A World Out Of Time

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

This is an excellent novel. It does everything you would expect of a novel. It entertains; it surprises and motivates thought. This book covers 3 million years of time through the viewpoint of one personality. I say personality rather then person, as it is not necessarily the same thing for the purposes of this novel. The author does an excellent job of not getting bogged down in the vast areas of change that happen in 3 million years and only shows us things that are relevant and aid the telling of the story rather then bog it down.

Basically, the story is that of humanity and its cycles of evolution. All of this is told through one mans viewpoint and gives us a 1970's perspective on the rest of future humanity. A very well told story that is told succinctly and with the correct level of pithiness. A definite recommendation on my part. The only reason that I give this book four stars instead of five is because although it has aged well over 25 years I do not believe the story survives completely independent of the science in this case and that has aged less well. A very entertaining read.

I think people who give this book a poor review are like kids that grew up on McDonalds burgers and think everything else they eat is gourmet food from then on. if they don't like this book it's because they grew up on instant gratification the one hour show with a happy ending or a video game where they slaughter the bad guys. this book was not meant to fulfill those needs. it's an excellent read epically for us really old people who don't need instant gratification. If you find the characters without personality, then think about the era the book was written in its almost robotic lacking emotion and singular identity that is an important part of the writing. In this day of everyone knows you from all the social networking its hard to imagine a society portrayed in this book. thats what makes this book interesting you have a reletively normal person thrust into the future totally alien to him.

This time travel fantasy hits the spot. James Corbell gets frozen in the 1970's hoping that in the future a cure will be found. His brain is reconstituted using RNA shots and is put in another body in the distant future. Without even being told what has happened in the last x number of years he is sent off in a seeder ramship to drop probes off on far away planets.
Then he realizes he is so far away that no one could catch him, so he starts heading for the galactic core. There, millions of stars a tightly packed together. Everything was going according to plan until Corbell accidentally loaded some idiot as the ship's personality. After arguing with his computer for a few years he decides to take a chance and try to use a black hole to get back to Earth. Here is where it gets really weird.
The black hole works and Einstein's theory of relativity turns out to be correct. The spaceship was going so fast that it bent space-time itself and ended up millions of years in the future. The Earth is in orbit around Jupiter. Uranus is missing. The sun is a red giant. Immortality has been discovered.
When Corbell lands on Earth he meets this creepy old woman that tells him about the girls and the boys. There is hardly anyone on Earth and there is a way to become immortal when you are young. There is also a way to be immortal for old people, but this lady doesn't know what it is. Corbell stumbles upon this in the end of this exciting story. Don't miss this!

I had read darn near everything Niven's written, and finally got around to this novel.
I wish I'd read it sooner!
Lots of action, a sense of discovery around every corner, and with every turn of the page a new puzzle to solve within the plot of the story. Of course it also has the big big science that Niven is famous for. What a treat after his less than spectacular recent efforts. If I had one bad thing to say, it's that a small portion of the science no longer holds up to current theories--but that's a small price to pay for such fun!
If you're a sci-fi fan, and haven't yet read Niven, I highly recommend this book for your first read. Every bit as good as "Ringworld", with none of the overhead of that novel's "Known Space" universe to catch up on. If you're already a Niven fan, and haven't yet experienced this novel--read it now before you run out of time!

A man dying of cancer in the 1970s voluntarily submits to freezing his body (cryogenic sleep) in the hope that future advances in medicine will allow him to be revived and cured. He awakes several hundred years later in somebody else's body. The body is that of a condemned criminal whose punishment was to have his mind/personality wiped out and replaced by the memories of one of the cryo-sleepers. The new government doesn't value this new man very highly and wants to use him to pilot a ship that will visit several stars at relativistic velocities to begin terraforming projects. He decides instead to take the ship to the Galactic center and travels near the supermassive black hole at the Galactic core. The combination of the relativistic effects and the travel near the black hole hurl him almost 3 million years into Earth's future. When he returns to our Solar system, he finds that Earth (or a planet similar to Earth) is orbiting a gas giant similar to Jupiter. A survey from orbit shows that there are only a few small pockets of life. This is where the real fun begins as he (and we) learn what happen to planet Earth over the past 3 million years.

