book data
330 ratings, 3.92 average rating, 24 reviews
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published
August 1st 1989
(first published 1987)
by Pocket
binding
Mass Market Paperback
isbn
0671695320
(isbn13: 9780671695323)
description
Bestselling science-fiction superstars Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle combine their talents with those of rising young author Steven Barnes in an ext...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 394)
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
no one, really
A friend with usually very reliable taste recommended this book to me. It was [Author:Larry Niven], to boot. Of course it was going to be good, right?
No.
Sadly, it was a bug hunt. Not that I've got anything against bug hunts, but the prose was oblique and occasionally opaque. The characters were simplistic, unsympathetic, and, frankly, sexist in many places. The main character is a geek's Mary Sue -- an exhaustingly perfect warrior with a Cassandra complex who has all the answers, is the ...more
No.
Sadly, it was a bug hunt. Not that I've got anything against bug hunts, but the prose was oblique and occasionally opaque. The characters were simplistic, unsympathetic, and, frankly, sexist in many places. The main character is a geek's Mary Sue -- an exhaustingly perfect warrior with a Cassandra complex who has all the answers, is the ...more
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Larry niven and Jerry Pournelle are great hard science fiction writers and With Steven Barnes they have great combat and martial arts scenes.
grreat stuff "it makes Aliens look like a Disney nature film." The Washington Times said.
grreat stuff "it makes Aliens look like a Disney nature film." The Washington Times said.
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Read in June, 1988
This is essential SciFi reading. Combine Beowulf with star travel, strong, good looking men & women, hard science... Also the best example of the law of unintended consequences in action. Not to be missed.
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Read in September, 2006
I liked this and its sequel a lot, Niven and Pournelle produce readable, engaging and interesting sci-fi without weirding me out. They're ultimately not that earth shattering but good comfort reading. These books follow the story of a group of humans sent off to start a new life on a remote planet. There's no return, and not even any communication from Earth after the first few years. Once there they find they have problems, big problems, because some of the wildlife on the planet is quite h...more
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Read in January, 1989
recommends it for:
Science/Ecology students - or anyone concerned with the environment.
All students of the science of ecology MUST read this book. A space opera? Yes, sort of, but with a message that humans have failed to heed: It's not NICE to fool with Mother Nature. In "Legacy..." the humans who have settled on this lovely earth-like planet are in for a big surprise: The plentiful fish-like creatures they are feeding on have a very dangerous and dark surprise in their genes. No spoiler here; you'll have to read the book to learn the horrid truth. Suffice it to say, ti...more
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I think this is one of the best Sci-Fi books i have ever read!
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Bad and sexist? A little sexism is amusing but this is rubbish.
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Read in August, 2007
This is a book in the, Earth sends Colonies to the stars, and runs into major problems, genre. It is interesting as I read this book just after a Nancy Kress novel in the same genre. This particular book was published twenty years ago, so the science assumptions are subtly different than more recent books.
I first picked this book up while I was on my Larry Niven kick. It was very different than other Niven books because this is a colaboration with two other authors. This adds to the b...more
I first picked this book up while I was on my Larry Niven kick. It was very different than other Niven books because this is a colaboration with two other authors. This adds to the b...more
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Read in April, 2008
With a signiature writing style, an eerie scene, and as many complex character interactions as a small city, Legacy of Heorot is astounding in its simplicity and setting. It begins as a simple jaunt to another planet to set up shop and bring the human race to other stars. Very few mishaps happen and the story itself wears out by chapter three until the perspective itself changes. This is where the writing takes on a very unique feel of another lifeform wandering in a foreign habitat.
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I think I was having a weird nostalgia moment, I read this years ago and picked it up again second hand out of curiosity.[return:][return:]Colonists on new planet think everything is going swimmingly except for designated military character who is, unsurprisingly, military. Bad things ensue, humanity conquers all.[return:][return:]The whole 'humans as masters of the universe' vibe doesn't work for me as a plot device and the whole bad thing -> Bad Thing -> BAD THING escalation didn't ring ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This was The Mote in God's Eye redux, except with an extra author. It feels a little less "classic" than Mote, but is a good read and has many memorable scenes. The monsters' perspective is handled well and the biology issues are clever.
The immaturity and sexual insanity of the characters was a little annoying, but the plot is solid and the mysteries handled just right.
The immaturity and sexual insanity of the characters was a little annoying, but the plot is solid and the mysteries handled just right.
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Read in January, 1988
The characters in this story didn't impress me much, but had a very interesting setting and plot. Quite a lot of action based primarily on the reproduction method of a gender-switching African frog. Sticks in my mind a lot because the setting was one of my inspirations for the story I wrote.
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This is labeled as Science Fiction, but you don't have to be a fan of such work to like it. Legacy isn't hardcore SF. It's full of action, horror, character, etc. It is one of those books you don't want to put down and can't wait to get back to. Would make great movie.
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A sweeping and engaging tale of populating a new world and dealing with the challenges of an unknown ecosystem. The novels antagonist, what amounts to an crocodile on steroids, is perhaps one of the nastiest predators one could conceive of. I enjoyed it immensely.
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This has got to be one of the best sci-fi novels of all time. Exciting, fast-paced, and sporting an alien that would eat "The Alien' for a snack; I can't recommend this book too much. why Hollywood hasn't made a movie out of it is incredible to me.
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Read in January, 1989
If Aliens was a book instead of a movie, this is the book it would be, and I cannot tell you how completely over the top awesome it would be. I'm not much of a big time Sci-fi fan, but this and "Armor" are good stuff.
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Always like it when someone references the old classics and gets away with it. That's why I rated this one so highly--the monsters and dragons in it are very very good. Don't build near the water!
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A solid book about frontier existence on a scary new world and the easy mistakes humans make...firghtening, invigorating and a sweet love story of a determined woman making a man hers!!!
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Read in August, 2002
I didn't enjoy this one too much; I'm not terribly into sci-fi, and I didn't feel it said anything more than did Beowulf itself, on which it was based.
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One of those books for those who don't like books. A good story, pretty well told. Not Niven's best, but with universal appeal.
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