The Smoke Ring (novel)
ISBN 0-345-30256-7 | | |
Preceded by | The Integral Trees | |
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Followed by | "The Kiteman" |
The Smoke Ring is a 1987 science fiction novel by Larry Niven. Like much of Niven's work, the story is heavily influenced by the setting: a gas torus, a ring of air around a neutron star. It is a sequel to The Integral Trees.
Setting
The story is set at the fictional neutron star Levoy's Star (abbreviated "Voy"). The
There is no "ground" in the Smoke Ring; it is a world consisting entirely of sky. Thus, most animals can fly, even the fish. Furthermore, since the Smoke Ring is in orbit, it is in free fall. There is no "up" or "down", only "in" or "out" from Voy. Humans moving in the Smoke Ring use a poetic adage to aid their understanding of orbital mechanics - "East takes you Out, Out takes you West, West takes you In, In takes you East. Port and Starboard bring you back".[1] (In the novel, the characters also say: "North and South bring you back").
Most animals have
Each tuft of a tree is 50 kilometers from the tree's center of mass. Thus, a tuft is either orbiting too slowly (the in tuft) or too quickly (the out tuft). Since the atmosphere at either end is moving at its local orbital speed, the ends of trees are subject to a constant hurricane-force wind. This wind bends the ends into the shape of an integral symbol: ∫.
The Smoke Ring was colonized 500 years prior to the beginning of the story by a crew of 20 astronauts. Their descendants have adapted to the free-fall environment by growing taller and developing prehensile toes.
According to N-Space, the wings and the method of self-propelled flying featured in the novel were suggested by Isaac Asimov.
Plot summary
This book takes place about fifteen years after the end of the original story, when survivors of the Dalton-Quinn tree, a few Carther States jungle dwellers, and two London Tree Citizens have settled on a new tree. This 'Citizen's Tree' has become a stable community which some believe may be too small to survive in the long run.
Kendy, the recorded personality of a citizen of "
Although much of the story is a sort of "
This focuses on the story of Kendy and the original mission. The chain of events that led to the colonization of the Smoke Ring through a "mutiny" on the ship is explored. After retrieving the crew's own records of the events, Kendy realizes that the crew had not mutinied at all, and that he had forced them off the ship, believing this to be in keeping with his orders from Earth. This was apparently blocked from his memory, and he suffers a form of breakdown when he learns (or re-learns) the truth.
Literary significance and reception
The Magill Book Reviews said in 1990 that "the societies and science in the book are very well-researched. It is, however, a "hard" science fiction novel, and it has the weakness endemic to that genre – the individual characters are never satisfyingly drawn, so that the reader is somewhat distanced from them."[2]
The Library Journal said in 1987 that "the alien topography of this sequel to The Integral Trees serves as a fascinating contrast to the persistence of humanity's adventuring spirit".[3]
J. Michael Caparula reviewed The Smoke Ring in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 81.[4] Caparula commented that "The setting is, naturally, spectacular, but a lot of the freshness has worn off. Ringworld merited a sequel, The Integral Trees did not."[4]
References
- ^ Niven, Larry. "Teaching Physics (and more) with Niven". Retrieved 19 January 2018.
- ISSN 0890-7722.
- ISSN 0363-0277.
- ^ a b Caparula, J. Michael (1987). "Space/Fantasy Reader". Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer (81). Diverse Talents, Incorporated: 46.
Sources
- Larry Niven (1984). The Integral Trees. Del Rey. ISBN 0-345-32065-4.