Must have Books - The Man-Kzin Wars

Authors | Book Series | Science Fiction | Fantasy | Alternative History | Sign Guestbook | View Guestbook

	The Man-Kzin Wars by Larry Niven and Poul Anderson and Dean Ing The ninth shared-world anthology laid in Niven's Known Space universe during the wars against those fighting felinoids, the alien Kzin, offers four notably readable long stories. In the late Poul Anderson's "Pele," a human couple on a research expedition rescue a Kzin with more courage than sense. Hal Colebatch's "His Sergeant's Honor," probably the book's strongest entry, features a Kzin who backs up his race's fanatical concept of honor with keen tactical sense. In Paul Chafe's "Windows of the World," a member of the UN police, ARM captain Joel K. Allson, and Allson's Kzin partner confront a mysterious murder aboard an orbital habitat, along with several conspiracies and a beautiful suspect. Niven's own "Fly-By-Night" features Beowulf Shaeffer rescuing the title character from another Kzin with vaulting ambitions and a keen eye for legal loopholes. For action and military SF fans, these four tales intelligently develop the Kzin, who still have all the ferocity of their carnivorous, predatory ancestors but have assumed more complexity as they carry their civilization into space. At a time when mindless brutality may strike a somewhat negative note with many readers, more sophisticated Kzin will add to the audience for these well-wrought aliens and their human friends and foes. Stephen Hickman's menacing, prosthetically enhanced catlike hero from "His Sergeant's Honor" almost jumps off the jacket.
	The Man-Kzin Wars II by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and Dean Ing and S. M. Stirling The alien Kzinti had almost conquered the humans, but after the initial surprise, the humans fought back with a ferocity the Kzinti had never faced. But that was centuries ago, and the humiliation of lost battles has not faded. The Kzinti are back . . . and spoiling for a fight!
	Man-Kzin Wars III by Larry Niven and Poul Anderson and S. M. Stirling This volume, as did each of the previous two, contains three mid-length stories set in Larry Niven's science fiction alternate-future in which the human race finds itself frequently at war with the Kzin, a race evolved from carnivorous hunting cats instead of from omnivorous monkeys. As in the first volume, the first story is by Niven himself, and is followed by two by other writers writing in his established universe. Each of the stories in this book can be considered a continuation of a story from a previous volume; Niven's follows up his introductory story of the first encounter between humans and Kzinti; the second is a collaboration by Jerry Pournelle and S. M. Stirling, which follows from the story they wrote in an earlier volume, and the third continues from Poul Anderson's previous effort. The only complaint I have is that there was no continuation of the storyline by Dean Ing, which was always my favorite, but I suppose that when there are only three stories per volume, there is not enough room for every author to appear in every book. (In Pournell and Stirling's story, there is even a hint of an answer to a previous question of mine: how DID a race such as the Kzin develop advanced technology in the first place?)
	Man-Kzin Wars IV by Larry Niven Both of the stories in this book are excellent, particularly the longer first story. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone not familiar with the basic concept of Kzinti, a race of spacefaring carnivorous cats, constantly at war with us omnivorous monkeys and constantly losing in the long run because we monkeys are capable of THINKING about the long run, whereas Kzinti consider it shameful to be so cautious as to excercise forethought and planning. (Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it conveys the spirit of the situation.) Still, it isn't necessary to have read all of the previous three collections to appreciate this one; granted, the first story refers back to some events in a story in volume three, but if you didn't know that, you would probably simply assume that the events glossed over were events of tangential importance to this story, and you'd be correct.This is my favorite of the series so far.
	Man-Kzin Wars V by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and Thomas Thurston Thomas and S. M. Stirling After losing three significant battles to the humans, the Kzin begin to wonder if their combative diplomatic style is working and decide to reevaluate their strategy. A lot of the later Man-Kzin Wars stories take place on or in the vicinity of Wunderland, which I just find utterly cool considering the ways the authors use this locale. I WANNA FIGHT IN A MAN-KZIN WAR!!!
