Juggler of Worlds
by Edward M. Lerner, Larry Niven
List Price:
Our Price: $2.54
You Save: $5.45 (68%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.50 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Edward M. Lerner, Larry NivenEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-06-02
ISBN: 0765357844
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Book Reviews of Juggler of Worlds
Book Review: A treat for Bey Shaeffer fans; New readers should read "Crashlander" first
Summary: 4 Stars
Summary: This book stands out from its series by retelling many of Niven's old stories, most of which are collected in Crashlander, from the point of view of one of Niven's former background characters, Sigmund Ausfaller. As a result, it's much more like a collection of short stories than a novel. It's a lot of fun for fans of the Crashlander stories, but if you are reading this as part of the "Worlds" series and haven't read the earlier stories, definitely go get Crashlander and read that first.
Forty years or so ago, Larry Niven began writing a set of stories and novels set in "Known Space" - a portion of the milky way that was at least partially explored by the human race. Since then, he has occasionally let other writers into his playground, particularly in the The Man-Kzin Wars series.
This time, Niven has collaborated with Edward Lerner to write three books about the "Puppeteers", a race of technologically advanced herd animals, and their interactions with humanity.
The first book, Fleet of Worlds, re-introduces the Puppeteers fleet of five (now six) travelling planets for readers not familiar with them, and takes place largely on those planets, as does the third book, Destroyer of Worlds. This is the second in the series, and in some ways, the most daring. It is closer to a collection of short stories than a novel, and follows the connections of Sigmund Ausfaller, an existing Niven character, with the puppeteers and the fleet of worlds.
Previously, Ausfaller had appeared in the background of several Niven short stories, most of which are collected in Crashlander. In those stories, he's a mysterious agent of Earth's "ARM" intelligence agency, who typically shows up to manipulate the hero of thoses stories, interstellar pilot Bey Shaffer. Juggler of Worlds re-tells those stories from Ausfaller's perspective, plus one story ("The Soft Weapon") from the perspective of Nessus, a puppeteer "scout" who is also a long-standing Niven character. If you have fond memories of the Crashlander stories (and I do), rereading them from another perspective is a neat experience, but if you haven't read them, some of these stories will be challenging. If you are picking this up because you are reading the "Worlds" series but haven't read Crashlander, definitely read that first. You would also be well advised to read The Soft Weapon, but that's much harder to find.
Overall, the stories worked for me. I liked the growing relationship (often behind multiple levels of deception and proxies) between the two agents, Nessus and Ausfaller, as well as their parallels. Nessus, from a race of obsessively cautious herd animals, is made a scout because he is insanely daring (for a puppeteer), and Ausfaller, from a race of curious primates, is made an intelligence agent because he is insanely paranoid (for a human). The book does a nice job of sketching out their loneliness and their ongoing intelligence duel.
I have a few gripes that prevent me from giving it five stars. First, I was a little disappointed that the "lone genius" trope applies to puppeteers too. We are told several times that the puppeteer home world has TRILLIONS of puppeteers, but we meet fewer than ten: Hindmost (the leader of the civilization); Achilles (another scout); Baedeker (a genius engineer); Nessus; and a few supporting characters.
Baedeker, in particular, is the Wesley Crusher of the puppeteer civilization. If you need a previously nonnegotiable law of physics repealed, you apparently just call Baedeker. Presumably, with a civilization of a trillion plus hyperintelligent herd animals, some kind of distributed problem solving would be the way to solve problems - imagine what you could accomplish with a well managed set of one hundred teams of a thousand scientists each, plus logistical support. Ten thousand teams? A couple lines about Baedeker using the herd would have been great.
Still, I'm very glad I read Juggler of Worlds, and really enjoyed it, particularly the chance to revisit some of my favorite stories. Read it, but read Crashlander first.
Summary of Juggler of Worlds
For too long, the Puppeteers have controlled the fate of worlds. Now Sigmund is pulling the strings . . .
Covert agent Sigmund Ausfaller is Earth's secret weapon, humanity's best defense against all conspiracies, real and potential - and imaginary - of foes both human and alien. Who better than a brilliant paranoid to expose the devious plots of others?
He may finally have met his match in Nessus, representative of the secretive Puppeteers, the elder race who wield vastly superior technologies. Nessus schemes in the shadows with Earth's traitors and adversaries, even after the race he reperesents abruptly vanishes from Known Space.
As a paranoid, Sigmund had always known things would end horribly for him. Only the when, where, how, why, and by whom of it all had eluded him. That fog has begun to lift...
But even Sigmund has never imagined how far his investigations will take him - or that his destiny is entwined with the fates of worlds.
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.73
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
Crashlanderby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1994-03-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Ringworldby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1985-09-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Ringworld's Childrenby Larry Niven
Tor Books; Published: 2005-04-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.59
Price in other shops:
The Ringworld Throneby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1997-05; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.63
Price in other shops:
Outies (The Mote in God's Eye 3)by J. R. Pournelle
New Brookland Press; Published: 2011-03-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.06
Price in other shops:
Protectorby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1987-09-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.48
Price in other shops:
Fleet of Worldsby Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
Tor Science Fiction; Published: 2008-08-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
Fleet of Worldsby Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
Tor Books; Published: 2011-11-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
Betrayer of Worlds (Fleet of Worlds)by Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
Tor Science Fiction; Published: 2011-05-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.21
Price in other shops:
Destroyer of Worldsby Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner
Tor Science Fiction; Published: 2010-11-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: