{"id":9144,"date":"2022-05-27T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?p=9144"},"modified":"2022-05-14T09:11:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T15:11:12","slug":"larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Niven’s Time Travelling Unicorns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Image: Amazon<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Larry Niven is one of the great writers of Science Fiction. His\u00a0Ringworld<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is a genre-defining text that absolutely every sci-fi fan should read. And yet even great writers occasional churn out merely adequate works. Niven\u2019s collection\u00a0The Flight of the Horse<\/em><\/a> is one such work. Gathering together Niven\u2019s short stories with tinges of fantasy (and one out-and-out fantasy story) along with his novella Flash Crowd, this short book is a quick read and one that will scratch your sci-fi itch, if you have such a thing.<\/p>\n

Without giving away any spoilers, the pure fantasy story in the mix (\u201cWhat Good is a Glass Dagger?\u201d) wonders what happens if the source of magic (\u201cmana\u201d, no doubt drawn from the D&D world) turns out to be finite and is in danger of getting used up? The implication is (and this isn\u2019t a spoiler for the plot) that people will have to turn to technology when it comes to killing each other. The mixed sci-fi\/fantasy stories involve a series of narratives loosely organized around Svetz\u2019s trips into the past to gather extinct creatures for the pleasure of the world\u2019s mad tyrant. These trips end up being more trouble than they\u2019re worth. For example, the horse Svetz collects keeps trying to stab him with its horn, the Gila Monster keeps trying to roast him alive, and the black and white roc can\u2019t fly and just stands around on its long legs staring from atop its long neck.<\/p>\n

Again, this collection is fine. But it probably wouldn\u2019t merit inclusion here (I read lots of these throwaway sci-fi collections), if it weren\u2019t for a bit in the middle of the one pure sci-fi story in the mix. Flash Crowd introduces Niven\u2019s idea of instantaneous travel by means of \u201cDisplacement Booths\u201d that conduct an individual from one point on the planet to another. Flash Crowd explores the question of what that means for things like airline travel, crime (can you ever really stop smuggling with those things around?), waste disposal (just displace it into space!), and tourism. But the interesting bit comes when the lead characters discuss its effects on the relationship between media, instant communication, and public response. Two characters point out the dangerous effects of people being able to, say, instantly join in a riot anywhere in the world. What should the media do?<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe put some restrictions on newstaping practices. We\u2019re\u00a0too\u00a0<\/em>fast these days. A machine won\u2019t work without friction. Neither does a civilization\u2026 But we\u2019d ruin the networks, wouldn\u2019t we?
\nTake away the news broadcasts, and they wouldn\u2019t have anything left to sell but educational TV. Nothing to sell but toys and breakfast cereal.\u201d (120-121)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is remarkably prescient. What would be better for us as a society than a bit of a breather between when events happen and when we find out about it? Isn\u2019t that bit of time to calm down and reflect critical? Maybe all Tweets should have a 24 hour delay built in. But then, who would use Twitter? If nothing of substance were allowed, wouldn\u2019t it be just all spam and meaningless nothings? (More so than it is already, anyway.)<\/p>\n

Again, I don\u2019t know that the predictions Niven makes here are worth taking the time to read this (particular if you\u2019ve not read Ringworld<\/em>), but it\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>a serviceable enough collection, and it certainly won\u2019t do you any harm. Certainly as Christians the idea that we should slow down and think carefully before jumping into what\u2019s going on in the culture is a virtue we\u2019d do well to cultivate.<\/p>\n

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the\u00a0City of Man Podcast<\/a> an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Profess<\/em>or of Political Science at\u00a0Southwest Baptist University<\/a>\u00a0in Bolivar, MO<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of “Flight of the Horse” by Larry Niven<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1469,"featured_media":9145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,778],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-science-fiction"],"yoast_head":"\nLarry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Review of "Flight of the Horse" by Larry Niven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Review of "Flight of the Horse" by Larry Niven\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Schaeffer's Ghost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T14:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-14T15:11:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/266\/2022\/05\/FOTH.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Coyle Neal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Coyle Neal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/\",\"name\":\"Larry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-27T14:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-14T15:11:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e\"},\"description\":\"Review of \\\"Flight of the Horse\\\" by Larry Niven\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Larry Niven’s Time Travelling Unicorns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/\",\"name\":\"Schaeffer's Ghost\",\"description\":\"Culture from a Christian Viewpoint\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e\",\"name\":\"Coyle Neal\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Coyle Neal\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and teaches Politics, Philosophy, and History in Bolivar, MO.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/author\/cneal\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Larry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns","description":"Review of \"Flight of the Horse\" by Larry Niven","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Larry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns","og_description":"Review of \"Flight of the Horse\" by Larry Niven","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/","og_site_name":"Schaeffer's Ghost","article_published_time":"2022-05-27T14:00:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-14T15:11:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":256,"height":473,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/266\/2022\/05\/FOTH.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Coyle Neal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Coyle Neal","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/","name":"Larry Niven's Time Travelling Unicorns","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-05-27T14:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-14T15:11:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e"},"description":"Review of \"Flight of the Horse\" by Larry Niven","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2022\/05\/larry-nivens-time-travelling-unicorns\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Larry Niven’s Time Travelling Unicorns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/","name":"Schaeffer's Ghost","description":"Culture from a Christian Viewpoint","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e","name":"Coyle Neal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Coyle Neal"},"description":"Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and teaches Politics, Philosophy, and History in Bolivar, MO.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/author\/cneal\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}