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Destroyer of Worlds (Ringworld Prequels) Audio CD – Unabridged, November 10, 2009

by Larry Niven (Author), Edward M. Lerner (Author), Tom Weiner (Reader)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 656 ratings
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This book is a prequel to the Ringworld series, which is considered a classic of the science fiction genre.

Two hundred years before the discovery of Ringworld

The newly liberated humans of the Fleet of Worlds now face a new threat besides the sly Puppeteers: the Pak, a very smart and utterly ruthless species who are fleeing the exploding galactic core in an armada of ships at near light speed. The Pak are headed toward the Fleet of Worlds, having destroyed entire planets in their wake. Sigmund Ausfaller, who had been transported by the Puppeteers from Earth to the Fleet, is now sent with his human allies to reconnoiter and divert the Pak. A Pak is captured, but even a well-guarded Pak prisoner can be lethal. Sigmund and the human colonists must cope with many unpleasant surprises between the manipulative Puppeteers, the brilliant, violent Pak, and a new species called the Gw'oth, who seem to be allies but have their own agenda.

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Previous page
  1. Book 3 of 5
    Fleet of Worlds
  2. Print length
    10 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Blackstone Publishing
  5. Publication date
    November 10, 2009
  6. Dimensions
    5.26 x 1.12 x 5.76 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1441717307
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1441717306
  9. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An absorbing mix of problems and puzzles and conflicts, space battles and interrogations and negotiations, shot through with fresh takes on familiar tropes and themes. It more than holds its own in the Known Space canon, which ought to be recommendation enough.

-- "Locus"

Good, old-fashioned SF, packed with ideas, philosophical musings, and plenty of space action.

-- "Library Journal"

Old-fashioned cerebral science fiction, with a huge array of fascinating aliens, subtle interactions between them, and knotty problems for them to solve.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

The plethora of aliens and action will appeal to Niven stalwarts and fans of old-fashioned hard SF.

-- "Booklist"

About the Author

Larry Niven is the multiple Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award-winning author of science fiction short stories and novels, including the Ringworld series, as well as many other science fiction masterpieces. His Footfall, coauthored with Jerry Pournelle, was a New York Times bestseller.



Edward M. Lerner worked in high tech and aerospace for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president, for much of that time writing science fiction as his hobby. Since 2004 he has written full-time. His novels range from near-future technothrillers, like Small Miracles and Energized, to futuristic mysteries, like The Company Man, to such traditional SF-adventure fare as Dark Secret and his InterstellarNet series. Collaborating with Larry Niven, he also wrote the space-opera epic Fleet of Worlds series of Ringworld companion novels. His 2015 novel, InterstellarNet: Enigma, won the inaugural Canopus Award "honoring excellence in interstellar writing." His fiction has also been nominated for Locus, Prometheus, and Hugo awards. In shorter forms, his writing has appeared in anthologies, collections, and many science fiction magazines and websites. He also writes about science and technology, most notably including Trope ing the Light Fantastic: The Science behind the Fiction.



Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blackstone Publishing; Unabridged edition (November 10, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 10 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1441717307
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1441717306
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.26 x 1.12 x 5.76 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 656 ratings

About the authors

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Previous page
  1. Larry Niven

    Larry Niven

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    LARRY NIVEN is the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of the Ringworld series, along with many other science fiction masterpieces. He lives in Chatsworth, California. JERRY POURNELLE is an essayist, journalist, and science fiction author. He has advanced degrees in psychology, statistics, engineering, and political science. Together Niven and Pournelle are the authors of many New York Times bestsellers including Inferno, The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, and Lucifer's Hammer.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Edward M. Lerner

    Edward M. Lerner

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    A physicist and computer engineer, Edward M. Lerner toiled in the vineyards of high tech for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president. Then, suitably intoxicated, he began writing full time.

    His novels range from near-future technothrillers, like Small Miracles and Energized, to futuristic mysteries, like The Company Man, to such traditional SF-adventure fare as Dark Secret, Deja Doomed, and his InterstellarNet series. Collaborating with Larry Niven, Lerner also wrote the space-opera epic Fleet of Worlds series.

    But Ed doesn't limit himself to novels. His writings on science and technology centerpiece Frontiers of Space, Time, and Thought: Essays and Stories on The Big Questions. In Trope-ing the Light Fantastic, he examines the science *behind* the fiction. Finally, much of Ed's short fiction has been collected in Creative Destruction, Countdown to Armageddon / A Stranger in Paradise, Muses & Musings, The Sherlock Chronicles & The Paradise Quartet, and -- most recently -- the career-spanning The Best of Edward M. Lerner.

