the GOLIATH STONE

It’s 2051 and a ‘dinosaur killer’ asteroid is heading for earth. Is this the same asteroid that the Watchstar people sent a rocket  with nanotechnology into outer space to meet twenty-five years ago? The craft’s mission was to bring the asteroid into earth’s orbit for mining purposes. But when the nanobots reached the asteroid, they were never heard from again. Welcome to the world of puzzlement and wonder. By that I mean it’s a world of: nanorobotics ( bots ) killing, or curing people; politics too muddled to understand ( at least for me ); indian tribes that are now the athletic and intellectual elite of the world; and people who could change their appearance and health by the type and amount of bots put into their system. I’ve read many of Larry Niven’s books, and this is the first time that I didn’t understand every concept. Is it his writing partner, Matthew Joseph Harrington’s fault? By the way, why do all these sci-fi writers take on partners? This book gave me a dose of author Vernor Vinge’s addling thoughts. I did like the book, but didn’t like having to refer to Wikipedia for scientific lucidity. Also as usual, Niven gets away with having way too many named characters by having a ‘cast and crew’ list in front of the novel. How about 51 notable personage, including the three main bot entities.

When The Briareus Project failed to bring back an asteroid into earth’s orbit for industrial mining, the company dissolved. However the main nano engineer, Dr. Toby Glyer, switched gears and became a physician in Switzerland who cures ailments with bots. Rocket scientist and test pilot May Wyndham is a patient/lover of Toby’s. They live in a world similar to Ayn Rand’s John Galt in Atlas Shrugged . By that I mean they live in their own world with discerning intellects who have given up on world politics and squabbles. The leader of The Joint Negotiating Alliance of Indian Affairs ( JNAIT ), Mycroft Yellowhorse, is in Toby’s circle of friends. His group is now recognized by most of the world as a nation, having their own currency and stamps. He is joined by a disillusioned and fired Department of Homeland Security analyst, Alice Johnson. These four will arrive in Ecuador against the backdrop of the Olympics ( the Indians filled with bots are dominating ) to figure out how to stop the 200 billion ton asteroid travelling at four miles per second and guided by nanorobotics.

Meanwhile China tries to stop the asteroid with catastrophic results ( you will have to read the novel to find out what happened ). Now it’s a race between the U.S.A. and the JNAIT to see who can build a spaceplane capable of stopping the asteroid. Both nations have good reasons to get there first. Meanwhile, the bots on the asteroid are watching all this transpire with their huge bot-made telescope! The second half of the novel is filled with tension and new developments. Like Niven’s Footfall , this is where he earns his reputation as one of sci-fi’s foremost authors. Whereas I might have been a little discombobulated with some of the scientific premises of the novel, It’s still classic Larry Niven and highly recommendable.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: I’m assuming that the reason for Niven’s partnerships with other authors is based on output. He can simply publish more books per year. His partners have included Edward M. Lerner, Robert Mandell, Jerry Pournelle, Stephen Hickman, Poul Anderson, Dean Ing, Gregory Benford, and illustrator, Sean Lam. These are all successful writers in their own right.

In Goodquotes.com, Larry was quoted as saying: “We need to take command of the solar system to gain that wealth, and to escape the sea of paper our government is becoming, and for some decent chance of stopping a Dinosaur Killer asteroid.” I’m assuming he was talking about the novel I just reviewed. Niven’s previous novel Bowl of Heaven written with Gregory Benford is not getting good reviews. Amazon shows a rating less than three stars with 129 customer reviews. This can’t be good news for Niven since I believe he wants Bowl of Heaven to be the first in a series similar to the many Ringworld novels.

I mentioned Poul Anderson in the first paragraph of this comment section. He was one of si-fi’s most prolific writers. He garnered seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards before he passed on in 2001. Some of his notable works (courtesy Wikipedia) are as follows:
Tau Zero -” Tau Zero is a hard science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. The novel was based upon the short story "To Outlive Eternity" appearing in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1967. It was first published in book form in 1970.”
The Broken Sword - “The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel written by Poul Anderson in 1954. It was issued in a revised edition by Ballantine Books as the twenty-fourth volume of their Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in January 1971.”
Hoka! - Hoka! is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson. It was first published by Wallaby in 1983.”
Earthman's Burden - “ Earthman's Burden is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson. It was first published by Gnome Press in 1957. The story "Don Jones" was original to this collection. “
There Will Be Time -”There Will Be Time is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. It was published in 1972 in a hardback edition by Doubleday and in 1973 in a paperback edition by New American Library.”