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The Flight of the Horse
Alternate-cover edition can be found here.
'We don't know where on Earth you'll wind up,' Ra Chen had told him.
And the Director of the Institute for Temporal Research didn't know precisely when, either. ALl he knew was that Haville Svetz would be travelling back in time almost 2,000 years.
But when he returns, Hanville Svetz won't be alone. If his mission is successful he will be accompanied by a creature long extinct - a spectacular birthday present for the Secreatary-General. His only hope is a picture from a children's book. A picture of a horse.
And so begins the first incredible adventure in time of Hanville Svetz.
'We don't know where on Earth you'll wind up,' Ra Chen had told him.
And the Director of the Institute for Temporal Research didn't know precisely when, either. ALl he knew was that Haville Svetz would be travelling back in time almost 2,000 years.
But when he returns, Hanville Svetz won't be alone. If his mission is successful he will be accompanied by a creature long extinct - a spectacular birthday present for the Secreatary-General. His only hope is a picture from a children's book. A picture of a horse.
And so begins the first incredible adventure in time of Hanville Svetz.
212 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1973
18 people are currently reading
954 people want to read
About the author
Larry Niven
687 books3,311 followersLaurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths.
Niven also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes The Magic Goes Away series, which utilizes an exhaustible resource, called Mana, to make the magic a non-renewable resource.
Niven created an alien species, the Kzin, which were featured in a series of twelve collection books, the Man-Kzin Wars. He co-authored a number of novels with Jerry Pournelle. In fact, much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Pournelle, Steven Barnes, Brenda Cooper, or Edward M. Lerner.
He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has since lived in Los Angeles suburbs, including Chatsworth and Tarzana, as a full-time writer. He married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, herself a well-known science fiction and Regency literature fan, on September 6, 1969.
Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for Neutron Star in 1967. In 1972, for Inconstant Moon, and in 1975 for The Hole Man. In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for The Borderland of Sol.
Niven has written scripts for various science fiction television shows, including the original Land of the Lost series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which he adapted his early Kzin story The Soft Weapon. He adapted his story Inconstant Moon for an episode of the television series The Outer Limits in 1996.
He has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect, which are unusual in comic books.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/larryn...
Niven also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes The Magic Goes Away series, which utilizes an exhaustible resource, called Mana, to make the magic a non-renewable resource.
Niven created an alien species, the Kzin, which were featured in a series of twelve collection books, the Man-Kzin Wars. He co-authored a number of novels with Jerry Pournelle. In fact, much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Pournelle, Steven Barnes, Brenda Cooper, or Edward M. Lerner.
He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has since lived in Los Angeles suburbs, including Chatsworth and Tarzana, as a full-time writer. He married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, herself a well-known science fiction and Regency literature fan, on September 6, 1969.
Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for Neutron Star in 1967. In 1972, for Inconstant Moon, and in 1975 for The Hole Man. In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for The Borderland of Sol.
Niven has written scripts for various science fiction television shows, including the original Land of the Lost series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which he adapted his early Kzin story The Soft Weapon. He adapted his story Inconstant Moon for an episode of the television series The Outer Limits in 1996.
He has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect, which are unusual in comic books.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/larryn...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
May 5, 2014
As of this review, I’ve read six books by Larry Niven (some coauthored by his frequent collaborator, Jerry Pournelle). That’s a hefty number for any single author on my bookshelf. I’ve another three books by him on my to-read shelf, but part of me wonders why: my average rating is just over 2 stars, and I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I’ve found most of his books too flimsy and poorly written to be great. But Niven, despite all his flaws as a writer, remains a singularly remarkable source of interesting ideas (Ringworld is just one of them).
Flash Crowd is another example of a good idea. It’s Niven’s attempt to methodically examine how long-distance teleportation would change society. He uses the conceit of a journalist, Barry “Jerryberry” Jansen, working to uncover how the transit booths work as part of a larger piece on the effects of transit booths on rioting. Niven’s premise is that the ability to cross the country in a matter of minutes allows for near-instantaneous riots, or even a semi-permanent, itinerant riot. It’s a chilling vision of something that seems highly unlikely yet plausible, given the right technology at the right time.
Jerryberry is working under a time limit. He literally has hours until an interview that will either absolve him for his role in starting a riot or pinion him as the man who let it happen. This is good for dramatic tension, but it’s also a commentary on the fast-paced nature of life with teleportation. We don’t have teleportation yet, but I think the metaphor holds given our near-instantaneous access to information. Niven touches on the double-edged sword of instant media here, and while the technology references and the ideas are somewhat stale, the overall commentary remains incisive.
This is the type of story that really only works as a short piece of fiction. As far as stories go it shouldn’t work but does: it has very little in the way of plot and an embarrassing amount of exposition. This is quite literally Niven rapping a thought experiment in the form of a novella … but that’s OK. Because, again, the ideas are just so interesting and thought-provoking that one can ignore the impoverished, hastily-erected structure surrounding them.
Of all the Niven works I’ve read so far, this is probably one of my favourites. It’s short, accessible, and fascinating. So if you have the time to read about how teleportation might disrupt and innovate, Flash Crowd is worth a look. Just don’t expect a symphony of words to wash over you in the process.
