Protector (novel)
A 1973 novel about Pak protectors and human origins.
Protector is a science fiction novel from 1973 by American writer Larry Niven, part of his Known Space series. It earned a Hugo nomination in 1974 and came in fourth in that year's Locus poll. The book expands on the Pak, a species first seen in Niven's 1967 short story "The Adults." The novel's first half, originally titled *Phssthpok*, and the second half, *Vandervecken*, are set in the same region of space but take place 200 years apart.
The story centers on the idea that humans evolved from the juvenile stage of the Pak. The Pak have a distinct adult form called a Protector, which possesses immense strength and intelligence but cares only about its own bloodline. The transformation into a Protector happens when a Pak eats the root of a plant called the Tree-of-Life, which cannot be grown well on Earth.
In the first half, a Pak named Phssthpok travels from the Pak homeworld to the Solar System looking for a lost Pak colony. He captures a Belter (an asteroid-belt worker) named Jack Brennan, who becomes infected by Phssthpok's Tree-of-Life root and transforms into a human variant of a Protector. On Mars, Brennan kills Phssthpok and is rescued by two humans, Nick Sohl and Lucas Garner, who had come to meet the alien. Brennan tells them his story before heading to the outer Solar System.
The second half follows a human named Roy Truesdale, who is abducted and loses his memory. With help from a Belter named Alice Jordan, he learns that his abductor is Jack Brennan. They find Brennan on a fabricated world called Kobold in the outer Solar System. Brennan, aware of a Pak invasion fleet heading toward human space, takes Truesdale to a human colony called Home to divert attention from Earth. After battling Pak scout ships, they reach Home, where Truesdale realizes Brennan plans to turn the colony into a Protector army. Truesdale kills Brennan but is infected with a mutated Tree-of-Life virus that spreads to other colonists. Once transformed into a Protector, Truesdale sees Brennan's plan as necessary and infects the entire population of Home, creating an army of childless Protectors who prepare to fight the Pak fleet.
As a side note, during his time in the outer Solar System, Brennan caused a genocide on Mars by crashing a large ice asteroid into the planet. This raised the water content of the atmosphere, which is lethal to Martians.
- Author
- Larry Niven
- Published
- 1973
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Series
- Known Space
- Awards
- Nominated for Hugo in 1974; fourth in Locus poll 1974
Lore & Background
The novel's central conceit is that humans evolved from the juvenile stage of the Pak, a species with a distinct adult form called Protectors that has immense strength and intelligence and cares only about younger Pak of their bloodline. Transition to the Protector stage is mediated by consumption of the root of a particular plant called Tree-of-Life, which cannot be effectively cultivated on Earth. The first half follows a Pak named Phssthpok, who travels from the Pak homeworld to the Solar System, captures a Belter named Jack Brennan, who is infected by Tree-of-Life root and transforms into a Protector. Brennan kills Phssthpok and is rescued by two humans, Nick Sohl and Lucas Garner. The second half follows Roy Truesdale, who is abducted and later befriends Alice Jordan; they find Brennan on a fabricated world called Kobold.
Reader's Guide
Protector is significant for expanding the Known Space universe and introducing the Pak species, which appear in several of Niven's later works, including later volumes of the Ringworld series and the novel Destroyer of Worlds. The novel explores themes of xenophobia, ruthlessness, and the biological imperative to protect one's bloodline, as seen when Brennan engineers a genocide on Mars by crashing an ice asteroid into the planet, wiping out the Martians because they had killed humans. The work also presents a speculative origin for humanity, suggesting humans evolved from Pak Breeders who settled on Earth but could not access Tree-of-Life root. The novel's reception includes a favorable review by Sidney Coleman, who noted it was 'two long novelettes passing as a novel' but praised its ingenuity.
Did You Know?
- The novel was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1974 and placed fourth in the annual Locus poll that year.
- The Pak species originally appeared in a 1967 story called 'The Adults,' which forms the first half of the novel.
- The character Tim Truesdale was replaced by Tina Jordan in some versions, and passages were rearranged.
- Brennan created an 8-foot diameter sphere of neutronium with a surface gravity of eight million g, maintained in a stasis field at Kobold.
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