Ringworld, anyone?

[igneouscarl]

Can anyone tell me if 'Ringworld' by Larry Niven is any good? The reviews on Amazon don't sound promising but I still want a second opinion before I fork out my £7.99 or so. Cheers.

 

[Leto]

Yup, good old sci-fi adventure novel. Not my favorite, but it certainly worth the price.

 

[Chimeco]

Niven is great. His ideas have influenced much of today's science fiction material, from movies to games. Certainly other novels. I think the main complaint about Niven is the lack of depth with characters (a problem with too many science fiction novels and movies), and aliens. He does tend to
take the space hippy route with his characters, although his technical ideas
and descriptions are superb. He builds great and interesting worlds and settings.

I've never really found his character development too much of a problem though. After all, his books aren't 1000 page operas. They tend to be around 300-500 pages, and were on par with expectations 20-30 years ago when they were written. And his Ringworld books are what made his reputation.

 

[Amber]

Yeah. Definitly worth a try, though they are not to everyone's taste. I was seven or eight when I read them, so a lot of the drug references sailed right over my head. Jeez it could have been dangerous now I think about if I decided to go the nearest plug socket and stick my finger in to ge that buzz!

Quite good though. Just don't go near any plug points afterwards

 

[Thunderchild]

i think the ringworlds strong point is that there isnt really a slow moment in it - even when hes giving descriptions of the things its still interesting. its definitly worth the money . all hes ideas are well thought out and when it comes to big ideas there isnt really much that beats the ringworld.

 

[igneouscarl]

Cool, sounds like it's worth a read. The idea of the Ringworld sounds fascinating and that alone should be enough for me, cheers

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I beg to differ

Frankly, Ringworld is pretty weak stuff. Only in a self-absorbed world like the SF genre could this tadry episodic quest, with its wafer-thin characters and utter lack of any purpose other than achieving techgasm through the detailing of an exotic atifact (an artificial world, a sort of modified Dyons's Sphere) be seriously looked upon as 'classic' or even 'rather OK'. The sequel, Ringworld Engineers, is even worse. It deals with engineering weaknesses pointed out by fans who were also MIT students, and seeks to distract them from discovering further glitches by peppering the narrative with inter-special sex scenes. I imagine the rest of the series follows the usual franchise malaise.

 

[Leto]

Re: I beg to differ

Sounds like you didn't like it.

True, character development is not the best of the Ringworld. And the fame of the novel is more in the technical presentation and the adventurous path given to the story. Think of it as MacGyver in space.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I'd prefer not to think of it all and regret the wasted hours I spent on it.

 

[Tsujigiri]

Audio Book

I listened to this on Aduio Book whilst playing Freelancer. I enjoyed it quite a lot as a mildly entertaining background story.
I've noticed that I often find that easier nowadays when I have more things to do than time to do them in.

 

[Chimeco]

knivesout-
Personally, I get excited when I'm introduced to something new, a plausable, fantastic future for instance, based on realistic concepts. Real physics--real science. I'm sure most people have heard the term 'Worldbuilding' before. Well that's pretty much what most science fiction is; for good or bad. One persons vision of the future and sometimes, they forget to pay attention to their characters.

The tech community, like none other really, has the greatest cynics and know-it-alls in the business. And they're absolutely unforgiving if they catch you with your pants down. And I guess they have to be that way, if you think about it enough. So I respect the people that are successful in the field.

Ringworld was high science back when it was written. Before Larry Niven wrote his Ringworld book, no one really knew what a Dyson Sphere was. He's one of the first authors to introduce the concept to the mass public. And his manipulation of the idea is fantastic. Now, the phrase Dyson Sphere is thrown around science fiction communities like Applesauce in a school lunch room.

Anyway, if you cant at least respect that, then at minimum, try not to insult the whole gonzo freakin genre (<-- borrowed from my favorite author: MWS for President!).

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Chimeco, you don't need to tell me not to insult the whole genre. I think it does that quite well enough for itself. I've read scads of sf, from the 50s pulp stuff, through space opera, new wave, cyberpunk and what have you. There's a lot of chaff, and little wheat - but what there is of worth is excellent. However, sf is ultimately meaningless unless it illuminates the human present through a notional human future. I have little patience for fictions that concern themselves purely with technological extrapolation. That might seem like an odd sentiment from an avowed sf fan, but I'm not really saying anything that hasn't been said before and by far more astute observers of the genre.