Read as part of The Mammoth Book of Short Science Fiction Novels .
Flash Crowd is another example of a good idea. It’s Niven’s attempt to methodically examine how long-distance teleportation would change society. He uses the conceit of a journalist, Barry “Jerryberry” Jansen, working to uncover how the transit booths work as part of a larger piece on the effects of transit booths on rioting. Niven’s premise is that the ability to cross the country in a matter of minutes allows for near-instantaneous riots, or even a semi-permanent, itinerant riot. It’s a chilling vision of something that seems highly unlikely yet plausible, given the right technology at the right time.
Jerryberry is working under a time limit. He literally has hours until an interview that will either absolve him for his role in starting a riot or pinion him as the man who let it happen. This is good for dramatic tension, but it’s also a commentary on the fast-paced nature of life with teleportation. We don’t have teleportation yet, but I think the metaphor holds given our near-instantaneous access to information. Niven touches on the double-edged sword of instant media here, and while the technology references and the ideas are somewhat stale, the overall commentary remains incisive.
This is the type of story that really only works as a short piece of fiction. As far as stories go it shouldn’t work but does: it has very little in the way of plot and an embarrassing amount of exposition. This is quite literally Niven rapping a thought experiment in the form of a novella … but that’s OK. Because, again, the ideas are just so interesting and thought-provoking that one can ignore the impoverished, hastily-erected structure surrounding them.
Of all the Niven works I’ve read so far, this is probably one of my favourites. It’s short, accessible, and fascinating. So if you have the time to read about how teleportation might disrupt and innovate, Flash Crowd is worth a look. Just don’t expect a symphony of words to wash over you in the process.
Read as part of The Mammoth Book of Short Science Fiction Novels .
March 15, 2019
Average rating: 3.42
January 2, 2013
As a rule, I'm not a big fan of Niven's attempts at humor, and the first several stories in this collection, including the title story, confirm my opinion. Those tales of Svetz, a civil service time traveller, tasked at bringing extinct animals from the past, manage to combine weak satire and a good amount of silliness with an underlying grimness and pessimism into what I found an unpleasant mix.
On the other hand, the last two pieces are unrelated novellas, and they are significantly better. The last story, "What Good is a Glass Dagger?" is pure fantasy, not what usually comes to mind when thinking of Niven, although it revolves around what is essentially a technological development, a device that can permanently drain mana (magical energy) from a region. But it features two interesting characters, a bit of a mystery, and 30 year-long wizard's duel.
However, the next-to-last piece, the novella "Flash Crowd", is worth whatever it costs you to find or buy this book. This tale is Niven at his best, doing pure science fiction: he posits a technological development - in this case the development of "displacement booths" (essentially Star Trek transporters), and explores how their existence changes society, and how it continues to change as the devices are perfected. He does this by following the life of a freelance reporter, blamed by the general public for causing a riot, who must race the clock to get enough data to clear his name in time for an interview with a prominent news anchor.
So by way of rating this; I'd give "Flash Crowd" 5 stars, "Glass Dagger" 4, and 2 stars to each of the other five stories.
On the other hand, the last two pieces are unrelated novellas, and they are significantly better. The last story, "What Good is a Glass Dagger?" is pure fantasy, not what usually comes to mind when thinking of Niven, although it revolves around what is essentially a technological development, a device that can permanently drain mana (magical energy) from a region. But it features two interesting characters, a bit of a mystery, and 30 year-long wizard's duel.
However, the next-to-last piece, the novella "Flash Crowd", is worth whatever it costs you to find or buy this book. This tale is Niven at his best, doing pure science fiction: he posits a technological development - in this case the development of "displacement booths" (essentially Star Trek transporters), and explores how their existence changes society, and how it continues to change as the devices are perfected. He does this by following the life of a freelance reporter, blamed by the general public for causing a riot, who must race the clock to get enough data to clear his name in time for an interview with a prominent news anchor.
So by way of rating this; I'd give "Flash Crowd" 5 stars, "Glass Dagger" 4, and 2 stars to each of the other five stories.
February 7, 2017
Niven was known from the start of his career as a writer of rigorously hard science fiction, so it was interesting and surprising to see a collection of what are primarily fantasy stories by him. The first edition featured a strangely Freudian suggestive cover by Dean Ellis, known best for his astronomical works. The five Svetz stories are time travel tales, which the science of the time held was impossible, so he mixed in other fantasy elements. They're fun and funny stories, short on character but big on ideas, as Niven's writing frequently is. Also included is Flash Crowd, a teleportation novella that examines the impact of technology on society, recently updated and reprinted as Red Tide. What Good Is a Glass Dagger?, his first story set in the long-running wizard/manna world, rounds out the collection. It's a thought-provoking and entertaining volume.
October 22, 2019
Most of these stories are about the time-traveler Svetz, who is tasked with retrieving certain items from the distant past. Problem is, he thinks he lives in a Science Fictional universe, but since time travel is Fantasy, his tasks lead to humorous misunderstandings and misadventures.
For some reason this collection also includes one non-Svetz story, “Flashcrowd”, which is one of my all-time favorite short stories. It is straight SF, and Niven later used the tech to tie into his expansive Known Space future history. I like the Svetz tales, but I love Flashcrowd.
