Protector
- 224
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Protector” is idea-driven science fiction set in Larry Niven’s Known Space, built around first contact with an alien species, the Pak. The novel falls into two parts, the second set a couple of centuries after the first. Some readers praise the opening half for its feeling of discovery, its ideas and its humour, while finding the human characters less memorable. Recommended to anyone drawn to big speculative concepts.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Protector is a 1973 science fiction novel by American writer Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. It was nominated for the Hugo in 1974, and placed fourth in the annual Locus poll for that year.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 63 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 30% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.7 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.1 | 15 | 24% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 48 | 76% |
Frequently asked
How long is Protector?
It has 224 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.7, the closest to this book.
