[.uk] Man-Kzin Wars XI (ISBN 1416521488)

Satisfying return to Niven's universe, but uneven writing:
I have read pretty much everything Niven himself has written, and I think I have pretty much hoovered up all the Man-Kzin Wars series too. It's a way of franchising that part of Niven's universe to other writers, which seems on the whole to be good for everyone - writers, publishers, and readers. Obviously, it's in Niven's interest (and his publishers) to avoid any dilution of the brand. This latest fix includes three stories by Hal Colebatch, two by Matthew Joseph Harrington, and a short contribution ("The Hunting Park") by Niven himself. I think Harrington's are clearly the best: well plotted, scientifically convincing, and pacily written, they accomplish the challenging feat of extending Niven's vision rather than just wallowing in it. Colebatch is good, but his style is sometimes a bit sentimental for me; to take one example purely at random, "He stroked her, whispered 'Mother', and died. Leonie moved to close his eyes". As other reviewers have said how much they like his writing, this is clearly a matter of taste. To be honest, I didn't feel that "The Hunting Park" stands out above the other stories; indeed I would go so far as to say that Harrington's stories are crisper, more interesting, and generally more like early Niven. One thing has been puzzling me: the striking cover illustration appears to depict Vaemar and Dimity in action. He is armed with a wtsai, she with a huge gun of some sort. But how come Vaemar is shown as resembling a huge lion, instead of a tiger? Niven has stated over and over that kzinti are basically orange and look like big fat tigers. Also, the powerful impact of the picture merely serves to underline how extremely unlikely any emotional bond between these two creatures would be. Bottom line: strongly recommended for Niven fans, and SF lovers in general. The standard of writing is really very good, and Harrington's two stories "Teacher's Pet" and "War and Peace" are fit to stand beside Niven's own books such as "World of Ptavvs" and "Protector". As far as I know, there can be no higher praise.

Larry Niven's Man-Kzin characters are brought to renewed life:
Larry Niven's Man-Kzin characters are brought to renewed life in Hal Colebatch, Matthew Harrington and Larry Niven's MAN-KZIN WARS XI, a collection of stories which includes a new story by Niven and others expanding the Man-Kzin Wars series. Here a secret agenda affects a safari even as a woman lands on a plague world only to find something even more dangerous than plague. Familiarity with Niven's Man-Kzin series lends a special appreciation to this book.

War in Known Space?:
Three new short stories from Hal Colebatch, two from a new M-K-Wars author, and a rare new story from Larry Niven himself. This is an excellent addition to the M-K-Wars series. With five engaging stories, and well developed characters, it's easy for a dedicated fan to get lost in this book.

Skip the Hal Colebatch stories:
Niven, of course, is great. How did Hal Colebatch get included. He knows nothing of soldiers or professional warriors, and his depictions of such are just stupid. The first story almost made me chuck out the whole book. I'm glad I didn't but honestly, Colebatch must be Niven's nephew or something. He can garner zero credibility for action/adventure-type sci-fi. His characters and their relationships (huh?) are really shallow. But if you like to read about people doing one stupid thing after another to cause their own demise and then pulling through due to even more stupidity on their part, you'll love Colebatch's stories. Better yet, skip Colebatch's stuff and read the good ones.

Man Kazin Wars XI excellent:
This was one of those books that got read a couple of times in succession. The book covers a small time on wonderland, where the Man Kzin war is over with, and how both humanity and Kzin try to live together on what was once a battlefield. The central character is a Kzin, who is being trained and groomed to help run the Kzin survivors on the planet so that they can learn to co-exist with humans, rather than how it had been in the past, where the Kzin were the masters. The book takes place over an unspecified period of time with flashbacks to war time wonderland and post war wonderland, we also get to have a great story towards the end with a protector and how that also influenced a later man Kzin war. Overall, the stories are rich and rewarding to read, with a lot of detail to pick up (making rereading a must to pick up the nuances). There are interesting viewpoints and commentary on how to integrate a planet after a major war. There is a great balance in the stories, and how all the stories work well together. The protector story is by far the longest and the most in-depth of all the stories to read. Probably the most entertaining is the second one, Grossgeister Swamp, as it also looks at one of the other races the Kzin have taken into service and as lunch. Overall this is a 5 of 5 book, with a needed reread to pick up on some of the story that is very deep in how it is presented.