For some reason this collection also includes one non-Svetz story, “Flashcrowd”, which is one of my all-time favorite short stories. It is straight SF, and Niven later used the tech to tie into his expansive Known Space future history. I like the Svetz tales, but I love Flashcrowd.
March 30, 2016
I quite enjoyed the time travel short stories, in fact I'd like to read more in his book Rainbow Mars, and I also enjoyed his fantasy shortish story, quite good in fact, but it is the short story Flash Crowd which takes this book from the average to good of 3 stars to the 4 I have given it. Great story, that I remember reading in some anthology I think, many moons ago.
January 18, 2009
Acceptable, mildly diverting, but overall dumb.
April 20, 2018
I do not think that the concept of instant travel/the "Star Trek" transporter has ever been fully investigated in the aspect of the dangers which could occur by thousands of people wanting to be in the same place at the same time. The story was not that great, but the concept was absolutely brilliant.
Merged review:
This is a pretty fun story about time travel with an ending that has a unique twist on what Larry Niven thinks happened after the conclusion of my favorite novel.
Merged review:
It's a cute little short story concerning time travel, but the story of cross dimensional time travel to worlds with different types of evolutionary properties, and then the protagonist adapting to said properties takes too much suspension of disbelief for this short story to be completely enjoyable.
Merged review:
This is why I don't like time travel stories. They turn into giant studies in temporal paradoxes where at the end everyone just shrugs their shoulders in a who cares dismissal. Maybe the reader cares, did you ever think about that!?
Merged review:
This is a cute and unique story, but the time travel aspect of this is a bit convoluted, and the author admits as much via the characters, but just shrugs his shoulders as if all you have to say is "time travel" and it forgives all leaps in logic and errors in plot.
Merged review:
This novel is a decent collection of short stories which range from pretty good to pretty bad, but if you're a fan of Larry Niven, then you should enjoy it.
Merged review:
This is a pretty fun story about time travel with an ending that has a unique twist on what Larry Niven thinks happened after the conclusion of my favorite novel.
Merged review:
It's a cute little short story concerning time travel, but the story of cross dimensional time travel to worlds with different types of evolutionary properties, and then the protagonist adapting to said properties takes too much suspension of disbelief for this short story to be completely enjoyable.
Merged review:
This is why I don't like time travel stories. They turn into giant studies in temporal paradoxes where at the end everyone just shrugs their shoulders in a who cares dismissal. Maybe the reader cares, did you ever think about that!?
Merged review:
This is a cute and unique story, but the time travel aspect of this is a bit convoluted, and the author admits as much via the characters, but just shrugs his shoulders as if all you have to say is "time travel" and it forgives all leaps in logic and errors in plot.
Merged review:
This novel is a decent collection of short stories which range from pretty good to pretty bad, but if you're a fan of Larry Niven, then you should enjoy it.
September 7, 2024
I've read a few of Niven's novels previously and my general impression was that he was a fairly typical science fiction writer in that his ideas are interesting, but they aren't expressed in a particularly distinguished prose style. This short story collection clearly displays Niven's strengths and weaknesses as an author.
Unusually, it features five stories which are linked on the theme of time travel, all of which feature the same protagonist. Elements of continuity within these was a nice touch but I didn't find any of them particularly enjoyable. They're pretty light and humorous in style but the humour is only occasionally amusing, at other times falling flat. Characterisation was pretty thin as well.
The next story, Flash Crowd, was easily the best in the book. It's based on a neat concept where instant teleportation booths have been invented and examines what effects that would have on society. Again, the characterisation is rather slight but that doesn't really matter as the ideas are so interesting and seemed to predict the future development of the flash mob a few decades prior.
The last story, What Good is a Glass Dagger? is pure fantasy. Again, the concept is great, what if magic was finite and diminished over time. However, this one is told in such dull and lifeless prose that it's a real chore to read.
The book closes with an Afterword by the author which was quite enjoyable but short, I would have been happy for it to go on a bit longer.
Overall, a fairly average collection - one really strong story but the rest mediocre.
Unusually, it features five stories which are linked on the theme of time travel, all of which feature the same protagonist. Elements of continuity within these was a nice touch but I didn't find any of them particularly enjoyable. They're pretty light and humorous in style but the humour is only occasionally amusing, at other times falling flat. Characterisation was pretty thin as well.
The next story, Flash Crowd, was easily the best in the book. It's based on a neat concept where instant teleportation booths have been invented and examines what effects that would have on society. Again, the characterisation is rather slight but that doesn't really matter as the ideas are so interesting and seemed to predict the future development of the flash mob a few decades prior.
The last story, What Good is a Glass Dagger? is pure fantasy. Again, the concept is great, what if magic was finite and diminished over time. However, this one is told in such dull and lifeless prose that it's a real chore to read.
The book closes with an Afterword by the author which was quite enjoyable but short, I would have been happy for it to go on a bit longer.
Overall, a fairly average collection - one really strong story but the rest mediocre.
