Beowulf's Children

Rating:
Summary: Not as clever, but even more exciting than _Legacy_
Review: I find myself forced into the role of being a _Beowulf's Children_ apologist. I will have to admit right away that the ingenios ecology of _legacy of Heorot_ is missing from this book, and true, the sex can get embarassingly gratuitous, but...jeez louise, this book is so freaking action-packed I will forgive it anything. People who are used to books that telegraph characters' eventual fates by page six will find their best predictions stymied by this one. I swear, they must have rolled dice to decide which characters would live and which die. Ignore all the carpers who can't take a little mindless fun: this book is every bit as good as _Legacy_, leaps and bounds better than Niven and Pournelle's last effort (_The Gripping Hand_), and, like all Niven/Pournelle collaborations, at least eight times as good as anything either author has ever written solo (better than the Niven/Barnes books, too, lest Barnes be forgotten).

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but a little long winded.
Review: I found this book to be pretty good; however, it was definitely nothing outstanding. The story winds up being a little long winded, and I would have liked to learn what happened to Joe and Linda a little sooner. It just took too long. Also, I just did not find the anticlimax to be plausible. Grendels with a higher intelligence? I don't know. I could understand them interacting with the humans, but not on the level that Old Grendel was at the end. It just seemed a little far fetched considering the first book

Rating:
Summary: A poor sequel to Legacy of Heorot
Review: I got so bored with all the talk I had to skim it at the end. If you read the first line of every fourth paragraph, something occasionally happens. This is the third disappointment by Niven in the last three books (Gripping Hand and Ringworld Throne were equally disappointing). It's time to find another author. Too bad -- Niven wrote great stuff once. See Protector!!

Rating:
Summary: As luck would have it, some Grendels do have brains...
Review: I just read this long awaited sequel to the Pournelle, Niven and Barnes trio that gave us Legacy. While I did find that it lacked the pure sci-fi adrenaline of Legacy, it did give me a better incite into Cadmann's motives and the other originals that had "ice on their minds". Even the children, ignorant of the Grendal wars, have interesting dialogue and character development.It has been a very long time since I read Legacy and Beowulfs Children was confusing at times. Thankfully I was able to revert to the Personnel file at the beginning of the book to see where I was. Their story is a classic of Sci-fi taking us to the far reaches of the galaxy to only find that man and his infinite wisdom is bound to make the same mistakes over and over again only to find that the lessons learned from previous experiences are soon forgotten. I have often thought that the Legacy story and now this one would be a natural for a hi-tech director like James Cameron to exploit. The Grendel is a fine antagonist, showing only bits and pieces of it's personality and traits as the book reads on. Only upon the conclusion of the book do we find that there is hope man after all.

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't have been a sequel
Review: I liked this book, but I think it would have been impossible for me to love it. Legacy(the first book) was an action novel with a heavy ecology bent. Still, for me the focus was on the gripping battle between humans and beast. With the exception of the films Aliens, I have never found a thrilling sequel to a sci-fi monster book. The cool monster that was so tough in the first book has to be replaced by something better in the next. Somehow this rarely works for me. For example, the Shrike in Dan Simmon's Hyperion series has got to be one of the best evil beasts in all of sci-fi. The Endymion sequels have a more advanced model, but it has lost the originality. I think the authors realized they couldn't top the grendels, although they added a pretty lame ending to try and do it. So they focused on some ecological and sociological issues. The conflict between the first and second generation of interstellars colonists was interesting, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't expecting the energy of the first book.

Rating:
Summary: Different than the first, but still very good!
Review: I picked up The Legacy of Heorot the predecessor to this book a few months ago and read it thinking that it was a standalone piece. While browsing for books I found this sequel and grabbed it up having enjoyed the first book. Obviously, if you haven't read the first book go check out the reviews for it before reading any further.

The second book picks up about twenty years give or take after the events of the first. The next generation has grown into their own and are faced with the fact that their parents are much too cautious in exploring their adopted homeworld. Their parents, the characters from the first book, have built up their own system for making decisions. This takes into consideration their experiences with Grendals in the first book and the fact that most to varying degree were affected by their trip to the planet in hibernation. In the words of their children they have ice on their minds.

