Jerry Pournelle died

[Spindrift]

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/sci-fi-author-tech-advocate-012900671.html

I used to read his column in Byte magazine all the time and liked his books with Larry Niven and his Janissaries series.

 

[smartcooky]

"The Mote in God's Eye" is my second favourite first contact sci-fi book behind Carl Sagan's "Contact"

 

[Brainster]

I loved the Larry Niven collaborations, although oddly enough I didn't care for either author's individual work nearly as much.

 

[John Jones]

I loved the Larry Niven collaborations, although oddly enough I didn't care for either author's individual work nearly as much.

It's not odd. Compare The Beatles. The whole was better than the sum of the parts - even after you subtract Revolution#9.

 

[Trebuchet]

"The Mote in God's Eye" is my second favourite first contact sci-fi book behind Carl Sagan's "Contact"

My favorite part of The Mote in God's Eye was the naval aspect, which appeared to have come straight out of the 18th century in terms of ranks. I was already a Hornblower fan, of course.

 

[Spindrift]

I loved the Larry Niven collaborations, although oddly enough I didn't care for either author's individual work nearly as much.

I didn't dislike the individual works, but I did really like the collaborations much better. I'll have to add Footfall to my current reading list. I read it when it first came out so it's been over 30 years.

 

[Trebuchet]

I didn't dislike the individual works, but I did really like the collaborations much better. I'll have to add Footfall to my current reading list. I read it when it first came out so it's been over 30 years.

That's actually one I started reading about four times and just couldn't get through it. Very rare for me.

 

[Spindrift]

That's actually one I started reading about four times and just couldn't get through it. Very rare for me.

Don't like elephants?

 

[Trebuchet]

Don't like elephants?

Don't like survivalists!

 

[Spindrift]

Don't like survivalists!

That's Lucifer's Hammer.

 

[Giordano]

I realize that I am swimming upstream here compared to other posts but I much preferred the solo books by Niven to the collaborations with Pournelle. I think that Niven solo incorporated a bit more whimsical wit

His "The Magic Goes Away" series is just one example.

 

[CORed]

I loved the Larry Niven collaborations, although oddly enough I didn't care for either author's individual work nearly as much.

Both authors did their best work when they collaborated with each other. One of my favorites was Inferno, a modern retelling of Dante's Inferno (more fantasy than sf). I don't know if it's even still in print. The mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer were also great. I like a lot of Niven's individual work though. Pournelle's not as much.

 

[Trebuchet]

That's Lucifer's Hammer.

Wasn't wild about that one, either. I re-read almost everything. But not that one.

 

[Bikewer]

I rather enjoyed the collaborations as well. Wasn't Pournelle one of the "Sad puppies" that were so divisive at the Hugo awards?

That was the group of authors that thought sci-fi had gotten too "left wing" and wanted a return to more red-blooded "humans uber alles" writing. Or something.

I didn't pay that much attention.