A Gift from Earth (1968)

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by Larry Niven



This is my first Niven novel and, given his popularity, I have to assume it's not one of his better works. 



The explanation for the hero's talent was a bit too far-fetched and his motivation for penetrating into the dangerous Hospital was extremely weak.

 


There was also that unfortunate streak of fascism that surfaces so often in science fiction, particularly that of the "Old Masters."



 Both oppressor and oppressed alike seem to recognize both a need for capital punishment and also the need to conceal the true circumstances surrounding it from the public.

 


It is up to extraordinary individuals to make rational choices about what is good for the common man.

 


It has solid prose and an imaginative story that kept me reading despite the above-mentioned flaws. 



Still, maybe I should have begun with "Ringworld."


Larry Niven

"A Gift from Earth" (Italian)

"Gift of the Earth" (Russian)

"A Gift from the Earth" (German)

"A Gift from the Earth" (Bulgarian)

"A Gift from the Earth" (Dutch)

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