How long does it take to read Destiny's Road?
Destiny's Road by Larry Niven takes about 7 hours 56 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 7 hours 56 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1997. 433 pages, about 119,075 words.
16 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 13 hours 14 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 7 hours 56 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 58 minutes |
The page count is the median across 5 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The book follows the life of Jemmy Bloocher, (who changes his name several times) as he travels the planet called Destiny, a colony founded over 200 years earlier. The "Road" is a long trail laid down by the founders. Only the Caravans travel the full length of the road as they bring (or sell) "speckles" to settlers who, without them, would suffer severe potassium deficiency leading to brain damage. The Caravans control who gets speckles and therefore effectively control the whole world. Jemmy sets off to find answers to questions the Caravan Merchants won't give him. In the process, we get a good look at the world and also at it's economy. Larry Niven's world-building skills are phenomenal, and this book is a good example of just that. There is room to develop the native alien sapients ("Otterfolk") further, perhaps in a sequel. This is "hard" science fiction in that the medical (potassium) and economic (hydraulic empire, resource domination) foundations of the book are soundly researched. But it is relatively "soft" for "hard" fiction, as there is very little exposition or explanation of the science involved.
Subjects: Hydraulic Empire, Science Fiction, American Science fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general
