Links: Special: E, Lerner Writing The Fleet of Worlds / Tor Page for Fleet of Worlds / Show Article /

Seasoned SF readers all know that Niven wrote a series about a massive ringlike structure circling a sun, and the discoveries that were made there. It is, after all, one of the top ten in terms of SF classics. Now Larry Niven and Ed Lerner have teamed up to write the prequel, and it's well worth reading, whether you've read Ringworld and it's subsequent books or not. In it a human colony ship gets diverted by the alien "puppeteer" race which is in the process of moving it's fleet of worlds beyond the galaxy. They're running from the galactic core explosion that's going to send a radiation front throughout in twenty thousand years, and they really don't want anyone to know where they're going. So the colony ship must disappear...but the colonists might just make a handy client race, good for farming or something, and never to learn the true story of how they came to the Fleet of Worlds.

Book Description: Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven's first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven's fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look first Ringworld novel.

Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten's people came from….

A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy's core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them.

Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet's path—and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds.

(Source: Tor)