speljamr reviewed Bowl of Heaven by Larry Niven
Review of 'Bowl of Heaven' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Seems there are quite a few low ratings for this book on GoodReads.com; I think this just shows me to be a bit old-school when it comes to my sci-fi. I rather liked the book and didn't mind that it didn't try to cram in more singularity kinds of stuff.
The book sets the story in a quasi Dyson sphere (only 1/2 of a sphere) with lots of different aliens and eco-systems. The science explored here ranges from realistic interstellar flight to evolution and brain science. While the story has plenty of strange aliens, the use of these aliens in the story is really a reflection for the study of ourselves and how our brains work. This seems to incorporate much of our recent discoveries in neuroscience and the topic of freewill; science I've also been reading in other recent non-fiction books. This is exactly the type …
Seems there are quite a few low ratings for this book on GoodReads.com; I think this just shows me to be a bit old-school when it comes to my sci-fi. I rather liked the book and didn't mind that it didn't try to cram in more singularity kinds of stuff.
The book sets the story in a quasi Dyson sphere (only 1/2 of a sphere) with lots of different aliens and eco-systems. The science explored here ranges from realistic interstellar flight to evolution and brain science. While the story has plenty of strange aliens, the use of these aliens in the story is really a reflection for the study of ourselves and how our brains work. This seems to incorporate much of our recent discoveries in neuroscience and the topic of freewill; science I've also been reading in other recent non-fiction books. This is exactly the type of stuff I love and one of the best reasons to read good science fiction.
This book is not a stand alone story, so if you're thinking about reading it and not continuing on with the other books when they come out, I'd say you should skip this. Otherwise, I think this will turn out to be a nice series from two of sci-fi's greatest authors. I won't give it away, but this first book does end with a bit of a mystery at the end, one I'm sure will take the entire series to play out.
I'm really looking forward to book number two, 'Shipstar'