Protector

By: Larry Niven

Narrated by: Tom Weiner

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

This Hugo-nominated work is a classic of Niven's Known Space saga.

Phssthpok the Pak had been traveling for most of his thirty-two thousand years. His mission was to save, develop, and protect the group of Pak breeders sent out into space some two and a half million years before.

Brennan was a Belter, the product of a fiercely independent, somewhat anarchic society living in, on, and around an outer asteroid belt. The Belters were rebels, one and all, and Brennan was a smuggler. The Belt worlds had been tracking the Pak ship for days, and Brennan figured to meet that ship first.

He was never seen again - at least not by those alive at the time.

©1973 Larry Niven (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

My all time favorite

Read this all night in my twenties. Very smart. All Niven, the all time best SF writer.

Brilliant concept, wonderfully carried out

Would you consider the audio edition of Protector to be better than the print version?

Yes. Tom Weiner does a fine job of adding emotion to much of the dialog.

What other book might you compare Protector to and why?

Nothing comes to mind. Like Niven's Ringworld, Protector has a unique concept that captures imaginations, and never lets go.

Which character – as performed by Tom Weiner – was your favorite?

The Pak character and Brennan-Monster were both highly entertaining.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yes. I'm a pretty fast reader, so I'd have finished a real book in one sitting. But I savored Weiner's narration too much to hurry it by speeding up the playback.

Any additional comments?

Protector is yet one more in the superlative Known Space collection of books by Larry Niven that were written last century. It has all the qualities that make those books so special: sense of wonder, optimism, humor, and unpredictability (as opposed to, say, John Scalzi's works that have become increasingly predictable).

Among Niven's Best

The reader does these characters incredibly well. His women's voices aren't as good as some readers, but his alien voice creates a haunting character that chilled me to the bone. I couldn't stop listening to this book, sucked me right in! The science is mind blowing!

Classic Hard SF

I've read almost everything Niven's ever written, this one still shines as a great, sprawling adventure across the stars, with mystery, hardware, and family ties. The audiobook was a treat, I especially liked the Australian accents of the Belters, that was a nice touch.

very well put together

I think the way that these short stories have been merged is great. Had a hard time getting into the narrator's voice but after a while it was really good

WHAT THE FINAGLE

THE ROMANCE OF SPACE
As mentioned by several others the concept is fairly cool. The telling not so much. The first hour goes over pretty good, but goes down hill from there. This comes from the age when science fiction was a lot slower. I lost patience in the sixth hour.
MINATURE GOLF
I must also admit that Weiner has never been one of my favorite narrators. He is not terrible, just not inspiring.

Nice Reading

Was fun to listen to during commute. Novel was pure Niven, Enjoyed story again.
Very descriptive and romantic version of interstellar flight and war.

Amazing classic sci-fi!

Truly a well thought out, facinating story. Larry Niven is one of the most original science fiction writers out there. His "classic hard science" science fiction brings me back to when I was a kid and my Dad used to read me Aurther C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick and other classic writers work that he grew up with.
I've always loved this kind of sci-fi and always thought it was far more interesting than the more "Hollywood-esque" science fiction of modern day.
Protector is one of the greats. All I will say is to READ/LISTEN to it. You will not regret it, and will want to learn more about Niven's "Known Space" series.

very cool lots of science

very cool lots of science and a little back story for what we heard in the ring wold engineers

Just ok...

this was just okay almost to cliche not very interesting and not a very compelling story. The character development was not very compelling either unless you're really bored skip this book