The Goliath Stone
Larry Niven and Matthew Joseph Harrington
Tor, mmpb, 367 p., $8.99
ebook Kindle $7.25 (as of this writing) Nook $8.99
Larry Niven has long been one of my favorite writers, since like about 7th grade. Matthew Joseph Harrington is new to me. Together they’ve crafted an entertaining story about nanites sent to an asteroid 25 years prior to the story’s events coming home. While not the best thing I’ve read with Niven’s name on it, The Goliath Stone was fun and enjoyable.
The basic set up is that 25 years ago a company headed by two scientists sent the Briareus mission, which contained a package of nanites, to intercept an Earth Crossing asteroid. Shortly after launch, they lost contact with the mission. Now a larger asteroid is headed back towards Earth. Many believe that the Briareus mission is responsible.
The two men responsible for the Briareus mission, Dr. Toby Glyer and William Conners, are now being hunted by the government. But they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. After all, Conners was given the death sentence for murder and survived the execution. He’s not without his resources.
As I said, this was an entertaining book. There’s not a lot of action. The greatest part of the novel consists of dialogue. But it’s interesting dialogue, the kind you would expect to find in a novel written (or in this case, co-written) by Larry Niven.
The chapters are short, many only one or two pages long, and this makes the book go by quickly. You don’t get a sense that things are stalling out in the narrative.
Much of the science fiction today imagines a future that is socialist. In this respect The Goliath Stone is no different. Where it is different is that this future isn’t presented as one that’s desirable. Rather, Niven and Harrington poke some fun at the this model while having some serious things to say.
The Goliath Stone is also a novel written for science fiction fans. There are a number of overt references to fandom and some specific works and authors. Part of the fun was seeing how many of the references I could catch.
While the $8.99 price tag is a bit steep for a mass market paperback (Yeah, I know that or $9.99 is often the going rate these days, it’s still steep), there are enough discount programs such as the B&N membership or Amazon’s regular discounting, that if you’re so inclinced, you could probably pick this one up for less.