This is my second Niven book, after Ringworld. My sense is that Niven is so in love with his ideas and his universe that he doesn't really care if the reader understands what is going on. I think my big problem with "hard SF" is that the writer expends so much time on what is clearly bullshit that I succumb to the temptation to just skim, but then they miss important parts to understand what exactly is going on (this happened with both of the novels included in this collection, but especially so with A Gift From Earth). ( )

An omnibus of two novels and a collection of short stories, all set in Larry Niven's Known Space universe.

The two novels, "World of Ptavvs" and "A Gift from Earth" were both very enjoyable, but the short stories were a more mixed bunch. The ones that shed further light on incidents or people mentioned in these and other Known Space novels were interesting. The others were a bit 'meh', not bad but not really grabbing my interest. ( )

If you like Niven you will like this. ( )

I've been making an effort to read more classic science fiction, so my brother lent this book to me. It includes three books within, though the short story contents are spread out to make everything chronological within Niven's Known Universe. The two novels are WORLD OF PTAVVS and A GIFT FROM EARTH, with the stories from TALES OF KNOWN SPACE.

I had some difficulties with Niven's style. It's abrupt and dated--you can tell they were written in the 1960s and '70s. His leads are all men of certain personality types, and certain stylistic crutches emerge, such as the men entering a social setting and falling for a woman who then betrays them in some way. The women all felt very flat or negative in type; at one point, a rebel woman who portrayed strength entered a home and immediately began preparing supper for the men. It's also funny how the technology is very advanced in many regards, such as fission drives and organ harvesting, yet everyone still uses typewriters.

As a modern reader and writer, I also found it bothersome how the point of view might change several times within a scene. Whiplash!

The work I enjoyed the most was A GIFT FROM EARTH. It contained very unique plot twists and focused on an unusual form of telepathy, and did a good job of portraying complex good and bad guys.

In all, I'm glad I read the volumes, if no other reason than that I can say I read them. My brother has told me that I'd probably like some of Niven's other work more, but I'm not in any rush to read him anytime soon. I appreciate that these books are classics, but I'm very glad that stylistic elements and female characters have evolved a great deal in the past forty years. ( )