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Ringworld (Ringworld #1)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 35,480 ratings · 1,048 reviews

A new place is being built, a world of huge dimensions, encompassing millions of miles, stronger than any planet before it. There is gravity, and with high walls and its proximity to the sun, a livable new planet that is three million times the area of the Earth can be formed. We can start again!

Paperback, 288 pages

Published June 9th 2005 by Gollancz (first published 1970)

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Aug 02, 2012 Gavin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

On Luis Wu’s 200th birthday, he is approached by Nessus, a quasi-equine alien species knows as Puppeteers because of the two heads sprouting from their backs that are tethered by strands of skin, to undertake a remarkable journey. Being 200 years old, Luis has seen his share of the universe, so he is a bit skeptical when Nessus asks him to join a force of beings to explore the mysterious Ringworld.

So far so good.

Enter the rest of the cast.

First off, I have no problem with how any alien is cre...more On Luis Wu’s 200th birthday, he is approached by Nessus, a quasi-equine alien species knows as Puppeteers because of the two heads sprouting from their backs that are tethered by strands of skin, to undertake a remarkable journey. Being 200 years old, Luis has seen his share of the universe, so he is a bit skeptical when Nessus asks him to join a force of beings to explore the mysterious Ringworld.

So far so good.

Enter the rest of the cast.

First off, I have no problem with how any alien is created. By my count the possibility of alien life, and what these beings may look like, are limitless. So when Speaker-to-Animals, a Kzinti, is aptly described as being lion-like and ferocious I dig it; likewise, when Teela Brown is brought on board as the token (human) female with sexy attributes, I again dig it, but with a shameful misogynistic sneer. (Let’s be honest for a minute, folks. There are plenty of times in 60s, 70s, and even 80s science fiction where the female beauty is there for nothing more than sexual deviance; it was a curse of the times.) But I do have a problem with how this quartet came to be. For my money, I wanted more details of how these species interact, their histories, and even what they are like within their own cultures. Granted, Niven does give some of these details throughout the book, but, I’m greedy, and I wanted more…okay most of the book is about the interactions of these four, but I still wanted more backstory.

So the story itself. Well, you see…uhmm….how about this: Plot: Mysterious sphere (reminiscent of a Dyson sphere) is floating through space and is begging to be explored. I wish I could tell you more; alas, there really isn’t more to tell. You see this is not an adventure novel of space exploration or alien world exploration. This novel is all about ideas. If you’re the type of reader that likes to have a solid plotline throughout a story, with nice resolutions at the end, you’re going to be disappointed. There are far too many questions that never get addressed again after being introduced, and the biggie question of them all: Who are the Ringworld Engineers? is never given. Basically, RINGWORLD is a novel about the characters insofar as the Reader is allowed to understand them. For instance, there is a wonderful bit of cosmic politics about why humans, and not the Kzinti, were given the knowledge of hyperdrives from the Outsiders. (Think war war war….kind of ironic when you stop to think about it). Furthermore, the mere scope of the Ring is mindboggling. The radius of the sphere is set at one astronomical unit; that is: 93,000,000 miles. Niven explores about .000001% (guesstimate only, put your calculators away) of this through his characters. Like I said, this is a story about ideas. And because this idea of a ringworld is so powerful and unique, this novel rightly deserves to be considered canonical. Just think, where do you think HALO came from?

I digress.

Niven had an idea with this story. Nothing more. Most of the time this would cause a novel to fall flat on its face, lose the reader…not here. It is precisely for this reason that the reader becomes trapped and awed by this story, never wanting to leave, and always searching for answers. Niven allows the reader to leave the novel with all of his ideas, and the permutations of ideas that the reader had while reading the novel…that is AWESOME! Granted, Niven did buckle. He did write a sequel ten years later (THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS) explaining some of the questions and giving all those that didn’t like the original book a nice, tidy bow as an ending. I can’t say that I’ve ever read this; I can say that I will never read this because I don’t want to lose the magic of this novel. If you liked Clarke’s RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA, you’ll like RINGWORLD. If not, you best steer clear of this one.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Nov 14, 2009 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Katie by: Olivia

