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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
5/5 for world building -- it's a classic for a reason.
1/5 for treating the human female character with less humanity than 2 separate male aliens.
Really, really wanted to like this, but Tela Brown doesn't pass the fucking lamp test and Larry Niven has some messed up views towards women in general...
1/5 for treating the human female character with less humanity than 2 separate male aliens.
Really, really wanted to like this, but Tela Brown doesn't pass the fucking lamp test and Larry Niven has some messed up views towards women in general...
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
TL;DR: Conceptually interesting, potential filled, very poor character work, not really my cup of tea.
RECCOMENDED TO: SF completists (if you like space opera), anyone else should read Rendezvous w. Rama first.
SPOILER FREE: Ringworld is a rich space opera with great world building surrounding the main two alien races. The politics and setting are very interesting if you embrace the space opera setting, which isn't usual my favorite genre of SF.
Going into Ringworld I expected a novel much like Arthur C. Clarke's Rama, but instead got a novel like the three Rama sequels. The characters were largely uninteresting and unlikable, furthermore the one main female character is written very poorly and treated as such by the main cast, Niven seems mildly obsessed with sex in this book. Not a criticism, just an observation.
SPOILERS:
The twist/reveals about the puppeteers genetic manipulation as well as the ringworld mountain and well setup and executed. Conceptually breeding for lucky humans is interesting I just find it way too far fetched. But there is some great hard SF stuff e.g.: storm behavior in the ringworld.
Overall this feels like a decent book, which had potential, I just can't see myself reading the sequels, nor recommending this to anyone but a SF nut.
⭐⭐
(2021, Audiobk 1, Bk1)
RECCOMENDED TO: SF completists (if you like space opera), anyone else should read Rendezvous w. Rama first.
SPOILER FREE: Ringworld is a rich space opera with great world building surrounding the main two alien races. The politics and setting are very interesting if you embrace the space opera setting, which isn't usual my favorite genre of SF.
Going into Ringworld I expected a novel much like Arthur C. Clarke's Rama, but instead got a novel like the three Rama sequels. The characters were largely uninteresting and unlikable, furthermore the one main female character is written very poorly and treated as such by the main cast, Niven seems mildly obsessed with sex in this book. Not a criticism, just an observation.
SPOILERS:
Spoiler
The twist/reveals about the puppeteers genetic manipulation as well as the ringworld mountain and well setup and executed. Conceptually breeding for lucky humans is interesting I just find it way too far fetched. But there is some great hard SF stuff e.g.: storm behavior in the ringworld.
Overall this feels like a decent book, which had potential, I just can't see myself reading the sequels, nor recommending this to anyone but a SF nut.
⭐⭐
(2021, Audiobk 1, Bk1)
A classic. Hugo and Nebula winner from 1970. How does it hold up in 2016? Pretty good actually. I read this back in middle school and so remembered practically nothing about it when I happened to see a conference room named for the novel at Epic, complete with a framed copy of the mass market paperback in its current edition. Walking past said book got me thinking I should revisit the novel. The story involves a space journey to explore the Ringworld by a rather unlikely group of travelers. I won't go into all the plot details other than to say that the exploration of the Ringworld is just plain cool as it is such an interesting creation of the writer's imagination. Niven does a great job describing this world-like structure and the language dates better than some of the era's other well known writers like Robert A. Heinlein. The end of the novel clearly sets the stage for further explorations in the Ringworld. One thing I found myself thinking while reading the novel was how much Niven's book reminded me of some of the great works of my favorite syfy writer Iain M. Banks. Ultimately I think Banks is the more complete writer/creator but I can see how Niven's seminal work might have influenced Banks as he created the Culture over many novels. Certainly the creation of the Ringworld structure is something I can imagine existing in one of Banks's great Culture novels.
Tanj, this was a good book. Excellent worldbuilding. Believable characters, even the aliens. Make me ashamed I hadn't read it sooner.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In this riff on Wizard of Oz, the emotionless Looey Woo, takes his “Dorothy” to find the Ringworld full of flying cities and crazy locals. Unfortunately he never finds his heart, the lion-kzin is not without a brain(and may be the most likeable character), the cowardly bifurcated deer is an a-hole mastermind, and ultimately the Dorothy decides to run off with Conan the Barbarian, instead of making her way back home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Library loan returned, story wasn’t gripping