo and in collaboration, and a few short nonfiction pieces, mostly writing about writing. While some might view a book like this as advertising, I simply reveled in the escapism of it all…and in the ideas. I particularly value the ideas. A few examples:

• In "Fly-by-Night" a crippled Kzin must use his wits to prevail against unimpaired Kzinti. For those who don't know, Kzinti are sapient tigers, a little larger than Earth tigers, a space-faring species not known for patience or strategic planning. The one called Fly-by-Night has learned these from long association with humans. More to the point, his cultural differences make it harder for his fellows to predict what he'll do, always an asset in any conflict. Of course, he has no little help from a human friend, even more unpredictable, natch!
• "After Mecca" is a newspaperman's interview with a political leader faced with the aftermath of an atomic attack on Mecca, but we aren't sure by the end of the story how much of the U.S. has also been razed.
• "Free Floaters" (in collaboration with Brenda Cooper) explores the implications of a brown dwarf cooling to the point that life can arise and evolve for a few billion years as it drifts, sunless, through space. Not just life, but sapient life, in this case whale-size jellyfish-like floaters that thrive at 900°C. And they are running out of room…
• The nonfiction piece "Rocket Men" shows that our failure to explore space, even our near-retreat from it since the 1970s, is because the U.S. government has declared space a "no profit zone". Columbus demanded the right to get rich from finding a new path to Asia. Until businessmen have the right to exploit things like metal-rich asteroids, they won't be willing to invest in space ventures.

I have sometimes shied away from Niven's books because of his tendency to write frank sex scenes, but I frequently find myself reading anyway, and just skimming where I feel I need to. His writing is too good to pass up. His "Known Space" realm of Puppeteers, Kzinti, Ringworld, and the Protectors is a solid place, as much a part of the science fiction landscape as the "I, Robot" and "Foundation" milieus of Asimov.