Reading and such

I finished Greg Keyes' Briar King recently. It's a good read once you get used to jumping around to different characters a lot. I understand they were necessary, but I would just be getting interested in the character and what was happening, and there would be a mini-cliffhanger, and he would jump to a different character. I've got the next book set aside from John. I'll get to it soon, but...

Right now, I'm reading Juggler of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner. They co-wrote Fleet of Worlds which was pretty good, but this one is much more enjoyable. It's kind of a what was going on in the background during the Beowulf Schaeffer stories (as best compiled in Crashlander). And what was happening on Earth during Fleet of Worlds. I would have almost liked to have seen Fleet and Juggler as one book. It could have been done, if been a bit massive of a book.

And now a geeky pondering: One thing that I have wondered since reading Crashlander is what happened to Beowulf, Carlos Wu, and the rest of the family on the earth-like planet of Home. I did a tiny bit of research last night since there are years given in Juggler of Worlds, and I compared them to a timeline given in Protector.

Protector is kind of an unofficial prequel to Ringworld, and describes the Pak race and their connection to Earth. Towards the end, the Brennan-Monster and his human assistant are traveling to Home. The timeline the assistant creates begins with time a few hundred years before events in Juggler, but dates get distorted as they are traveling at relativistic speeds. He even mentions the need to reset calendars when they reach Home.

We know that Louis Wu, son of Carlos, and primary protagonist in Ringworld and its sequels, survives and travels, but what of the rest? Do they live long enough to become Protectors? Does Carlos Wu become a genius Protector? This site has a timeline which incorporates dates from Known Space up through Fleet of Worlds. We'll have to see.

Maybe it will say in this book, or maybe there will be future revelations in other books. I have to admit my joy of the continuing tales from Known Space. I just hope Mr. Niven keeps writing.