    Lerner's 2015 novel, InterstellarNet: Enigma, won the inaugural Canopus Award for interstellar-themed fiction. His writing has also been nominated for Hugo, Locus, and Prometheus awards.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
656 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jimmy
5.0 out of 5 stars Pak'ed with Action from beginning to end
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2023
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Aliens from the first two books of this series come together to create a wild ride through Known Space. It's hard to put this one down, because there is always something happening. New alliances and new weapons are created and destroyed throughout the book. The Pak emerge after only brief mention in volumes 1 and 2. Note: that it would be good to read Larry Niven's book "PROTECTOR", before starting Destroyer of Worlds. It offers a lot of background on the Pak, that will enhance your understanding of Destroyer. Overall this book was excellent - an exciting space adventure.
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Sunrise Kid
4.0 out of 5 stars Destroyer of Worlds
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2010
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The book is well written, and continues to explore the millions of facets of the Known Space universe that Niven fans have had questions about for the last 40+ years. I think it and the two preceding novels have enhanced any Niven fan's knowledge of and interest in all of the Known Space future history series, just as the Man/Kzin War novels and stories have done about that particular period of Known Space "history." Destroyer of Worlds is a great read!
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Mark B
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most exciting Known Space novels in decades
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2011
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I've always wanted to live in Known Space. Who among us hasn't? The vast distances and time scales, the eccentric-genius characters, the marvels of hard science -- and of course the very alien aliens -- all caught up in fantastic adventure. Mr Niven's had a long career, most of it great, but admittedly in the past few years I've been hungering for more old-school Known Space. Then Niven teamed with Lerner and we got something different but just as good: new-school Known Space. I was just geeked when the duo started putting out the Ringworld prequels!

The prequels reach their highest point and greatest excitement in this third book, Destroyer of Worlds. The protagonist is once again Sigmund Ausfaller, the paranoid Lazarus ARM, a great choice of viewpoint to keep the reader just as paranoid and off-kilter. All the characters are fun in this book - they manage to paint sympathetic pictures of a whole motley cast which includes humans, puppeteers, Gw'oth, Outsiders, and Pak, every party scheming against every other. It's this intrigue that drives the excitement. Fleets of ramjets fleeing the core explosion, Puppeteer-vs-Pak spy-vs-spy, kinetic planet-killers, and dangerous experiments with zero-point-energy keep the technical juices flowing too.

And the alien Gw'oth have been an inspired addition to the dramatis personae. They represent the best ideas of new-school Known Space: hard science extended with evolution and computation. A 16-plex group mind of pentasymmetric sea-dwellers calling themselves O'lt'ro is now one of my favorite characters, and if you read Destroyer of Worlds, I think they will be yours too.

Read all the books in the prequel series, but be sure to set aside a few hours just for this one, since you will find it hard to stop reading. Rating: two Puppeteer mouths up.
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alt
5.0 out of 5 stars Good overall book as part of the 2 series - Fleet of Worlds and Ringworld
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2016
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I really have enjoyed both the Fleet of Worlds and Ringworld series by Larry Niven. My biggest complaint is that there is no information on the order of the series. Both series are interconnected and a continuous story. Frankly, if each is taken as a separate story, I would not rate it as high. However if the series is read in order, the character development is excellent and the back stories that are hinted at in each succeeding book, are understood by the reader - making the stories much more enjoyable. However the advantage of this process for the author is that you end up purchasing all the books and then trying to figure out what the order should be by reading a chapter or 2. Granted that the Fleet of Worlds series do have indicators as to Book 1 through Book 5 . However Book 5 (Fate of Worlds) really requires reading all of the Ringworld series to be best appreciated.
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Ash
4.0 out of 5 stars It was good
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2012
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It was good, but I think I was spoiled by previously reading the Ringworld series and Protector. [amongst just about all others of Niven's solo efforts]
I believe Niven writes a better story on his own. This book doesn't flow smoothly, as the previously mentioned efforts do.
Having said that, it was a damn good story in its own right. I just feel it could have been better.
Using Ringworld as a standard of 5 stars, I would have given this 3½ stars. Seeing I can only give whole ones I up it to 4.
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K. E. Carlin
5.0 out of 5 stars The Pak is Back
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2009
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Sigmund Ausfaller reprises his role as primary point-of-view character from  Juggler of Worlds , but this Sigmund is a family man now. He has...daughters! No longer the bachelor with no hope of a breeding license on Earth thanks to his clinical paranoia, he finally has the family he always dreamed of. On a world where his paranoia is a critical asset to the domesticated New Terrans recovering culturally from their servitude to the Puppeteers.

