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Protector
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Protector (1973) (edit title/settings)

by Larry Niven (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Phssthpok the Pak had been traveling for most of his thirty-two thousand years. His mission: save, develop, and protect the group of Pak breeders sent out into space some two and a half million years before... Brennan was a Belter, the product of a fiercely independent, somewhat anarchic... read more

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Summary edit see section history

The novel comprises two phases in the same space that are separated by 220 years of time. Its central conceit is that humans evolved from the juvenile stage of the Pak, a species with a distinct adult form ("protectors") that have superhuman strength and intelligence and care only about... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The novel comprises two phases in the same space that are separated by 220 years of time. Its central conceit is that humans evolved from the juvenile stage of the Pak, a species with a distinct adult form ("protectors") that have superhuman strength and intelligence and care only about younger Pak of their bloodline. A key plot point is that 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 species is described in greater detail below. The implication, never explicitly stated, is that the Tree of Life in Paradise, mentioned in the Bible's Book of Genesis, represents a vague memory of that plant.

The first half of the book follows the path of a Pak named Phssthpok who has travelled from the Pak homeworld in search of a colony of Pak in the distant system of Sol (our solar system). Upon his arrival, he captures a Belter (a worker from the asteroid belt) named Jack Brennan, who is infected by Phssthpok's store of tree-of-life root and is transformed into a protector (or at least a human variant). They land on Mars where Brennan kills Phssthpok and is rescued by two humans, Nick Sohl and Lucas Garner, who had set out to meet the alien. The first half of the novel ends with Brennan telling his story to the humans before he heads for the outer reaches of the solar system.

The second half of the book follows the path of a human named Roy Truesdale who has been abducted with no memory of the event. While searching for his abductor, he befriends a Belter named Alice Jordan who helps him figure out that the man he has sought is none other than Jack Brennan. Truesdale and Jordan find Brennan in the outer solar system on a fabricated world of Brennan's design called Kobold. Brennan discovers that a Pak invasion fleet is headed towards human space and takes Truesdale to a human outpost colony called Home in an effort to divert attention away from Earth. During their journey they battle with scout ships from the Pak fleet. Brennan and Truesdale arrive at Home only to have Truesdale realize that Brennan plans to convert the colony into a defensive Human Protector army. Truesdale kills Brennan and lands on Home, but is himself infected with a mutated strain of the Tree-of-Life virus that quickly spreads to a number of other colonists, thus carrying out Brennan's plan despite Truesdale's initial attempts to thwart it. Upon his conversion to protector form, Truesdale immediately understands the necessity of Brennan's plan and completes it by breaking out of hospital confinement and infecting the entire population of Home. The modified virus either kills or converts the remaining inhabitants, resulting in an army of childless protectors. The new protectors see that they absolutely must act to save the rest of humanity, and start preparing for battle with the Pak invasion fleet.

In what is treated as a minor incident in the story line, told more or less in passing, it is mentioned that during his soujourn in the outer Solar System, Brennan had committed cold-blooded genocide, sending a large ice asteroid to crash on Mars in order to raise the water content of its atmosphere, which is lethal to the Martians' metabolism. This was done for no more reason than that Martians had killed a handful of humans in a single long-forgotten incident. The incident serves to underscore the Pak Protectors' inherent xenophobia and utter incapability of acting by subjective moral principles.