A very interesting concept....BUT, I have to get on my soapbox for a minute. After reading a few of his books, I have to say that Larry Niven's attitude towards women, what they are like and what they are capable of, is sadly lacking. Though his male characters seem to be pretty well fleshed out (human--even if they are alien--fallible and interesting), his female characters are sadly one-dimensional. It seems to me that most the female character in his books are either clueless, idiot savants,...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Kemper rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, space, aliens

I’d wanted to read this because I’m a fan of the Halo video games, and I’d heard that it was a big influence on those. I gotta say that I’d have liked it more if the Master Chief would have shown up and started chucking some plasma grenades around.

Set in 2855, human Louis Wu is recruited by an alien named Nessus to go on a hazardous mission to explore a strange structure that rings a distant star. Another alien called Speaker-To-Animals from a warrior race apparently descended from some really t...more

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Jul 26, 2008 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I recently reread this and it's still delightful after all these years. Niven is so much fun because of his fascinating ideas, and the playfulness with which he approaches them. The ringworld is a beautiful work of art, technology, and imagination. Ditto time stasis fields, mirrored focusing sunflowers, using generated gravity as an art form, hurricanes shaped like giant human eyes. Even more fun are the glories of the Puppeteer home planets flying to the edge of the galaxy in a kemplerer rosett...more

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Sep 23, 2008 Rumplestinky rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ciencia-ficcion

Este libro me ha decepcionado un poco. La verdad es que quizas esperaba demasiado por los premios y recomendaciones de la gente, pero el caso es que la trama me ha parecido bastante infantil.

No me parece un mal libro, y en su epoca seguramente tendria bastante valor, pero hoy en dia, no aporta mucho aparte de un par de ideas curiosas.

Explicacion del numero de estrellas puntuadas:
(5) Excelente, una puta obra maestra.
(4) Libro muy bueno, lectura muy recomendada.
(3) Buen libro, me ha gustado.
(2...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Ric rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Ringworld - a Young Adult book that exemplifies the key elements of technology-driven fiction, and so embodies the new generation of science fiction and SF writers. Ok, that may be how the review would start if this book were written in the 2010s. But Ringworld is from a different era (the 1970s), a different world altogether (pre-Microsoft Earth). What was then hailed as an innovative narrative style may now be viewed as stunted and disjointed. But for a young mind just opening to the wonders...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Candace rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Candace by: Lee

Disclosure - This is my first hard science- fiction book; so while I am unable to review it against other books in this sub-genre, I'm going to review it as I would any other book. The science was a little out of my league, but it was nothing that some computer searches wouldn't clear up.

Niven is a great descriptive writer. The book was well worth reading to meet Nessus and Speaker-to-Animals, the two aliens who make up half of the team of four travelers to Ringworld. This team (also comprised...more Disclosure - This is my first hard science- fiction book; so while I am unable to review it against other books in this sub-genre, I'm going to review it as I would any other book. The science was a little out of my league, but it was nothing that some computer searches wouldn't clear up.

Niven is a great descriptive writer. The book was well worth reading to meet Nessus and Speaker-to-Animals, the two aliens who make up half of the team of four travelers to Ringworld. This team (also comprised of two humans, Louis and Teela) is searching outside of Known Space for the Ringworld in order to learn more information about it and any inhabitants because all of the travelers' worlds will soon (in 20,000 years!) be suffering from radiation from a chain reaction of supernovae that's occurred in the galactic core.

Some of the best and most humorous parts of the book are the interactions between these very different species with completely different emotions, motivations, desires, and even food choices. With Speaker believing his courage is his most important asset and Nessus rolling up in a ball at the slightest provocation, these completely opposite species must work toward a common goal of traveling to and from the Ringworld safely.

Niven not only gives us Nessus and Speaker, but he also describes some pretty cool gadgets such as flycycles and stepping stones.

