Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Absorbing
Review: Unlike Ms. Bartholomew, I found the book charming and quite a bit of fun. And that is how it was written, I believe; somewhat tongue-in-cheek, a fun romp through someone else's garden.I don't really care that the main themes harken to our own era and Los Angeles's particular peculiarities; it makes for an interesting arc and wrap-up. The characters are intriguing and not overblown; for example, when was the last time a magician character had actual flaws and had to be helped, instead of just being the deus ex machina to pull the hero's chestnuts out of the fire? Gandalf? These characters all have flaws, as well as admirable attributes, making them well-rounded. By the time you finish the book, you want to follow their adventures some more. If you're reading The Burning City to find the child of Tolkien, you won't be happy. If you take it on it's own merits (instead of grinding a personal axe, as a couple other reader-reviewers obviously have), the book is as good a new fantasy read as you're likely to see this year.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry Jerry
Review: Boy, this review is hard to do as Pournelle is a favorite author of mine, and I have read some of the Porunell/Niven collaborations many times. Unfortunately, The Burning City will not be on my re-read list. The plot premise is good, but the moral was too "in your face". The characters were flat, the dialog (? was there dialog), and adjectives were lacking. Sorry fellas.
Rating:
Summary: Rather an Enjoyable Book
Review: Okay, it's not the Mote in God's Eye. But after all, it's set in a universe that's already been covered with quite a few stories, so it CAN'T have the shock of newness that Mote had. But it's quite an enjoyable story. Yes, it has cool insider references that may annoy some readers and elude others (but so did "Jurgen") but the story stands on its own. What, you read a story of heroic myth and coming-of-age and your disappointed because it fits the genre? I just don't understand these other reviews. I think that most Niven and Pournelle readers will enjoy it. I know I did.
Rating:
Summary: Been There, Done That
Review: So! It's 12,000 years ago and Los Angeles is precisely the way it will be in the NEXT 12,000 years - territorially predatory gangs living off a passive middle class; equally voracious upper class preying off both the lower classes; a world-wide wretched reputation for violence; and hordes of tourists avidly waiting for the natives to do something horrible and entertaining. Oh, yes, and there's no rapid transit and you can't even get out of the city in a vehicle without a miracle. As a native Angeleno myself (as well as a survivor of the last Burning) I must admit to a sort of contemptuous admiration for the generally slick way Mssrs. Niven and Pournelle portray our native madhouse. However, they have not bothered to develop an original skeleton for their story, instead using the geography, culture and history already spread out for their use - even the place names are the broadest vaudeville, rendered with a huge wink and a clumsy leer. Sylmar as Marsyl, anyone? The Barbar Mountains, just a little ways North on the coast, shelter a town known for arts, crafts and money. And they don't even bother to change the name of Gorman at the crest of the Grapevine. The skin they spread over these borrowed bones is pretty thin, as well: a coming of age story that seems to draw on both Twain and Dickens, but doesn't hold the course quite as well as either. Its troubled hero, inexplicably and unconvincingly cut from better cloth than his gang-banger family, lights out for the territories and is saved from himself and his insane tutelary diety by the love of a good woman. Yawn. Granted, the writing and characterisation are markedly better than the last couple of Mr. Niven's solo efforts. Possibly we can thank Mr. Pournelle for that. However, this is the thinnest sort of fantasy; there is no sense of wonder evident, no original thought, hardly even an original landscape. Simply stating that this is a fantasy novel doesn't make it one, especially when the plot leans heavily on the post-Rodney King Christopher Report. Even populating the Tehatchapis with bison and South American terror birds does not lend a sufficiently fantastical air to this top-heavy morality tale. Perhaps Mr. Niven being Dohenykin made it all seem like a clever pastiche when they concieved this, but the sad fact is that it shows a tragic paucity of magic for the reader. A pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Stop Them Before They Collaborate Again!
