Somehow I managed to never have read this one. I have many but not all Known Space novels from Niven. Overall an interesting story but not his best. ( )

El telépata Larry Greenberg no estaba lo suficientemente preparado como para contactar de mente a mente con un extranjero. En interés de la ciencia, Larry escuchó la mente de Kzanol... y éste fue su primer error.
Kzanol era un thrinto de una lejana galaxia. Había estado atrapado en la tierra en un campo de éxtasis en el tiempo durante dos billones de años. Ahora se hallaba en libertad y Larry sabía todo lo que pensaba. Los thrintos dedicaban su vida al pillaje y a esclavizar planetas inferiores... y el planeta que Kzanol tenía en su mente era la Tierra.

Early Niven. I love some of his books but I could not get into this one. Just "OK". ( )

ben er maar meegestopt ( )

(Original Review, 1980-08-25)

In response to the idea that perhaps the Pak were actually tnuctip, I think it very unlikely. The Pak date back about 2.5 Million years, while, according to “The World or Ptavvs”, the 'Sea statue' (Kzanol, last of the Thrint [slaver] race) dates back about 2 Billion years. Also according to World or Ptavvs, the tnuctip were wiped out in the war with the Thrints some 2*10^9 years ago (Specifically, the Thrint were said/speculated to have built a telepathy amplifier that would bring the entire galaxy under control at one time.).

In response to the idea that the “Ringworld” was not built by the Pak, this seems reasonable to assume--there was never any mention, in any Known Space novel or story, of a transmutation device known to the Pak. Such a device would seem to be a necessity in forming the 'scrith' that the “Ringworld” was constructed of. After all, why would the Pak have been using nuclear radiation based weapons when warring at home if such a protection was available?

Another comment (unconnected). Upon reading parts of “World of Ptaavs” again, I notice a statement to the effect that the female Thrint is non-sentient. The only other race mentioned possessing this trait is the Kzinti race... From supplied illustrations, one can see that the physical forms are roughly similar...Could the Kzinti be a surviving branch of Thrint or semi-Thint? Comments?

[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.] ( )