Ringworld by Larry Niven
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Book Reviews of Ringworld
Book Review: A All-Time Classic Must Read For "Sci Fi" Lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
If you love reading fast-paced, imaginative, inventive stories about special people traveling to amazing worlds, then you'll love Ringworld. You'll meet Nessus the Puppeteer and Speaker-to-Animals (I guess they aren't people, are they?) and Louis Wu and Teela Brown. They get in a craft protected by their trusty General Products hull and take off for the Ringworld. Ringworld's breathtaking size and Larry Niven's breathtaking imagination will keep you reading until the end and leave you wanting more. And of course, there are sequels! This is the real McCoy; accept no substitutes. Also remember: never eat food that has been dropped on the ground, then picked up by a Puppeteer. And *I'm* not going to be the one to tell why no one knows the location of the Puppeteer home world.Book Review: Classic among classics
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the outstanding classic of SF. Indeed there are things which might be improved, but I wouldn't know how. Indeed it does not manage to keep up the roaring pace it starts off with, but it carries on quite adequately. Of course it has been written some time ago, and people nowadays are spoiled by the fancy optic effects of contemporary SF movies, and by great story tellers like Orson Scott Card, but leaving such superficialities aside, I have never seen anything that can even touch Ringworld.By the way, Orson Scott Card may be a terrific story teller, but, to say it gently, his work is out and out fantasy, never touching reality. He should have quit after "Ender's game" (the 1977 short story that is) and waited until he had a worthwhile story to tell.
Book Review: What Sci-fi should be!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a book that takes me right back to what got me into Sci-Fi in the first place. It has all the elements of classic sci-fi, a comic cowardly alien, a dangerous carnivorous alien, a drop-dead gorgeous sexy female companion and a world weary protagonist.
They fly across the galaxy and find a huge constructed ring shaped world, which has descended into barbarity. They have some adventures, touching only a tiny proportion of the world.
There is enough technology to be engaging, but not so much that you need a degree in quantum physics to follow the plot.
What you are left with at the end is more questions than you started with. I can now daydream for days on end about what may lie elsewhere on Ringworld.
Book Review: Groundbreaking Class that still Holds Up
Summary: 5 Stars
Ringworld must be Larry Niven's greatest masterpiece. It's a book I've read and reread time and again. The story isn't strong on character, but the heroes do grow and change. The main thing is the spectacular adventure and bizarre cultures both alien and human that Niven delivers in this classic science fiction novel. Ringworld is a stunning display of imagination. It should be required reading in engineering courses. Louis Wu is a resourceful and likeable good guy. Speaker To Animals is a wonderful reluctant tough guy sidekick. Teela Brown is a dream, and Nessus rounds out the crew with his cowardly schemes. Visiting the vast alien structure of the Ringworld with them is always a pleasure.
Book Review: Asimov, Heinlein, Niven...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm surprised at all the negative reviews. This is quite an excellent book, with many interesting twists along the way. The characters are quite interesting too. I don't see how they are "flat" at all... the power structure shifts several times within this mixed group, and the banter between them is fun. If this universe is so bad, somebody should inform all the other authors who have expanded upon Niven's universe in their own novels and stories. Before giving up on Niven entirely, try one of his collections of short stories. THey are up there with I, Robot. The Ringworld Engineers was okay, but the Ringworld Throne was dreadful. I'll get back to you on Ringworld's Children.