September 26, 2024
This book was about boring asf
Wish i could pay penance for the pain and suffering i inflicted upon myself in the name of what exactly i dont even know
Wish i could pay penance for the pain and suffering i inflicted upon myself in the name of what exactly i dont even know
May 13, 2018
“The Flight of the Horse” is written by Larry Niven and is a compilation of 7 short stories. Copyright 1974, ISB number 1-85723-841-9, first published in 1975 by Futura Publications Limited.
Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones, copyright Solar Wind Libraries.
On the back the flowing description is given:
“We don’t know where on Earth you’ll wind up,” Ra Chen told him. And the director of the institute for Temporal Research didn’t know precisely when, either. All he knew was that Hanville Svetz would be travelling back in time for almost 2000 years.
But when he returns, Hanville Svetz won’t be alone. If is mission is successful, he will be accompanied by a creature long extinct - a spectacular birthday present for the Secretary-General. His only help is a picture from a children’s book. A picture of a horse.
And so begins the first incredible adventure in time of Hanvill Svetz.
I’ve really enjoyed this book and the adventures of Hanville Svetz as written by Larry Niven. The last two stories are different and better than the other stories. Especially What Good is a Glass Dagger? This is a fantasy story and Larry Niven explains in the Afterword that it took him a long time to learn to write fantasy stories. He says that this is his only sword-and-sorcery novelette, to date and possibly forever. The following stories are included in this book:
• The Flight of the Horse
• Leviathan
• Bird in the Hand
• There is a Wolf in My Time Machine
• Death in a Cage
• Flash Crowd
• What Good is a Glass Dagger?
Time line
The first story starts with: The year was 750 AA (Ante Atomic) or 1200 AD (Anno Domini), approximately. Hanville Svetz stepped out of the extension cage and looked about him.
To Svetz the atomic bomb was eleven hundred years old and the horse was a thousand years dead.
Lets translate this sentence to a time line including the events as mentioned.
--1950 AA---750 AA---0 A------100 A-----1100 A----
---*---------T------V--------H--------W-------
---0-------1200 AD--1950 AD--2050 AD---3050 AD---
* = Beginning of the era
T = The year Hanville travelled to back in time
V = The year of the atomic bom
H = The year the last horse died
W = The year Hanville travelled back from
Later on in the short story Death in a Cage, the Cuba missile crisis is placed in 1958, 17 Ante Atomic.
This narrows down the time line as follows (without compromising the year Hanville travels back to):
(AA)-1975--750----17----0----100--1100---
---- -*----T-----M----V-----H---W-----
(AD)--0---1200--1958--1975--2075--3075---
* = Beginning of the era
T = The year Hanville travelled to back in time
V = The year of the atomic bom
H = The year the last horse died
W = The year Hanville travelled back from
M = Cuban Missile Crisis
Below you’ll find an abstract of the main characters per story
The Flight of the Horse
ITR Instituten for Temporal Research.
Hanville Svetz, time traveler.
Ra Chen, Svetz’s boss.
Zeera, also time traveler.
Palace vetenarian.
Growing a Roc from an Ostrich.
There is a Wolf in my time machine.
Wrona, wolf woman (Wrocky’s niece).
Wrocky, wolf man.
Worrel, wolf man.
Death in a Cage.
The year is 1102 Post Atomic.
Back to the year 704 Ante Atomic.
During time traveling a skeleton gost appears in the time machine.
Doctor Nathaniel Reynolds, first time traveller ever.
Cuba missle crisis, 1958, 17 Ante Atomic.
Flash Crowd
Displacements booths being the way of transportation.
Jerryberry Jansen, Newstaper.
Janice Wolfe
George Bailey, Jerryberry’s boss at CBA.
Wash Evans, News reporter.
Angela Monk, movie actress.
Nils Kjeruf, service engineer displacement booth’s TWA.
Gregory Scheffer customs officer.
JumpShift, manufacturer of the Displacement Booth.
Doctor Robin Whyte phycisist Displacement Booth and founder (co) of JumpShift.
Gemini Jones, physicist handeling nucleair waste by means of a drop-ship.
Doctor Janesko, Whyte’s physitian.
Harry McCord retired police chief.
Lon Willis, burgler using displacement booths.
Irma Hennesey, shop liftster who started the riot.
What good is a glass dagger.
Aran the Peacemonger.
Lloraginezee the rug merchant.
Ra-Harroo, his secretary.
Clubfoot, younger guild member.
Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones, copyright Solar Wind Libraries.
On the back the flowing description is given:
“We don’t know where on Earth you’ll wind up,” Ra Chen told him. And the director of the institute for Temporal Research didn’t know precisely when, either. All he knew was that Hanville Svetz would be travelling back in time for almost 2000 years.
But when he returns, Hanville Svetz won’t be alone. If is mission is successful, he will be accompanied by a creature long extinct - a spectacular birthday present for the Secretary-General. His only help is a picture from a children’s book. A picture of a horse.
And so begins the first incredible adventure in time of Hanvill Svetz.
