- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (27 April 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575056592
- ISBN-13: 978-0575056596
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 14.7 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,157,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The colonists of the planet Avalon fought a terrible war against the hideous reptilian Grendels, but were rewarded with peace on their island of Camelot. 20 years on, however, those too young to remember the bloodshed seek excitement and decide to explore the mainland where the Grendels still roam.
About the Author
Larry Niven was born in California in 1938 and studied mathematics at Washburn University, Kansas. His first published science-fiction story was 'The Coldest Place' in 1964 and he immediately established himself as a significant figure in the science-fiction world, winning four Hugos for short fiction. Ringworld is the most important novel in his future history, Tales of Known Space sequence. He has also collaborated, most notably with Jerry Pournelle on The Mote in God's Eye, Oath of Fealty, Inferno, Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the sequel to the excellent Legacy of Heorot, which chronicles the early day of a human colony on a far off world and the trials they face on one isolated island on that world.
This book picks up the story several years later, with the first generation of this new world reaching maturity and evolving their own sub-cultures and hierarchies. However all is not well. Despite the fact that they have largely overcome their initial problems there is more to deal with.
As the colony ventures more and more onto the mainland there are new problems to deal with, not the least of which is teenage rebellion. Also there is a new and deadlier threat, one which mystifies the colonies best minds.
The story deals effectively with the ideals and effects of teenage rebellion, but in transferring it to this unique environment the results are magnified.
Once again, despite the flaws, many of the characters are likeable and they help to carry the story along, we have familar faces from the first book and new friends to meet along the way, all accompanying the reader on a journey through a fascinating new alien ecology, of which the early terrors of the colonies island home are only a small part.
It stands well alone as a story, but it's stronger if you read Legacy of Heorot first. A clever and inventive book and well worth the read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those of you who like me enjoyed The Legacy Of Heorot, Dragons is a worthwhile sequel.
Set twenty years after the events of Legacy, we see the inhabitants of the planet Avalon, living their lives on the island they secured for themselves, following the events of the previous book.
However, the children of the survivors of the fight against the grendels wish to branch out onto the mainland. Despite the reluctance of their elders, they set about how to do this. Led by the headstrong and ruthless Aaron Tragon, they then go ahead and set up an outpost which they call Shangri La. However, this outpost turns out to be anything but the perfection that the name implies, and they discover to their cost that human nature remains as traitorous as ever. Additionally, they also find out that there is a life form on the mainland that is even more lethal than the grendels themselves.....
The book explores the interaction of its human characters well, and is particularly strong with the scenes involving Old Grendel, an intelligent grendel no less. It also explores the impact of mankind on a new planet and its indigenous life forms. Indeed, Niven makes a strong case as to whether that most ugly creature - human nature, is the most dangerous thing of all on this new planet...
The story line is good and has its shares of shocks and surprises, and leads up to a powerful ending.
Overall this book is a very good read and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.
Set twenty years after the events of Legacy, we see the inhabitants of the planet Avalon, living their lives on the island they secured for themselves, following the events of the previous book.
However, the children of the survivors of the fight against the grendels wish to branch out onto the mainland. Despite the reluctance of their elders, they set about how to do this. Led by the headstrong and ruthless Aaron Tragon, they then go ahead and set up an outpost which they call Shangri La. However, this outpost turns out to be anything but the perfection that the name implies, and they discover to their cost that human nature remains as traitorous as ever. Additionally, they also find out that there is a life form on the mainland that is even more lethal than the grendels themselves.....
The book explores the interaction of its human characters well, and is particularly strong with the scenes involving Old Grendel, an intelligent grendel no less. It also explores the impact of mankind on a new planet and its indigenous life forms. Indeed, Niven makes a strong case as to whether that most ugly creature - human nature, is the most dangerous thing of all on this new planet...
The story line is good and has its shares of shocks and surprises, and leads up to a powerful ending.
Overall this book is a very good read and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A more detailed look at the complex web of alien life on the remote colony world of Avalon. Set 20 years after mans near extinction at the teeth of the Grendels, the time has come to further explore the mainland, a task which the children of the first colonists are eager to embrace, while the fears of the parents hold them back; the divide between generations is played out on a world full of unknowns. After reading 'Legacy of Heorot', Dragons came at first as a bit of a let down. The first book builds step by step to a nail biting ending - I actually felt exhausted after being unable to put the book down right to the very finish. One week later, I began reading the book again; in short, a cracking read. This sequel has more characters, a more complex storyline and an extra 200 pages! I would say this is a book that rewards a second reading more, and in a strange turn for a sequel, should be read before the original. It is a different animal: think 'Alien' and 'Aliens' and you will know what I mean. Overall then, worth buying, but if you have read Legacy, don't expect just more of the same - enjoy it on it's own merits and you won't be disappointed.
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