own records of the events, Kendy realizes that the crew had not mutinied at all, and that he had forced them off the ship, believing this to be in keeping with his orders from Earth. This was apparently blocked from his memory, and he suffers a form of breakdown when he learns (or re-learns) the truth. Literary significance and reception The Magill Book Reviews said in 1990 that "the societies and science in the book are very well-researched. It is, however, a "hard" science fiction novel, and it has the weakness endemic to that genre – the individual characters are never satisfyingly drawn, so that the reader is somewhat distanced from them." The Library Journal said in 1987 that "the alien topography of this sequel to The Integral Trees serves as a fascinating contrast to the persistence of humanity's adventuring spirit". J. Michael Caparula reviewed The Smoke Ring in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 81. Caparula commented that "The setting is, naturally, spectacular, but a lot of the freshness has worn off. Ringworld merited a sequel, The Integral Trees did not." References Sources 1987 American novels 1987 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Fiction about gas giants Novels by Larry Niven Del Rey books Ballantine Books books Fiction set around neutron stars Books with cover art by Michael Whelan