Juggler of Worlds: Is There an Echo in Here??
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Author: Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner
Title: Juggler of Worlds Genre: science Fiction The 3 Rs used to mean "Readin', Writin', and ‘Rithmetic"; these days it's more "reduce, reuse, recycle." Now on the cusp of his seventies, scifi legend (multiple Hugo, multiple Nebula winner) Larry Niven seems to be confusing the two versions - instead of "writin'," he's begun "recyclin'." Niven and his Fleet of Worlds co-author, Edwrd Lerner, collaborate once more on Juggler of Worlds. The new novel takes place in the same time frame asFleet, making Juggler likewise a prequel to Niven's classic Ringworld. Juggler's action, however, takes place mainly in Known Space, setting of dozens of Niven short stories written decades ago. Therein, as the Bard might say, lies the rub... A casual reader will enjoy Juggler, a hard scifi tale starring Sigmund Ausfaller - agent of Earth's UN. Ausfaller's natural talents - plenty of smarts and as much paranoia - serve him well as he investigates the disappearance of the Puppeteers from Known Space. He's well-matched by a character familiar to Niven fans, the Puppeteer scout Nessus, who's insane in his own right. Whether Nessus or Ausfaller is the titular "juggler" becomes a matter of interpretation. It may appear that Ausfaller is outmatched in a battle of wits, since his opponent has two heads instead of one, but the wily ARM holds his own across both decades and light years. Ausfaller, Nessus, and many other characters (Beowulf Shaeffer, Gregory "Elephant" Pelton, Nike, Carlos Wu...) will be familiar to Niven fans. In fact, the entire plot will seem familiar to Niven fans: it's a pastiche of (mostly) stories from his 1968 anthology Neutron Star, starting with Beowulf's discovery of a force that can penetrate a General Products hull ("Neutron Star") and continuing all the way to the events at Forward Station ("The Borderlands of Sol") - it even shoehorns in a story so far off the plotline that it's amusing: "The Soft Weapon." Everything's slightly altered in the "new" version, by changing the POV to third person and placing Sigmund at the center of the narrative; at least most of the time. The authors' method for trimming any dangling plot threads is, sadly, rather drastic. At the three-quarter mark, Juggler's plot catches up with Fleet and Sigmund joins the rebellious colonists of New Terra as they range ahead of the Puppeteer fleet. It's at this point that the plot becomes original. Unfortunately, it also becomes lackluster; much in the same way that Fleet seemed but a poor shadow of Niven's classic. As with Fleet, Niven and Lerner do little to increase the stature of the Ringworld cycle. As prequels go, it's basically par for the course: a weak effort to set a stage that needed no setting. As for the "homage" to Niven's forty-year-old short story collection? Though it was fun to see those stories again, I've already bought that book - a paperback that cost me a buck-fifty. Recommended only for Niven newbies, the nostalgic, or those of us rapidly gaining on senility. |