Beowulf's Children

This book was released under a different title in the United States. If you are looking for the title in print, look under "Beowulf's Children."

For those of you who like me enjoyed The Legacy Of Heorot, Dragons is a worthwhile sequel. Set twenty years after the events of Legacy, we see the inhabitants of the planet Avalon, living their lives on the island they secured for themselves, following the events of the previous book. However, the children of the survivors of the fight against the grendels wish to branch out onto the mainland. Despite the reluctance of their elders, they set about how to do this. Led by the headstrong and ruthless Aaron Tragon, they then go ahead and set up an outpost which they call Shangri La. However, this outpost turns out to be anything but the perfection that the name implies, and they discover to their cost that human nature remains as traitorous as ever. Additionally, they also find out that there is a life form on the mainland that is even more lethal than the grendels themselves..... The book explores the interaction of its human characters well, and is particularly strong with the scenes involving Old Grendel, an intelligent grendel no less. It also explores the impact of mankind on a new planet and its indigenous life forms. Indeed, Niven makes a strong case as to whether that most ugly creature - human nature, is the most dangerous thing of all on this new planet... The story line is good and has its shares of shocks and surprises, and leads up to a powerful ending. Overall this book is a very good read and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.

The sequel to The Legacy of the Heorot, Beowulf's Children continues its predecessor's tradition of lively action and an extremely rich universe for it to interact in. The authors paint an interesting picture of what it is like to live with the utopian world you created.

I really, really liked this book. I accidentally read it before Heorot, so I am shopping here to purchase it. However. I really liked this book and it was thrilling read. Very unpredictable and quite the Ecological Mystery. I Highly recommend Destiny's Road if you liked this book. Question...in Destiny's Road they say that Avalon quit communicating with Earth. In Beowulf's children they say that its the other way around, how do you reconcile that????

True, there were a lot of editing errors in the book -- such as talk of the colonists being near the equator when the maps show the "mainland" as close to the north pole. But disregarding the sloppy editing I found this book to be one of the most overall entertaining works of SF I've ever read. The characterization is remarkable, the Avalon ecology well thought out and consistent, and the social interactions between factions grabs and keeps your interest. I felt myself cheering when the colonists achieved their goals, and sad when the main characters experienced tragedy. Thought provoking, adventurous, sexy... Hoping to see more works in this series