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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Good story and obviously very influential but it's not aging well.
About halfway in. Still not sure what I think. If I read in 20 years ago, I probably would have thought it amazing. Now not very innovative by today's SF/Fantasy standards IMO.
Finished and very disappointed in the ending. Story just stopped in the middle of a conversation. Won't be reading more of this series.
Finished and very disappointed in the ending. Story just stopped in the middle of a conversation. Won't be reading more of this series.
It was fine at best. Would make a fantastic best selling video game series.
I can completely see why this is a classic, very enjoyable read, very frustrating that it wasn't available as ebook.
Interesting concept but some huge huge plot holes and it's ridiculously sexist. It just makes noooo sense that the ring would be only 40ft thick. No sense at all.
It's been over 30 years since I read the novel. I'd forgotten a lot of it. If holds up pretty well. The audio book version was pretty good.
Decent to good science fiction novel that reminds me in many ways of Heinlein's greater works -- sexual freedom, exploration, libertarianism, hard science. I enjoyed the book but had greater expectations for it. On the plus side, the ideas of human expansion, population control, interspecies harmony and the concept of the ringworld were very interesting. On the negative side, I found the characters to be one-dimensional. I would recommend this book to a fan of science fiction.
All things considered, I'd have to say that this book is overrated in the annals of sci-fi. The idea of the ringworld is a compelling one, but this book only really serves as a vehicle to convey that idea, at the expense of an engaging plot line. I found myself not really caring what happened to the characters, and just wishing that they would hurry up and find their way off of that damned planet already. Mostly sound physics, though, and hey, I'm always a fan of accurate science.
Larry Niven paints a most imaginative world, thinking on a grand scale. A must read for any any avid science fiction reader.
This was first published in 1970, if I recall correctly. Like much science fiction, it is easily dated by what cutting edge technology is presented. Couple of fun examples, reading 47 years later (if you are able to predict 40 years into the future in this age of technological advancement, you're close to a god, this is not a critique). Keep in mind, the technology they're describing is supposed to wow the reader:
-"We're not looking at live images from a telescope, these are *tapes!*" (wow, tape recordings of space images!)
-"Break out the flashlight laser! It's a flashlight if you widen the beam, but it's a laser if you concentrate it!" (wow, lasers!)
-"He's burned, break out the magic skin-healing spray!" (this one I enjoyed because there are actually experiments that might actually bring this about http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/health/skingun-burn-care-technologies/index.html)
Niven did get webcams/Skype correct, as well as what's basically GPS/mobile device tracking. He got babelfish-style translation correct, plus some others.
The story itself isn't anything fantastic. It's solid, more of an adventure romp than anything, but it's got some great concepts. The book seemed like one long setup for other Ringworld stories. I'm hoping that's the case, because it's more of just an updated Burroughs Mars book if not.
-"We're not looking at live images from a telescope, these are *tapes!*" (wow, tape recordings of space images!)
-"Break out the flashlight laser! It's a flashlight if you widen the beam, but it's a laser if you concentrate it!" (wow, lasers!)
-"He's burned, break out the magic skin-healing spray!" (this one I enjoyed because there are actually experiments that might actually bring this about http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/07/health/skingun-burn-care-technologies/index.html)
Niven did get webcams/Skype correct, as well as what's basically GPS/mobile device tracking. He got babelfish-style translation correct, plus some others.
The story itself isn't anything fantastic. It's solid, more of an adventure romp than anything, but it's got some great concepts. The book seemed like one long setup for other Ringworld stories. I'm hoping that's the case, because it's more of just an updated Burroughs Mars book if not.