Review: Let me make this point right off. I thought "The Mote in God's Eye" was possibly the best SF novel I've ever read. "Inferno" and "Lucifer's Hammer" were very good. "Oath of Fealty" was not bad. "Legacy of Heorot" even better. "Footfall" was almost as good as "Mote." Then there was a long gap at the end of which we got "The Gripping Hand," the sequel to "Mote." Never have I waited so eagerly for a book and been so disappointed. The problem? Basically, the book was DULL. Dull plot, dull characters, dull exposition, dull dialogue. It's been another few years since "Hand" came out and I was hoping the new Pournelle-Niven collaboration would make it the exception that proves the rule. Wrong. It is just exactly as boring as "Hand" without even the saving grace of familiar characters. I am not surprised that I am only the second person to review this book even though it came out several weeks ago. I pre- ordered it and it has taken me this long to force my way through it. I blame Niven. His last few solo works, "Destiny's Road," "Rainbow Mars" and "The Ringworld Throne" are exactly the same kind of insomnia-curing works as "The Burning City." Also, Niven seems to have abandoned any interest in entertaining the reader and seeks only to instruct us like dull school kids. "City" is apparently some kind of parable about the creation of modern society, but the material is so thin that it wouldn't support a decent short story. Nothing really interesting happens until the last 50 pages and that isn't worth the wait. On the other hand, Pournelle's recent works, like "Starswarm" and his "Falkenberg" books in collaboration with S.M. Stirling have been well-crafted, compelling works of fiction. More please. I have heard that a sequel to "The Burning City" is already being written. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Rating:
Summary: BURNIN' DOWN THE HOUSE
Review: It's a great place to live; nice schools, convenient to the ocean, plenty of tattooed gangs making life interesting. Every so often the fire god makes everyone crazy and they burn the town down, but it's always rebuilt almost as good as new. Actually it's a madhouse, and Whandall Place wants out. In the universe of Niven's THE MAGIC GOES AWAY, he and co-author Pournelle craft a thick story of a boy's coming of age in a world of almost scientific magic. We robots value Pournelle for his knowledge of science; here he and Niven take on a pre-scientific world with equal success.It's thick as a brick and not always smooth, but it's a good read and full of interesting ideas. Just, er, don't smoke while reading it. Just in case.
Rating: 
Summary: Some great reviews for THE BURNING CITY...
Review: "Vivid and usual...well worth investigating." -- Kirkus Reviews "...the co-authors' creativity is with them as they build a detailed world containing classical and Native American elements....another absorbing book from [Niven and Pournelle] and bodes well for yet more of their collaborations." -- Roland Green, Booklist.
Rating:
Summary: Joint Review of The Burning City and Burning Tower
Review: This is actually 2.5. These 2 books are fantasy novels set in a human prehistory in which magic exists. The twist to this idea is that magic is based on a naturally occurring but non-renewable resource called manna (what else). In some ways, this is an attempt at an allegory of contemporary dependence on petroleum products. Against the backdrop, Niven and Pournelle set a series of stories about a period when manna is really drying up. The first book, The Burning City, is a bildungsroman about a young man growing up in a relatively magicless community with an unusual social structure and his later adventures in the greater world. The second book, Burning Tower, is a quest story in which the heroes, related to the heroes of The Burning City, search for powerful wizards manipulating magic in a malignant way.
These are not particularly well written books. Plots are haphazardly developed, characterization is weak, and good descriptive writing is conspicuous by its absence. The Burning City, in particular, is marred by some poorly developed allegory. Neither Niven nor Pournelle are gifted writers though some of their previous work, both individually and in collaboration, is considerably better than either of these books. Neither of these books come close to matching their best work, The Mote in God's Eye, a very good novel.
Given these deficiencies, the books succeed or fail on the authors' ability to weave traditional mythology and prehistory into their premise. Here, they are only modestly successful. Their use of mythic elements is relatively superficial. I can recommend these books only to hard core Niven-Pournelle fans, and then only if they purchase these books at a discount.
Rating:
Summary: Wake up Jerry!
Review: I read books based on author and I picked this one up because Jerry Pournelle, in large part, wrote it. I loved his Janissaires series, which he never finished (grrr!), but this one I just can't get into. Vacuous and disjointed are the best descriptive words I could come up with. Mr. Pournelle, and I'm sure his pubisher feels the same way, needs to FOCUS more on his book writing and less on such frivolous use of his time prattling on about the mundane on his web site. And finish Janissaires! I could have written the damn thing myself by now...
Rating:
Summary: I wanted it to be good, but it wasn't
Review: Niven has taken his previous worst book "Destiny's Road", and rewritten it in a new context. The characters are the same, the journey is the same, and the disjointed and dead ended plot line writing style is the same. Aweful...just aweful. This is from a reader who thinks Niven's previous work is some of the definitive Science Fiction works in existance.
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