I’ve really enjoyed this book and the adventures of Hanville Svetz as written by Larry Niven. The last two stories are different and better than the other stories. Especially What Good is a Glass Dagger? This is a fantasy story and Larry Niven explains in the Afterword that it took him a long time to learn to write fantasy stories. He says that this is his only sword-and-sorcery novelette, to date and possibly forever. The following stories are included in this book:
• The Flight of the Horse
• Leviathan
• Bird in the Hand
• There is a Wolf in My Time Machine
• Death in a Cage
• Flash Crowd
• What Good is a Glass Dagger?
Time line
The first story starts with: The year was 750 AA (Ante Atomic) or 1200 AD (Anno Domini), approximately. Hanville Svetz stepped out of the extension cage and looked about him.
To Svetz the atomic bomb was eleven hundred years old and the horse was a thousand years dead.
Lets translate this sentence to a time line including the events as mentioned.
--1950 AA---750 AA---0 A------100 A-----1100 A----
---*---------T------V--------H--------W-------
---0-------1200 AD--1950 AD--2050 AD---3050 AD---
* = Beginning of the era
T = The year Hanville travelled to back in time
V = The year of the atomic bom
H = The year the last horse died
W = The year Hanville travelled back from
Later on in the short story Death in a Cage, the Cuba missile crisis is placed in 1958, 17 Ante Atomic.
This narrows down the time line as follows (without compromising the year Hanville travels back to):
(AA)-1975--750----17----0----100--1100---
---- -*----T-----M----V-----H---W-----
(AD)--0---1200--1958--1975--2075--3075---
* = Beginning of the era
T = The year Hanville travelled to back in time
V = The year of the atomic bom
H = The year the last horse died
W = The year Hanville travelled back from
M = Cuban Missile Crisis
Below you’ll find an abstract of the main characters per story
The Flight of the Horse
ITR Instituten for Temporal Research.
Hanville Svetz, time traveler.
Ra Chen, Svetz’s boss.
Zeera, also time traveler.
Palace vetenarian.
Growing a Roc from an Ostrich.
There is a Wolf in my time machine.
Wrona, wolf woman (Wrocky’s niece).
Wrocky, wolf man.
Worrel, wolf man.
Death in a Cage.
The year is 1102 Post Atomic.
Back to the year 704 Ante Atomic.
During time traveling a skeleton gost appears in the time machine.
Doctor Nathaniel Reynolds, first time traveller ever.
Cuba missle crisis, 1958, 17 Ante Atomic.
Flash Crowd
Displacements booths being the way of transportation.
Jerryberry Jansen, Newstaper.
Janice Wolfe
George Bailey, Jerryberry’s boss at CBA.
Wash Evans, News reporter.
Angela Monk, movie actress.
Nils Kjeruf, service engineer displacement booth’s TWA.
Gregory Scheffer customs officer.
JumpShift, manufacturer of the Displacement Booth.
Doctor Robin Whyte phycisist Displacement Booth and founder (co) of JumpShift.
Gemini Jones, physicist handeling nucleair waste by means of a drop-ship.
Doctor Janesko, Whyte’s physitian.
Harry McCord retired police chief.
Lon Willis, burgler using displacement booths.
Irma Hennesey, shop liftster who started the riot.
What good is a glass dagger.
Aran the Peacemonger.
Lloraginezee the rug merchant.
Ra-Harroo, his secretary.
Clubfoot, younger guild member.
January 24, 2015
A brilliant idea, unsatisfactorily developed. Niven introduces the intriguing concept of the "instant, floating riot" very early in the story, and then basically abandons it and dedicates the rest of the novella to endless exposition of the technical details and social ramifications of teleporting. We never actually learn what happens with the riot once it has started. It's like one of the many so called "High-concept" Hollywood movies, which start from a very good idea but then just don't know what to do with it. I wish someone could take Niven's idea and develop it into a better story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2017
Gave this book up until 125 pages. Just can not make myself pick it up any more.
October 20, 2024
The first half of this book is a collection of related whimsical short stories, from a writer that I've always thought of as a staid, hard science driven, SF writer. Who knew that he had a sense of humour? These stories are about attempts to use a time machine to bring extinct animals back to the present, to satisfy the whims of a childlike ruler. The main problem is that there are only vague ideas of what these extinct animals were, and something strange happens: what comes back are mythological creatures: for example, an attempt to obtain a horse catches a unicorn - a far more dangerous beast. Clearly, because time travel is a fantasy (even though it's usually considered science fiction), attempting to bring back a real animal nets a similar fantastic animal instead. (As Niven tells the reader in the Afterword - I wrote this part of the review as I read.)
Two longer and much more serious stories follow. The first of these, Flash Crowd, is a much more sober traditional "what if?" science fiction exploration of what the impact might be of the invention and proliferation of instantaneous teleportation booths - users dial a location, like a telephone call, and then immediately travel to the desired location. Niven manages to pack in a lot of thinking about this into a fairly short space, without obviously force-feeding the reader. The most impressive part of this story, to my mind, is there in the title: he not only invented the idea of the flash mob, but almost christened it, some 30 years before it came into being.
The other long story, What Good is a Glass Dagger? is straight fantasy, set in a world where magic is a finite, diminishing, resource. This is less memorable than the other stories in this collection.
