2008 Woodie Awards
Book Review: Integral Trees
by Larry Nive, Ballantine Books, 1984
Mark Oldenhoff
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Larry Niven delivers in this science-fiction, adventure. In a world where there is no ground underneath your feet, you must adapt.
Niven's tale is one of a fantastic future where an evolved human race lives on trees that orbit a gaseous nebula around a sun.
Starting out with some history, the tale pulls you in with some quick paced action, the hunting of animals. In this futuristic yet primitive land, the tribes are forced to hunt for provisions and even the most basic of medicines are absent.
The characters painted by Niven's magnificent way with words are very diverse, from the spry young hunter to the captain of the team all the way to the legless woman deemed useless.
Niven is amazingly descriptive in the book. You can really envision the characters, creatures, and settings of the world once you start to read. The situations of the characters are hardly ever pleasant.
In fact, many moments in the book could be deemed rather crude or depressing. They bring you into the lives of the characters and their adventure across this fantastically exciting world.
The death of the tree that they live on sets the tribe out on a quest for a new home. Riding on a piece of bark in the low gravity atmosphere, they are soon captured by another tribe. When they are turned into slaves, women for sex and men for labor, they decide they need to break away and find their own paradise.
The writing in the book is rather advanced, so I do not suggest it for anyone just getting into sci-fi, but if you are willing to put a little time into getting started, this book reads rather quickly.
The only problem I had with this book is at the beginning I got rather lost, so make sure to read the introduction.
With an in your face ending that leaves you breathless, "The Integral Trees" is a definite must read for any sci-fi fan.
Niven's tale is one of a fantastic future where an evolved human race lives on trees that orbit a gaseous nebula around a sun.
Starting out with some history, the tale pulls you in with some quick paced action, the hunting of animals. In this futuristic yet primitive land, the tribes are forced to hunt for provisions and even the most basic of medicines are absent.
The characters painted by Niven's magnificent way with words are very diverse, from the spry young hunter to the captain of the team all the way to the legless woman deemed useless.
Niven is amazingly descriptive in the book. You can really envision the characters, creatures, and settings of the world once you start to read. The situations of the characters are hardly ever pleasant.
In fact, many moments in the book could be deemed rather crude or depressing. They bring you into the lives of the characters and their adventure across this fantastically exciting world.
The death of the tree that they live on sets the tribe out on a quest for a new home. Riding on a piece of bark in the low gravity atmosphere, they are soon captured by another tribe. When they are turned into slaves, women for sex and men for labor, they decide they need to break away and find their own paradise.
The writing in the book is rather advanced, so I do not suggest it for anyone just getting into sci-fi, but if you are willing to put a little time into getting started, this book reads rather quickly.
The only problem I had with this book is at the beginning I got rather lost, so make sure to read the introduction.
With an in your face ending that leaves you breathless, "The Integral Trees" is a definite must read for any sci-fi fan.
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