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From: phil@rice.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Niven's Known space:  hyperdrive for sale
Message-ID: <3413@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Sun, 25-Aug-85 15:20:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.3413
Posted: Sun Aug 25 15:20:13 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Aug-85 02:01:18 EDT
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: William LeFebvre <phil@rice.ARPA>

> From: Cate3.SV@Xerox.ARPA
> that time the Puppeteer's had not sold the secret of going faster
> than the speed of light yet.  

> From: baylor!peter@topaz.arpa (Peter da Silva)
> before the Puppeteers sold the Hyperdrive to Homo Sap... 

Whoa!  Let's get our facts straight.  The Outsiders sold the secret of
hyperdrive to Homo Sapiens.  The Puppeteers did have something to do
with it (read "Ringworld"), but the actual sale took place between Man
and the Outsiders.

******  SPOILER WARNING!  ******

But now that I think about it, it seems that the ending of "A Gift
from Earth" is inconsistent with "Ringworld".  In "Ringworld", we are
led to believe that the Puppeteers used a Starseed lure to force a
meeting between the Outsiders and Man, knowing that Man would buy the
FTL drive and then win the Man-Kzin war.  But, at the end of "A Gift
from Earth", the outsiders pick up the trail of a ramscoop robot and
compute its destination (or was it source?) and say to themselves,
"Ahhh, new customers".  Oops!

			William LeFebvre
			Department of Computer Science
			Rice University
			<phil@Rice.arpa>
                        or, for the daring: <phil@Rice.edu>