by Larry Niven

isbn: 0345240111
subject: SF, Short Stories, Fiction and Literature
finished: 9/20/2002

Most writers would base a short story on some facet of a character or an element of human nature. In general there should be a bit of a surprise and furthermore the surprise needs to be foreshadowed -- an integral part of the story rather than tacked on as a cheap ending. Niven applies this formula when creating a story, but with one major difference: the surprise comes from a law of physics rather than from a character. He is, then, very much from the old school of SF writers where men were men, women were women, and not a whole lot more needed to be said to establish everyone's personality. The stories in this book are enjoyable, somewhat tongue-in-cheek SF. They are unremarkable except for The Fourth Profession which is great and, not coincidentally, the only one that deviates from the "clever law of physics" formula.