 

[Drachir]

I liked the book. Ringworld is the only one of the series I have read, but the concept of a giant artificial world is a good one. From the various comments it is apparent that taste in SF varies widely. My suggestion is read it and find out. If worse comes to worse you can always stop reading it.

 

[Dave]

sf is ultimately meaningless unless it illuminates the human present through a notional human future. I have little patience for fictions that concern themselves purely with technological extrapolation.

I agree, and 'Ringworld' does have many faults. Quite a few of his characters are "wafer-thin" I except, but it is not simply a description of a megastructure for the self-absorbed, or concerned purely with technological extrapolation. The book is also just one story within his 'known space' series. That series does clearly 'illuminate a human present through a notional human future' in very great detail.

In 'Ringworld', Louis Wu is a former wirehead, an addict to electrical simulation of the brain's pleasure centre. His motley crew include Teela Brown, a result of selective breeding for luck due to Earth's birthright lotteries. Speaker to Animals is a Kzin, the ultimate warriors and mans greatest foe. All his alien species are well drawn, the Kzin even have a social structure, language and writing.

The series of 'known space' stories cover a complete future history. For us today, the described 'organ bank problem' has already arrived, there are now daily reports of Chinese criminals executed for organ spares. "A Gift from Earth" also shows the impact of technology upon society. The 'Gil the Arm' detective stories actually work. "Protector" changes our place in the world in an unexpected way. 'Ringworld' is built upon the ideas developed in those earlier stories.

'The Man-Kzin Wars' series, in which other authors have been allowed to write, shows how really detailed a franchise it is.

Ringworld was high science back when it was written. Before Larry Niven wrote his Ringworld book, no one really knew what a Dyson Sphere was.

That is why it deserves to be a called a classic.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Back when I was still reading a lot of science fiction I read A Gift from Earth, and I must admit that thirty years later it still comes to mind whenever I read anything in the news about organ banks.

At about that same time, I was (briefly) a member of BASFA -- a San Francisco area science fiction club -- and someone had a tape of a talk Niven gave on Dyson spheres, etc. in the course of which he apparently first came up with the concept of Dyson rings, which eventually led to his writing Ringworld. We listened to that tape at the meeting, and then read the book.

 

[williamsjr]

I enjoyed 'Ringworld' and 'Ringworld Engineers'. They are good adventure stories with plenty of great futuristic ideas and science. I would thoroughly recommend them - but more for the sci-fi than as out and out adventure stories. ' The Ringworld Throne' - the last in the series is not in the same league and frankly a bit tedious.
So, definitely recommend these two but feel that Larry Niven novels are to be considered on an individual basis - i.e. if you like these you may well not like many of his others and vice versa.

JW

 

[j d worthington]

Well, there are actually four of the novels: Ringworld, The Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, and Ringworld's Children.... Not read the last of these, but I did find The Ringworld Throne to be quite dull and forgettable.

 

[Jack]

It does a lot well, I guess it all comes down to differing wants and needs from the book that you are reading. I had no pre-made idea’s as to what or how the books would be so I took them as they were. Very good world building, characters are a bit hippie as stated and a little bit 2D – But I never got bored of the text, having to read boring biology texts myself over and over again, self imagination fills in the blanks nicely – So some will hate it others will love it – Me…It deserves its reputation as a classic, but there are better plot’s and character books/series out there, but it is far from a bad series.

The Ringworld Throne

Well, it is the worse one of them all, the others are a landmark and I enjoyed reading them – Just not throne, took me a day longer than normal to get through it due to lack of will to finish it . Though children is probably the best of the lot IMHO.

 

[Tau Zero]

However, sf is ultimately meaningless unless it illuminates the human present through a notional human future.

I disagree. SF can be purely entertaining without illuminating anything. There are a great number of sf which fill this genre, and Ringworld was one of them. There are people in my office who dislike action/adventure movies because they're not realistic. Many sf are the written equivalent of an action movie. A fun, entertaining passtime. Some are better than others, but nowhere is it implied that sf has to be meaningful to be good.

I have little patience for fictions that concern themselves purely with technological extrapolation.

To me, this comment seems to say that you don't care for the genre. That's fine, of course, everyone has their like and dislikes, but it doesn't mean that Ringworld wasn't a classic in the genre. I think it is.