One aspect that relates all the stories in The Flight of the Horse are seen in little touches which are recognisable in our world today. The short stories have a theme of pollution in the air, to which the humans in the stories have adapted so that they need the pollutants to breathe. This reads like a tentative discussion of what we would now call global warming, without the warming aspect that is an integral part of the effects of pollution in the real world of 2024. Similarly, Flash Crowd talks about how the invention of teleportation has made the streets devoid of traffic, which to me reminded me of the photos of deserted cities during the Covid lockdowns - this, as well as the flash mob! What Good is a Glass Dagger? also resonates with today's readers: we live in a world where profligate waste of finite resources has led to ever more serious shortages, especially for those living in poorer countries. If science fiction is about prophecy (and I think that it can be, but describing possible futures only one aspect of the genre), then this is more prophetic than most writing. And with a bonus sense of humour, too!
Two longer and much more serious stories follow. The first of these, Flash Crowd, is a much more sober traditional "what if?" science fiction exploration of what the impact might be of the invention and proliferation of instantaneous teleportation booths - users dial a location, like a telephone call, and then immediately travel to the desired location. Niven manages to pack in a lot of thinking about this into a fairly short space, without obviously force-feeding the reader. The most impressive part of this story, to my mind, is there in the title: he not only invented the idea of the flash mob, but almost christened it, some 30 years before it came into being.
The other long story, What Good is a Glass Dagger? is straight fantasy, set in a world where magic is a finite, diminishing, resource. This is less memorable than the other stories in this collection.
One aspect that relates all the stories in The Flight of the Horse are seen in little touches which are recognisable in our world today. The short stories have a theme of pollution in the air, to which the humans in the stories have adapted so that they need the pollutants to breathe. This reads like a tentative discussion of what we would now call global warming, without the warming aspect that is an integral part of the effects of pollution in the real world of 2024. Similarly, Flash Crowd talks about how the invention of teleportation has made the streets devoid of traffic, which to me reminded me of the photos of deserted cities during the Covid lockdowns - this, as well as the flash mob! What Good is a Glass Dagger? also resonates with today's readers: we live in a world where profligate waste of finite resources has led to ever more serious shortages, especially for those living in poorer countries. If science fiction is about prophecy (and I think that it can be, but describing possible futures only one aspect of the genre), then this is more prophetic than most writing. And with a bonus sense of humour, too!
August 29, 2021
A handful of short stories about a hapless time traveler who has to fetch animals that have gone extinct for the secretary general of the UN, called Waldemar the tenth, the mentally deficient hereditary leader of the world. Somewhat funny in the sense that Niven does not take time-travel all that seriously and the protagonist is a sort of a klutz. Niven is mainly driven by his idea's and our hero stays a very flat one-dimensional clown, you continually ask yourself why they have selected this person to travel back in time when he is so obviously oblivious to any motives of capability.
Telling anything about the short stories amounts to spoilering and taking away the joy of discovering what Niven wants you to find out. So I won't. However when Larry wants to bring over an idea he can be rather repetitive, the same observation is done in all three stories and when you still do not understand (how could you) he starts explaining it to drive the nail all the way in. That was taking it a bit to far for me. Again the stories are mainly dialogue driven and you have to keep close-reading so as not to get lost in one-liners and mood-liners that might throw you off the track.
Then halfway in the bundle we get a little novelette about the effects of teleportation on society. Mainly filled with technological solutions for problems that Niven dreamt up. All from the perspective of a newshunter as we know then nowadays, always running after anything out of the ordinary that happens, hoping for a scoop that puts hard cash in you pockets. Unlucky enough the protagonist starts a riot, without really trying and then has to set the whole situation right by himself. Sometimes Niven has his protagonists being smart alecs who keep the solution from the reader and start setting things right, while the reader has seen it coming from a mile distant. You almost want to yell, please don't, but you cannot stop this. However fascinating the idea, it is all a bit let down by the antics of the (again) one dimensional protagonist.
Then as a last story there is a yarn spun in the universe of the magic goes away and a starter of one of the greatest magic using meme's in the history of fantasy. You have to give it to Larry Niven that he always comes up with the most compelling ideas that start to have a life of their own. Ringworld, Mana, etc... This story is actually somewhat better written due to the fact that he gave the characters actual background and motives (however flimsy). I found myself identifying with the werewolf peacemaker that wants to put an end to excessive use of magic and confronts two major magic-users to try and make his world a safer place to live for magic dependent beings.
I liked this bundle, thought it good fun, but nowhere near any greatness.
Telling anything about the short stories amounts to spoilering and taking away the joy of discovering what Niven wants you to find out. So I won't. However when Larry wants to bring over an idea he can be rather repetitive, the same observation is done in all three stories and when you still do not understand (how could you) he starts explaining it to drive the nail all the way in. That was taking it a bit to far for me. Again the stories are mainly dialogue driven and you have to keep close-reading so as not to get lost in one-liners and mood-liners that might throw you off the track.