This is part mystery, part adventure story, and part hard sci-fi tale about time travel and immortality. It is not part of the Known Space tales, but definitely worth a look nonetheless. Niven combines some ideas well rooted in science (relativistic time dilation) with some speculative notions about black holes, geriatrics, and genetics to create a compelling and readable tale. If I had any complaint about the story, it would be that it was too short. There are several parts in which I thought Niven could have further developed ideas and/or the plot line, but that seemed oddly rushed. I believe that the first chapter of this book was originally a self-contained short story that Niven modified and fleshed out for this novel. In any case, this is a very good, if not uniquely spectacular, hard sci-fi novel, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this genre.

This book is actually the first book in the "series" for The State.The following two books are Integral Trees and Smoke Ring, which only have to connection to this story (besides have The State as a government).

First three chapters were good (Niven's short story Rammer was the 1st, yet altered a bit to fit the format). This was very interesting as it dealt with space exploration, the State and exploration of earth +3 million years. Those three chapters alone I give 5-stars. Thereafter, storyline changed... it slowed, dragged and barely held my attention. Needed more twists, which is common for Niven novels and it comes now as an expectation. I didn't fancy Ringworld for the same reasons.

For better Niven reading, I suggest his short story collections of Neutron Star and Tales of Known Space. Of his novels, I recommend his novels which were in partnership with Jerry Pournelle- Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer and Oath of Fealty.

I had been looking for this book for a long, long time. My problem? I couldn't remember the name of it, or the author! I could only remember the barest of plot. So, I kind of took a shot. The only problem...I think I conflated this book with another. It's still the plot I wanted, but now I have to try to figure out the other book's name and author.

But seriously, the book is pretty much exactly what I wanted and the seller's description of its condition was spot on.

Who else could imagine mounting a huge engine on Uranus so that Earth could
be moved away from an expanding sun. A man is resurrected in another body
and given a mission to seed other worlds. Taking his Bussard Ramjet, he
sets off on his own to the center of the Galaxy and a trip around the
central black hole that becomes a trip into the far future. Returning to a
solar system dominated by a red sun, he finds the world changed in ways he
can't believe. And then the real story begins. Big imagination from the
writer I call Mr. Big.

I enjoyed this book. It is short but I love short thought provoking reads. As for the one nay saying review below, they do correctly point out that the story does appear to be two short stories with a different feel in the back 2/3's of the book. However, I enjoyed both parts of the book even though the book has a back half slower pace.

Just so you know, I read this book after reading the various Ringworld, Protector, Crashlander books. Though this is not along that same storyline it was a fun read.

By the way, the cover does give some clues as to the story so it is relavent though misleading.

As a fan of Larry Niven, I had fairly high expectations for this book. I found it decently entertaining, but didn't enjoy it as much as other works of his that I've read. I most enjoyed the world building aspect of the book, but in my opinion the plot wasn't up to par; everything just seemed to work out too perfectly for the main character.

For entertainment value, I'd give this book 3 stars, but it gets a star knocked off for the egregious editing errors in the kindle edition. This seems to be another book that was hastily digitally converted to a kindle edition without any sort of proof reading/editing. For example, there are many instances where the main character's name (Corbell), is misspelled "Cornell", and there are dozens of other places throughout the book where the wrong letters were inserted into words. For the amount I paid, I would at least expect the publisher have someone proof read it before setting it free on the store.

First, you should know where I'm coming from: I like my science fiction light on science, heavy on characterization and humanity. A tome that goes in depth on the physics of space travel and leaves the characters shallow and unrealized is not my cup of tea.
Now that you know what kind of reader I am: I keep reading A World Out of Time. I picked up a copy in 1983 when I was 13, enjoyed it, read it again a year or two later, and have probably read it seven times altogether. Since I rarely read a book more than once, this must mean something. As I grew up, I found that I got more out of this book each time I read it. I uncovered new layers of meaning, especially about the direction in which Niven shows human civilization going over a long span of time.
But something funny happened the last time I picked up the book: I didn't like it as much. I don't care for his portrayal of female characters. Mostly they're just there as accessories to have sex with -- except for the old, ugly one, who's there to run away from. What happens at the end of the book is an interesting statement on how a woman is judged on appearance alone. Unfortunately, I don't think Niven is trying to make this statement on this: I think he's inadvertently created an example of it.
Also, the main character is something of a cypher. We know he had a full life before the events in the book, and perhaps Niven intentionally leaves his past vague, to emphasize that it's not relevant to his present situation -- but as a result the reader is denied much insight into the character. He becomes a bundle of reflexes -- too generic to seem completely realized.
That said, there's something that keeps me reading this book, and I'll probably read it again when I'm having my midlife crisis sometime. The pace is quick, the plot easy to follow and suspenseful, and the landscape of a future Earth intriguing.
I'd like to see Niven return to this in a sequel. Perhaps he has grown as a writer since the 1970's and he'd do a more judicious job of character development of either sex.

