Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
A bit old school but a good concept overall.
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I've always heard positive things about this series so I gave it a go. I should have given it a miss. It's pretty typical for its era, including boring, rampant sexism. Rape jokes included! If you want to read "quagmire wannabe goes to space" then this is it.
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Initially, after finishing the book, I gave it 3 stars. However, now, as I start to write my review, and I look at the Goodreads note for each rating (3 stars being "I liked it."), I decided I should really rate it only 2 stars - "It was ok." While I did not outright dislike the book, neither can I say unequivocally that I liked it.
One of the main problems I had was that, for a story about this wondrously huge, wondrously advanced, wondrously wondrous structure, I felt no sense of wonder from any of the characters. There was no, "Holy crap, look at the size of that thing!" No, "How the hell did they build it?" No, "It must have cost an arm, a leg, and a couple of minor planets." About the only thing anyone found of interest was the way the horizon looked. Everything was treated matter-of-factly. I've read textbooks that displayed more wonder over lesser things.
Then there are the characters, which, it appears, the author rented from the prop department at Universal Studios. These cardboard figures consist of a cat-like creature of a warrior race who spends the whole book acting warriory; a 3-legged diplodocus-like creature of a cowardly race who spends the whole book acting cowardly; a human 20-year-old female of a "lucky" race who spends the whole book as the token lucky charm and "impaling" (yes, that is the word Niven used) herself on the manhood of, first, the book's hero, and then Fabio; and, finally the hero, a human 200-year-old man, who spends (much of) the book impaling, first, the lucky charm, and, later, the Ringworld prostitute.
Over the course of the book, the characters are engaged in various adventures, none of which do anything to enhance or advance the story. Basically, you spend 342 pages marking time on this world, to get to the ultimate non-climactic line of the book, when the cat-warrior tells the 200-year-old man,
I know Niven wrote several short stories about Ringworld before this novel was published, and that there are several follow-up books. After reading this one, though, I have neither the curiosity to find out what went on before, nor any interest in seeing what comes next.
One of the main problems I had was that, for a story about this wondrously huge, wondrously advanced, wondrously wondrous structure, I felt no sense of wonder from any of the characters. There was no, "Holy crap, look at the size of that thing!" No, "How the hell did they build it?" No, "It must have cost an arm, a leg, and a couple of minor planets." About the only thing anyone found of interest was the way the horizon looked. Everything was treated matter-of-factly. I've read textbooks that displayed more wonder over lesser things.
Then there are the characters, which, it appears, the author rented from the prop department at Universal Studios. These cardboard figures consist of a cat-like creature of a warrior race who spends the whole book acting warriory; a 3-legged diplodocus-like creature of a cowardly race who spends the whole book acting cowardly; a human 20-year-old female of a "lucky" race who spends the whole book as the token lucky charm and "impaling" (yes, that is the word Niven used) herself on the manhood of, first, the book's hero, and then Fabio; and, finally the hero, a human 200-year-old man, who spends (much of) the book impaling, first, the lucky charm, and, later, the Ringworld prostitute.
Over the course of the book, the characters are engaged in various adventures, none of which do anything to enhance or advance the story. Basically, you spend 342 pages marking time on this world, to get to the ultimate non-climactic line of the book, when the cat-warrior tells the 200-year-old man,
Spoiler
"We can't go back, Louis. Not until we can . . . acquire an intact ship."I know Niven wrote several short stories about Ringworld before this novel was published, and that there are several follow-up books. After reading this one, though, I have neither the curiosity to find out what went on before, nor any interest in seeing what comes next.
Awesome tale of a well thought out world and creative technology, despite one-dimensional characters that always say and do the right thing.