	Man-Kzin Wars VI by Larry Niven and Donald Kingsbury and Mark O. Martin and Gregory Benford Conceived by Larry Niven in one of his first published short stories, the saga of humanity's interstellar clashes with the warlike, feline Kzinti race has enlisted a wide range of contributors over the years, with mixed results. The latest episode sent for review, The Heroic Myth of Lieutenant Nora Argamentine by Donald Kingsbury, concentrates on various Kzin warriors' political stratagems as they maneuver to break the stranglehold humanity has on their territory since the recent human acquisition of the hyperdrive. While powerful military Kzin scheme to produce their own version of the hyperdrive, a human lieutenant, Yankee Clandeboye, eagerly volunteers for a rescue mission when he learns that his cousin, long presumed dead, may still be alive, enslaved by the Kzin. Kingsbury's frequent shifting of narrative focus as he delves into Kzin cultural minutiae (including a twisted new religion resembling Christianity) will probably only confuse newcomers to the saga. They should begin at the beginning; meanwhile, seasoned fans will be pleased to watch the trouble brewing for a new interstellar war in future installments.
	Man-Kzin Wars VII by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford and Mark O. Martin This installment comprises three stories, two short and one nearly novel-length by itself. The first story details the events just after first contact, when the first human ship to encounter Kzin was attempting to persuade a dubious government back home of the reality of the threat. The writing was good, but the main character lacked anything to make him a sympathetic character, and the plot turned on a rather dubious bit of retroactive deus-ex-machina. The second story detailed the events that led to humanity acquiring a faster-than light drive technology, giving them the technological edge over the Kzin for the first time. These events had been referred to in previous installments, but the full story had never been told. Again, the writing was good, but while the main characters were certainly more sympathetic than the main character in the first story, they never really connected, and events still seemed rather like a deus-ex-machina, out of the control of the characters and dependent on aliens vastly more advanced, and vaguely reminiscent of beings from the Cthulu mythos. The third story was in some ways the best, except that it was too short to live up to its potential. Just a hint, but it may be that we actually met the Kzin Patriarch himself in this one! If so, he demonstrated that he deserves his position.
	Choosing Names: Man-Kzin Wars VIII by Larry Niven In a new story, Larry Niven tells of the earliest days of the first Man-Kzin War. The Kzin had learned of the existence of human occupied space, a find that promised new technologies for the race, and new wealth for the fierce Kzin Warriors in the form of land, slaves .... and food. Kzin had sent ships to probe the Solar System, expecting no danger from mere weed-eating apes. But the Warrior Race had underestimated monkey ingenuity, and the ships were destroyed by "peaceful" technology that the humans had hurriedly changed into weaponry. The surviving Kzin have been caged and are being studied. "For you, the war is over", the monkey-boys have told the Kzin. Incomprehensible to the Kzin, for whom no war is ever over. The humans are sure that the huge warcats cannot escape their prison. But there is something the humans do not realize. One of the Kzin is a Telepath....
	Man-Kzin Wars IX by Larry Niven One of the longest-running and most successful shared-world anthology series continues to explore different aspects of the wars and other relations of humanity and the felinoid, ferocious, surprisingly complex kzin. Niven's contribution brings Beowulf Schaefer into contact with a kzin trying to work around the law to earn his name. Paul Chafe's involves an ARM officer and his kzin partner in a mystery aboard an orbital depot, in which a shipping container and other things are hidden in plain sight. Hal Colebatch offers arguably the strongest entry this time with the story of a half-crippled kzin sergeant making a last stand against the human "liberation" of Wunderland while trying to preserve his honor by preserving the life of a collaborationist officer. Another distinguished contribution comes from the late Poul Anderson: a deep-space adventure in which two lovers rescue a kzin possessing more courage than sense, as is not uncommon with the breed.