Customer Reviews
Words fail me ... - By: J. Childs, 13 Oct 2008 
... as they obviously did the authors. Still, I'll try. Flat; insipid; & lightweight alll point toward the disaster that is Fleet of Worlds. I found nothing there that had not been either explicit or implicit in previous works with the possible exception of the Puppeteers' supposed "final" destination - & even this was suggested as a possibility rather than a fact. If you must read this effort - & believe me, it was an effort - go to the library.
They're too Human! - By: B. Vallance, 09 Sep 2008 
A reasonable addition to the 'Known Space' universe but the Aliens are just too human in behavoiur & attitudes.
They were distinctly alien in the other books
Average read - By: bob, 20 Jan 2008 Fleet of Worlds, in my opinion, was more enjoyable than some of Niven's work. I liked it better than the last two Ringworlds, or his books about the fire god magic. The scene is set well enough. Familiarity with Known Space is not reallly necessary. The characters feel similar to a lot of other Niven protagonists. Not a bad thing, but they are not unique in the same way some of his earlier heroes are.
The plot is OK & there is some interest maintained in the Puppeteer culture. All in alll, an average read.
Never enough fiction about the puppeteers but..... - By: Ed F, 14 Jan 2008 Pacey novel dealing with the human refugees on the fleet of worlds allluded to by the Hindmost in Ringworld Engineers. Simply structured conspiracy, betrayal, conflict & escape narrative which neatly delivers an excellent page turning story with lovely descriptive nuances about the fleet of worlds & the lives of the human travellers.
My only gripes are about the characterisations of the Puppeteers themselves, to me they felt too human, they are utterly alien & pictured in their home setting, so why did they come across as more human than the human refugees? Assigning human emotions & motives to alien creations is a mistake alll too often made by Science Fiction writers as a short cut to enable the reader to empathise with or at least understand the motives of alien characters but it's the last mistake I'd have expected Larry Niven to make after his utterly compelling alien characterisations of the past, from Moties to Puppeteers in other "known universe" tales.
Additionallly, in an attempt to contextualise the puppeteers, some of their glamour has been removed, they don't come across as quite as god like as they appear in other novels & tales & for me that slightly diminishes the whole body of their stories. I liked them inhumanly powerful, conservative, careful & ruthless. These pseudo human aliens were a bit too wet for my tastes.
Secrets of the Puppeteers - before the Ringworld's discovery - By: Stephen M Blank, 18 Nov 2007 
It's always a pleasure to learn a little more about Known Space & especiallly the fearsomely clever but cowardly Puppeteers.
This is a satisfying & typicallly pacy romp through that world. I was left with two nagging doubts. Do Niven & Lerner achieve the difficult job of persuading us that it is believable that Humans could compete against superior numbers & intelligence? Is the Puppeteers Fleet of Worlds exodus reallly the least risk even for a cowardly herd of herbivores?
Still the sheer exuberance of the story telling & the beautiful ideas that spin out make this an entertaining read
