Rating: 
Summary: A Lazy Niven Novel
Review: This novel shows most of Niven's faults as a writer since he realized that he doesn't write stories so much as travel brochures for the corners of his imagination.It has the cliche'd Niven Tourist Character (Whandall) wandering through life, figuring things out and bringing the reader along for the ride. However, there's never anything visceral to care about in the story. We don't have any reason to care about Whandall or any of the other characters in the book, and once you realize this entire exercise is the author going "Look at the cool setting I made!" it gets tiresome rather quickly. Niven has never been one for characterization, but once he had his "tourist epiphany" in the late '70s, his stuff has gotten less and less readable. The bits in the book by Pournelle do stand out, but there are fewer of them, given that it's Niven's playground they're in. I wish Pournelle had done more on this one. The social commentary aspects were particularly ham-handed. The society of Tep's Town in particular seems unlikely to have lasted for as long as it did to set up the story. I'll still buy anything they do together. I've gotten to the point where I only buy Niven if it's replacing something from the 70s or earlier, or if I've read it in a library first and want a copy.
Rating:
Summary: Disapointing, drawn-out, confusing, boring
Review: I was incredibly disappointed with this book... I must say that I look forward to reading any work by Niven and Pournelle, and thus bought this one eagerly. I started reading it that night. I put it down after reading for quite a while. It took me a long time to pick it back up again, because I found it so incredibly disappointing. I have had to read the book in stints, because I could not bring myself to read it. I force myself to, out of respect for the authors, but quite frankly, it wasn't worth the effort. If you are looking for good sci-fi to read, try almost any of their other books. Don't wast your time and money on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After reading all of Niven and Pournelle's collaborations over the years I was excited to see this book on the shelf. Unfortunately, there just isn't much to this book. The theme of the story is an obvious attempt to introduce social commentary about our present-day society, which is fine, but it just wasn't interesting. No profound thoughts are shared and there are no plot twists to keep you hanging on. It's very predictable and the characters forgettable. In fact, the entire story can be read in the first 3 paragraphs of Amazon's editorial review. All other details are superfluous. Maybe they were just due a mediocre one. They've had so many that were phenomenal.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantasy NOT Sci-fi
Review: The writing in "The Burning City" is quite good and almost up to the standards I expect from a Niven/Pournelle collaboration, but frankly not quite there.
If you like Fantasy as opposed to Sci-fi you'll probably like this book, but if you're looking for straight sci-fi pass it by. All this talk of wizards, magic, and "wild gold" stretches reality too far for me. I'll finish the last 50 pages because I always finish a book I start, but it really isn't bringing me a lot of pleasure.
To give you a context for my review I think Niven and Pournelles best collaboration was "Lucifer's Hammer" which I think would also be their most reality based work.
Rating:
Summary: get to the point!
Review: I kept waiting for the Niven and Pournelle magc that I have enjoyed so many times before. It never showed up. This book goes on and on and on. Finally, I dozed off and awoke with something else to read.
Rating: 
Summary: OldSciFiDog
Review: The Burning City by Larry Nivin and Jerry Pournelle What can I say that is not a cliché with these guys (they are masters, gods of tales ... etc.). This work compares very favorably with the best they have done (and they have done a lot - The Mote in Gods Eye and it's sequel, sans 18 years, "The Gripping Hand" being their best ... maybe). Every time I pick up one of their books I think this time, maybe I will be disappointed, but my only disappointment is that I'm never disappointed with them. What am I to do? This tale is written in Nivin's "The Magic Goes Away" universe and (of course) is consistent with his other tales of that vein. So, considering the source, I would classify this story as a fantasy, mystery, drama, action, humorous, tragic kinda tale. There is always a hint of mystery in what Nivin and Pournelle write, because you only know what the character knows - not before, never after (their characters never get an idea that is not passed on to the reader - that is one of the reasons they are gods). The story begins with describing the intricate social structure in which the principal character, Whandall Placeholder lives, and then leads you on to an amazingly believable life of this character, his family and friends (keeping in mind the parameters of this universe, which are described and adhered to). In reading this book, I found it to be fast, interesting and absorbing. While it seems to drag in a couple of places, this does NOT detract from the story. If this is your first visit to Nivin's "The Magic Goes Away" universe, then bon appetit - you will be hooked. I strongly recommend this book, and all others of these two versatile authors. I do like them. Have I made myself clear on this point? In summery, this tales needs to be told and read by everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Another quality novel from these two, if not their best.
Review: This is far from the most compelling book that these two authors have co-written. But that can not take away from the fact that they have written a solid book. As a coming of age novel this book is decent enough, with some fairly good ideas thrown into the mix. The writing is as aways very readable, and the story is paced well. Niven and Pornell write these sci-fi/fantasy with a comparatively slow paced storyline. I find this a rather relaxing change of pace from authors who feel a need to contrive odd events that don't fit into their story just because they assume that their readers don't have the attention span to read through a story that doesn't blow somthing up every two minutes. Overall this book has some interesting ideas, but they never really take off. In the end I was interested, but still couldn't care quite enough to call this a really good book.
Rating:
Summary: A complex world spiced with a coming of age story
Review: In the ancient world magic is fading, and Whandall is growing up in a city where its loss has led to civilization's collapse. He must fight his way to adulthood in a world gone crazy, where burning and fires are worsening every year. With Burning City, Niven and Pournelle create a complex world spiced with a coming of age story.
Rating:
Summary: Made me a convert
Review: I visit Pournelle's web site regularly for the computer stuff but as a devoted mystery and historical fiction reader I'd never read any of his science fiction. Several days ago a reader commented on Pournelle's site that a lot of people were trashing this book on Amazon. I happened to notice a copy at the library while I was picking up books for the kids so I checked it out. I started reading it at bedtime and ended up staying up until 3:30 a.m. to finish it. This really is a wonderful book. I stopped by the bookstore on the way home from work yesterday and bought this book in hardback because I know I'll want to reread it. I also picked up several other books by Pournelle and Niven. They sure converted me.
Rating:
Summary: Niven and Pournelle are the Best
Review: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are just the best writing duo around. They never disappoint. In The Burning City they take on the heroic fantasy novel and remake the genre. The magic actually holds together logically. The characters are interesting and complex and the story fascinates. If you are looking for another story about a quest to find the Bebob and kill Fozzel, give it a miss. But, if you want a good and thoughtful read, this is a great book...
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