Destroyer of Worlds

September 7, 2009
Fleeing a massive explosion at the galactic core, a human colony and their allies, the alien Puppeteers, discover they are not the only ones desperate to outrace destruction in the third prequel to Niven's Ringworld saga (after 2008's Juggler of Worlds
). Thssthfok, a ruthless Pak, will do anything to safeguard his clan after Pakhome is destroyed. Paranoid human agent Sigmund Ausfaller and Puppeteer Baedeker are sent to investigate a distress call from the Gw'oth, who have detected a suspicious ship headed toward the Fleet. Sigmund agrees to work with the Gw'oth, but he's concerned that their insatiable drive for scientific development may make them an even bigger threat than the Pak. With the authors working hard to knit together backstory, this one is primarily for fans of Niven's Known Space setting who will enjoy seeing past puzzles made clear.

September 1, 2009
Wrap-up of the far-future trilogy (Juggler of Worlds, 2008, etc.) set 200 years before the discovery of Niven's ever-popular Ringworld.

The cowardly, herd-minded Puppeteers discover that a gigantic black hole at the center of the galaxy threatens to engulf all life. So they flee, launching entire planets across the void. The ferocious, single-minded Pak are also fleeing the core explosion, plundering and destroying as they go. Paranoid genius Sigmund Ausfaller, originally from Earth, has contacted another developing civilization. The Gw'oth aren't that smart individually, but they can form superintelligent mind-melds of up to 16 individuals. Er'o, one of the components of the 16-plex Ol't'ro, agrees to help Sigmund investigate the Pak. Intriguingly, humans and Pak turn out to be related—not that it matters in a universe where no species trusts any other. Individual characters aren't particularly convincing, but the depth of the various species' backgrounds and motivations more than compensate. Sigmund's problem: How to persuade the pusillanimous Puppeteers to take action against the rapacious Pak while allowing the supersmart Ol't'ro to help?

Old-fashioned cerebral science fiction, with a huge array of fascinating aliens, subtle interactions between them and knotty problems for them to solve.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 15, 2009
In the 27th century, refugee species from the explosion at the galactic core flee toward the Fleet of Worlds. A hyperintelligent manipulative race of Puppeteers has the means to meet this threat but prefers to use its unknowing human "puppets" on the newly independent world of New Terra to defend the worlds of Known Space. Set two centuries before the discovery of Ringworld, this conclusion to the authors' trilogy ("Fleet of Worlds; Juggler of Worlds") combines sparkling wit and "old school" hard sf with masterly storytelling and cosmic vision. VERDICT Fans of veteran sf authors Niven (the "Ringworld" novels) and Lerner ("Probe") will enjoy the return of good, old-fashioned sf, packed with ideas, philosophical musings, and plenty of space action.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.