“Niven has come up with an idea about as far out as one can get. . . . This is certainly classic science fiction–the idea is truly the hero.” –Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine
When leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren’t prepared for was the smoke ring–an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis.
Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.
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"Niven's masterly use of SF strategies...hits every note, springing surprises and plot turns with dizzying pace. The bizarre but plausible setting is meticulously worked out and at times lyrically evoked."
Larry Niven has won the prestigious Hugo Award five times. He is known to millions as the premier modern author of rigorous, scientifically consistent hard SF, the champion of 'SF without a net'.
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Destination, rates & speedsSeller: High Street Books, New Mills, United Kingdom
Hardback. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Michael Whelan (illustrator). First Edition. Shelf wear to the price clipped dust jacket, page edges tanned, bookseller's pencil marks. Orders received by 3pm Sent from the UK that weekday. Seller Inventory # cb222-721-0589
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Hardback: 8" x 5¼". Condition: Near Fine: Small signs of wear. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Cover Art: Peter Elson (illustrator). 1st UK Edition. © 1983: 1st in the 'Integral Trees' series of books. 1st UK edition, 1st printing. Originally serialised in 4 parts in Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact - October, November, December 1983 & January 1984:- Synopsis: For a long, long time the State used slower-than-light spacecraft to prepare star systems for colonization by Man. Normally the ramseeders travelled centuries-long circuits which began and ended at Earth. Normally, the mixed crew of citizens and 'corpsicle' convicts remained with their ship. Normally ultimate control of the mission was exercised by a built-in cyborg 'adviser', the true despot of the tiny State microcosm that was the ship. But little happened normally when Discipline reached the double-star system of T3 and LeVoy's Star. There an immense doughnut-shaped gaseous envelope had formed around a neutron star - and a vast volume of that nearly empty cloud was comfortably habitable to Man. Though it had very little usable land, the Smoke Ring had evolved a huge variety of free-fall life-forms, most of which were edible and all of which could fly. The Smoke Ring seemed a paradise to the restless crew of Discipline and so they fled to it, leaving behind only the ship's cyborg cop. Five centuries passed, and most of the mutineers' descendants forgot about the humans, and somewhere, just outside the Smoke Ring, he waited:- Review(s): "Rich in detail and packed with adventure, 'The Integral Trees' demonstrates once again Larry Niven's matchless ability to create new worlds and to rekindle our sense of wonder" / "In any list of ten great science-fiction writers, four names are always at or near the top: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert A Heinlein - and Larry Niven, famed for his breadth of vision and the awesome extrapolation of his hard-science novels. Critics long thought Niven would find it difficult to surpass his Hugo-winning novel 'Ringworld' - the story of an artificial world, a ribbon of unreasonably strong material one million miles wide and 600 million miles long. They were right. Until now, that is. In 'The Integral Trees' Niven presents a fully-fleshed culture of evolved humans who live without real gravity in the gas torus that rotates about a neutron star. This is the novel his fans have been waiting for!" / "The best work yet by one of the best in our business, 'The Integral Trees' is the most imaginative work I've seen in the last five years" - Jerry Pournelle:- (original cost £8.95). Seller Inventory # 19.011.00002
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Seller: Hawking Books, Edgewood, TX, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Michael Whelan (illustrator). Very Good Condition. Five star seller - Buy with confidence! Seller Inventory # X0356103439X2
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Hardback. Condition: Very Good. Michael Whelan (illustrator). The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003608227
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hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Michael Whelan (illustrator). Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_442987261
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