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Summary: A Sci-fi book even for a non-sci fi type
Review: It is critical to the enjoyment of this book not to give away the plot. Don't read the jacket cover for the sequel! This is the book that got me hooked on these collaborators with their combined storytelling and technical/scientific perspectives. A little hard to keep track of all the characters in the beginning but well worth knowing them as individuals especially when things go badly. I felt like I was there and wondered if I would have seen what was coming - probably not.
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Summary: A great "payoff" novel
Review: This is the only SF novel I've read (and I've read hundreds) that I've cracked open twice. Great characters, an awesome setting, and plotting that left me breathless. I mean, this thing never lets up, and just when you think there can't possibly be more, the authors pull what might be the biggest SF twist in history out of their hat. I got the idea that writing this novel was at least as much fun as reading it. A violent, breakneck romp with equal parts human drama. Cadman Weyland is one of the best human characters I can remember.If this novel doesn't keep you reading all night, I can think of no other book that will.
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining read but it should be a guilty pleasure.
Review: I was expecting a better book based on all the praise. It was a fairly entertaining book to read but when I closed it and put it back on the shelf, I was left unsatisfied. It reads as though it was once a 150 page book that was fleshed out in a haphazard attempt to include some character development. I certainly have nothing against character development, but it can't be a patchwork effort. I enjoyed the ideas and the action but I just couldn't swallow the people :-)
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not compelling
Review: Legacy of Heorot is a good book but it does not have the quality of other Niven/Pornelle works such as Footfall or Lucifer's Hammer. For the most part the writing was uninspired and coupled with very little originality of ideas you are left with a merely average work of fiction. By far the most compelling aspect of this book was the action sequences - especially the final battle (as was the case with Footfall). The scenes between the action fall flat and fail to bring the story to its full potential, however. The character interaction became tiresome as the constant reminder of the hibernation instability was handled in a simplistic and repetitious manner. I am unclear how other readers percieved the characters as three dimensional unless they associate the presence of a character flaw as an indicator of complexity. A character defined solely by a flaw is no more complex than a character defined simply by a strength. If you are big Niven/Pournelle fan you will want to read this book but this book is at the bottom of my pile by those authors (admittedly a great pile).
Rating:
Summary: Maybe it shouldn't be a movie...
Review: I mean, yes, it's perfect in its action and the potential special effects, and the plot is PERFECT, but I saw Starship Troopers and I fear for the future of this story. The story doesn't even really begin until after you think it's over! If that sounds overly cryptic then read it! Incidentally I saw a leftist magazine bashing this book, presumably because Pournelle is a "right-wing extremist." Had the reviewer actually read this book, she would have realized that this is the most "eco-friendly" book this team has ever written. It shows the consequences of dealing with the environment the "easy way." And that's all I'm going to tell you.
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Summary: The Definitive Battle of Man Vs. Beast - A Classic!
Review: Wow. This one was quite well done. It really captures the harsh and alien environment, and how man's complacency can lead to terrible problems. The grendels are extremely intruguing and complicated (I loved seeing things from their perspective - there should have been more of that!). The ecological aspect was also very interesting - as usual Niven and Pournelle add some very psychological aspects to the book to make it a "smart" bloodbath. One note - STOP COMPARING IT TO ALIENS! I really think its nothing like it - its better, not similar.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional book
Review: I made the mistake of choosing Ringworld as my first Niven book, so it was with extreme hesitancy that I picked this one up. However, after reading the first 2 chapters, I knew I was in for a wonderful story. This book was enjoyable for many reasons: good plot (interesting parallels to Beowulf), fast pacing throughout (almost too fast), and SUPERB characterization... the authors do a splendid job of fleshing out both major and minor characters, even getting inside the heads of the aliens. As previous reviewers noted, this book could have ended about midway through, but the second half is the payoff.
Rating: 
Summary: 'Alien' meets the science of reality ...
Review: Fantastic. What all movies about aggressive First Contact should be like. A nightmare about the consequences of 'progress first'. From the first paragraphs the authors provide the reader with an image of Avalon so heavy with movement, sound, colour and emotion that reading it is as near as never mind to being there. The characters are dynamic and three-dimensional and as imperfect as any humans, and the plot is as driven by their flaws as it is by the danger posed by the frightening and explosively lethal Grendels. With fascinating plot-strands examining the consequences of cryo-technology, and a twist terrifying enough to make the most hardened industrialist examine the importance of eco-management, this is a book one can really call a page-turner. I was reluctant to eat while I read this book because it meant I had to put it down.
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Summary: If Movies Today had Such a Plot
Review: One of my major gripes with movies of the eighties and nineties is a lack of continuity. The whole plot seems to be a series of dis-jointed subplots, the commonality of which was left on the cutting room floor. What does that have to do with Legacy of Heorot? Well, of the three people I know who have read this book (including me) none were able to put it down in the first sitting until it was finished. It is so well thought and written that I was kept wanting more right up to the very end the way movies used to be. The wording of the novel let me envision Avalon - the pre-historic life; the barren hills; the grey wet skies; and the absolute lack of civilization or development. I was there, alone with the settlers, and that is what fascinated me so much. I never suspected the ramification of what the settlers are doing when they wipe out the Grendels and then suddenly it hits you! "What's going to happen!!?" To say the least the book was riveting and is! a definite must read. I would like to see it made into a movie if for nothing more to see if the pictures on screen as created by the film makers can even match the imagery produced in my own mind by three very talented writers.
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Summary: Alien's will never be the same
Review: When Alien was released, I was believing I saw the ultimate space monster. Clever, fast and deadly. I watched again that movie after reading "The Legacy of Heorot" and it seemed bland, straightforward, oversimple... In a surprising low number of pages, Niven's team created a incredibly rich world and characters and a credible, deadly, frightening threat. Avoiding the classic "multiple false ends" to relaunch the story over and over again, the authors put what would have been the end of Predator or Alien in the middle of the story, creating all the parameters for increasing danger and suspense! This construction is very clever and hooked me up until the end of the book, letting me panting and tense, as if I saw a suspense-loaded movie. I pictured every scene, carried by the evocative power of the authors, never disbelieving a single scene! Thank you, Larry, Jerry and Steven. I hope you will team up again to bring us more surprises!
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