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The Burning City
Each an acclaimed author in his own right, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have collaborated on some of the biggest bestsellers in science fiction history, including the No. 1 "New York Times" bestseller "Footfall, " as well as "Lucifer's Hammer, Inferno, Oath of Fealty, " and "The Mote in God's Eye." Now Niven and Pournelle have com...more
Paperback, 512 pages
Published
December 14th 2010
by Atria
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This fantasy novel is set in the same universe as Niven's The Magic Goes Away, but as many readers have noted, Niven and Pournelle together write considerably differently than either Niven or Pournelle separately. The blend of Niven's wild imagination with Pournelle's historical awareness results in a whole that is greater than the sum of it's parts.
Why might the residents of a city periodically burn it down? This novel offers more than one explanation.
Why might the residents of a city periodically burn it down? This novel offers more than one explanation.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It had a really good story line which kept me reading and there were some interesting (in a good way) ideas in the world, in terms of settings and gods in particular. However, I didn't get very attached to any of the characters. The writing style was a bit strange; at times it felt okay as it felt like it could be the way in which the main character thought and spoke but at other times I found myself having to re-read a few sentences to work out what it meant.
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This book has no discernible story. There are some good ideas but they are squandered. I wish these two geniuses would have hired some young fireplug to do the actual writing off their outline. That way their cool concepts would have made for a legible novel. Niven & Pournelle are just not the team they used to be.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1126
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1126
The story of Whandall Placehold, and how he grows up and becomes successful.
It's another one of those "life journey" novels that I seem to accidentally start reading. It takes a while to get going, and never really gets me too excited. I expect a lot more interesting things from the Niven/Pournelle combo, but this book didn't do it for me.
It's another one of those "life journey" novels that I seem to accidentally start reading. It takes a while to get going, and never really gets me too excited. I expect a lot more interesting things from the Niven/Pournelle combo, but this book didn't do it for me.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It's classic fantasy with a little social commentary thrown in and a bit of too obvious character development to turn our hero into an economically independent free-thinker of the repressed civilization. Nevertheless, the world is interesting and the writing solid.
Set in Larry Niven's world of The Magic Goes Away, story follows Whandall Placehold as he grows up in Tep's Town, a city where the fire-god Yangin-Atep rules and alternately protects the city's denizens and allows his followers to go on a massive arson-spree called "the Burning".
The characters are well thought out and the plot is very engaging - you really get into the mind of Whandall and feel like you know him. The class structure set up with Lords, Lordkin, and Kinless ...more
The characters are well thought out and the plot is very engaging - you really get into the mind of Whandall and feel like you know him. The class structure set up with Lords, Lordkin, and Kinless ...more
More an exploration of an imaginative fantasy world based in western North America, and less a plot-driven novel. Interesting premise, but lacked dramatic tension, in my opinion.
Interesting story with characters that grow and become more admirable as they go along. A fair bit of violence and etc, so not clean.
I didn't like this at all, and I mostly really like his books.
I quite liked this despite not quite trusting the main character's cycling adventures. Great story, totally unpredictable and full of angst.
I think I'm just not a Larry Niven fan. This book like the other two I've read was just okay. So much of it seems absolutely boring to me and it takes me ages to get through the book because I'm just not jazzed up to read it.
The climax of the book really wasn't that climatic, sort of like the rest of the book.
The climax of the book really wasn't that climatic, sort of like the rest of the book.
A very good book. It kept my attention and interest throughout. But, it just doesn't come up to the level of greatness like other Niven/Pournelle books like "The Mote in God's Eye" and "Legacy of the Heorot"
acquired this randomly.. was the first fantasy-esque book id read in years, and i've got to say, i enjoyed the hell out of it. :)
See my review at:
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue2...
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue2...
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Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths...more
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