Rating: 
Summary: George Orwell Revised
Review: Fallen Angels is perhaps the most chilling dystopian tale of the future since Orwell's "1984"; but only if you're a pro-technology, pro-human creature. It portrays a future in which the objectivity of "materialist" science is "an invention of heterosexual, white males," and owning an unlicensed computer is a crime. While the anti-techology views are hyperbolized for dramatic purpose, the hyperbole is becoming closer to to reality as time goes by. The ice age portrayed in the story is not a result of measures taken to combat global warming, but is a result of the fact that global warming never happened. The dumbing down of the general populace, particularly among the civil service, will be familiar to anyone who's had to deal with the gov't in recent years. The story admirably demonstrates the silliness of political correctness, and the difference between tolerance and structured thinking. If you're still considering buying this book, buy two. Send the 2nd copy to a friend, a relative, or better yet, your Congressman.
Rating:
Summary: Fallen Angels: Environmentalists are the Villans Here
Review: Fallen Angels, in the guise of science fiction, gives us a look at a possible future using real science, not the pseudo-science of today's environmental mysticism movement. It helps that two of the novel's three authors are scientists as well.Fallen Angels focuses on a U.S. government that has been taken over by socialists and anti-technology environmentalists (Al Gore anyone?). Individual rights and freedom of choice are no longer priorities in this new regime. It's more important to get rid of technology that may be (or may not be) harmful to the environment. The only problem with this is that when one puts a stop to the advancement of technology, one also puts a stop to human achievement and the human spirit. And who are the protagonists of the book? Science fiction fans. Now that is worth the price of the book alone.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Good book. Glimpse into the world of fandom for those of us who don't participate. Good story about what happens when voodoo replaces common sense. Although some of the context (misguided eco-science might be outdated already, some (fear of science, teaching religious text as science) is not. Good story line too. A good romp.
Rating: 
Summary: Underground Trekkies
Review: Good entertaining speculative fiction with a surprising and unusual perspective!
OK, this book is not great Sci-Fi. It reads like an old StarTrek episode, or even more like Galaxy Quest! I was inspired to write because of the negative reviews about this book. A writer accused anyone who likes this book as being "Braindead" and a "Rush Limbaugh dittohead".
Yes, in this book, the environmentalists are the bad guys.
Unfortunately, most people in the environmentalist community act more on feelings than science. Worse yet, most of our environmental POLICY is shaped by feelings and not science.
This book is science fiction. It offers the scientifically sound POSSIBILITY that the environmentalists are wrong. In real life they often are. Many people are. If your strong political feelings make you take offense at a work of fiction that even suggests that you might be wrong, then you are not a good candidate to read or criticize speculative fiction. In fact, interesting unexpected possible futures are what real science fiction fans are usually curious about. To the writer who called Pournell fans (that's the rest of us reading this) braindead Rush Limbaugh dittoheads- what are your credentials?
Here are the credentials of Fallen Angels author Larry Pournelle (copied from the Science Fiction Book Club) - Pournelle boasts a fleet of degrees from the University of Washington: a B.S. in psychology and mathematics, an M.S. in experimental statistics and systems engineering, and PhD.s in both psychology and political science. An energetic proponent of technological progress, Pournelle serves as chairman of both the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy and the Lunar Society, Inc. He worked on human factors for the early space program, creating proposals that led to the development of on-board computers and more. The Air Force Academy still uses his nonfiction 1970 work, The Strategy of Technology (co-written with S.T. Possony), as a textbook. Always a trailblazer, Pournelle was one of the first authors to use a computer (as far back as the late 1970s) for his fiction and nonfiction writing; his first personal computer, EZEKIEL, is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "Chaos Manor," his column of computer punditry, was a monthly mainstay in Byte until the magazine folded in 1998.
Rating:
Summary: The lady doth protest too much, methinks
Review: Good entertaining speculative fiction with a surprising and unusual perspective!
OK, this book is not great Sci-Fi. It reads like an old StarTrek episode, or even more like Galaxy Quest! I was inspired to write because of the negative reviews about this book. A writer accused anyone who likes this book as being "Braindead" and a "Rush Limbaugh dittohead".
Yes, in this book, the environmentalists are the bad guys.
