World of Ptavvs

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World of Ptavvs is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1968 and set in his Known Space universe. This was the first novel Niven published and is based on a 1965 short story of the same name.

[edit] The story

A statue is found at the bottom of one of Earth’s oceans, having lain there for 1.5 billion years. Humans have recently developed a time-slowing field, and found that one such field cannot function within another. It is suspected that the Sea Statue is in fact a space traveler within a time-slowing field (though of a different technology needing no exterior machinery). Larry Greenberg, a telepath, agrees to participate in an experiment. A time-slowing field is generated around both Greenberg and the statue, breaking the stasis field and revealing a living Thrint, member of a telepathic race who once ruled the galaxy through mind control.

After his telepathic encounter with the Thrint, Greenberg has both his own and the Thrint's memories so becomes confused about his identity. He instinctively assumes he is the Thrint, Kzanol, inhabiting an alien body because inhabiting the minds of others is second nature to the Thrintun. Both Larry Greenberg (or Kzanol-Greenberg) and the real Kzanol steal spaceships and race to reclaim the remains of Kzanol’s ship on Pluto, which contained a thought-amplifying machine of such power that either could use it to rule the Solar System. A major element of the story is the Cold War between Earth and the Asteroid Belt, which threatens to burst into a highly destructive war over control of the same device.

Eventually Greenberg's personality reasserts itself and, armed with the knowledge of how to resist the Power, Greenberg traps Kzanol again in the stasis field.

[edit] Concepts

• The Thrintun had been mentioned in a number of the earlier Known Space stories, most notably in The Soft Weapon, but this is the only one of Niven’s stories they appear in, with the possible exception of The Handicapped. The story reveals a number of new aspects to them, including that they were not a particularly intelligent species and only built their empire through the control of more intelligent species.
• A Ptavv is a Thrint who lacks telepathic powers. Thrintun consider it a matter of great shame to have a Ptavv in their family.
• Bandersnatchi are enormous intelligent creatures, supposedly created as food animals, but are actually spies for their designers, the Tnuctipun, a highly intelligent slave species that leads the revolt against the Thrintun. When the Thrintun realize they will lose, they construct a telepathic amplifier strong enough to blanket the galaxy. They use it to command all sentient races to die. Only the Bandersnatchi survive, as they were specially designed to be immune to Thrintun mind control.