Protector

by Larry Niven

Mass Market Paperback, 224 pages

English language

Published Sept. 12, 1987 by Del Rey.

ISBN:: 978-0-345-35312-2
ASIN:: 0345353129

Protector is a 1973 science fiction novel by American writer Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. It was nominated for the Hugo in 1974, and placed fourth in the annual Locus poll for that year.The work fleshes out a species called the Pak, originally introduced in a 1967 story called "The Adults", which forms the first half of the novel (there titled Phssthpok); the second half is titled Vandervecken. The Pak also appear in several of Niven's later works, including the later volumes of the Ringworld series and the novel Destroyer of Worlds which serves as a semi-sequel to Protector.

13 editions

forpeterssake reviewed Protector by Larry Niven (Known Space)

Product of its time

3 stars

An interesting time capsule into sci-fi of 1973, this is a book about big ideas rather than characters, covering hundreds (or arguably thousands) of years. The two halves are fairly disjointed, and the conclusion felt tacced-on. Perhaps it makes more sense to a reader familiar with the rest of Niven's Known Space books, but a new inhabited star system in the last chapter was an abrupt deus ex machina for me. Not sorry I read it, though.

Christian Borup reviewed Protector by Larry Niven (Known Space)

Review of 'Protector' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

While it is a bit dated, this book holds up surprisingly well.

Eric Lawton reviewed Protector (Known Space) by Larry Niven (Known Space (5))

Review of 'Protector (Known Space)' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Interesting idea, well-written, not really thought-provoking but I've read it three times, with a decade between each to be sure I've forgotten all the spoilers except the main one.