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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I read this because it was recommended to me by someone I met ..three decades ago. Although it's a recent recommendation a lot of the story writing feels like it comes from the dark ages. I guess I can say that about any title that was written before I was born, so this falls into that category.
Among ideas of ultra fast (extra-Einsteinian) space travel, Dyson spheres, age prolonging technologies, intergalactic translation software, instant intra-planetary travel and globalisation, and population control laws, we have a boys' adventure fantasy with a cast of cool aliens and ultra-hot nympho girls.
Say what now? At about 40% through I nearly DNF because the main female crew member bursts into tears and is told she needs to smile, by the guy that she only tagged along on the mission with because she claimed to be in love with him. Of course he said yes, because interstellar travel is so much easier when you have an onboard playmate who is willing to get recreational. It's okay though because she shows her womanly fickle skills when she changes her mind about who she's in love with half way through. Later he meets with a woman whose actual job was to be the crew entertainment on a different voyage.. which is all a bit.. lé sigh.
As far as the aliens are concerned, in our main non-human character I see the (now stereotypical) alien who is scared of everything; a tripod whose main defense it to turn tail and run, or withdraw into the fetal position like a turtle. This guy gets together a crew of a 200 year old human (obviously good at staying alive), a girl with good luck, and a predatory alien like a big cat monster, whose main redeeming feature at the outset is that he doesn't kill them on sight.
(As a gamer of the 90s I am reminded of the Spathi from Star Control 2. As a gamer in the 2010s I am amused that the structure of the Ringworld is described with a shell of dirt, over stone, and then an impervious layer that if you could get through you would be in the void beyond... at least there were no Zombies or Endermen).
Amongst the philosophical discussions about eugenics, religion, controlling others through being sexually desirable,.. which all boils down to "making friends and influencing people", we have macho posturing, casual racial jibes, zipzap laser battle, and more nookie than Captain Kirk.
By the end of it I was kind of bored, and as such a baffled when all of a sudden I ran out of book.
Yawn.
Among ideas of ultra fast (extra-Einsteinian) space travel, Dyson spheres, age prolonging technologies, intergalactic translation software, instant intra-planetary travel and globalisation, and population control laws, we have a boys' adventure fantasy with a cast of cool aliens and ultra-hot nympho girls.
Say what now? At about 40% through I nearly DNF because the main female crew member bursts into tears and is told she needs to smile, by the guy that she only tagged along on the mission with because she claimed to be in love with him. Of course he said yes, because interstellar travel is so much easier when you have an onboard playmate who is willing to get recreational. It's okay though because she shows her womanly fickle skills when she changes her mind about who she's in love with half way through. Later he meets with a woman whose actual job was to be the crew entertainment on a different voyage.. which is all a bit.. lé sigh.
As far as the aliens are concerned, in our main non-human character I see the (now stereotypical) alien who is scared of everything; a tripod whose main defense it to turn tail and run, or withdraw into the fetal position like a turtle. This guy gets together a crew of a 200 year old human (obviously good at staying alive), a girl with good luck, and a predatory alien like a big cat monster, whose main redeeming feature at the outset is that he doesn't kill them on sight.
(As a gamer of the 90s I am reminded of the Spathi from Star Control 2. As a gamer in the 2010s I am amused that the structure of the Ringworld is described with a shell of dirt, over stone, and then an impervious layer that if you could get through you would be in the void beyond... at least there were no Zombies or Endermen).
Amongst the philosophical discussions about eugenics, religion, controlling others through being sexually desirable,.. which all boils down to "making friends and influencing people", we have macho posturing, casual racial jibes, zipzap laser battle, and more nookie than Captain Kirk.
By the end of it I was kind of bored, and as such a baffled when all of a sudden I ran out of book.
Yawn.
gleizer's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
e_oneita's review against another edition
3.0
Hoo boy. While I haven't yet finished the book, I have so many thoughts that I want to get out. Basically, this now over 50-year-old book truly shows its age, and I highly recommend proceeding at your own risk, if you decide you want to take a foray into this old school sci-fi. Possibly the most egregious, continuing issue is that the main character is an elderly, know-it-all man who jokes about (CW) as a next resort if he can't sleep with a willing woman. Throughout the book, he is a smarmy jerk to his current girlfriend, a woman literally a tenth his age. He's continually amazed she has any type of intelligence, and makes the most breath-takingly insulting observations about her. Beyond this consistent sexism that turns up on every page, there are some pretty horrendous racial comments by the narrator, and casual homphobia with the main character's unwillingness to accept that one of the other characters (he/him) is engaged to marry a he/him. Reading this, I'm amazed that it was ever published, and even more amazed that it (thankfully!) didn't influence the subsequent generations of sci-fi writers, who have been a million times more thoughtful and insightful.
Pros: very good writing, and some fascinating world-building (but generally couched through the narration of the smarmy main character, so it's annoying to read).
Book/series to read instead: Ninefox Gambit, the first book of the Machineries of Empire series. As I'm reading Ringworld, I keep drawing parallels to that incredible sci-fi offering, and wishing I was re-reading that instead.
Spoiler
rapePros: very good writing, and some fascinating world-building (but generally couched through the narration of the smarmy main character, so it's annoying to read).
Book/series to read instead: Ninefox Gambit, the first book of the Machineries of Empire series. As I'm reading Ringworld, I keep drawing parallels to that incredible sci-fi offering, and wishing I was re-reading that instead.
linwin's review against another edition
3.0
As if ”A Randezvous With Rama” was written by Robert A. Heinlein.
Entertaining read from page one and I enjoyed the writing style and the story and the quirky little details about the reality the characters exist in.
Would have been 4 stars if not for Louis Wu being such a gross patronising old man to his 20-year old girlfriend.
Entertaining read from page one and I enjoyed the writing style and the story and the quirky little details about the reality the characters exist in.
Would have been 4 stars if not for Louis Wu being such a gross patronising old man to his 20-year old girlfriend.
shragoo's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I liked the book a lot, but it ended very suddenly and in sort of a sad fashion
justinreadsalot's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
soben's review against another edition
4.0
Ended a little too anticlimactic but didn’t leave anything unanswered that would annoy me, so that’s good.
digtritus's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
liso's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
someone01's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
2.75
So I enjoyed the world, and the aliens, and the tech, but this falls into the “men writing women” pitfall so hard. I mean two very unique and interesting alien characters are working together and they are so opposite in every way from what they eat to their philosophy, and the only thing the have in common with each other: The females of their species are non sapient and only used for breeding. And the TWO actually named human women in this book are so flat they only have one character trait, unless immediately falling in love with the main character counts as a trait, then I suppose they have two. The two characters are: Perpetually Lucky Woman in love with the main character and Perpetually Sexy Woman in love with the main character.