Shipstar: A Science Fiction Novel

Gregory Benford · Larry Niven

Apr 2014 · Bowl of Heaven Book 2 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

The dramatic sequel to Larry Niven and Gregory Benford's New York Times bestselling novel, Bowl of Heaven

Science fiction masters Larry Niven (Ringworld) and Gregory Benford (Timescape) continue the thrilling adventure of a human expedition to another star system that is jeopardized by an encounter with an astonishingly immense artifact in interstellar space: a bowl-shaped structure cupping a star, with a habitable area equivalent to many millions of Earths. And which, tantalizingly, is on a direct path heading toward the same system the human ship is to colonize.

Investigating the Bowl, or Shipstar, the human explorers are separated—one group captured by the gigantic structure's alien inhabitants, the other pursued across its strange and dangerous landscape—while the mystery of the Shipstar's origins and purpose propel the human voyagers toward discoveries that 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

One of the best Big Smart Object novels. Superior in both physics and social complexity than the older Ringworld or Game of Thrones, but sometimes the prose is convoluted or unclear. I find the tech believable, but I still cant picture one of the aliens in my mind's eye. Worth the read.

Very imaginative! Now I want to know what happens next. I'm not going to give spoilers but really this book and Bowl of Heaven did a great job of creating a plausible alien world and mixing in very interesting characters. Bravo!

Long drawn out and no real conclusion. A lot of psychobabble and gobbledygook, not much of a book.

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 author of the Ringworld series and 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.