The events which impelled Brennan to this drastic action are those narrated in How the Heroes Die and At the Bottom of a Hole, two short 1966 stories which Niven originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction and later collected in Inconstant Moon.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Jack Brennan: Add a description of this character.
  • Roy Truesdale: Roy Truesdale is a descendant of Jack Brennan, and the hero in the final stages of the story.
  • Nick Sohl
  • Beller
  • Alice: A Belter, but originally a Flatlander from Earth. Alice is Roy Truesdale's girlfriend, and the mother of his child.
  • Phssthpok: A Pak Protector. Phssthpok had lost all of his children in a war on the Pak homeworld, and needed to find meaning for his life, or he would die. After spending much time in the homeworld's library, he found the story of the Pak expedition to find a habitable planet in the galactic arms. He worked out that the soil of Earth lacked thallium oxide, and mounted a rescue mission aboard a ramship 33,000 years ago, arriving in the Solar System in 2125 AD.
  • Einar Nilsson
  • Lucas Garner
  • Luke
  • Tina
  • Vandervecken
  • Sol
  • Nate
  • Vinnie
  • Lawrence St. John Mcgee
  • Robinson
  • Shaeffer
  • Pak: A species called Pak lives on a planet near the Milky Way core. The species has three main stages of development: Child, Breeder, Protector. A Pak is born, and matures into a Breeder, at which point he and she may bear children. Breeders are not particularly intelligent. Around 40 years of age, the root of the Tree-of-Life plant begins to smell delicious to all Breeders, and they eat it and metamorphose into the Protector stage via a virus that lives in the plant. A Protector's joints expand to give his muscles a greater moment arm, his skin wrinkles into a tough armor, and his nails turn into retractile claws. A second heart develops near the groin, the mouth fuses into a beak, and all sexual characteristics disappear. The most important change is that the brain expands, giving a Protector a tremendous intellect. A Protector has no motivation other than the preservation of his bloodline, and to that end the Pak homeworld is never free from war, since all Protectors are constantly trying to ensure their progeny's survival at the expense of everyone else. If a Protector has no children left, he no longer feels the urge to eat and dies unless he can adopt the entire Pak race and work towards their benefit.
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

  • Belt
  • Ceres
  • Mars
  • Earth: Well, Earth...
  • Stonehenge
  • Vesta
  • Jupiter
  • Kobold: Kobold is the manmade world that Jack Brennan, as a protector, bubble-formed from an asteroid and maintained an ecosystem in. Kobold was Brennan's home for over 200 years. It was destroyed at the departure of Brennan and Roy Truesdale from Kobold. Kobold would appear to be named after the Kobolds of German folklore, spirits that people believed to be mischievous tricksters at times, and at other times prayed to for protection. This role fits Jack Brennan's dual nature as a trickster (using his superior intellect to baffle humans on Earth) and as a self-appointed Protector of humanity.

First Sentence edit see section history

He sat before an eight-foot circle of clear twing, looking endlessly out on a view that was less than exciting.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. Phssthpok
2. Interlude
3. Vandervecked
4. Protector

Glossary edit see section history

  • Belter: Humans who stay in space around Earth.
  • Flatlander: A human who stays on Earth.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • The Pak species: A species called Pak lives on a planet near the Milky Way core. The species has three main stages of development: Child, Breeder, Protector. A Pak is born, and matures into a Breeder, at which point he and she may bear children. Breeders are not particularly intelligent. Around 40 years of age, the root of the Tree-of-Life plant begins to smell delicious to all Breeders, and they eat it and metamorphose into the Protector stage via a virus that lives in the plant. A Protector's joints expand to give his muscles a greater moment arm, his skin wrinkles into a tough armor, and his nails turn into retractile claws. A second heart develops near the groin, the mouth fuses into a beak, and all sexual characteristics disappear. The most important change is that the brain expands, giving a Protector a tremendous intellect. A Protector has no motivation other than the preservation of his bloodline, and to that end the Pak homeworld is never free from war, since all Protectors are constantly trying to ensure their progeny's survival at the expense of everyone else. If a Protector has no children left, he no longer feels the urge to eat and dies unless he can adopt the entire Pak race and work towards their benefit.
  • Origin of Humanty: Two and a half million years ago, a group of Protectors hollowed out an asteroid, turned it into a ship, and set sail for the galactic arms. They eventually settled on Earth, but discovered that the Tree-of-Life root would not grow, meaning that no Breeders would turn into Protectors, and the Protectors would die without the root. The Protectors spent their time building a laser strong enough to send a message for help back to the Pak homeworld. Eventually, the Breeders, known to us as Homo habilis, evolved into present-day forms, including humans.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Ringworld. (standard series)
This book is in Known Space. (universe)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Larry Niven (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1973
ISBN: 0345234863
Page Count: 218

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Readable by all. Its a masterpiece, actually!

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