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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
200-year-old Louis Wu and his girlfriend-of-the-moment Teela Brown are invited to join an expedition to a far-distant world. With their companions (a large, ferocious cat-like warrior Kzin and a superintelligent three-legged, two-headed Pierson's Puppeteer, they head off beyond the limits of Known Space to explore the Ringworld--a mind-bogglingly enormous, artificial ring-shaped world built around a sun-like star. Unfortunately, they arrive via a near-fatal crash landing on the seemingly abandoned world, and the rest of the journey is plagued by similar mischances, as they try to learn about the Ringworld and repair the damaged spacecraft so they can return home. Who built the Ring? Is it inhabited? What happened to the inhabitants? And will they ever get back home again?
This is what is usually classified as a 'hard' science fiction novel--which is to say, it features a lot of scientific detail. Which makes sense, since Niven has training in mathematics and what-have-you. The details and descriptions get a bit hard to follow (especially in the audiobook version), but fortunately you can get the gist of it even if the details are hazy.
There's not a ton of plot here. The adventurers head off to the Ringworld and . . . stuff happens. And they try to get home. So plot-wise, it's a bit of a nonstarter. Somehow, though, the writing is good enough that I didn't really mind it. I wasn't desperate to know what happens next, but I still enjoyed the book and wasn't ever tempted to quit reading (unlike some other hard sci-fi novels, cough*RedMars*cough).
Plot aside, some of the ideas Niven explores are downright riveting--especially his treatment of 'luck'. Essentially, it comes to light that humankind has been the unwitting victim of a genetic experiment designed to breed for 'luck'--that is, to yield increasingly 'lucky' human beings, which can then be used as 'good luck charms' by other races. The idea of luck as an inheritable characteristic seems laughable, but Niven does an excellent job of teasing out the idea. Ultimately, most humans believe in some sort of luck or good fortune, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the idea, though of course that hardly establishes anything. Niven has very definite ideas about what inheritable luck (what he calls 'psychic' luck--luck that manipulates the circumstances in favor of the 'lucky' one) is and what it is not, as well as how it affects bystanders--for good or ill. The intersection of his godless psychic luck and a Christian's view of the sovereignty of God at work in the lives of men is fascinating, especially as he concludes that sometimes perpetual stereotypical 'good fortune' is not actually beneficial to a person. I don't want to go into too much detail here, because, you know, spoilers, but it's good stuff--very creative and fun to mull over.
Bottom line: I don't know that it quite deserved all the accolades it received (this one earned a Nebula and a Hugo, which is usually a guaranteed one-two punch of awesomeness). The first half of the book was interesting and well-written, but heavy on technical details and low on plot--so, not brilliant. However, once Niven really delved into issues of inheritable psychic luck and destiny and personal development and all that jazz, it was pretty darn impressive. I look forward to seeing where Niven takes the rest of the series.
This is what is usually classified as a 'hard' science fiction novel--which is to say, it features a lot of scientific detail. Which makes sense, since Niven has training in mathematics and what-have-you. The details and descriptions get a bit hard to follow (especially in the audiobook version), but fortunately you can get the gist of it even if the details are hazy.
There's not a ton of plot here. The adventurers head off to the Ringworld and . . . stuff happens. And they try to get home. So plot-wise, it's a bit of a nonstarter. Somehow, though, the writing is good enough that I didn't really mind it. I wasn't desperate to know what happens next, but I still enjoyed the book and wasn't ever tempted to quit reading (unlike some other hard sci-fi novels, cough*RedMars*cough).
Plot aside, some of the ideas Niven explores are downright riveting--especially his treatment of 'luck'. Essentially, it comes to light that humankind has been the unwitting victim of a genetic experiment designed to breed for 'luck'--that is, to yield increasingly 'lucky' human beings, which can then be used as 'good luck charms' by other races. The idea of luck as an inheritable characteristic seems laughable, but Niven does an excellent job of teasing out the idea. Ultimately, most humans believe in some sort of luck or good fortune, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the idea, though of course that hardly establishes anything. Niven has very definite ideas about what inheritable luck (what he calls 'psychic' luck--luck that manipulates the circumstances in favor of the 'lucky' one) is and what it is not, as well as how it affects bystanders--for good or ill. The intersection of his godless psychic luck and a Christian's view of the sovereignty of God at work in the lives of men is fascinating, especially as he concludes that sometimes perpetual stereotypical 'good fortune' is not actually beneficial to a person. I don't want to go into too much detail here, because, you know, spoilers, but it's good stuff--very creative and fun to mull over.
Bottom line: I don't know that it quite deserved all the accolades it received (this one earned a Nebula and a Hugo, which is usually a guaranteed one-two punch of awesomeness). The first half of the book was interesting and well-written, but heavy on technical details and low on plot--so, not brilliant. However, once Niven really delved into issues of inheritable psychic luck and destiny and personal development and all that jazz, it was pretty darn impressive. I look forward to seeing where Niven takes the rest of the series.
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think the basic concept of the structure around the Sun is most of the reason for the book's status.
The characters, the 'tired' dialogue and lack of a gripping plot definitely betrays that central intrigue that begins the book. The 'action' that propels the last part of the book must have felt more significant and interesting to Niven that it did to me.
