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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely an interesting premise, but the strength of this book is definitely the concepts and not the story itself. The concept of the ringworld? Cool. The concept of the puppeteers, the kzin, and breeding for luck? Very interesting. The story itself, however, was not very engaging and the characters were mere archetypes. The sexism behind Teela's character was really hard to push through.
I came to Ringworld after reading Protector and I have to say, this was a huge letdown. The story is profoundly unexciting and it has an ending that grinds to a halt with little satisfaction, resolving very few of the unanswered questions posed by the setting. There are two female characters, neither written well even by the standards of classic hard sci-fi: one is a one-dimensional airhead and the other is little more than a sexual object. Even the big technical sci-fi ideas I usually enjoy (a habitable megastructure three hundred-odd million kilometres across where Something Bad happened A Long Time Ago should be intriguing, but it somehow isn't) fail to pack any kind of punch.
I'm honestly not sure why this is regarded as a classic. I hope this isn't characteristic of most of Niven's work.
I'm honestly not sure why this is regarded as a classic. I hope this isn't characteristic of most of Niven's work.
I've been meaning to read this book for close to 30 years and finally got around to it. It seems to have dated really badly, from the way Niven writes his female characters and interactions with them (the protagonist literally sells his lover) to the dated sci-fi bad language (tanj!). It was a decent read but I really have no desire to read more of the series.
In terms of premise and overall plot, this book probably deserves four stars for having an interesting one with ties to Niven’s other work. On the other hand, the characters feel a bit flat and the plot at times drags pretty heavily. Niven also displays unfortunately dated attitudes towards women in this book. All of these average out to three stars.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Some good old fashioned 1970s hard science fiction. Hallucinogenically imaginative, with careful, at times fussy, attention to certain technical details in a mind-bending world that encompasses both Known and not-Known Space, populated with ever-living humans, a race of giant bloody-minded psychotic pussycats, and a strange race of beings that can best be thought of as a couple of emus crossed with a small camel, clearly inspired by some Jim Henson creation. Despite all this borderline lunatic weirdness, there are some fun ideas in here, about luck and chance and time and physics, all the things that sci-fi was invented for. There are also ideas and a writing style that make me wonder if Niven was what got Douglas Adams started. It doesn’t take much of a push to get from Louis to Ford Prefect and that plodding, pedantic narrative voice is hard not to ridicule. But if you don’t mind a somewhat dated classic of the genre, this is a fun one.
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
slow-paced
I have discovered I do not care for the early sci-fi works with some attempts at various recommended books. I did finish this unabridged audiobook version but this was a slow listen for me and I'd take frequent breaks between sessions. What drew me in to trying Ringworld was this having some inspiration to the Halo IP. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I do appreciate Niven's contribution to the genre.