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castinbronze 's review for:
Ringworld
by Larry Niven
I wanted to like this book. Really I did. I've had many people recommend it for the past 20 or so years and after being burned by some awful contemporary sci-fi, I thought I would turn to "one of the classics". If I liked it, I knew there were a number of books in the series that would keep me happily busy for some time. Unfortunately, that's not what happened.
First, the good. I really liked the concept of the Ringworld itself. Though it's hard for me to conceive of it actually being possible, this is sci-fi so I try to keep my suspension of disbelief in check. I enjoyed much of the plot, and I developed a soft spot for the K'zin, Speaker to Animals. Who doesn't love an eight foot tall militant orange kitten?
However, I had a lot of problems with other aspects of the book.
First of all, the writing. It's actually pretty boring. Niven frequently repeats himself word for word, as if he's only capable of coming up with a single way of expressing something specific. That's bad writing. Someone with the imagination to dream up the Puppeteers and the Ringworld should have the imagination to use in writing about them. If not, get an editor...or a better editor.
Second, the misogyny is strong with this one. More so than even Heinlein - who I can deal with in part because he's a far superior writer. And before you go all, "he's old, give him a break"...give me a break. This book was written in 1970, not 1950. There are only two female characters in this book - which is fine - but both are basically described as beautiful, unintelligent, slow, shallow, naive. The first, Teela, exists only as a "good luck charm" for the dangerous mission, to pleasure the protagonist Louis Wu, and to become a more developed person by finding the love of her life on the regressed to primitive Ringworld. In one of the most disgusting lines of the book when Teela is saying how unnecessary she is to the quest, Louis Wu replies, "...we need you to keep me happy so I don't rape Nessus (the Puppeteer alien)"
Really? I almost threw my iPad across the room after that. I'm glad I borrowed this book from the library because casual rape jokes disgust me and had I paid for this book, I would have been furious.
The only other female character in this book - who doesn't even make an appearance until the last 1/4 of the book- is basically a 29th century geisha. She was part of a spaceship crew as their whore, but you know, had to learn things like ship maintenance and music so she could be entertaining *and* useful.
Puke.
Oh and of the two main alien races in the book - the cat-like K'zin, and the ultra-cautious yet brutally scheming Puppeteers - the females of their race are nonsentient...
You can't tell me that this guy doesn't go out of his way to belittle, deride, and oppress the females he deigns to write about.
Third, while the concept of the psychology of the Puppeteer race was cool, their biology is completely ridiculous. Nature likes symmetry. A naturally three-legged, two-headed, jackass makes no evolutionary sense.
I was incredibly disappointed by this book. Had I enjoyed it, I would have a had several other books from this world to choose from next. As it turned out, all I wanted after finishing it was to delete it from my library, have a stiff drink, and take a shower to wash off the ick I felt after reading it.
First, the good. I really liked the concept of the Ringworld itself. Though it's hard for me to conceive of it actually being possible, this is sci-fi so I try to keep my suspension of disbelief in check. I enjoyed much of the plot, and I developed a soft spot for the K'zin, Speaker to Animals. Who doesn't love an eight foot tall militant orange kitten?
However, I had a lot of problems with other aspects of the book.
First of all, the writing. It's actually pretty boring. Niven frequently repeats himself word for word, as if he's only capable of coming up with a single way of expressing something specific. That's bad writing. Someone with the imagination to dream up the Puppeteers and the Ringworld should have the imagination to use in writing about them. If not, get an editor...or a better editor.
Second, the misogyny is strong with this one. More so than even Heinlein - who I can deal with in part because he's a far superior writer. And before you go all, "he's old, give him a break"...give me a break. This book was written in 1970, not 1950. There are only two female characters in this book - which is fine - but both are basically described as beautiful, unintelligent, slow, shallow, naive. The first, Teela, exists only as a "good luck charm" for the dangerous mission, to pleasure the protagonist Louis Wu, and to become a more developed person by finding the love of her life on the regressed to primitive Ringworld. In one of the most disgusting lines of the book when Teela is saying how unnecessary she is to the quest, Louis Wu replies, "...we need you to keep me happy so I don't rape Nessus (the Puppeteer alien)"
Really? I almost threw my iPad across the room after that. I'm glad I borrowed this book from the library because casual rape jokes disgust me and had I paid for this book, I would have been furious.
The only other female character in this book - who doesn't even make an appearance until the last 1/4 of the book- is basically a 29th century geisha. She was part of a spaceship crew as their whore, but you know, had to learn things like ship maintenance and music so she could be entertaining *and* useful.
Puke.
Oh and of the two main alien races in the book - the cat-like K'zin, and the ultra-cautious yet brutally scheming Puppeteers - the females of their race are nonsentient...
You can't tell me that this guy doesn't go out of his way to belittle, deride, and oppress the females he deigns to write about.
Third, while the concept of the psychology of the Puppeteer race was cool, their biology is completely ridiculous. Nature likes symmetry. A naturally three-legged, two-headed, jackass makes no evolutionary sense.
I was incredibly disappointed by this book. Had I enjoyed it, I would have a had several other books from this world to choose from next. As it turned out, all I wanted after finishing it was to delete it from my library, have a stiff drink, and take a shower to wash off the ick I felt after reading it.