Ringworld by Larry Niven
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Book Reviews of Ringworld
Book Review: Idea Science Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a classifier. I break everything down into neat little categories. This book falls under the realm of "idea science fiction". If you read science fiction for an other worldly escape into a detailed, plausible, expansive universe...THIS IS THE BOOK TO READ. The story is like nothing you will ever read again. Raunchy, fast paced, intriguing, challenging...all at the same time, just like science fiction should be.
Now, if you read science fiction and have never read Niven, then stop telling people you read science fiction. That is until you've read this book, Intergral Trees, Mote in Gods Eye, and for christ sake read Footfall!
If you read and enjoy Niven, which means you're pretty brainy(good job!), Give your brain a rest and go get The Deathworld Trilogy by the great Harry Harrison. And would it kill you to pick up The Stainless Steel Rat...have I taught you nothing?
Wait, was that a book review or a rant...I don't know. Suffice it to say that RingWorld is one of the Definitive Science Fiction Pieces from a Nebula award winning author...'nuff said!
Book Review: This is beyond excellent!! A true masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
Ringworld is among the best sci-fi works I've ever read. Actually it's among the best books I've ever read at all. It is amazingly colourful, imaginative and appealing. Some might be put off by the very technical "hard-science" style, but I think that that actually enhances the story. There are so many incredible and very intriguing ideas incorporated in this book that it makes the reader dizzy. It's so convincingly written that in the end, you almost start thinking that the incredible world of Ringworld is for real. When I first began reading this book, I couldn't put it down. It just stuck to my hand like glue. I was completely spellbound by Niven's incredible visions and ideas. I finished it in one day. I am really a party animal, but I came too late to a party that night because I had to finish Ringworld. I can't recommend this book enough! I myself was told that it was great when I bought it, but I had no idea just how great it really was. It surpassed my wildest expectations, and has made me the huge Niven-fan I am today!Book Review: A possible solution for overpopulation...and a fun narrative
Summary: 5 Stars
Even fans of Larry Niven will be awed by the stirring vision he presents in Ringworld. A band of six hundred million miles in length and a million miles wide is set in orbit around the sun. Although obviously manufactured by an advanced alien civilization, it is discovered by an exploration team to be utterly devoid of intelligent life.Headed by the swashbuckling Louis Wu, the crew sets out on a laborious trek to expose the mystery of the immense ring's existence. When their journey finally brings them face to face with an entirely primitive humanoid race living in the ruins of a highly-developed metropolis, Wu senses that the solution is all but imminent. Yet little does he know what unapparent mighty forces are secretly at work on the Ringworld.
Despite the book's surrealistic appearance, its idea is based on a distinct scientific possibility. But even though merging a discernible amount of fact with the fiction, Niven ensures a primarily entertaining read with his playful characters and settings.
Book Review: (Ring)world Class
Summary: 5 Stars
This is just one more review on the favorable side, since there's some disagreement among past reviewers. I would argue that this book is a strong competitor for the title of Best SF Novel Ever, if such a judgment made any sense. Niven introduces here two or three totally novel and fecund innovations, and he is peerless at "thinking through" the (psychosocial as well as technico-causal) implications of these innovations. Since these are the distinctive tasks of SF, he's the best in SF, and this novel is a self-contained exemplar of his work. It also sets up, moderately well and seemingly unintentionally, two very inventive sequels (at least). My only complaint is that Niven is not great at character development--the characters are very interesting types, but they don't develop or relate at a deep level. Overall, though, absolutely superbBook Review: A great classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Ringworld is a marvellously inventive story - two humans and two Aliens, a cariverous, Cat-like kzin and a herbiverous puppeteer - set out to explore a vast world built in a ring around a sun, with a surface area of billions of square miles on which all kinds of societies can flourish. Niven is a trained mathematician, and it makes the story more satisfying that the maths are worked out plausibly. It deserves its many awards for sheer non-stop inventiveness and action. The characters are plausible and fascinating, too. There is a website "Known space", devoted to Niven's works, if anybody doesn't know, and a brilliant new book of the wars of humans and Kzin, The Wunder War, set in the same universe, published recently. There have been two sequels to "Ringworld" published and another due out soon.