Rainbow Mars - Softcover

Niven, Larry

3.34

1,592 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857239482 ISBN 13: 9781857239485

Publisher: Orbit, 1999

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The year is +1108 Atomic Era. Hanville Svetz, who first appeared in Larry Niven's THE FLIGHT OF THE HORSE, is on his way back from +390, accompanied by a snake for the Secretary-General's private zoo. On his return, however, he learns that his employer has died. But his wasted journey is the least of his concerns. With the new regime comes a new role for Svetz, and hunting down extinct animals is not on the agenda. Instead, Svetz is going to be sent much further back in time. And not to Earth. For the new Secretary-General has greater ambitions. He wants to learn the secrets of Mars - and its one-time inhabitants. What Svetz finds is a world unaware of the danger it faces. For an incredible tree has taken root in the canals of the Mars. He soon discovers that this tree will not stop growing until it has drained all life from its host planet. When it has, he knows that it will move on. And he knows that the next planet in line is Earth.

RAINBOW MARS is a novel of remarkable energy, full of compelling ideas and non-stop adventure.

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Review:

According to Larry Niven, time travel is logically impossible--sheer fantasy. So when time-agent Svetz heads back from polluted future Earth in search of extinct animals, he tends to sideslip into fantastic, fictional worlds. In short stories collected in The Flight of the Horse (1973), his quests for a horse, Gila monster and whale unearthed a unicorn, a dragon and Moby Dick...Less comic but equally daft, Rainbow Mars combines both space and time travel to explore Mars in the deep past, before it was a dead world. Naturally it is populated by a menagerie of warring fictional Martians from Edgar Rice Burroughs (multi-armed sword-wielders), H.G. Wells(tentacles and heat rays)and less familiar authors. Svetz and companions are soon in big trouble. Complications include a gigantic alien tree extending into Mars' orbit--an organic version of the space elevator from Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise. One of these useful "beanstalks" on Earth seems a highly desirable facility, but there are hidden drawbacks, and most of the multiplying time-lines lead to disaster...Fun for experienced sci-fi readers who can follow the in-jokes and the switchback ride through tangled alternative histories. The earlier, funnier Svetz stories are included as a bonus. --David Langford--This text refers to the Hardback Edition of this book.

Review:

A writer of supreme talent. (TOM CLANCY)

another sumptuously detailed triumph of the imagination. (SFX)

According to Larry Niven, time travel is logically impossible--sheer fantasy. So when time-agent Svetz heads back from polluted future Earth in search of extinct animals, he tends to sideslip into fantastic, fictional worlds. In short stories collected in The Flight of the Horse (1973), his quests for a horse, Gila monster and whale unearthed a unicorn, a dragon and Moby Dick...Less comic but equally daft, Rainbow Mars combines both space and time travel to explore Mars in the deep past, before it was a dead world. Naturally it is populated by a menagerie of warring fictional Martians from Edgar Rice Burroughs (multi-armed sword-wielders), H.G. Wells(tentacles and heat rays)and less familiar authors. Svetz and companions are soon in big trouble. Complications include a gigantic alien tree extending into Mar s' orbit--an organic version of the space elevator from Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise. One of these useful "beanstalks" on Earth seems a highly desirable facility, but there are hidden drawbacks, and most of the multiplying time-lines lead to disaster...Fun for experienced sci-fi readers who can follow the in-jokes and the switchback ride through tangled alternative histories. The earlier, funnier Svetz stories are included as a bonus. (David Langford, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW)

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