Bowl of Heaven: A Novel

Gregory Benford · Larry Niven

Oct 2012 · Bowl of Heaven Book 1 · Sold by Macmillan

About this ebook

SF masters Gregory Benford and Larry Niven spin a tale of alien encounters and strange technologies on an epic scale

In Bowl of Heaven, the first collaboration by science fiction authors Larry Niven (Ringworld) and Gregory Benford (Timescape), the limits of wonder are redrawn once again as a human expedition to another star system is jeopardized by an encounter with an astonishingly immense artifact in interstellar space: a bowl-shaped structure half-englobing a star, with a habitable area equivalent to many millions of Earths...and it's on a direct path heading for the same system as the human ship.

A landing party is sent to investigate the Bowl, but when the explorers are separated—one group captured by the gigantic structure's alien inhabitants, the other pursued across its strange and dangerous landscape—the mystery of the Bowl's origins and purpose propel the human voyagers toward discoveries that will transform their understanding of their place in the universe.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

A well developed view of what happened to the chickens who didn't stay home to roost, so to speak... Kind of nasty acquisitive and meddlesome; almost as bad as Puppeteers in some manner, but with much more of a kick ass attitude.

Not a compelling story. Characters lack depth; no tension or drama in the plot. It only begins to get interesting during the last 25 pages. By then, it doesn't matter as it's a pretty classic scenario

The science is good. That makes it an interesting read. Plot is decent and the characters are likeable, although they lack depth. The pacing is a bit slow, but not terribly so. Enjoyable enough to go for the sequal, imo.

About the author

GREGORY BENFORD is professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, and lives in Irvine. Benford is a winner of the United Nations Medal for Literature, and the Nebula Award for his classic novel Timescape.

LARRY NIVEN is the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of the Ringworld series, along with many other science fiction masterpieces. His Beowulf's Children, coauthored with Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes, was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Chatsworth, California.