Friday, June 14, 2013

The Man-Kzin Wars-Larry Niven, Poul Anderson and Dean Ing

The Man-Kzin Wars


Larry Niven, Poul Anderson and Dean Ing

Baen, Jun 4 2013, $15.00

ISBN: 9781451639001



“The Warriors” by Larry Niven. The Golden Age’s three centuries of prosperity and peace come to an end when humanity and kzinti meet for the first time as the former are tranquil and the latter belligerent. Shockingly the humans survive.



“Iron” by Poul Anderson. In an undeveloped sector, the humans and the kzin learn of a ship belonging to neither side that allegedly has ancient technology that would give the side that possesses the vessel the edge in the hostilities between the races. Both sides send a retrieval force to Tiamet.



“Cathouse” by Dean Ing. The human Locklear finds himself on a strange planet struggling to survive while the kzin hunt him. When he stumbles into creatures locked in suspended animation, he takes a chance by awakening one. Kit is a female kzin, but not the usual obedient breeding cattle as she lived millenniums before the change.



This is a reprint celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first The Man-Kzin Wars science fiction thriller. Although showing some aging and with flaws (Lloyds of London would have made the kzin overwhelmingly favorites), each tale is fun but very different as Larry Niven introduces the first encounter; Poul Anderson provides a synopsis of Known Space; and Dean Ing writes about a rare sentient female kzin.



Harriet Klausner

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