I also enjoyed his exploration of the theme throughout the book: are we more like gods? or are we the puppets of the gods? While not an original theme, Niven played with words (one of the alien types is called Puppeteer), actions, and even a gadget called a tasp to explore this theme in a fun way.

What Niven does not describe very well are women. It became very annoying when it became clear that he could only see the women chararacters as sex objects. I deduct a full point for this.

Also, I thought the latter half of the book lost some its direction. I know the travelers were wandering around in a new world, but I felt as if Niven did not have the control, the tension, and the direction that he did in the first half of the book as he described this new world and all that happened there.

OVERALL: I recommend this book to anyone who likes this sub-genre or who would like to read a book with some cool aliens and some great humour. I rarely tell anyone to stay away from a book; but if you have strong feelings on women as sex objects and weak female characters, be wary!(less)

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May 27, 2010 Ben Babcock rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, science-fiction, hugo-winner, nebula-winner, owned

There's a word often bandied about when people discuss books, particularly fantasy and science fiction books, which often involve the creation of worlds unlike our own. That term is (perhaps unsurprisingly) worldbuilding. And if ever there were a paradigm case for worldbuilding, Ringworld would be it. The eponymous structure is not a planet but, for all intents and purposes, functions as one. With a simple concept and a little bit of physics, Larry Niven has a striking novum that's brand, settin...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

I'm afraid this made me want to punch Larry Niven in the stomach on the behalf of all women everywhere. Along with people who aren't so privileged that life bores them with its comforts, but mostly on behalf of women.

A 180 year old man sleeping with a 20 year old woman? Just so wrong, and it keeps going more wrong. He writes things about Teela like

"Her lips, he saw, were perfect for pouting. She was one of those rare, lucky women whom crying does not make ugly."

It is painfully condescending, ev...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Erich Franz Guzmann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Erich by: Ric

Shelves: own, ab-do, 1970s, adventure, hugo-award, nebula-award, locus-award, sf-masterwork, series, science-fiction, space-opera, sexuality, speculative-fiction, surrealism, fiktion, fantasy, wissenschaft, wanderlust, kultur, klassiker, technik, outer-space, another-land, computer, meisterwerk, male-protagonist, mystery, multiple-award, post-apocalyptic, author-male, award-nominee, award-winner, npr-top-100-sf-fantasy, recommendation-review, drug, easton-press-masterpieces, dramen, robotertechnik, sociology, violentia, favourite, guardian-best-sf-fantasy

I liked this book, in fact I got hooked at so many parts. As I am a slow reader and me having finished this book in a couple of days should tell ya something. The book is mainly an exploration novel of another land during the earth year of 2850. The exploration of the Ringwold is magnificent and is detailed crisply into my imagination.
It is also about the characters too; a great character building story I must say. In a way I found that the characters in the book and their interactions between e...more
I liked this book, in fact I got hooked at so many parts. As I am a slow reader and me having finished this book in a couple of days should tell ya something. The book is mainly an exploration novel of another land during the earth year of 2850. The exploration of the Ringwold is magnificent and is detailed crisply into my imagination.
It is also about the characters too; a great character building story I must say. In a way I found that the characters in the book and their interactions between each other had to be the most interesting part of the story.
It had 4 main characters that were all very different to each other in many, many ways; and somehow made the perfect team. The 4 characters are Louis Gridley Wu, Nessus, Speaker to Animals, and Teela Brown.
Wu is a 200 year old human man that is in perfect physical condition, due to life extending drugs.
Nessus is a Pierson's Puppeteer which has two forelegs and a single hindleg ending in hooved feet and two snake-like heads instead of a humanoid upper body. The heads are very small, containing a forked tongue, extensive rubbery lips, rimmed with finger-like knobs, and a single eye per head. The Puppeteer brain is housed not in the heads, but in the "thoracic" cavity well protected beneath the mane-covered hump from which the heads emerge. They use the "mouths" to manipulate objects, as a humanoid uses hands. He is in charge of the operation to the ring world and the being that finds the team and puts it together.
Then there is Speaker to Animals or just Speaker and is a Kzin. A Kzin is a very warlike and bloodthirsty race of cat-like aliens. The Kzinti are larger than humans, standing around 8 feet and weighing around 500 pounds. These tiger-sized bipeds have large membranous ears, a barrel-chested torso with a flexible spine, and large fangs and claws. He was responsible for the expedition's safety on Ringworld and because if that he was in charge most of the time.
And last we have Teela Brown, a twenty year old human girl. Her sole qualification was that she was descended from "lucky" ancestors, six generations of whom were born as a result of winning Earth's Birthright Lottery. The Puppeteer saw this as a kind of artificial selection, tending to breed for a psionic power of good luck. He hoped Teela would bring luck and success to the entire expedition.
The team was a great mixture of characters and the main reason for the 5 stars. What an imagination Larry Niven had!
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Sep 16, 2012 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Niven's passion for his subject material really shines through in Ringworld. He takes you on a Jules Verne like journey to the centre of the galaxy to discover the incredible Ringworld, a vast piece of alien technology built around a single star. Its dimensions and nature are so mindblowingingly immense that it's difficult for any writer to convey it, but Niven does a remarkable job. It's less a story, and more a exploration of Niven's vision of fantastical technology, all written in convincing...more

