RW: Anybody like this enough to continue onto the sequels?

[Bill]

I finished the book today. When I first started reading it, I was disappointed. I read the first 20% of it back in the 80s and seem to remember it more complex. But I trundled on. By the time I was done, I looked back and decided I did like it. Not as much as I hoped. And not as much as most of the sci fi I've read. But I enjoyed it. And I'm kinda tempted to move onto the sequels.

[Neil]

No. Even with the fact that the first book didn't have much of an ending. One is enough.

[Ty]

It took me a little while to get into it, but after that I rather enjoyed it. I'll most likely continue onto the sequels at some point, but not right away. I'm already to far behind on some other series I've discovered through Sword and Laser.

[Katie]

I'm going to continue because I did like it, but also because my Dad lent me a stack of Niven and I want to return them and chat about them when I see him next. :) Our taste has always overlapped and he started me on SF/F by reading me The Hobbit at bedtime when I was little.
I mostly want to read more about Puppeteers, the Ringworld itself is interesting, but not as much as the aliens to me.

[Doug]

Even when I was a teenager reading it for the first time, I had no interest in the sequels. And I read Zelazny's whole damned Amber series.

[Jenny]

I have absolutely no interest in the rest of the series. There just wasn't as much to Ringworld as I thought there would be.

[Ben]

I read it 15 years ago and enjoyed it but there have always been other books that I am keener to read than its sequels. There are just so many great books out there and so little time.

[Ben]

Not a chance.

[Rob, Roberator]

Probably not no. In the end I gave it 3 stars, but there is so much other stuff I'd much rather read.

[Kevin]

I read the sequel when I finished Ringworld, but was not content on going with the rest after the second book.

[Joe Informatico]

It was alright, but didn't really set me on fire. Ringworld seems very much a product of its time. Maybe it counts as an important stepping stone in the development of space opera as a genre, but I don't think it's aged as well as some other SF classics.

[Trike]

The first sequel, Ringworld Engineers, is the best of that series.

[Matthew]

I am pretty sure I read the Ringworld Engineers back in junior high school, not knowing it was a sequel. I was pretty lost in the other book.

To be honest, I am a bit burned out on all of these series. There are just too many. We need more standalone books in the SciFi/Fantasy world these days.

[Andreas]

Matthew wrote: "We need more standalone books in the SciFi/Fantasy world these days. "


2312, nuff said! :)

[Mark]

I rather enjoyed the PREquels that just came out

[Chris]

I am looking forward to the rest of the series. I enjoyed Ringworld and am excited to see what happens when they return. Prequels sound interesting as well.

[Deon]

I MAY read something he co-wrote, but never just him again, no. I really missed character development, which he didn't make a priority at all, in my opinion.

[Trike]

Cattfish wrote: "I rather enjoyed the PREquels that just came out"

I read one or two of the Niven-Lerner books and felt the same way about them that I did about the Star Wars prequels: they are completely pointless.

If they had been about different characters, that would've been one thing, but to have them intersect with the already-known stories just put them in the, "Oh, I know how this turns out" category, and not in a good way. If there is a good way for that category to end up.

[Ric]

I confess that I read all of the sequels and the prequels. With the exception of Ringworld Engineers, none really came to the level of awe-struck wonder that the original Ringworld engendered. But all the related books built a universe that was fun to get back to time and time again. Maybe it's a generational thing.

[Trike]

Which generation? I'm 48. And a half.

[David(LA,CA)]

I think I will demonstrate luck greater than that of Teela, and avoid getting involved with the rest of the series.

[Ben]

David(LA,CA) wrote: "I think I will demonstrate luck greater than that of Teela, and avoid getting involved with the rest of the series."

Ha!

[Mel (booksandsundry)]

I'm happy I read the book and even enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll be continuing because the level of sexism can only be tolerated for so long.

[Daniel]

Not going to happen. This novel was an excuse to show off Niven's engineers skills, not a compelling piece of literature.

[Paulo]

I'm not feeling any inclination to go into the rest of the series as well. The book didn't catch my interest enough. I've other better series to dive into.

[Baelor]

Probably not. I was really disappointed.

[Sabrina]

Nope. This is the second time I've read this book, and both times it has disappointed me. I think Niven's style is just not to my taste. The whole book just felt flat.

[Serendi]

Gonna repeat a comment I made when this was first picked - I like Niven's short work a LOT better. It has a lot of the problems, but more cool ideas per page. Or fewer pages per cool idea. Or something. Better ratio, anyway.

[France]

Since I already own The Ringworld Engineers, I'll read it, but I have some other books to finish before. I'm curious to see where Teela's character is going.

[Ralffie]

I read this a long while back, and also Ringworld Engineers, Protector, and Integral Trees --which I consider to be the "non-expanded" Ringworld books.

I remember liking them a lot--but who knows how they hold up. I do know that I like high concept books more than most. I like Niven, Asimov, Forward, Brin.

[Michael]

I read it a while back, no interest in rereading it for the podcast, no interest in the sequels.
I thought it was OK at the time.

[Clyde]

Been there. Done that.
Actually, the first sequel, The Ringworld Engineers, is quite good and it clears up some things in the first book.

[Mark]

I think "risathra" comes up a bit much in the sequels

[Clyde]

Cattfish wrote: "I think "risathra" comes up a bit much in the sequels"

Yup. Larry Niven seems a bit fixated on risathra.

[Kurt]

I know this was the first book in the Ringworld series but its in the later half of the Known Universe series. If you remember the mentioning of The Man-Kzin Wars those are their own series. That spans sixteen books,(Inconstant Star was not listed with the Known Space page I found). Than you have the Known Space novels which is nine books. And then Ringworld starts as the 25th book in this universe. It feels like it tries to catch you up on what happened before but falls short. The four Ringworld books and than the five Fleet of Worlds books brings us to thirty-four novels. It's hard to continue on with a series when you realize that even if you read the rest of the books you will only get less than half of the entire story.

[Julie]

Nope, this one was more than enough for me. It took me forever to get through it, I'm happy it's over.

[Trike]

France wrote: "Since I already own The Ringworld Engineers, I'll read it, but I have some other books to finish before. I'm curious to see where Teela's character is going."

I think you'll be surprised by what happens. Perhaps not. Let's just say luck is a two-edged sword.

I think Ringworld Engineers is the best book in the series, superior to Ringworld because it has an actual plot beyond just "get off the island." That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Ringworld. Admittedly, it's been 35 years since I read it, but still.

[Curt]

Read Niven's work that happens before Ringworld before continuing the series. I have always thought Ringworld was the weakest of the Known Space stories.

I much prefer the short stories and novels that happen in Known Space. Most of them written by Niven before 1976. _The Ethics of Madness_ is a real banger of a short story.

[Mohrravvian]

I read this book a few years back, and I did not find it very exciting. I expected to like it a lot, but in the end I was disappointed and bored. I did not reread it for this month and wouldn't read the sequels, or recommend the first book to anyone.

[Noomninam]

I went straight from this piece to Reynolds's Revelation Space, and the differences in the way similar matters are handled, from hard science and BDOs to female characters and dramatic progression, is so overwhelming that I can't imagine ever revisiting Niven and his various collaborators.

[[deleted user]]

I'll admit, it did take some time for me to get into the book. After it finally grabbed my attention, it was much easier to read. That being said, I don't feel the need to seek out any other material related to this story. It was good, but not my cup of tea.