F/SF

A human telepath, with mind-control powers, is enough to win the battle, but not stop the war. It's a nice gimmick, and entertaining, but a wee bit of a hokey deux ex machina. ( )

Like I say about most Niven stuff: Utterly cool.: In the future, an antidepressant-pacified and docile humanity, (sound familiar? Look around), goes into massive culture shock when the first aliens they meet don't even attempt contact, but only try to kill them from the getgo. Once again, utterly cool, and I agree with the message I think that is embedded in these stories: Don't get TOO comfortable in peacetime, and DON'T start believing that you're safe, or it'll come back around again and get you!!! WWI, the war to end all wars!!!!???? WWII anybody? It'll happen again and again, as Niven nimbly demonstrates. Plus the Kzinti themselves are vastly interesting creatures, because you have to wonder how a society based solely on violence and dominance rituals remains stable enough to conquer space, and then keep it. Read it.

Larry Niven invented the Kzin or kzinti, cat-like aliens who menaced Earth. Others have taken his concept and expanded it. Stories:
- The Survivor, by Donald Kingsbury
- The Man Who Would be Kzin, by Greg Bear & S. M. Stirling ( )