Ringworld (Ringworld #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Nov 10, 2008 Stephen rated it liked it

Shelves: multiple-award-nominee, sf-explore-colonize-1st-contact, award-winner-hugo, award-nominee-hugo, award-nominee-nebula, award-winner-nebula, award-nominee-locus, award-winner-locus, multiple-award-winners, audiobook

3.5 stars. The very definition of "big idea" science fiction. The Ringworld is one of those science fiction concepts that really stay with you and Niven does a superb job of describing it.

Winner: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1971)
Winner: Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1971)
Winner: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1971) ...more

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Oct 15, 2016 JD rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy

So after reading the Mote in God's Eye earlier this year, when I was looking for a faster read after slogging through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, turning to another Niven classic felt like the right choice.

I should say that I found my attention waning here and there during the groups travels across the Ringworld, which might just come down to listening to chunks of this while working in the yard and getting distracted, not the story itself.

The book was frequently funny, and I really enjo So after reading the Mote in God's Eye earlier this year, when I was looking for a faster read after slogging through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, turning to another Niven classic felt like the right choice.

I should say that I found my attention waning here and there during the groups travels across the Ringworld, which might just come down to listening to chunks of this while working in the yard and getting distracted, not the story itself.

The book was frequently funny, and I really enjoyed the Guardians-of-the-Galaxy vibe of the team that Nessus assembled, with each character or species bringing a different personality to the action (the Kzin were the most fun by far). Speaking of Nessus, I also really enjoyed the story of the way the Puppeteers had interacted with the other species and ditto for the history of Ringworld itself. There's some fun ideas there, but it would be spoiler-y to get too specific. Also worth noting that I enjoyed the different examples of sci fi tech Niven put into the book, including the different types of instantaneous transportation, the descriptions of the spacecraft, and the weaponry.

The only other thing for me to mention is the gender/sexual politics of the book. It definitely felt like a book written amidst the sexual revolution, with some scenes feeling like they could be completely interchangeable with the Jane Fonda sci fi film Barbarella (sleeping plate scene by page 43) and the puppeteer's tasp, in particular). Curiously though, and in stark contrast to the characters I've been enjoying in The Passage and Otherland, the female characters in this book are rather retrograde from an empowerment standpoint. Teela is more or less an object that needs protection (from the world, from danger, from disappointment) and then there's the Kzin females, who are only good for breeding, and are sub-sapient. Feels like it was written with the perspective of someone who enjoyed all the sex of the sexual revolution without paying much attention to the empowerment that came along with it.

If you can get past that, there's a lot of fun to be had here. ...more

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Nov 15, 2013 Travis Bird rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

I finally got to this and found a favourite character, Nessus, aboard. I first met Nessus in a short story, The Soft Weapon , and was impressed by the ingenuity of Niven in creating such a creature as the Pierson's Puppeteer. His stories contain a collection of aliens who are indisputably more than simply humans in rubber suits and yet show qualities of spirit which are familiar to us. The Ringworld is a classic concept which resonates through science fiction and has a cousin in the Dyson Spher ...more

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