Unfortunately, most people in the environmentalist community act more on feelings than science. Worse yet, most of our environmental POLICY is shaped by feelings and not science.
This book is science fiction. It offers the scientifically sound POSSIBILITY that the environmentalists are wrong. In real life they often are. Many people are. If your strong political feelings make you take offense at a work of fiction that even suggests that you might be wrong, then you are not a good candidate to read or criticize speculative fiction. In fact, interesting unexpected possible futures are what real science fiction fans are usually curious about. To the writer who called Pournell fans (that's the rest of us reading this) braindead Rush Limbaugh dittoheads- what are your credentials?
Here are the credentials of Fallen Angels author Larry Pournelle (copied from the Science Fiction Book Club) - Pournelle boasts a fleet of degrees from the University of Washington: a B.S. in psychology and mathematics, an M.S. in experimental statistics and systems engineering, and PhD.s in both psychology and political science. An energetic proponent of technological progress, Pournelle serves as chairman of both the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy and the Lunar Society, Inc. He worked on human factors for the early space program, creating proposals that led to the development of on-board computers and more. The Air Force Academy still uses his nonfiction 1970 work, The Strategy of Technology (co-written with S.T. Possony), as a textbook. Always a trailblazer, Pournelle was one of the first authors to use a computer (as far back as the late 1970s) for his fiction and nonfiction writing; his first personal computer, EZEKIEL, is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "Chaos Manor," his column of computer punditry, was a monthly mainstay in Byte until the magazine folded in 1998.
Rating: 
Summary: SF Fan, Be Your Own Hero!
Review: Here's a science fictional love letter to fans from Niven, Pournelle and Flynn, where the readers themselves are the heroes who romp over the villains of the piece to save the world. The story's designed to please faithful sf followers, and is all the more enjoyable for those who know anything about SF fandom. The trio told an audience at the 1991 World Science Fiction Convention that the characters in this novel were composites of 130 fans they knew. Niven and Pournelle caricatured their friends at the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (including myself -- "Mike Glider") and Flynn based his contributions on fans he knew on the East Coast.
Rating: 
Summary: This book sucks!
Review: I bought this book on the basis of the author's name. I've been reading Larry Niven for 20 years and have come to expect quality hard science fiction with interesting plot lines. This book was a real disappointment. Against my better judgement, I kept reading hoping for the story to develop. It never happened. The plot in this book is a series of barely connected vignettes written solely to stroke the egos of some superweirdos that attend science fiction conventions. The atrocious writing made me doubt that the book was even written by Larry Niven. Money spent on this book might as well have been dropped into a black hole
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe I Read It
Review: I can't remember if I finished this one or not. If I did finish it, I can't remember what happens at the end. Some sort of nonsense about science fiction readers outfoxing some environmentalists who control our government. It was an embarrassment to read, in a lot of ways. Not offensive, but incredibly stupid. You feel like you don't want to be the sort of person who reads science fiction, after reading this book. And I read the book because Larry Niven's name was attached to it. For heaven's sake, don't let this be the only Larry Niven book you ever read. I can heartily recommend RINGWORLD or A WORLD OUT OF TIME, but virtually anything he wrote is more enjoyable, even his other collaborations (although a few of those get pretty bad, as well). But this one is really bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun book about Fandom or Scary Political Diatribe...
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, as a fun jaunt through the stranger folks inhabiting the world of science fiction fandom. The book is about an exciting rescue executed by a group that is famously known for not being able to decide where to meet for dinner... for a full day. It is fun, as such. On the other hand, in this book, the enemy is the "Greens". This group includes those who consider burning fossil fuels to be a bad idea, along with the crystal-people, and those who believe in magic. Obviously, by grouping all of these folks together, Niven et al. can deliver a scathing diatribe against these irrational creatures that are destroying the Earth. This part of the book, I found a bit hard to take. So, overall, it's a fun romp through fandom, but don't take the political rants too seriously, or you'll get a stomachache.
Rating:
Summary: Bad book by a great author
Review: I love Niven's books, But I have to say that this is my least favorite by him. it's basically written for a very select audience, Sci fi fans who go to conventions, which is great, but i don't think it holds up well outside of that.If this is the only niven you read, you definatley need to read almost anything else by him.Great writer, bad book.
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