Destroyer of Worlds (Fleet of Worlds #3)

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were-- home to intelligent speciers. Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee. Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the Fleet of Worlds. The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia. Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don't confront anyone. They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them. The source of the sepoys? Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra.

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were-- home to intelligent speciers.  Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee.  Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the  Fleet of Worlds.  The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia. 

Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don't confront anyone.  They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them.  The source of the sepoys?  Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra.     

Publishers Weekly

Fleeing a massive explosion at the galactic core, a human colony and their allies, the alien Puppeteers, discover they are not the only ones desperate to outrace destruction in the third prequel to Niven's Ringworld saga (after 2008's Juggler of Worlds). Thssthfok, a ruthless Pak, will do anything to safeguard his clan after Pakhome is destroyed. Paranoid human agent Sigmund Ausfaller and Puppeteer Baedeker are sent to investigate a distress call from the Gw'oth, who have detected a suspicious ship headed toward the Fleet. Sigmund agrees to work with the Gw'oth, but he's concerned that their insatiable drive for scientific development may make them an even bigger threat than the Pak. With the authors working hard to knit together backstory, this one is primarily for fans of Niven's Known Space setting who will enjoy seeing past puzzles made clear. (Nov.)

The scariest aliens in the galaxy follow a simple rule: destroy all opposition. The brilliant, xenophobic Pak are fleeing the chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxys core. Nothing and no one is going to impede their migration. Devastated worlds -- any civilization that could possibly have interfered -- lie shattered in their wake. And now the Fleet of Worlds is in their sights. The trillion Puppeteers who inhabit the Fleet might have the resources to confront the threat -- but Puppeteers are philosophical cowards. They don't confront anyone. They need allies to investigate the situation and then take action. Who better than the Puppeteers' newly independent one-time slave world, New Terra? Sigmund Ausfaller, former Earth intelligence agent and current paranoid, finds himself leading the war against the Pak. With his own allies, the enigmatic, aquatic Gw'oth, Sigmund prepares to face everyone's mutual enemy. And neither humans nor Gw'oth have any intention of becoming cannon fodder. A tale set ten years after the events in "Juggler of Worlds" traces the reluctant efforts of the Puppeteers to counter onrushing alien refugees who are ransacking the planets they pass on their way toward the Fleet of Worlds.