The new generation of children includes some that were embryos brought from earth born from artificial wombs. These children were raised among the colonists without a strict mother and father. The standout among these now grown bottle babies is Aaron Tragon. His leadership of the new generation is what sends them out to explore the unknown main continent.

Cadmann Weyland and the original group of colonists struggle to deal with the differing attitudes of this new generation which leads to conflict. The hostile nature of the planet itself comes into play as well giving this book a tense edge as after having seen the events of the first book the reader is left wondering what other dangers lurk on the main continent. When those dangers come to the fore they make for exciting and fascinating moments.

Overall the book is well thought out and a very good continuation of the previous storyline. Niven always seems to do his best work partnered with others, Pournelle and Barnes being the two that he has worked with the most. This book is no exception to this, although the focus on the hedonism of the younger generation doesn't seem to have much of a point and doesn't really go anywhere except to possibly outline the cultural differences between the Earthborn and Starborn. Other than that the book is tight and well crafted. I actually found it to be better than the first one overall.

The book's central conflict is resolved well, but there seems to be room for another sequel. Hopefully we will see that soon.

I'd probably give the book 4.5 stars as the original would get 4 and this one is slightly better.

Rating:
Summary: Different than the first, but still very good!
Review: I picked up The Legacy of Heorot the predecessor to this book a few months ago and read it thinking that it was a standalone piece. While browsing for books I found this sequel and grabbed it up having enjoyed the first book. Obviously, if you haven't read the first book go check out the reviews for it before reading any further.

The second book picks up about twenty years give or take after the events of the first. The next generation has grown into their own and are faced with the fact that their parents are much too cautious in exploring their adopted homeworld. Their parents, the characters from the first book, have built up their own system for making decisions. This takes into consideration their experiences with Grendals in the first book and the fact that most to varying degree were affected by their trip to the planet in hibernation. In the words of their children they have ice on their minds.

The new generation of children includes some that were embryos brought from earth born from artificial wombs. These children were raised among the colonists without a strict mother and father. The standout among these now grown bottle babies is Aaron Tragon. His leadership of the new generation is what sends them out to explore the unknown main continent.

Cadmann Weyland and the original group of colonists struggle to deal with the differing attitudes of this new generation which leads to conflict. The hostile nature of the planet itself comes into play as well giving this book a tense edge as after having seen the events of the first book the reader is left wondering what other dangers lurk on the main continent. When those dangers come to the fore they make for exciting and fascinating moments.

Overall the book is well thought out and a very good continuation of the previous storyline. Niven always seems to do his best work partnered with others, Pournelle and Barnes being the two that he has worked with the most. This book is no exception to this, although the focus on the hedonism of the younger generation doesn't seem to have much of a point and doesn't really go anywhere except to possibly outline the cultural differences between the Earthborn and Starborn. Other than that the book is tight and well crafted. I actually found it to be better than the first one overall.

The book's central conflict is resolved well, but there seems to be room for another sequel. Hopefully we will see that soon.

I'd probably give the book 4.5 stars as the original would get 4 and this one is slightly better.

Rating:
Summary: a major disappointment
Review: I read "Beowulf's Children" almost a year ago, but I'm still smarting over my degree of disappointment. If "Legacy Of Heorot" hadn't been so great, "Beowulf" wouldn't pale by comparison, but "LOH" is basically early Heinlein heroic fiction (from before he went down the tubes with "Stranger In A Strange Land," etc) updated and given more of a scientific basis. BTW, I thought that the sequels to "Dream Park" and "The Mote In God's Eye" were also major disappointments compared to the originals. On the other hand, "Ringworld Engineers" was better than "Ringworld."

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I really, really liked this book. I accidentally read it before Heorot, so I am shopping here to purchase it. However. I really liked this book and it was thrilling read. Very unpredictable and quite the Ecological Mystery. I Highly recommend Destiny's Road if you liked this book. Question...in Destiny's Road they say that Avalon quit communicating with Earth. In Beowulf's children they say that its the other way around, how do you reconcile that????

Rating:
Summary: At least as good as Legacy...
Review: I thought the book was a good read. First third was ok, the second third was good, and the final third was great. I thought there should have been more closure. There was a lot of repeated content. It seems to have been lengthened uneccesarily --Tim