Bowl of Heaven is the first collaboration between Larry Niven and Gregory Benford and the first book in a planned trilogy. These two masters of science fiction bring their combined talents to a galaxy-spanning tale of space exploration and alien encounter that will hold any reader's attention long into the night.
Cliff Kammash and his wife, Beth, take to the stars to discover a new world, sleeping through the centuries-long journey in suspended animation. Far sooner than planned, however, the watch crew wakes Cliff. There is an artificial object ahead, a massive bowl-shaped alien ship, larger than the solar system the colonists left. An exploration team is sent out. Soon after landing, half the team is captured; the other half escapes. Beth is among those held by the bird-like aliens who seem to be in charge of the ship.
A third of the story is told from the perspective of Memor, one of these aliens, a third from Cliff's perspective and the final third from Beth's. Memor's logic is delightfully alien; she thinks and feels in not-quite expected ways. Cliff learns how to lead, connecting to another married woman in his group in a predictable though graceful way. Beth confronts the alien life forms convincingly, though not always successfully.
The novel races along to a cliffhanger ending, yet still finds time to observe what it is to be human, or alien, within a story that's got all the hallmarks of master-level science fiction. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor