| Author: | Larry Niven |
| Copyright: | 1983 |
| Date Reviewed: | 2/23/85 |
| Rating: | 7.5 |
Synopsis: Nine members of the Quinn-Dalton tuft are sent on a mission up the tree to find food and water for the tribe. Most of the members are cripples or misfits or have angered the chairman. The mission is mostly a means to rid the tribe of these people. The party consists of the leader Clave (married to the chairmen's daughter and cheating on her), Jinny and Jayan (twins Clave is cheating with), Gaving (present when the chairman's son is killed on a hunt), the Grad (too smart) Jiovan (one leg), Merril (born with no legs), Glory (clumsy) and Alfin (old and angry).
The Quinn-Dalton tribe live at one end of an integral tree. The tree is one hundred kilometers long and spinning. At each end (tuft) centrifugal force creates normal gravity. There are many integral trees, forests, and ponds in the smoke ring which surrounds Voy, a neutron star. Surrounding the smoke ring is a gas ring which is too thin to breathe.
After several days journey and several adventures with wild animals, the expedition reaches the midpoint of the Integral Tree where there is no gravity. At the midpoint, the party is attacked by five women from the opposite tuft. Four are killed and as the battle ends, the tree splits apart, leaving the expedition floating in space. They are joined by Minya from Quinn tuft and make their way to a forest. They aren't there long when the remnant of Quinn-Dalton tribe (minus Clave who is hurt and Merril) is captured, taken to London tree and made slaves (copsiks). Clave, Merril and the forest dwellers mount an attack on London tree, capture a CARM and save Quinn tribe. In their escape they make it out of the smoke ring are almost captured by Sharls Davis Kendy, the computer program aboard the Discipline which originally brought humans to the smoke ring 500 years before. The crew escapes from Kendy to find their own tree.
Review: "The Integral Trees" is a good story but there's not much special about it. Life in the smoke ring and on the integral tree is interesting but not as different as "Ringworld" or "Dragon's Egg". As for the inhabitants being the descendent from an Earth expedition that have fallen into barbarism, that's been done before many times. As usual, the descendants treat left over instruments as magic. A feeling of fantasy permeates the book.