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The Burning City (Paperback)

by Larry Niven (Author), Jerry Pournelle (Author) "They burned the city when Whandall Placehold was two years old, and again when he was seven ..." (more)

3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 512 pages
Publisher: Atria (Aug 24 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416575081
ISBN-13: 978-1416575085
Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 14.7 x 3.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 726 g

Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have created a unique and believable world set in the universe of Niven's The Magic Goes Away. The story begins nearly 14,000 years ago in Tep's Town, located on the future site of Los Angeles. Tep's Town is a city held captive by the slumbering god of fire, Yagen-Atep. Awakening only occasionally, he commands selected men to begin Burnings by giving them the ability to start fires coupled with consuming anger.

Whandall Placehold grows up in the stagnant, three-class society of Tep's town, part of a gang of thieves. No one gets in or out, since the town is hemmed in by a malevolent forest. But when Whandall is chosen by Yagen-Atep to start the Burnings, he resists the compulsion and, aided by Atlantean wizard Morth, escapes through the forest with a group of children he saves from certain death.

As the years pass, Whandall builds an empire, buys wagons and bison, and builds a trade route all along the California coast--except for Tep's Town. Life is good for Whandall and his bride, Willow, until they get a message from a desperate Morth: he convinces Whandall to return to Tep's Town and help eradicate, once and for all, an ancient magical being from Atlantis who has been trying to kill Morth for many years.

The Burning City is a lively book that deftly integrates social concerns of today with the magic and mythology of yesterday. Cameo appearances by the Native American god Coyote and the Norse god Loki add to the mischievous nature of the book. With a well-thought-out system of magic, characters with depth, unicorns, and swashbuckling adventure, this book is sure to please hardcore fantasy readers and fans of Niven and Pournelle. --Robert Gately --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling authors Niven and Pournelle (Footfall; The Gripping Hand; etc.) have produced yet another hefty fantasy (set in Niven's The Magic Goes Away series) sure to delight fans of sword, sorcery and male superiority. In the implausibly organized Tep's town, populated predominantly by a welfare/warrior class that steals from the Kinless artisan class and is given alms by the higher-class Lords, lives young Whandall Placehold. He is the son of a thief who was killed by the wizard Morth of Atlantis, during one of the town's many burnings, conflagrations that occur when the town's god Yangin-Atep possesses men and gives them command of fire and the rage to use it. As the god is losing his power, the fires are escalating in scope and duration, and the town is slowly turning to ashes. Whandall, who wants to grow up to be more than a short-lived thief, finds his path becoming inextricably tied to that of the wizard. When the opportunity arises, Whandall and Morth escape the town in the company of a family of Kinless ropemakers containing the inevitable beautiful, virginal, marriageable daughter. Years pass, Whandall breeds and becomes a warrior merchant, but he must return to the town of his birth in the company of Morth if his burgeoning family is to prosper. There, Whandall uses all his cunning and strength to aid the wizard in his battle against a magical nemesis from Atlantis. Fun in a formulaic kiss-or-kill fantasy kind of way, this adventure has enough swordplay, magic and unicorns to please those looking to tread the old, tired pathways again. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(16)

Average Customer Review

3.1 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars The book had a great start, Nov 12 2003

By	William Koenigslieb "iteriam" (BREA, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Burning City (Mass Market Paperback)

I am both a SF and a Fantasy fan. I love their earlier science fiction works. This book had me very excited for the first 300+ pages. Then it jumps 23 years into the future and I just couldn't get back into it. I treid like a 100 more pages and I put it down and started a different book.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Has the well gone dry?, Sep 27 2003

By	Billy Hollis (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Burning City (Mass Market Paperback)

As a four-decade science fiction fan, I count Niven and Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye" as the single best SF novel ever written. Their other work has always been at least passable, and some of it, such as "The Legacy of Heorot" is excellent.

But I suppose all good things must come to an end. I struggled to stay interested in this book, and almost made it to the end. But with fifty pages to go, I haven't picked it up in six weeks. I just don't care about the characters or the outcome of the plot. They've drifted through about thirty years of their lives to this point, and none of it has been particularly interesting. I don't really care if I ever find out what happened to them.

I read "The Magic Goes Away" (which is set in the same "universe") years ago, and liked it pretty well. It set some interesting rules on the idea of magic, and then operated logically within those rules - a different approach from most fantasy. But this book does not build on those precepts. The "magic" is much more random, and there's not really any clever use of it to advance the plot.

So even if you are a big Niven/Pournelle fan, skip this one. Try any of the others, and you'll probably at least finish the book.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Wake up Jerry!, Feb 20 2003

By	Dale Jackaman "dalej@reboot.bc.ca" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Burning City (Mass Market Paperback)

I read books based on author and I picked this one up because Jerry Pournelle, in large part, wrote it. I loved his Janissaires series, which he never finished (grrr!), but this one I just can't get into. Vacuous and disjointed are the best descriptive words I could come up with.

Mr. Pournelle, and I'm sure his pubisher feels the same way, needs to FOCUS more on his book writing and less on such frivolous use of his time prattling on about the mundane on his web site. And finish Janissaires! I could have written the damn thing myself by now...

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars I wanted it to be good, but it wasn't
Niven has taken his previous worst book "Destiny's Road", and rewritten it in a new context. Read more

Published on Dec 31 2002 by tj2k

1.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy eludes them ...
In the light of the quality works previously produced by Niven and Pournelle, this book (The Burning City) is a gross disappointment. Read more

Published on April 3 2002 by John Crayon

1.0 out of 5 stars Was his car payment due?
First, I am a long time fan of just about everything Jerry Pournelle has done. I finished this book, but I didn't enjoy it. Read more

Published on Feb 4 2002 by Michael Fisher

2.0 out of 5 stars Will the Real Larry Niven Please Come Home?
Niven and Pournelle have written some of the best science fiction and fantasy there is. I share the late Robert Heinlein's opinion that "The Mote in God's Eye" might be... Read more

Published on Dec 18 2001 by James D. DeWitt