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May 04, 2012 Kristine Morris rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub

My spatial skills for a sentient 43 year old human living in 2012 on planet Earth are not bad...but they're hopeless for year 2850 on a man-made Ringworld beyond Known Space. So I found reading the first third of the book and its technical details a bit laborious. I am not a big fan of science-fiction, but every now and then the sole male in my bookclub forces one on the rest of us. I am happy to read them, and I generally enjoy them, but I feel a bit of their message gets lost in translation an...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Dustin Reade rated it 1 of 5 stars

Okay, so, for the sake of honesty, I must admit that I did not finish this book. I read more than half of it and then lost it somewhere. I have no desire whatsoever to look for it.

This book is BORING!
Holy cow!

Larry Niven, I am surprised at you. THIS is the work you are most known for? Really?
Well, I guess the people who read this must've just skipped over your short stories, or even your other books because this is a stupid book.

Okay, not stupid. There are entire passages that I could read a th...more

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Jul 21, 2008 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

this book was silly. the ringworld was a cool idea, and the interplay between the species was intriguing, but there were a lot of strikes against this book.

* anthropomorphic cat people that are fierce proud warriors; i imagine the furry contingent had a field day with this one
* not much happens in the latter half of this book - mostly a lot of traveling across the ringworld
* at several points there are lengthy sections where i'm unable to tell what's going on because i can't visualize the strang...more

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Jan 02, 2008 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: hardcore sci fi fans

Shelves: sci-fi

This book is good when it comes to the science of science fiction.

The Ringworld is interesting and well described, but the book really falls short in explaining the how and why questions that are constantly coming up.

The characters are shallow and pretty boring in general and are merely weak vehicles in a vague and more or less unexplained plot for exploring the mysterious Ringworld.

Overall this book is ok. It has its fun moments when reading about the mechanisms and design of the Ringworld or...more

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Jun 02, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hard-sf

After re-reading Niven's most famous novel, one that I truly adored as a kid, I'm forced to drop one (one and a half, if I could) from my initial rating.

I still love SF books about Big Dumb Objects. There are some great stories about BDOs out there. Ringworld is still a good STORY with lots of great concepts. It's not a great book, though. The single female character is a dunce. The other characters aren't much more three-dimensional. The setup seems to take forever. I don't care how many nerds...more

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Apr 23, 2008 Casey K. rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who owe me money

Recommended to Casey by: someone I owe money to

What's the big deal about this book? I've heard people rave about this book and I thought it was "meh?". Okay, they have a character called a Puppeteer, and I'm Pro-Puppet, but it let me down. I think it took unnecessary short cuts and made some pretty big leaps of faith and logic, almost like the author got bored with the story and just wanted to advance it without putting the effort in. Then suddenly, there'd be one six word sentence that was the explaination for everything that just happened...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Camille rated it 1 of 5 stars

Read it in highschool ...perfect example of why space opera and Hollywood get along swimmingly, and why at its most primitive the genre can be so loathsome.