Then halfway in the bundle we get a little novelette about the effects of teleportation on society. Mainly filled with technological solutions for problems that Niven dreamt up. All from the perspective of a newshunter as we know then nowadays, always running after anything out of the ordinary that happens, hoping for a scoop that puts hard cash in you pockets. Unlucky enough the protagonist starts a riot, without really trying and then has to set the whole situation right by himself. Sometimes Niven has his protagonists being smart alecs who keep the solution from the reader and start setting things right, while the reader has seen it coming from a mile distant. You almost want to yell, please don't, but you cannot stop this. However fascinating the idea, it is all a bit let down by the antics of the (again) one dimensional protagonist.
Then as a last story there is a yarn spun in the universe of the magic goes away and a starter of one of the greatest magic using meme's in the history of fantasy. You have to give it to Larry Niven that he always comes up with the most compelling ideas that start to have a life of their own. Ringworld, Mana, etc... This story is actually somewhat better written due to the fact that he gave the characters actual background and motives (however flimsy). I found myself identifying with the werewolf peacemaker that wants to put an end to excessive use of magic and confronts two major magic-users to try and make his world a safer place to live for magic dependent beings.
I liked this bundle, thought it good fun, but nowhere near any greatness.
October 7, 2023
I usually think of Larry Niven novels as science-fiction with intriguing scientific possibilities mixed with a satisfying story. When I first started reading the short stories in The Flight of the Horse, I thought it was more like science-fantasy since it combined time-travel with aspects of mythology. Yet, it wasn’t long before a typical Niven touch turned a story into something both funny and unexpected by using neotony (p. 41). Half of the book is composed of related short stories involving an operative for the Institute for Temporal Research named Svetz who is often sent back in time to capture specimens and artifacts for an in-bred global autocrat.
After the Svetz stories, Niven side-steps to a clever science-fiction tale where a futuristic journalist solves a knotty problem caused by a quantum teleportation infrastructure and its uses relating to crime. Written for an anthology edited by Robert Silverberg back in 1973, “Flash Crowd” features a world where air travel means something quite different than what we know today, though two out of three airlines mentioned by name no longer exist today (TWA (Trans World Airlines), Eastern, and United—p. 124) and where Niven optimistically imagined the displacement booths described in the novella as completely built out by 1990 (p. 155). But despite the pitfalls of dating technological advancements too early, there is a plethora of interesting potential science advancements (and social solutions) to intrigue the science-fiction aficionado.
Yet, the final story, “What Good is a Glass Dagger?” fits the pure fantasy genre. It still has the Niven touch, though. Imagine a magic user who not only considers the greater implications of magic, but also lectures another character on the geopolitical implications of an artifact believed to bring about peace. Many stories have dealt with the “cost” of magic in a moralistic manner, but Niven deals with the cost from an economic/conservationist angle. Naturally, as a baby boomer, I can’t help but look at this story as being somewhat analogous to the 20th century idea that having only a few nuclear-capable countries would stabilize the geopolitical situation. That didn’t entirely prove to be a reliable theory and it isn’t in this clever story, as well.
The Flight of the Horse features a dim sum menu of science-fiction and fantasy. It is very entertaining and it is also worthy of exploring with additional meditation.
After the Svetz stories, Niven side-steps to a clever science-fiction tale where a futuristic journalist solves a knotty problem caused by a quantum teleportation infrastructure and its uses relating to crime. Written for an anthology edited by Robert Silverberg back in 1973, “Flash Crowd” features a world where air travel means something quite different than what we know today, though two out of three airlines mentioned by name no longer exist today (TWA (Trans World Airlines), Eastern, and United—p. 124) and where Niven optimistically imagined the displacement booths described in the novella as completely built out by 1990 (p. 155). But despite the pitfalls of dating technological advancements too early, there is a plethora of interesting potential science advancements (and social solutions) to intrigue the science-fiction aficionado.
Yet, the final story, “What Good is a Glass Dagger?” fits the pure fantasy genre. It still has the Niven touch, though. Imagine a magic user who not only considers the greater implications of magic, but also lectures another character on the geopolitical implications of an artifact believed to bring about peace. Many stories have dealt with the “cost” of magic in a moralistic manner, but Niven deals with the cost from an economic/conservationist angle. Naturally, as a baby boomer, I can’t help but look at this story as being somewhat analogous to the 20th century idea that having only a few nuclear-capable countries would stabilize the geopolitical situation. That didn’t entirely prove to be a reliable theory and it isn’t in this clever story, as well.
The Flight of the Horse features a dim sum menu of science-fiction and fantasy. It is very entertaining and it is also worthy of exploring with additional meditation.
August 28, 2022
I didn't know this book was a short story collection until I hit the second story, but all three stories in this book are excellent. I guess the theme is fantasy tech, including magic, time travel and teleportation. Each story breaks there thing down really well, in a very smart and pretty fun way.
The Flight of the Horse stars my favourite protag of the book Hanville Svetz, a meek man who's afraid of animals. Unfortunately for him, his job includes going back in time to collect extinct animals, like horses, gila monsters, and sperm whales. I thought this short was hilarious and everything that goes wrong just keeps compounding. I also like that Svetz's boss is just as inept as he is.
Flash Crowd breaks down how teleportation affected the future and how they could go about fixing modern problems that teleportation caused just by existing. I felt this story was infinitely thoughtful of the subject matter, and while it was funny, it still took itself seriously.
