Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing sequel to a great book
Review: We all knew that "Legacy" is an extremely difficult act to follow. Unfortunately, the pressure that the authors were under shows on Beowulf. It is strained and patchy. May be the society that evolved on Avalon is too futuristic to make sense to us but trying to sound outlandish just by strange sexual rituals feels a bit naive.Not that there are some good efforts at trying to come up with good ideas. I liked the parts from grendel's viewpoint best. And there is even an attempt at the explanation of how intelligence might have come about (at least for grendels): disease. Unfortunately, the suspense is lacking. The mysterious killers that are repelled by (I won't say what it is for people who may read the book) .... are no surprise, really. Although the ecology of Avalon is explained in detail I still had to push myself hard to imagine the planet. I didn't have that problem with Legacy. The telling was so graphic, I felt immersed in the first novel of the series. The characters are vaguely defined. I usually develop strong feelings such as "like and hate" for the main characters in any book I read. With Beowulf, this was very difficult. I couldn't even visualize them. They are too thinly spread, in my opinion. Still, for any lover of the Legacy, this is a must read. Just don't raise your expectation too high or you will be as dissapointed as me. IF there is another book to come (and I must say I hope there isn't because I don't see how they will be able to recover after losing so many critical characters and not being able to create any new ones with real substance) I hope they do a better job of it. One final remark: the edition that I read was horrible. There were several mistakes. It was sloppy work and this added to the disappointment I felt. The 3 stars I am giving may even be too much, but I'm doing it out of my respect for Larry Niven who happens to be one of my favourite authors along with David Brin. I I hope your next one is better Mr. Niven.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first one.
Review: While it may not be as good as the first the writing is better, it is also a nice return to see how the charactors have got on after the first story. I always see films and read books and want to know what happens next, i wanted to see how earth was rebuilt after independance day, you know the feeling. This novel does that, it also goes further and is a very good story in its own right, unfortunatley the science is not as convincing as in nivens other novels.
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