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cr0ybot's review against another edition
3.0
I'm on the fence about this series, especially this book. It seems as though each successive entry is more and more preoccupied with interspecies intercourse, also known as "rishathra", and how it is used in some way to facilitate peace and trade. How it helps isn't really explained very well; most of the time, at least in this book, they do it because they're curious and, frankly, loose.
Half of the story is about how two characters, from a species that strictly forbids any sex aside from a single permanent mate, "overcome" their reservations... I'm not particularly conservative, and it feels odd that it bothers me, but it's such a prominent theme that it gets to be ridiculous.
Aside from that, the overall arc of the story was interesting, but the way it's told can feel somewhat fragmented and absent-minded.
Half of the story is about how two characters, from a species that strictly forbids any sex aside from a single permanent mate, "overcome" their reservations... I'm not particularly conservative, and it feels odd that it bothers me, but it's such a prominent theme that it gets to be ridiculous.
Aside from that, the overall arc of the story was interesting, but the way it's told can feel somewhat fragmented and absent-minded.
samurai_chris's review against another edition
3.0
This was my favourite of the series as there was a lot more focus on the various inhabitants of the Ringworld, which I found more interesting than the convoluted plot with the main characters.
brentbyron's review against another edition
2.0
The last few chapters were great. These chapters really focused on the protectors and the implications of meeting truly superior intelligence. The rest of the book however... mostly creepy rishathra and side stories about random people of the ringworld. Very little sci fi and it was unclear what the point of it all was. Chop off all but the last few chapters and I would give it 4 stars.
jmhobbs's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best in the series, very cool focus and the vampires are creepy.
incarnationblues's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't quite as hard to read as the last book - at least the parts without the standard cast actually felt like a book that was going somewhere... until they stopped going somewhere.
I don't get it. This is not a good book, by any standards I can apply to judge it. So much shit just happens with only half-assed explanations afterwards that, I mean... ABULAOELAE. What? That's how my brain feels.
I had hoped that, after a couple decades, his writing skills would become more palatable to my reading tastes. They have not. His plotting is interesting, as are some of the characters but it's like everything connecting them never quite reaches the other hand. I'm done.
I mean, it's not terrible... it's just not good (to me!). The first one was forgivable given the time period, and because the ideas were big enough to make the book memorable with a unimpressive writing. But the second... and then the third... this feels like pulp sci-fi in the derogatory sense: loose plot, shit happening and lots of (off camera, although some of it is on-in-book-camera yet off-camera, if that makes sense) sex. Don't get me wrong - I find it fascinating the way sex is a part of Ringworld culture - the ideas behind it are ... believable in context. Sure, why not. And, like I've said before, I really like the Pak Protector as ancestor idea and how it works for (sub) species diversification but, again - good ideas, mostly sub-par execution.
TWO STARS
Not terrible, but not for me. I know some people love this but I just don't get it. I guess it's like the Elric of sci-fi for me...
The weird thing is, I actually felt like I enjoyed parts of this book much more than the previous book but, taken as a whole, it just fizzleflops.
I don't get it. This is not a good book, by any standards I can apply to judge it. So much shit just happens with only half-assed explanations afterwards that, I mean... ABULAOELAE. What? That's how my brain feels.
I had hoped that, after a couple decades, his writing skills would become more palatable to my reading tastes. They have not. His plotting is interesting, as are some of the characters but it's like everything connecting them never quite reaches the other hand. I'm done.
I mean, it's not terrible... it's just not good (to me!). The first one was forgivable given the time period, and because the ideas were big enough to make the book memorable with a unimpressive writing. But the second... and then the third... this feels like pulp sci-fi in the derogatory sense: loose plot, shit happening and lots of (off camera, although some of it is on-in-book-camera yet off-camera, if that makes sense) sex. Don't get me wrong - I find it fascinating the way sex is a part of Ringworld culture - the ideas behind it are ... believable in context. Sure, why not. And, like I've said before, I really like the Pak Protector as ancestor idea and how it works for (sub) species diversification but, again - good ideas, mostly sub-par execution.
TWO STARS
Not terrible, but not for me. I know some people love this but I just don't get it. I guess it's like the Elric of sci-fi for me...
The weird thing is, I actually felt like I enjoyed parts of this book much more than the previous book but, taken as a whole, it just fizzleflops.
johnwatne's review against another edition
1.0
DNF after getting through first 30 pages. Too many polysyllabic, unpronounceable character names in too few pages to keep them straight. Everything thrown at the reader as if they are in the middle of the book, rather than the beginning, assuming familiarity with characters and terminology the author didn’t introduce with any background. Given that it had been several years since I read the last novel in the series, I didn’t remember the characters or terms that carried over. Given the comments I saw in prior one star reviews, and that they matched the feeling I was getting after just starting the book, I thought it best to go on to something more promising on my lengthy “to read” list.
snick3l's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't even finish it. Truth be told I only started it out of desperation for reading material while waiting for some library holds to come available, and I hoped perhaps Niven had put a bit more plot or character development this time around. Nope. My holds came up and I put this book down for good about halfway through.
mysteriousnorse's review against another edition
1.0
You know what goes with interspecies erotica? Contract law! What, it doesn't? I tend to agree. This book is basically just a series of shit Sci-Fi Dungeons and Dragons adventures run by a horny GM. I was so indifferent by the end that I stopped about 16 minutes from the end and didn't finish for a full 24 hours because I cared that little. The plot is convoluted, the characters are a species with maybe one other trait, and this book officially cements the Ringworld as one of the most boring things in fiction. Seriously, skip this one. The next one is better, but still not worth it.
adambarnett's review against another edition
4.0
A little more convoluted than the previous novels, but still a very enjoyable read for fans of Niven's Known Space.