The characters, the 'tired' dialogue and lack of a gripping plot definitely betrays that central intrigue that begins the book. The 'action' that propels the last part of the book must have felt more significant and interesting to Niven that it did to me.
3.5 stars
I really didn't like the characters but the world-building and adventuring were amazing.
I really didn't like the characters but the world-building and adventuring were amazing.
No me esperaba que ésta fuese la novela sobre la que está inspirado el famoso juego Halo, aunque sólo sea a nivel conceptual.
El libro es estupendo si te gusta la ciencia ficción más rigurosa científicamente hablando. Es decir, se mencionan muchas teorías físicas y conceptos con alguna base matemática que, aunque están explicados y tratados de la forma más sencilla posible, pueden ser un escollo para algunos lectores. En ningún caso le resta entretenimiento a la historia, si acaso la dota de mayor realismo a pesar de ser ciencia ficción.
El ritmo de la narración cojea un poco en algunos puntos, pero no lo suficiente como para desear saltarte páginas.
Lo único que no me ha gustado ha sido el desarrollo del final. Es algo que personalmente detesto y es que, aunque todo quede bien hilado, las explicaciones adicionales pueden no ser necesarias y tampoco es aconsejable darlo todo mascado y explicado al lector, pero el final queda abrupto. Con un capítulo más hubiese quedado redondo sin llamar estúpido al lector y confirmando algunas partes de la resolución de la trama de las que sólo dejan sospechas. Después de toda una novela tratando de ser coherente con toda la ficción, dando realismo a través de matemáticas, físicas y leyes, no veo necesario que se termine de este modo.
Por lo demás es una historia genial que he disfrutado mucho, con unos personajes memorables y una ambientación exquisita. Buscaré el resto de libros de la saga.
El libro es estupendo si te gusta la ciencia ficción más rigurosa científicamente hablando. Es decir, se mencionan muchas teorías físicas y conceptos con alguna base matemática que, aunque están explicados y tratados de la forma más sencilla posible, pueden ser un escollo para algunos lectores. En ningún caso le resta entretenimiento a la historia, si acaso la dota de mayor realismo a pesar de ser ciencia ficción.
El ritmo de la narración cojea un poco en algunos puntos, pero no lo suficiente como para desear saltarte páginas.
Lo único que no me ha gustado ha sido el desarrollo del final. Es algo que personalmente detesto y es que, aunque todo quede bien hilado, las explicaciones adicionales pueden no ser necesarias y tampoco es aconsejable darlo todo mascado y explicado al lector, pero el final queda abrupto. Con un capítulo más hubiese quedado redondo sin llamar estúpido al lector y confirmando algunas partes de la resolución de la trama de las que sólo dejan sospechas. Después de toda una novela tratando de ser coherente con toda la ficción, dando realismo a través de matemáticas, físicas y leyes, no veo necesario que se termine de este modo.
Por lo demás es una historia genial que he disfrutado mucho, con unos personajes memorables y una ambientación exquisita. Buscaré el resto de libros de la saga.
Top notch alien companions, good worldbuilding. The protagonist is an annoying arrogant creep, but when I understood he was canonically a plot device for someone else’s character arc I could ignore him.
Just kind of a lame story. The one female human character was just an awful stereotype as well.
Surprisingly much more enjoyable than I had anticipated
adventurous
challenging
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
A book with many unique ideas especially the Ringworld. The characters were good not excellent though but they served their purpose and the while Ringworld exploration was also interesting. The buildup to the arrival at the Ringworld was a tad bit long in my opinion but was nice. The ending while conclusive was very open for the sake of future books. Also, I will admit that this book did use some very hard scientific terms for which I had to do some of my own research but I either understood very little just to make up a general idea or not a very good idea of it all and just decided to go along with the book.
I cannot express how hard it was to grasp the ringworld's dimensions and feel like my head finally stopped spinning of how much the characters were moving around. I don't think by the end of the book it had stopped bu I had a sensation that it had been an awesome ride I wanted to take again.
There's a rain of information at the beginning as you are slowly but very steadily drawn into a universe that goes far beyond many others. The story begins building as an isolated incident and slowly starts to grow as an isolated incident with a universal importance. The way everything is slowly set up to so you can get an understanding, even if just lightly, of the workings of the universe and the intellects at work is done in such a manner that even when the details might fly well over your head, you still know what you need to.
The characters are incredible in their development and in their nature. The introspection's the main character offers sometimes feel so incredibly accurate and natural that you end up actually bringing this lines of thought out of the book.
in general the book is great. Science fiction done in the benefit of generating thought instead of aliens,spaceships and lasers.
There's a rain of information at the beginning as you are slowly but very steadily drawn into a universe that goes far beyond many others. The story begins building as an isolated incident and slowly starts to grow as an isolated incident with a universal importance. The way everything is slowly set up to so you can get an understanding, even if just lightly, of the workings of the universe and the intellects at work is done in such a manner that even when the details might fly well over your head, you still know what you need to.
The characters are incredible in their development and in their nature. The introspection's the main character offers sometimes feel so incredibly accurate and natural that you end up actually bringing this lines of thought out of the book.
in general the book is great. Science fiction done in the benefit of generating thought instead of aliens,spaceships and lasers.