World of Ptavvs

A telepathic and mind-controlling alien Kraznol is forced to crash land in a time stopping stasis field on earth, where he is excavated billions of years in the future by humans. In his own time, Krazol's race was supremely powerful, seeding the galaxy with life and enslaving many alien species. A telepathic human is asked to penetrate the status field to better understand the alien, when his mind becomes overpowered by Kraznol's memories. Thus begins a chase that spans the solar system, as both the telepath who believes he is the alien, the alien itself, and multiple following parties chart courses to Neptune, where the Kraznol sent many of his powerful tools before his vessel crashed, some of which could lead to the total control of humanity.

A short book that is plot focused and fast-paced. I read most of the book in one sitting on a flight, and was impressed by Niven's ability to push the plot ever faster, jumping from one scene to the next. The real gem in the novel is the two alien races: the Thrints (Kraznol's race) and the species of genetically modified food animals that the Thrint's seeded on suitable worlds, known as Bandersnatchi. Niven has a knack for writing alien species in a way that is both extraordinary and believable. This same ability was on display in The Mote In God's Eye, and while I enjoyed the moties more, both of the new species are wonderful in their own right.

The problem, you ask? Niven doesn't spend nearly enough time with them. He insists on writing long sections of boring dialogue between boring human characters explaining the events of the plot. Most of the book feels like a worse version of The Stars My Destination, where the plot is muddled and the characters are bad. I just wish that Niven had figured out his skillset and leaned into it instead of away from it. It's a pretty lighthearted and adventurous book, something that you would take to the beach in 1960.

Other than that, not much to say. It's not particularly interesting on level other than the aliens. Mostly it wasn't awful either, but I got kinda tired of it half way through and struggled to finish the last forty or so pages.