Pournelle, Niven and Barnes:- Legacy of Heorot

[L. Arkwright]

Pournelle, Nivern and Barnes:- Legacy of Heorot

Ok, I know its three different authors but they have to fit in somewhere. The book? Its a fantastic story. 200 humans and a ship full of frozen animal embryo's arrive at a planet called Tau Ceti four and set up a base on a small island next to a huge landmass. The planet is in its prehistoric stage with huge dinosaur like creatures roaming the mainland. The colony is a success. But they become lazy and one night something breaks in.
You really get the feeling of ordinary people doing there best to combat something totally monsterous in this novel, no ones gung-ho or an unstopable killing machine. They are just normal men and women doing there best.
The story is one of those books that you just cant put down and when you do you find yourself thinking about it. I truly believe that if this book was made into a movie and stayed true to the novel, it would superceed the Alien franchise. (And I love Alien)
You get a chance, read it. You really really wont be disapointed with it.

 

[ray gower]

I think I am going to keep an eye open for this one, it sounds a little like Brin's Uplift series, but hopefully with less waffle and some form of plot?

 

[L. Arkwright]

It has a very good plot and has a few twists and turns in it that do keep you guessing. The characters are believable people and although the setting is a colony on another world, this is handled very well so as with the people within the novel, it becomes a believable reality. Have a look Ray, its an intelligentlly written piece of work.

 

[Ice fyre]

I'm not going to knock the uplift series as I really liked it.

Actually they are really not that similar I thought.

This is about colonisation of a new world that is very hostile to the human species, it I think has more in common with Jaws myself.

 

[Pyan]

Yes, yes, yes! Thoroughly recommend it. best thing they ever did, in any combination of the authors.
There's a sequel, too, called Beowulf's Children.

 

[Ice fyre]

Ah so that's what it's called.

Indeed I've seen it in the library so I'm going to have to pick it up now.

Didnt they both write the burning god?

Now that was an odd book!

 

[vox]

I read both of these books some time back...gotta go back and re-read them and enjoy them all over again. I've read most of N&P's books multiple times, and thoroughly enjoy doing so every time.

 

[Lensman]

I confess I don't see the similarity with Brin's "Uplift" series either. A new colony world with a strange and deadly life-form... if I were to look for similar themes by other authors, I could mention Little Fuzzy by Piper and the prequel Anne MacCaffrey wrote to her "Dragonriders of Pern" series. There's one by Heinlein also-- is that Farmer in the Sky?

 

[EmperorClobbersaurus]

I think that this book, more than any others with Niven's name on the cover, has fantastic movie potential. I really enjoyed reading it. Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall come close behind.

 

[AE35Unit]

I loved this book.that and Dragons of Heorot,and it made me curious about the legend of Beowulf,which i later found,and read,in a book on mythology. And you really get the feeling that the Grendels are nasty pieces of work. Fabulous!

 

[yngvi]

I agree with the above comments, this is an excellent book. Cadman Wayland is a truly exceptional character who is very American (in a good way, a frontiersman).

I've re-read this book twice.

 

[Falco columbaris]

Great book! One of my favorites. I was rather disappointed with Dragons of Heorot (Beowulf's Children) possibly because I wanted more of Wayland. Also, of course, how do you get something that even grendels are afraid of..I didn't really think that the sequel followed up on some of the loose threads in Legacy. I particularly like the way that Niven incorporates mythology from so many cultures, both real and imagined. Here, even the name Wayland evokes a mythic quality (Wayland was the Celtic equivalent of Vulcan / Hephaestus - Wayland's Smithy is a Bronze Age barrow across the vale from the Uffington White Horse and Dragon Hill). Beowulf the poem casts a very long shadow over sci-fi. I recommend Seamus Heaney's wonderful poetic retelling or, even better, the original. But beware, the only way to read it is out loud and you may be taken for a loony! Hwaet! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum, theod-cyninga, thrym gefrunon, hu tha aethlingas ellen fremedon! (Hark! In elder days, we heard of the glory of the SpearDanes, the tribal kings, how noble princes showed great courage!)
Niven's Wayland is a classical hero in the mould of Beowulf, Yojimbo or the Man with No Name (we shall call you Trevor..) but flawed and well realised as are all his heroes.

 

[Falco columbaris]

But Wayland has rather more interior monologue than Deerslayer/Hawkeye/Leatherstocking and I rather got the impression he was Welsh rather than American.

 

[DrMclony]

This book was excellent. Legacy was one of my all time favourites, and deserves a place on any SF hall of fame listing made.

It's sequel "Dragons of Herot", while potentially a great story, was hampered by some of the worst editing I have ever seen. A real shame. More continuity flaws than any SF I have read. A great story was rendered awful by slackness.

Read the first one. Read it again. And again. And love it each time. Ignore the second until you have forgotten enough to let the first one go and just enjoy the reading for the readings sake without judgement. Once you finish the sequel, go back and reread the first book to remind yourself how great it was.