Trees Series by Larry Niven
Trees #1
The Integral Trees t-1
Larry Niven
Like much of Niven's work, the story is heavily influenced by the setting: a gas torus, a ring of air around a neutron star. The gas giant Goldblatt's World (abbreviated "Gold") orbits this star just outside its Roche sphere. Thus, Gold's gravity is insufficient to hold its atmosphere, which is pulled loose into an independent orbit around Voy. This orbiting air forms a ring known as the Gas Torus. The Gas Torus is huge — one million kilometers thick — but most of it is too thin to be habitable. The central part of the Gas Torus, where the air is thicker, is known as the Smoke Ring. The Smoke Ring supports a wide variety of life. There is no “ground” in the Smoke Ring; it is a world consisting entirely of sky. Thus, most animals can fly, even the fish. Furthermore, since the Smoke Ring is in orbit, it is in free fall — there is no “up” or “down”…
First publiched in Analog in 1983. Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1984. Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1985.
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Trees #2
The Smoke Ring t-2
Larry Niven
The setting of Niven’s 1984 novel The Integral Trees was striking and imaginative, even for this acclaimed world builder; it’s well worth the second visit made in this sequel. Around a neutron star an envelope of gas holds a breathable atmosphere and a strange profusion of plant and animal life, all floating in free-fall. Five hundred years after the crew of the Earth ship Discipline mutinied and deserted to this paradise, their descendants are still watched over by the ship’s unbalanced computer mind. The machine is busy manipulating its one small contact group into exploring the larger city they have been avoiding for years. Aspects of this society are intriguing: for instance, the disdain of the better-adapted taller, thinner people for the “dwarfish” throwbacks, even though only the short can fit into the scientific relics of the old ship. As usual with Niven, character and story are just an excuse for working out the properties of his wonderful imaginary world, where people can fly like birds and ponds full of fish hang in midair. Unfortunately, in this book he fails to marshal the visual and dramatic flair needed to show it off to best effect.
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