Pluses: the quirky idea of the world's physical structure, and the 'fun,' familiar genre format: a roving band of optimistic misfits, random sex, fight scenes, that tragic thread of lost empire. Downsides: poorly structured, overly focused on its one good idea (a planet ...shaped like a cheerio... stunning!) at the expense of writing style a...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Whiskeyjack rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: laser

It still amazes me that that some of the sci-fi classics have stood the test of time so well. Like this book that was first published in 1970 and is now, 4 decades later, still amazing to read.

In another review I read this was a book of ideas and that is spot on. Niven introduces a lot of interesting concepts, technologies and aliens that keep you interested throughout the book. However, he is picky in the ones he chooses to elaborate on. Especially a lot of the mentioned technology could use a...more It still amazes me that that some of the sci-fi classics have stood the test of time so well. Like this book that was first published in 1970 and is now, 4 decades later, still amazing to read.

In another review I read this was a book of ideas and that is spot on. Niven introduces a lot of interesting concepts, technologies and aliens that keep you interested throughout the book. However, he is picky in the ones he chooses to elaborate on. Especially a lot of the mentioned technology could use a bit more explanation on how it is supposed to work. Likewise, the Ringworld inhabitants don't get much attention either. So mostly a book on ideas.

That also impacted the story itself. There is a second story line that spices things up a bit(view spoiler). Also the revelation of how the Ringworld society collapsed was interesting, but overall the story was simple and the action not very exciting. The problems and challenges never became an emergency and even if they did, they were resolved with a simple explanation without anybody breaking a sweat.

(view spoiler)

In all this was a very fun read, especially since it was published well before I was born. And it is easy to see how it influenced the sci-fi genre (HALO anyone?). If the story had been a bit more exciting, it would have been 5 stars.(less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one's been on my list for many years. I happened across a vintage copy recently at the local used bookstore and dug right in. It consistently appears on top 10 all-time greatest sci-fi lists, so my expectations were quite high going in. I was not disappointed. In fact I'm upset at myself for waiting this long to become acquainted with Larry Niven's "known space" universe.

The main character of this fascinating read is the Ringworld itself. It is 1 AU in radius (93 million miles) and 1 milli...more

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Apr 05, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, sci-fi

If there is a book that you want to pick up for some interesting reading, try Larry Niven's "Ringworld." Though the book purports to be about Louis Wu and his motivation for going with a Puppeteer on a journey to handle Wu's bored 200 year old life, it's really about the dumb luck of Teela Brown, a ditzy dame with a charmed life, whose never known pain or loss.

Story Points:

I have read a few of Niven's stories and enjoyed his Man-Kzin Wars and other such stories in this same universe. To read hi...more

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Mar 26, 2012 Josh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Like most hard sci-fi, Larry Niven's Ringworld is not about the characters, but the setting and its technology. In that respect, Ringworld succeeds. Niven has a knack for explaining futuristic technologies in a way that brings them alive to the reader. I only wish that we had learned more of the ringworld itself.

The story's plot is simple: the group crash on the Ringworld and need to escape. They run around a bit and explore things before finding a way to get out. Ringworld's human characters ar...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sciencefiction, youngadult, novels

I read Larry Niven’s Ringworld when it first came out, now 30 years ago. I remember loving the story, the concepts at the time. When I saw that it was on sale at Audible I decided to give it a new listen. I’ve recently listened to and read a number of newer science fiction authors. I thought it would be interested to compare eras.

So first, Ringworld is all story and exposition of novel science concepts. Some of them are still fresh. Some are now quaint. The audacity of building a ringworld was p...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Earl Grey Tea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

It was quite an interesting book, especially when you stop and think about the concept of an actual "ringworld" as Larry Niven describes. The entire concept of this idea was greatly though out and Larry Niven really develops the science fiction aspects of his work. Without going into too much detail and spoiling the book, a lot of interesting aspects and consequences of having a ringworld were brought up in this book; many of which I would probably have never thought on my own.