There are three or four events in the first couple of chapters of this book that each could have been a book on their own. And yet none of them feel rushed through. The book never stops going, and each new step is bold, out there, but still feels grounded and possible. It's only four stars because it has a fairly Niven-esque fault: the characters basically exist to solve the puzzles the author puts in front of them, and that's it. But otherwise it's a quick, fascinating, breathless read.

This was the first Niven work I had ever read, and then re-read. Wow. Absolutely breath-taking in its scope, prodigious in its use of hard sci-fi, you virtually feel like the protagonist Jaybee Corbell. Niven's descriptions of the far-future world are astounding, and you genuinely feel for (and root for) Corbell all the way. No previous knowledge of other Niven works is required to fully enjoy this (like Ringworld). If you only ever read one Niven novel, make it this one.

Just thought I should add to the pile of superlative reviews of this book. It is one of about half a dozen I have reread frequently over the years.
A World Out of Time is a relatively short work, under 250 pages. That, and the easy, crystalline quality of the prose make it a very quick read, the kind of book one can read in a single sitting. Perhaps this is the main reason it's not generally regarded as one of his major works. It's a drastic oversight.
"Ringworld" may be generally recognized as Niven's Magnum Opus; but AWOoT is perhaps his greatest yarn. Storytelling -- in any genre -- just doesn't get any better than this. The number of exciting scientific concepts per page is as high as any of Niven's work, but the character development -- which manages to drive the action even amidst the conceptual pyrotechnics -- is the highlight of the work.
Treat yourself to this book!

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a very big fan of Larry Niven. The Mote in God's Eye is my favorite book of all time, and I also have fond memories of Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, and the Legacy of Heorot.
There are several problems with this book. The first is the abundance of shallow content. This book is chock full of interesting ideas, but none are explored to a great extent, and the book is very short besides. JB Corbell's life in a new body could have made a fine novel, as could the rise of The State, the State's War with the colonies, or the New Earth. Any of these topics would have made a fine book on their own, but thrown together hastily in the course of 250 pages, they make for a disjointed and shallow novel.
Secondly is the writing style. Fans of Niven know he is not at all a good writer as far as paragraph structure, etc, but he is usually able to redeem himself with astounding ideas. This book presents no new concepts that I found very intersting, compared to say the Moties or the Grendels of Heorot. The future Earth Larry depicts would be suitable for perhaps 50,000 years in the future, but saying that humans have changed so little physically in 3 million years is just silly. Three million years ago from the present, our ancestors were just learning to use tools and walk upright. Heck, 50,000 years ago they hadnt made it much past that point.
As with many of Larry's books, this one gets bogged down in pages and pages of sex between the characters. A paragraph or two could serve to spice up the novel, but Niven here gets much too carried away with his descriptions, and it becomes tedious to read very quickly.
Finally, this book was edited VERY poorly. There are dozens of internal inconsitencies. For instance, something like "3 Boys joined the group", and then on the next page, "The 4 boys that had joined the group suddenly left", and things like that. I am an obsessively careful reader, and things like that vex me to no end.
This book presents some interesting ideas and is fantastic in its scope, but ultimately comes up short. People new to Niven should steer clear of this book, and pick up Ringworld or The Mote in God's eye, two fine novels that put this one to shame.

This is an excellent book if you like niven, one of his best in my opinion. This is Niven at his peak. You want the story to continue and it is a nice length with a satisfying ending to me. Engaging characters. Great tech ideas. Kept my interest for entire book. Have reread this book every several years. Realize I am a niven fan....read this book and you might become one as well.

