I was a big fan of Larry Niven back in the day when he was writing Ringworld, Tales of Known Space, Ringworld Engineers, Protector, etc. I had know. This series existed but never took the time to look into it after so many years.
I finally read this one and was pleasantly surprised. It all came back with reading about Nessus, puppeteers and the explosion at the core.
I was somewhat concerned going in that the familiarity would it be there because of the co-writer. Nothing against him but I thought it might be more his story than a tale in the original universe. I was wrong.
This book takes place, as the subtitle says, around 200 years before Ringworld. Touch points with the older novels is with Nessus and the puppeteers of course. With touch points to other aspects of the known universe setting. There is a great plot set up with humans who are with them on the Fleet of Worlds and the discoveries they make about their place and past. Good stuff!
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Known Space is alive and well!

The first novel by this collaboration team and the first Known Space book since the plodding Ringworld's Children, Fleet of Worlds is a pleasant surprise. The two writing styles work well together, the characters are very good, and five worlds fleeing through space is a mind-expanding setting.

When the race of aliens known to Humans as the Puppeteers find that a wave of hard radiation from supernovae in the core of our galaxy will reach Known Space in the distant future, their natural caution (or cowardice) prompts them to flee the galaxy now. Bringing their planet and four attendant farming worlds provides the setting for a human colony that has been bred to serve the puppeteers as farmers and advance scouts, which the colonists defer to as "citizens".

The characters are a little pale for the first hundred pages or so, but this is the only fault of this wonderful novel. A prequel to Mr. Niven's Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds is the first of a projected two-book arc. ( )

I began reading this again because I've really been remiss in my ringworld, nay, known space fix. I've always loved Niven's worldbuilding and he's been a staple of sci-fi for me. I didn't know how well I'd like a new collaboration, although I had liked most of the Pournelle books and I thought the Barnes books were also quality.
So far, so good.
Getting into the puppeteers more deeply than I'd ever read, before, should have been a more puppeteer-centric experience. It was fine having a human slave revolt and the breaking apart of the fleet of worlds, but I really wanted more of the psychology and the cultural experience of the alien race. It was a competent book and it did much to develop the future history of the universe, so I don't really have any complaints on that score. I'll continue in hope it gets much better, of course.
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This really got 3 1/2 stars from me, but that's not an option. Classic sci-fi, this is a prequel to Niven's Ring World series, which I now want to go read (I read some of it eons ago, but don't remember much). Classic sci-fi: plot driven by scientific principles or ideas, but if you don't get them, that's okay, the book still works. Not a lot of character development, but that's okay too - its still an interesting read. Actually, the alien puppeteer is quite well developed, and I liked the way he was presented ambiguously--I'm still not sure how I feel about him. ( )

This is another science fiction novel set in Known Space. It takes place in a fleet of Puppeteer worlds, this novel delves deeper into the Puppeteer society and psychology than any previous novel, at least that I've read.

The story involves a small band of Humans among the Puppeteers who take on the risky tasks that the Puppeteers shun. They uncover a dark secret that the Puppeteers have kept, and wonder where that information will lead.

Although the story is interesting, it has a different feel from the other stories set in Known Space. It is darker. It shows a darker side of Puppeteer involvement in Human affairs, although this has been suggested, it is now part of the story.

Some of the characters seemed poorly developed. A relationship developed between two main Humans, Kirsten and Omar. Although Kirsten had rebuffed Omar's advances, there wasn't an adequate explanation of her change of heart. Other than that, there wasn't really any character development. There were social changes at the end of the story, but the characters didn't seem to change.

Although I did enjoy the story, I feel that the character flaws will keep me from recommending it. There isn't much character development in Niven's stories in general, and the stories are good. Perhaps the co-author introduced them, but they are inadequate and I feel they detract from the story due to their inadequacy. ( )