speljamr reviewed Goliath stone by Larry Niven
Review of 'Goliath stone' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
I thought there was much potential for this book based on the overview of the story, I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't think I've ever read a Larry Niven book that has left me this disappointed. The story is supposed to be about nano tech that is launched into space to retrieve an asteroid and bring it within Earth orbit, and that part of the story is at least there, but it is surrounded by a whole lot of crap.
To start with, the authors clearly have sex on the brain. There was far more than was necessary to tell the story. Then you have to get around the constant pushing of extreme libertarian wet dream ideas. I have a bit of a libertarian streak in me, but this was more of the extreme end of the ideal, and not very likely to ever be …
I thought there was much potential for this book based on the overview of the story, I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't think I've ever read a Larry Niven book that has left me this disappointed. The story is supposed to be about nano tech that is launched into space to retrieve an asteroid and bring it within Earth orbit, and that part of the story is at least there, but it is surrounded by a whole lot of crap.
To start with, the authors clearly have sex on the brain. There was far more than was necessary to tell the story. Then you have to get around the constant pushing of extreme libertarian wet dream ideas. I have a bit of a libertarian streak in me, but this was more of the extreme end of the ideal, and not very likely to ever be true. Then there is the story in the story of the nano tech let loose on the population and controlled by one single man, and it's treated in the book like this is a good and ethical thing; That's more likely exactly the kind of thing that would scare people half to death about the possibilities of nano technology and has some real deep philosophical questions on ethics buried in it.
In the end I'm glad this ride is over as it was like reading snippets of interesting sci-fi embedded in a whole lot of mediocre thriller writing (the dialogue was difficult to get through at times). Thankfully, if you decide to try this one out it will be over very fast.