HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Descent of Anansi

by Larry Niven, Steven Barnes

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
618137,671 (3.48)5
Tells the story of a spaceship attacked by pirates.
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 5 mentions

The back cover of the book says:

"It's the American Revolution all over again. But this time it's a rag-tag band of space colonists vs. the United states. And the fate of the world hangs by a thread - 200 miles above the earth."

This blurb is almost completely unconnected with anything that actually happens in the book. This doesn't make it a bad book. Actually, the story that is in the book is probably better than the one the back cover describes. It is definitely a better story than the one contained in Achilles' Choice was.

Falling Angel is a research and manufacturing facility in the Moon's orbit. Early in the book, the handful of inhabitants, tired of being ignored by the U.S. government and having their funding cut, vote to sever ties with the U.S. This leaves them needing money, so they auction off their most valuable product - a super-thin and super-strong monofilament cable - to the highest bidder. The last two firms bidding are a Brazilian firm and a Japanese firm. The Japanese firm massively outbids the Brazilians and Falling Angel sends the shuttle Anansi to deliver the goods.

Instead of taking being outbid lying down, the Brazilians take steps to steal the cable. They arrange with a Muslim terrorist organization to blow up the shuttle with a missile, but the Brazilians double-cross the terrorists to merely damage the shuttle in order to allow a pair of their own shuttles to go and get the cable by persuasion or force. The experienced crew of the Anansi has to improvise to defend against the inexperienced but armed and numerically superior Brazilian pirates.

The U.S. government doesn't factor into the plot in any way other than the most tangential manner. The only thing that hangs by a thread is whether the Japanese will get the cable they bid on, and whether the crew of the Anansi will survive.

The back cover is a lie. The book, however, is still good.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. ( )
  StormRaven | Oct 6, 2008 |
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (1 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Larry Nivenprimary authorall editionscalculated
Barnes, Stevenmain authorall editionsconfirmed
Chaykin, HowardCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Tells the story of a spaceship attacked by pirates.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.48)
0.5
1
1.5
2 5
2.5 1
3 20
3.5 5
4 15
4.5 1
5 6

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,208,224 books! | Top bar: Always visible