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erebus53 's review for:

Ringworld by Larry Niven
2.25
adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I read this because it was recommended to me by someone I met ..three decades ago. Although it's a recent recommendation a lot of the story writing feels like it comes from the dark ages. I guess I can say that about any title that was written before I was born, so this falls into that category.

Among ideas of ultra fast (extra-Einsteinian) space travel, Dyson spheres, age prolonging technologies, intergalactic translation software, instant intra-planetary travel and globalisation, and population control laws, we have a boys' adventure fantasy with a cast of cool aliens and ultra-hot nympho girls.

Say what now? At about 40% through I nearly DNF because the main female crew member bursts into tears and is told she needs to smile, by the guy that she only tagged along on the mission with because she claimed to be in love with him. Of course he said yes, because interstellar travel is so much easier when you have an onboard playmate who is willing to get recreational. It's okay though because she shows her womanly fickle skills when she changes her mind about who she's in love with half way through. Later he meets with a woman whose actual job was to be the crew entertainment on a different voyage.. which is all a bit.. lé sigh.

As far as the aliens are concerned, in our main non-human character I see the (now stereotypical) alien who is scared of everything; a tripod whose main defense it to turn tail and run, or withdraw into the fetal position like a turtle. This guy gets together a crew of a 200 year old human (obviously good at staying alive), a girl with good luck, and a predatory alien like a big cat monster, whose main redeeming feature at the outset is that he doesn't kill them on sight.
(As a gamer of the 90s I am reminded of the Spathi from Star Control 2. As a gamer in the 2010s I am amused that the structure of the Ringworld is described with a shell of dirt, over stone, and then an impervious layer that if you could get through you would be in the void beyond... at least there were no Zombies or Endermen). 

Amongst the philosophical discussions about eugenics, religion, controlling others through being sexually desirable,.. which all boils down to "making friends and influencing people", we have macho posturing, casual racial jibes, zipzap laser battle, and more nookie than Captain Kirk.

By the end of it I was kind of bored, and as such a baffled when all of a sudden I ran out of book.
Yawn.