Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Simon & Schuster (1987), 368 pages
Description
Bestselling science fiction superstars Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle combine their talents with those of Steven Barnes in an extraordinary adventure of humankind's first outpost in the farthest reaches of space. Light years from Earth, colonists land on a planet they name Avalon. It seems like a paradise-until native creatures savagely attack. It will take every bit of intelligence, courage, and military-style discipline to survive.
User reviews
LibraryThing member StormRaven
The Legacy of Heorot is at its core a science fiction version of Beowulf. The first extrasolar human colony lands on a relatively small island that the inhabitants call Avalon. They find no large fauna, certainly no large dangerous fauna, and the colonists begin to become lax in their security
Of course, it turns out that Cadmann is right, and the foolish pacificst colonists are wrong. A native predator shows up with the ability to move at terrifying speed and kills a couple of the colonists. The creature is quickly dubbed a "grendel" (to make the parallel more explicit). Under Cadmann's direction, the colonists kill the intruder and eventually root out the remaining grendels on the island, although the foolish colonists ignore Cadmann's advice a couple times, leading to further loss of life.
Killing off the grendels turns out to have been a huge mistake, and due to a life-cycle quirk (that the colonists, being supposedly crack scientists, should have figured out sooner), the colony is beset with thousands of grendels. Cadmann defends the colony, and all is well. The outcome is never truly in doubt, as Cadmann says, the grendels are basically nothing more than animals. Really fast and strong animals, but nothing more than that.
The book seems somewhat disjointed at times, which one might expect from a collaboration between three authors. Some characters seem to forget pieces of information they learned earlier in the book, and some reasonably obvious connections between data are not made for prolonged periods of time. The book makes some attempt to explain this with "hibernation instability", but this seems like an incomplete answer at most, as the information and connections in question should have pretty quickly been linked up by someone of even merely average intelligence.
One side note, at one point the characters state that the follow-up expedition has been "proxmired". This is part of a long-running feud that Niven and Pournelle (and many other science fiction authors) have had with former Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire (now deceased), criticizing him for opposing what they considered to be valuable scientific research and funding for the space program in order to (they allege) make sure there was enough money to fund agricultural studies. I tend to agree with Niven and Pournelle on this, but they use the name "proxmire" in the middle of this book without any explanation, which probably will confuse some readers.
It is a decent book, and an enjoyable take on the Beowulf myth, but not really anything more than that.
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procedures. Cadmann, the lone military/security specialist in the expedition, warns against letting their guard down, but the other colonists mostly ignore him.Of course, it turns out that Cadmann is right, and the foolish pacificst colonists are wrong. A native predator shows up with the ability to move at terrifying speed and kills a couple of the colonists. The creature is quickly dubbed a "grendel" (to make the parallel more explicit). Under Cadmann's direction, the colonists kill the intruder and eventually root out the remaining grendels on the island, although the foolish colonists ignore Cadmann's advice a couple times, leading to further loss of life.
Killing off the grendels turns out to have been a huge mistake, and due to a life-cycle quirk (that the colonists, being supposedly crack scientists, should have figured out sooner), the colony is beset with thousands of grendels. Cadmann defends the colony, and all is well. The outcome is never truly in doubt, as Cadmann says, the grendels are basically nothing more than animals. Really fast and strong animals, but nothing more than that.
The book seems somewhat disjointed at times, which one might expect from a collaboration between three authors. Some characters seem to forget pieces of information they learned earlier in the book, and some reasonably obvious connections between data are not made for prolonged periods of time. The book makes some attempt to explain this with "hibernation instability", but this seems like an incomplete answer at most, as the information and connections in question should have pretty quickly been linked up by someone of even merely average intelligence.
One side note, at one point the characters state that the follow-up expedition has been "proxmired". This is part of a long-running feud that Niven and Pournelle (and many other science fiction authors) have had with former Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire (now deceased), criticizing him for opposing what they considered to be valuable scientific research and funding for the space program in order to (they allege) make sure there was enough money to fund agricultural studies. I tend to agree with Niven and Pournelle on this, but they use the name "proxmire" in the middle of this book without any explanation, which probably will confuse some readers.
It is a decent book, and an enjoyable take on the Beowulf myth, but not really anything more than that.
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LibraryThing member ikeman100
I really enjoyed this one. I don't know which of the three authors to thank the most but is was a good effort. I will be reading the rest of the set. Interesting concept, good characters, great plot.
Take the best candidates from earth. Send them to colonize a planet. Damage a few brains with long
Take the best candidates from earth. Send them to colonize a planet. Damage a few brains with long
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term freezing. That was the first mistake...more will come. Show Less
LibraryThing member chersbookitlist
A sci-fi version of the Beowolf/Grendel myth. This was a fascinating examination of the dire consequences when humans mess with bio-diversity without understanding the relationships of the creatures that they are interfering with. Well-written but kind of bleak.
LibraryThing member Black_samvara
I think I was having a weird nostalgia moment, I read this years ago and picked it up again second hand out of curiosity.
Colonists on new planet think everything is going swimmingly except for designated military character who is, unsurprisingly, military. Bad things ensue, humanity conquers
The whole 'humans as masters of the universe' vibe doesn't work for me as a plot device and the whole bad thing -> Bad Thing -> BAD THING escalation didn't ring true for me although to be fair, it is constantly emphasised that the decision making ability of almost all adults is impaired and they are making *bad* decisions.
Colonists on new planet think everything is going swimmingly except for designated military character who is, unsurprisingly, military. Bad things ensue, humanity conquers
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all.The whole 'humans as masters of the universe' vibe doesn't work for me as a plot device and the whole bad thing -> Bad Thing -> BAD THING escalation didn't ring true for me although to be fair, it is constantly emphasised that the decision making ability of almost all adults is impaired and they are making *bad* decisions.
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is a great colonization story. More to come.
LibraryThing member orderflow
Spectacular, thrilling read that excells in alien psychology.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
The colonists disagree amongst themselves as they adapt to a new world that becomes more and more dangerous. Heorot was Hrothgar's hall, which Beowolf saved from Grendel.
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
A colony on Tau Ceti Four seems like its found Nirvana but one man isn't so sure. He warns the others not to become complacent about dangers but they ignore him. Then, when a monster appears, he leads them into battle against it. But worse is yet to come. Not my favourite Niven work but exciting.
LibraryThing member ritaer
a seemingly safe stellar colony is guarded by the vigilance of one man against an unknown menace-Grendels and samilons
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1987-05
Physical description
368 p.; 9.2 inches
ISBN
0671640941 / 9780671640941