With that being sa...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Andrew Breslin rated it 2 of 5 stars

This one of the most iconic works of science fiction, and is pretty much required reading. The International Society of Dorks, Geeks, and Nerds will quiz you about it before they allow you entrance into the secret lair in their parent's basement. And I know you probably want admittance into ISDGN headquarters. Heck, rumor has it one of the newest members might be a girl, so membership applications have increased by orders of magnitude.

I'd recommend saving yourself the trouble of trudging throug...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Lucas Beechinor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Truthfully, I discovered this book because of my obsessive love for the Halo games. I love the Halo franchise so much, I’ll willfully read the Wikipedia articles about it for fun. For. Fun. Halo is more than a handful of video games to me. The story that makes up the Halo universe is 110% science fiction storytelling kicked into hyperdrive. In seeking to learn more about the story, I found Ringworld, and have been enjoying it almost at unhealthy levels.

It is enjoyable for many reasons, but I am...more

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Jul 17, 2011 The Joy of Booking added it · review of another edition

I first read Ringworld when I read through all the winners of the Hugo and Nebula awards in chronological order, and it kind of blew my mind.

Ringworld is a great example of classic science fiction: hard on science AND hard on fiction. The story centers on 200-year-old Louis Gridley Wu embarking on a journey with a motley crew of shipmates, including a human woman with astounding luck of indeterminate value, a three-legged, two-headed vegetarian alien with schizoid tendencies and an angry leonine...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Perry Whitford rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one

Recommended to Perry by: Reputation

A bored, two hundred year old human is enlisted on a murky mission by a two headed, three legged alien with a promise of designs for a hyperdrive spaceship that will save humanity from an impending cosmic devastation event. Louis Wu accepts, is joined by a beautiful and "lucky" twenty year old girl and and eight foot, Tiger-like Ambassador from the warlike Kzinti species and off they go to investigate the colossal, mysterious Ringworld of the title.

Ringworld has been assured of it's place in th...more A bored, two hundred year old human is enlisted on a murky mission by a two headed, three legged alien with a promise of designs for a hyperdrive spaceship that will save humanity from an impending cosmic devastation event. Louis Wu accepts, is joined by a beautiful and "lucky" twenty year old girl and and eight foot, Tiger-like Ambassador from the warlike Kzinti species and off they go to investigate the colossal, mysterious Ringworld of the title.

Ringworld has been assured of it's place in the pantheon as a science fiction classic by virtue of winning all three major awards (Hugo, Locus and Nebula) when first published at the start of the 1970's and it's influence has been clear on both the "hard science" and "space opera" genres since then. Books I have read that come to mind are "Eon" by Greg Bear (a turgid snore) and the "Culture" novels by Iain M Banks (universally excellent).
Influence aside though, far from being a classic I found it to be more a classic example of why sci-fi writing has garnered such a lowly name over the years. Featuring male characters that are flatly drawn and frankly misogynist, female characters that are either idiots or whores, a complete absence of suspense and uneven plotting with very little resolution, in hindsight it's incredible to conceive that the custodians of the art back then could have heaped such universal praise on this book! Like Heinlein, Niven likes to be playful and glib with the interpersonal stuff, but similarly the attitudes expressed are frequently noxious and alarming.

Admittedly I might have enjoyed it more if I could understand the physics behind many of the ideas; the reams of passages containing scientific exposition were never going to appeal to me. This is "hard science" fiction, I know, but it is still fiction, so Niven could have made them more accessible to the layman.
Bizarrely however, despite all the practical physics, the whole story was underpinned by a genetic engineering theme that was so jaw-droppingly unlikely it bordered on the wildest fantasy! Any semblance of a sensible plot was completely lost as this idea moved inexplicably to the forefront of the story.

As I am discovering, as with a worryingly high number of science fiction classics, the influence far outstrips the actual experience. Avoid.

