Rating: 
Summary: A brilliantly realized concept
Review: "The Integral Trees" is an excellent novel by science fiction great Larry Niven. Here is the premise: The earth star ship Discipline discovers the "Smoke Ring," a donut-shaped atmosphere inhabiting a neutron star. Life has evolved in this Smoke Ring, which is a virtually gravity-free environment. The "landscape" (if you could call it that) of the Smoke Ring is dominated by the massive plants known as the Integral Trees.But 500 years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew have evolved into a new sub-species of humanity, a sub-species whose physiology and culture is geared towards this environment. "The Integral Trees" is the story of these people, and of the Discipline's still active artificial intelligence. Niven has succeeded in creating a world which is both truly alien and profoundly human. This is a classic of late 20th century science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliantly realized concept
Review: "The Integral Trees" is an excellent novel by science fiction great Larry Niven. Here is the premise: The earth star ship Discipline discovers the "Smoke Ring," a donut-shaped atmosphere inhabiting a neutron star. Life has evolved in this Smoke Ring, which is a virtually gravity-free environment. The "landscape" (if you could call it that) of the Smoke Ring is dominated by the massive plants known as the Integral Trees. But 500 years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew have evolved into a new sub-species of humanity, a sub-species whose physiology and culture is geared towards this environment. "The Integral Trees" is the story of these people, and of the Discipline's still active artificial intelligence. Niven has succeeded in creating a world which is both truly alien and profoundly human. This is a classic of late 20th century science fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Larry Who??
Review: After reading this book I realized that Larry Niven must have been killed and replaced by a pod person. It's hard to believe that this piece of inane drivel was written by the author of Ringworld. A straight description of the physics of a toroidal gas ring would have been more interesting than this book.
Rating:
Summary: Larry Who??
Review: After reading this book I realized that Larry Niven must have been killed and replaced by a pod person. It's hard to believe that this piece of inane drivel was written by the author of Ringworld. A straight description of the physics of a toroidal gas ring would have been more interesting than this book.
Rating:
Summary: Niven's science is far-out yet still believable
Review: Are planets really necessary? This is the question that Larry Niven has asked perhaps as often as any writer in history, and he presents some more of his most fascinating answers in this marvelous sci-fi adventure novel. Somewhere in another solar system, the atmosphere from a dying planet has leaked out into a vast gas torus in which live enormous trees, anchored solely by gravity, gathering light from the sun and nutrients from the thin
atmosphere, and strangely enough, inhabited by a society of hunters and gatherers. Life has been getting tougher on the tree recently; so much so that partly in desperation, and partly out of malice, the Chairman sends an adolescent boy, a student of the sciences, and a powerful young hunter up the trunk of the tree with a ragtag bunch of misfits to find food to save the tribe - or failing that, to die trying. Following the adventures of this group provides a keen insight into their unique culture and how it has survived, but gives only a few clues as to where they came from and why. Balancing the hunting party's amazing adventures is a series of interludes featuring the Checker, a distant, computerized personality who has a strange fascination with the fledgling society. Niven's combination of dry scientific records and intimate sociological observations teases the reader into playing anthropologist, trying to piece together what exactly happened to create this situation in the first place. Beyond this, there's plenty of action and more than a few total, out-of-the-blue-sky surprises, so readers should find this story as entertaining as it is intriguing. Moreover, Niven's ability to make his scientific points believably is unparalleled. While not as philosophically daring as Ringworld or The Mote in God's Eye, this is a top-notch sci-fi adventure for readers of all ages.
Rating:
Summary: Niven's science is far-out yet still believable
Review: Are planets really necessary? This is the question that Larry Niven has asked perhaps as often as any writer in history, and he presents some more of his most fascinating answers in this marvelous sci-fi adventure novel. Somewhere in another solar system, the atmosphere from a dying planet has leaked out into a vast gas torus in which live enormous trees, anchored solely by gravity, gathering light from the sun and nutrients from the thin
atmosphere, and strangely enough, inhabited by a society of hunters and gatherers. Life has been getting tougher on the tree recently; so much so that partly in desperation, and partly out of malice, the Chairman sends an adolescent boy, a student of the sciences, and a powerful young hunter up the trunk of the tree with a ragtag bunch of misfits to find food to save the tribe - or failing that, to die trying. Following the adventures of this group provides a keen insight into their unique culture and how it has survived, but gives only a few clues as to where they came from and why. Balancing the hunting party's amazing adventures is a series of interludes featuring the Checker, a distant, computerized personality who has a strange fascination with the fledgling society. Niven's combination of dry scientific records and intimate sociological observations teases the reader into playing anthropologist, trying to piece together what exactly happened to create this situation in the first place. Beyond this, there's plenty of action and more than a few total, out-of-the-blue-sky surprises, so readers should find this story as entertaining as it is intriguing. Moreover, Niven's ability to make his scientific points believably is unparalleled. While not as philosophically daring as Ringworld or The Mote in God's Eye, this is a top-notch sci-fi adventure for readers of all ages.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the third book?
Review: As always, Niven's books are the best. But the third book
in the Smoke Ring series seems to be missing in action.
In a reply to a letter I wrote him about 10 years ago, he said it
would be about five years before "The Ghost Ships" would be
published. I have even seen an excerpt of it with that title.
Where or when is it? Was the title changed?
Thank Yo
Rating:
Summary: Highly original concept, expertly executed
Review: Centuries ago, the totalitarian State, governing Earth, sent out ships to terraform and put Earth life on other worlds. One of them, Discipline, controlled by the self-aware computer, Kendy, finds a habitable area which is not a world, but rather a habitable gas ring around a neutron star, the gas constantly being renewed by a planet spewing forth gas. In the habitable torus, life has evolved, notably trees shaped like an integral sign (an elongated S) Due to tidal effects, there is even gravity in the tufts on its end. The crew, convinced they have found paradise, explore the ring and do not return to Discipline. Kendy, unable to retrieve his crew, is out there waiting. And waiting . . . The story focuses on a group of descendants of the crew, living in the tuft of such a tree. Forced to abandon their dying tree portion, they are cast forth into the void, braving the Smoke Ring's wildlife until they fall into a jungle of vegetation. And then, they are captured by a civilization which still maintains some of Discipline's technology . . . Like many of Niven's books, this is set in a place most unlikely to occur, but which (who knows?) just might be out there. And the science is very carefully worked out. The characters (I particularly liked Jeffer, the Scientist) are well drawn, far better than the cookiecutter characters you often see in hard science fiction. A delight to read and a compelling page turner.
Rating: 
Summary: Great concept, real characters.
Review: Even though this story is based in a world that is almost incomprehensible to us as earthbound humans, the struggles and characters are very real. Fastpaced and exciting. Worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Great concept, real characters.
Review: Even though this story is based in a world that is almost incomprehensible to us as earthbound humans, the struggles and characters are very real. Fastpaced and exciting. Worth the read.
| 