What Good is a Glass Dagger was Nivens first (and maybe only?) foray into true sword and magic fantasy story telling and I think that's a shame. The dynamic between the Wolf Boy and the Warlock is really fun when they reconnect. And again the twist was really fun.
Good stuff! If for some reason you read this review as a decision to buy the book or not I would absolutely recommend it. It's fun and short and feels pretty modern. I really dug it!
The Flight of the Horse stars my favourite protag of the book Hanville Svetz, a meek man who's afraid of animals. Unfortunately for him, his job includes going back in time to collect extinct animals, like horses, gila monsters, and sperm whales. I thought this short was hilarious and everything that goes wrong just keeps compounding. I also like that Svetz's boss is just as inept as he is.
Flash Crowd breaks down how teleportation affected the future and how they could go about fixing modern problems that teleportation caused just by existing. I felt this story was infinitely thoughtful of the subject matter, and while it was funny, it still took itself seriously.
What Good is a Glass Dagger was Nivens first (and maybe only?) foray into true sword and magic fantasy story telling and I think that's a shame. The dynamic between the Wolf Boy and the Warlock is really fun when they reconnect. And again the twist was really fun.
Good stuff! If for some reason you read this review as a decision to buy the book or not I would absolutely recommend it. It's fun and short and feels pretty modern. I really dug it!
July 27, 2024
Larry Niven reasoned out that there was and could be no such thing as time travel - becasue it is scientifically impossible and implausible. So if so-one has a "time machine", it is not a scientific invention - it is a fantasy device. If your boss send you back in time to get a horse (as happens in The flight of the Horse), you will of course come back with a unicorn.
Enjoyable as light / humourous "SF" (fantasy). Even if you enjoy it though, I strongly recommend NOT continuing on to Rainbow Mars, because it is POOR.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals to B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
Enjoyable as light / humourous "SF" (fantasy). Even if you enjoy it though, I strongly recommend NOT continuing on to Rainbow Mars, because it is POOR.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals to B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
August 11, 2023
A collection of short stories. Sort of.
3/5 The Flight of the Horse - At first it seems to have too much irrelevant detail and to be a bit silly. But the next 4 stories, published over several years, expand and explain, adding up to a interesting take on time travel. I would have liked more though.
2/5 Flash Crowd - This deals with the consequences of public teleportation devices - interesting exploration at first, through the eyes of a reporter, but it starts to drag towards the end and has a wishy-washy non-ending.
3/5 What Good is a Glass Dagger - Fantasy about mana being a finite resource. Interesting but then ends fairly abruptly.
3/5 The Flight of the Horse - At first it seems to have too much irrelevant detail and to be a bit silly. But the next 4 stories, published over several years, expand and explain, adding up to a interesting take on time travel. I would have liked more though.
2/5 Flash Crowd - This deals with the consequences of public teleportation devices - interesting exploration at first, through the eyes of a reporter, but it starts to drag towards the end and has a wishy-washy non-ending.
3/5 What Good is a Glass Dagger - Fantasy about mana being a finite resource. Interesting but then ends fairly abruptly.
July 26, 2024
This is a wonderful collection of tales in which a time-traveller from a future in which most animals have become extinct travels to the past to 'rescue' animal specimens - however, it becomes obvious to the reader that the operative is repeatedly and inadvertently travelling to bizarre alternate timelines and realities, and that the 'animals' he keeps bringing back are actually mythological creatures. A great read from one of the masters of modern science fiction.
July 30, 2024
Time travel is a bitch and this collection of loosely related stories attests to that fact as Niven's unlucky time traveler trips his way across timelines and alternate realities. Then he switches gears for one story that is pure fantasy (reminiscent of his novel "The Magic Goes Away") and another dealing with the pros and cons of teleportation. Intelligent and definitely tongue-in-cheek, but ultimately forgettable.
July 20, 2020
A very enjoyable read with 7 good stories. The first story was the most enjoyable story, but all of the time travel tales were enjoyable and humoroua science fantasies. Flash Crowd, the longest story, was also a highlight.
November 3, 2024
This is a laugh. Time travel? is used to go retrieve extinct animals for a private zoo.
The problem is he gets strange animals.
Horse? Do they actually have a horn in their foreheads? Lizard? But it seems to breathe fire?
Not to be taken seriously....
The problem is he gets strange animals.
Horse? Do they actually have a horn in their foreheads? Lizard? But it seems to breathe fire?
Not to be taken seriously....
June 14, 2017
I have been looking for this book for years. Finally found it and read it at a gulp. Just great stories, each with a twist and a pinch of humor.
March 20, 2019
Fun fantasy short stories together with a couple of novellas by one of the great SF writers.
January 30, 2020
An odd short novella with a few quirks to force a re-read. Light entertainment.
June 19, 2021
Niven writes fantasy! And it's good. Flag Crowd is an interesting exploration of the effects of teleportation on a society and looks like the basis for stepping disks in the later Ringworld novels.
October 1, 2021
Short stories, overall not as good as the Neutron Star collection, but some good ones here.
January 17, 2025
Two things that I personally hate in a Sci-fi story: time travel and comedy writing. This isn’t for me.
January 31, 2022
Time travel as fantasy, plus two noveletttes.
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