![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This ship is powered by engines that are not merely FTL but can cover a light year in 1.25 minutes. Nessus is organizing a small crew to fly to his home world and from there to take a faster-than-light spaceship to explore a mysterious star system. Puppeteers are herbivorous and timid by nature, and Nessus often wraps himself up into a ball when danger is present. He meets Nessus, a Pierson’s Puppeteer, that is, a three-legged alien with two snake-like heads on stalks who speaks a language that sounds like orchestral music, though he also speaks the Interworld language that all the other characters use. Although he first appears in a sort of Fu Manchu costume with long white hair in a queue down his back and chrome yellow skin (I almost stopped right there), it soon becomes clear that his real appearance is a blend of all races. The story begins on Louis Wu’s 200th birthday party in 2850 CE, an event made possible by his consumption of boosterspice that keeps him relatively youthful. That adds up to a considerable achievement but doesn’t make up for the absence of character development and the abominable presentation of the story’s two female characters. The alien species Niven created are among the most interesting I’ve seen, and the adventure is well told and fairly satisfying. The basic story about exploring a megastructure, a giant ringworld surrounding a star, is compelling, and the characters have to come up with one intriguing idea after another to get themselves out of near-fatal encounters. ![]()
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