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Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

519.0. "Legacy of Herot" by WARDEN::CHEETHAM () Mon Aug 24 1987 10:17

	A new Niven/Pournelle/Barnes novel called "Legacy of Herot" was 
reviewed in the sunday reviews over here this weekend.It got lousy reviews.
Anyone over there read it? Comments?

			Cheers
				Dennis
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519.1OpinionsNUTMEG::BALSEven the monkey needs a raincoatMon Aug 24 1987 12:4724
    Read the book a couple of weeks back. It's not great Niven and
    Pournelle, or even great Niven and Barnes (or even great Niven,
    or Pournelle, or Barnes :-)), but I thought it a good, quick
    entertaining read. A good book to pick up when its released in pb,
    I think, but nothing I'd recommend getting in hardcover unless you're
    a N/P/B freak with disposable income.
    
    Plot-wise (no spoilers here), the book deals with a colony that
    itself has to deal with an alien "monster." The theme deliberately,
    and rather heavy-handedly I felt, parallels the "Beowulf" saga. There's
    an interesting little plot-twist that you know is coming - as the
    original monster is disposed of early in the book - but is still
    a little surprising when you finally learn about it, especially
    as the alien creature's uh, "habits" are apparently based on a real
    Earth creature. 
    
    It's kinda like a literate "Aliens," if you can imagine such a 
    thing :-), with lots of side-commentary on the necessity of warriors
    in human society (probably the Pournelle influence) and the sexuality
    of colonies (probably the Barnes influence). For trivia buffs, there's
    a continuing in-joke reference to Heinlein's "Tunnel in the Sky."
    (probably the Niven influence).
    
    Fred
519.2Thats Legacy of Heorot (I think)MARX::TASCHEREAUWhatever it takesTue Aug 25 1987 16:4814
    Read this last week and have to agree with -.1.  Its not classic
    SF material but it is entertaining with just enough suspense(?)
    to keep the reader's interest.  The parallels to Beowulf are more
    than obvious (the alien monsters are nicknamed grendels; obvious
    enough?). The only things that I didn't really like about the book
    were: 1) The way the format of the story changed; from monster and
    human perspectives to a strictly human one, and 2) there were a
    couple of loose ends that really weren't resolved, though not major
    ones.
    
    Anyway, the hardcover was an SFBC selection of the month a couple
    of order forms back. I think it was about $5.95 (not bad).
                                
    -Steve
519.3Yup, HeorotIND::BOWERSCount Zero InterruptTue Sep 01 1987 14:256
    I'll add one more qualified positive - a good read, but not
    particularly profound.  I did think that the various
    hibernation-related disabilities were an interesting idea. In most
    early-colonization novels, whatever else may befall, the hibernation
    mechanism either works perfectly or kills people outright.
519.4with bloodshot eyesLOWLIF::SDAVISscott davisWed Dec 30 1987 19:076
    this is a late entry, but i just came on to the digital team.
    i couldn't put the book down.  i will admit that it won't bring
    world peace or anything like that, but i thought it was written
    extremely well.
    
    scott
519.5Good Beach BookMORGAN::SCOLAROA keyboard, how quaintMon Aug 08 1988 15:479
It is now out in pb.

I bought it on sat and am now about 1/3 done.

I think I have to agree with most previous responses.  Not having read 
Crichton's new book, but having listened to the discussion, I think 
Legacy of Herot may make a better "beach book".

Tony
519.6Good Book, Period.DRUMS::FEHSKENSMon Aug 08 1988 20:0511
    Another postive vote for Legacy of Heorot (see, not everything I've
    read was "disappointing").  The "bad guys" even merit some sympathy;
    they're just doing what they were "designed" ("selected" if you
    prefer) for.  Once into this, I couldn't put it down.
    
    Still, one wonders how the writing chores were parceled out amongst
    the three authors ("Uh, you come up with ideas, I'll write the first
    draft, and he can wordsmith it"?).
    
    len.
    
519.7SKITZD::MESSENGERAn Index of MetalsMon Aug 08 1988 20:235
    Another positive vote: I read it this weekend, and I liked it quite a bit.
    
    I think the alien biology was good (I mean, the parts they didn't
    steal from an African frog).
    				- HBM
519.8Quite goodHANZI::SIMONSZETOSimon Szeto @HGO, HongkongSat Aug 27 1988 09:573
    A lot better than _Sphere_, the other book I read on the plane between
    NH and HK. 
    
519.9Good work, destroy the eco-systemCOFLUB::WRIGHTThe Audio HammerMon Sep 12 1988 21:1513
    
    Well I am only a few weeks behind...
    
    In  general I liked it.  My only problem was with them destroying
    part of the eco-system, how are they going to handle that with the
    sequel (which they left themselves open for).
    
    And what is the grendels natural enemy?  Or is it the top of the
    food chain??
    
    grins,
    
    clark.
519.10Mommy got lost....SCOMAN::MULLANA one Trek mind...Tue Sep 13 1988 12:0610
    
    
    My understading was that they weren't natural to that part of Herot.
    The settlers thought that the mother came from the continent across
    the sea.  The last two questions you asked were presented by the
    settlers, along with the worry of - If we had this much problem
    with one, what are we going to do if we find more?
    
    
    -mishel
519.11Some Notes on the GrendelsFORTSC::MESSENGERDreamer FithpTue Sep 13 1988 17:1625
    More information about the Grendels follows [potential spoilers]
    
    The Grendels _themselves_ are a closed ecosystem. Adult Grendels eat
    Samlon (proto-Grendels) if they can't find anything else. Therefore,
    they hold their own population in check. This also explains why there
    are no other native animals where you find Grendels.
    
    The trick, of course, was not to kill them all. And when the Grendel
    population exploded, some of them did survive afterward, so the
    ecosystem restabilized itself.
    
    The Grendels also are semi-intelligent (a little brighter than a
    dog, maybe). But smart enough to understand what an adult Kzin told
    his son in _The Ringworld Engineers_: 
    
    Cub: 'Is it good to eat?' [refering to Louis Wu] 
    Adult: 'No.'
    Louis (thinking): 'You tell him, Daddy. It's safer to eat white
    arsenic than human meat.'
    
    The Grendels aren't likely to go after humans again.
    
    Larry Niven seems to have a penchant for ugly biological systems:
    witness the way Puppeteers reproduce...
    				- HBM
519.12MINAR::BISHOPTue Sep 13 1988 18:051
    Ok, I'll bite: how do Puppeteers reproduce?
519.13The Pupeteer Scoop!MEMIT1::SCOLAROA keyboard, how quaintTue Sep 13 1988 19:0313
Pupeteers have "3 sexes".

One is male, one is female the third can best be described as a host.

The male implants sperm, the female implants an egg in the host.

The hosts reproduce among themselves.

Niven was not specific about how the pupeteers young grow in the host, I 
assume they didn't eat it! (pupeteers are vegetarians!), so some 
symbosis is reasonable.

Tony
519.14How does this connect to Niven's penchant for ugly biology?ATSE::WAJENBERGMake each day a bit surreal.Wed Sep 14 1988 15:105
    Re .11 & .13
    
    That doesn't seem so terrible.
    
    ESW
519.15SPMFG1::CHARBONNDMos Eisley, it ain'tWed Sep 14 1988 19:324
    It would seem terrible if you were the third (host) sex puppetteer
    :-)
    
    re. 11 thanx for reminding me of my favorite SF scene ;-)