I first read the short story this novel is based on when I was 12. I loved it.
When I was 21 I found the novel I felt it couldn't be as good - but it was better.
Whilst Niven's strong point has never been dialogue or characterisation - what he does excellently is keep you interested. One plot twist follows another - whilst all the time adding more and more scientific ideas.
I liked the final plot twist and I only wish I could forget it so I could read it again with genuine surprise. But my absolute favourite part is still the first chapter which is virtually word-for-word of the original short story.
If you're looking for believable characters and witty dialogue - look elsewhere (sorry Larry!). But if you like a plot that keeps you guessing and a future world that's packed full of ideas - and above a story that'll entertain you - then this book is hard to beat.

This book is worth reading. I recommend that Mr. Niven write it as a screenplay as it would make a good movie. Although the ending was somewhat rushed and could have been more suspenseful, the action kept pulling me along to the conclusion. Thank you for a creative and interesting premise.

Jaybee Corbell, dieing of cancer, gambles with his remaining life and has himself frozen. The gamble pays off, but not as he had expected. The future in which he finds himself own him nothing, and expects plenty. In a borrowed body, and a Bussard Ramjet spaceship, he finds himself on a trip even further into the future. An exciting book that I concider to be one of Niven's best

I really enjoyed this Niven's classic. It had a very simple story, but was filled with adventure and creativity to keep my interest. I found it much simpler to to read than some of Niven's later works, but quite a pleasurable read. I would suggest this book highly as an introduction to the writings of Larry Niven to anyone choosing to read his stories for the first time.

I find this book hard to evaluate because its two main focuses are out of proportion. Niven creates a fascinating future history where one mistake leads to another and eventually dooms the human race to barbarism -- then he pushes it in the background and expects us to get concerned about Corbell bumbling through boring adventures while piecing the history together. (Niven even borrowed the hero's name from another of his stories -- that's how uninterested he was in the character)

What a great book. This was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read, having borrowed it out of my older brother's bookshelf, and I was blown away. I've read it several times and each time I was amazed at how easily it read and how quickly I buzzed throught it. You won't want to put it down!

at the tender age of twelve i read this to kill an idle summer afternoon. i had never read for recreation, never even cracked a sci-fi novel. this single story slapped me about, showed my fragile little mind of the possibilities that just might exist. i was never quite the same after that. a wilder more imaginative speculative romp would be hard to come by, and i've read quite a bit since then. this, or very possibly protector, i consider to be his best.

Kept looking forward to my brief opportunities to read so I could get back to this story. Excellent time travelling story (forward only, so it's plausible). Don't let the cover fool you. It's not a romance or fantasy story. Lives up to Niven's reputation for hard science. Timely discussion of climate change as well.

I'd like to mention that the publication date given on this page is incorrect and may refer only to the Kindle version publication date. This book was published in 1976. I was about to buy the Kindle version as I'd forgotten I'd read it long ago and thought that it was a recently published book. Luckily I read the reviews which reminded me of the story line and my having read it before.

the store, you need to be a little more accurate with the generic 'publication date' data.

I thought this was an memorable read, years ago. The final disposition of the protagonist still fascinates me. I'm giving it only three stars as it's not Niven's best work. Not to say he doesn't ever get five stars; e.g., the Draco Tavern series, the Neutron Star series, and of course, Ringworld!

One of the best books by Larry Niven. Some of his more rescent books I do not like, but this one is one of my favorites. Fun reading related to travelling far into the future, changing bodies, inmortality, wars between men and women, etc

If you like other Niven novles, or some good science fiction, then you should definately enjoy this book. It comes complete with ideas typical of Niven, transportation "phone booths", seeder ram ships and more. A story of rebellion, survival, and some just wierd stuff. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

With all due respect to "Ringworld" AWOOT is Nivens best work. It's lean, fast paced, and irresistable. A pure adventure tale unlike one finds in the laboriously overwritten sci-fi novels of today. Some times less is more as Niven displays in this all time classic.

Larry Niven has created a view of the future that encompasses much of our hopes and dreams. But, they are dashed on the rocks and turned into an adventure of huge proportions. This book could easily become a movie, if only someone had the vision. I would love if it were on audio cassette, as well.

A fun read, yes, but so much more. This is what SF is all about. Combining a good story with ideas that stretch the mind. Ideas worth thinking about, worth pondering. Ideas that make us grow intellectually.