Then he takes on a Pak "house guest," in whom he may have met his match.

Kirsten, Eric, and Omar are back as well, and get a few powerful scenes, but any character development for them is squeezed by the four-way power struggle between the Puppeteers, Sigmund, the Pak guest, and the Gw'oth. Sigmund bites off way more than he can chew in this one, and takes some risks he never would have considered in his ARM days back on Earth (when he remembered where it was).

Never threaten Sigmunds' daughters.

Also, the Gw'oth are (finally) used to very good effect. There is an uneasy alliance with the emerging and intellectually acquisitive Gw'oth species from  Fleet of Worlds , the struggle to minimize their exposure to various Known Space technologies.

And we learn a bit more about the ending of  Protector , and the fate of Brennan.

A quality addition to the Worlds series, and Known Space as a whole.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 2, 2017
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Always enjoy the stories about the Pak and Puppeteers.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Reviewed in Australia on May 21, 2021
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Read and reread over the years. The imagination and quality of the writing does not age. Puppeteers roll on their amoral way
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Arne Lange
3.0 out of 5 stars Gut vor allem als Teil der Reihe - für sich genommen leider zu viele Schwächen.
Reviewed in Germany on May 23, 2015
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Disclaimer: Ich lerne den "Known Space" erst durch diese Reihe kennen. "Ringworld" kenne ich noch nicht.

Diese Reihe ist bisher sehr unterhaltsam und auch dieses Buch knüpft da nahtlos an - im Guten, wie leider auch im Schlechten.

Es liest sich flüssig, ist spannend und führt die Geschichte interessant fort. Anders als bei Teil 2 gibt es dieses Mal keine zeitliche Überschneidung mit dem Vorgänger, sondern es spielt alles ein paar Jahre später. Insbesondere dass wir endlich die Gw'oth näher kennen lernen, hat mir sehr gefallen. Auch die Enthüllungen um die Pak - weitere Neulinge - sind interessant und mitunter sehr überraschend.

ABER. Bei diesem Buch müssen für meinen Geschmack ein bisschen zu oft beide Augen zugedrückt werden. Überlegene Intelligenz bestimmter Charaktere hin oder her, manches ist entweder technisch vollkommen unmöglich (um nicht zu verderben, es ist so plausibel wie jemand, der mit einem Spaten eine topmoderne schweizer Armbanduhr umkonstruieren würde) oder erfordert für einen bestimmten Handlungsverlauf eine derart eklatante Nachlässigkeit und Dummerhaftigkeit gleich mehrerer bislang als äußerst fähig präsentieter Charaktere, dass es nur weh tut.

Zum Glück reichte das Interesse am großen Ganzen und der Frage, wie die übergeordnete Herausforderung denn nun gelöst wird, um mich weiter lesen zu lassen. Aber seien Sie gewarnt. Dieses Buch erfordert ein bisschen zu viel Nachsichtigkeit.

Ich habe mir dennoch bereits den vierten Teil gekauft und hoffe, dass es da auf dieser Ebene nicht ganz so schlimm ist.
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R. Court
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2014
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* Spoilers for this and Protector*

I love the Pak, I love the idea of the Pak, but the concept that they could be homo habilis is WRONG.

All life on Earth is related, at least all Eukaryotes, probably including the procaryotes, the archea and viruses as well.

Ontogeny recapitulates Phylogeny. That means, the first stages of a human embryo look like something barely multicellular, and goes through fish like and amphibian like stages before it becomes human like. A horse embryo has very similar fish like and amphibian like stages. This is how all Earth mammals develop. It is just not plausible that humans developed elsewhere than Earth.

There is convergent evolution, a wing is a wing, but you can tell a bird wing from a bat wing without knowing which species of bird or bat it came from. It's the same with embryos, you can tell which line they evolved along, and for all mammals it's more or less the same up until you get to the point where the different mammals diverged.
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James Cormier-Chisholm
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read
Reviewed in Canada on May 16, 2021
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Destroyer of World's is yet another wonderful read. Full of imagination, interesting characters and astounding plot twists. I loved this read!
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