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Jul 05, 2011 Nathaniel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

Niven's Ringworld idea is really, really cool. Cool enough that he got the Hugo for this book in 1970. I know he got the Hugo for the Ringworld concept, because nothing else in the book conceivably justifies it.

Wading through the book was very difficult for me mostly because of Niven's Dirty Old Man Syndrome. That's the way I refer to his incredibly chauvinistic depictions of women. The protagonist is a 200-year old cynical man who manages to snag a 20-year-old, naive young lady as his sex-toy...more Niven's Ringworld idea is really, really cool. Cool enough that he got the Hugo for this book in 1970. I know he got the Hugo for the Ringworld concept, because nothing else in the book conceivably justifies it.

Wading through the book was very difficult for me mostly because of Niven's Dirty Old Man Syndrome. That's the way I refer to his incredibly chauvinistic depictions of women. The protagonist is a 200-year old cynical man who manages to snag a 20-year-old, naive young lady as his sex-toy in the first chapter. She spends the entire novel completely dependent on him in every conceivable way. There's a big reveal at the end that--in addition to being lame and predictable--is supposed to reverse all this and make her out to a powerful figure after all. Only it doesn't. At all.

The big reveal (SPOILERS!) is that she's very, very lucky. So lucky that everything that has happened in the book so far has been for her benefit. From the discovery of the Ringworld to her falling in love with the protagaonist, to her finding a swarthy, sword-wielding hero to purchase her (no kidding!) and then protect her: it's all been to help her grow as a person. If you're rolling your eyes: you should be. And obviously it doesn't actually empower her, because she's ignorant of how lucky she is, and her luck is purely the consequence of a few generations of covert selective breeding by an alien race. It makes her a dangerous, unpredictable experiment, but still just that: someone else's experiment. Yay, feminism. Am I right?

Aside from the annoyance with gender discrimination, the book just wasn't that good. It's just another example of some very smart guy coming up with some cool ideas and then spending 300 pages saying "Look how awesome my ideas are! They are so awesome!" Frankly, the Ringworld idea IS cool, but the plot just doesn't live up to the concept. Not even remotely. You have this awesome, innovative setting and then you basically have a boring tour-guide instead of a story.

There were some glimpses, right at the end, of some interesting concepts. Enough so that I will probably read the sequel. But I would recommend no one else read these unless you (like me) have this weird goal to read all the Hugos.(less)

like 4 likes · see review

Jun 30, 2011 Adam Calhoun rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A jocular romp across a ring shaped world, the eponymous Ringworld is a hard scifi fantasy book. The characters are a ramshackle crew of disparate species who somehow manage to overcome their differences to fight the adversity they encounter on the planet. A good time was had by all.

Seriously though, this book is pretty good. Our adventurous crew go off to investigate a ring shaped world, a bit terrified that this highly advanced civilization will notice them and blast them all to smithereens. T...more

like 1 like · see review

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About Larry Niven

Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths...more Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths.

Niven also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes The Magic Goes Away series, which utilizes an exhaustible resource, called Mana, to make the magic a non-renewable resource.

Niven created an alien species, the Kzin, which were featured in a series of twelve collection books, the Man-Kzin Wars. He co-authored a number of novels with Jerry Pournelle. In fact, much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Pournelle, Steven Barnes, Brenda Cooper, or Edward M. Lerner.

He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has since lived in Los Angeles suburbs, including Chatsworth and Tarzana, as a full-time writer. He married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, herself a well-known science fiction and Regency literature fan, on September 6, 1969.

In addition to his awards for Ringworld, Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Neutron Star" in 1967. He won the same award in 1972, for "Inconstant Moon", and in 1975 for "The Hole Man". In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Borderland of Sol".

Niven has written scripts for various science fiction television shows, including the original Land of the Lost series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which he adapted his early story "The Soft Weapon". He adapted his story "Inconstant Moon" for an episode of the television series The Outer Limits in 1996.

He has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect, which are unusual in comic books.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/larryn...

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“The gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools.” — 57 people liked it

“The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum” — 4 people liked it

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Ringworld (Ringworld #1)

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