{"product_id":"the-integral-trees-and-the-smoke-ring-9780345460363","title":"The Integral Trees: And the Smoke Ring","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Niven has come up with an idea about as far out as one can get. . . . This is certainly classic science fiction--the idea is truly the hero.\"--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAsimov's Science Fiction Magazine \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e When leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship \u003ci\u003eDiscipline\u003c\/i\u003e was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, \u003ci\u003eDiscipline\u003c\/i\u003e was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren't prepared for was the smoke ring-an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When \u003ci\u003eDiscipline\u003c\/i\u003e encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Five hundred years later, the descendants of the \u003ci\u003eDiscipline\u003c\/i\u003e crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, \u003ci\u003eDiscipline\u003c\/i\u003e waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House Worlds\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/29\/2003\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780345460363\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 459\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.20d","brand":"Larry Niven","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43732971094197,"sku":"9780345460363","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_eb56e0c3-7c94-48c9-b7c5-b44ebc90e60c.jpg?v=1710256254","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-integral-trees-and-the-smoke-ring-9780345460363","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}