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So I’m 37 years behind the times — sue me. I wasn’t even born when this book was written (1970) let alone when it won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards for best novel. Now, at least, I can say I’ve read it.
Written and released during the golden age of science fiction, this book is a classic and I’m sorry to say it’s been sitting on my shelf — unread — for over a year. However, I didn’t consider it a great novel, nor does it land in my top 20-30 favourites.
Summary: A definite classic that has had obvious influence on the novels written in the last three decades, but no longer ground breaking or earth shattering. Read it for it’s historical value and as a homage to a pioneer in the field.
NOTE: Kris spurred me on to finally pick this one up and read it when he said he’d signed a copy out of the library. In fact this novel is the reason for the re-birth of this blog. I’m looking forward to a heated and lively debate about this one.
I didn’t think the story had a great single, cohesive plot. It was a bunch of big, ground-breaking ideas strung together with a loose adventure theme. So much more could have been done with each of the aspects of the story that I was basically left yearning for more, chapter after chapter.
The fact that I was so utterly enthralled for the first 3/4 of the book led me to make the initial assessment of “awesome, this is a must read”. However, the abrupt and predictable ending that came without answering many of my questions left me feeling intellectually dissatisfied.
Make no mistake: Ringworld is a fun read. Some ideas in it certainly would have been ground breaking at the time, but I can’t help feeling like I’ve just watched two seasons of Lost and have more questions now than I started with.
I consider Ringworld to be more of a blue print for a whole series of novels, rather than a single elegant story. Hoping that I’d redeem my faith in this classic, I went searching for a legacy like Asimov’s Foundation or Robot series — a whole slew of books (good or otherwise) that fleshed out the universe in minute detail. Alas, I found that sequels are few and far between, and that none have very good reviews elsewhere online.
I think I will only read the sequel Ringworld Engineers since I’m told that it was written to satisfy people with the exact gripes and complaints that I have. Also, in retrospect, I’m glad I took the time to read Ringworld, as it’s impact on the genre is obvious. This historical value alone is important to the Heinlein fanboy inside me. Unfortunately, after 37 years, it’s not nearly as impressive as it must have been in the 70s before the height of the genre.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Vic // Sep 22, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I can’t say that I’ve read Ringworld but I have read Ringworld’s Children.
I have to say that Ringworld’s Children left me with much of the same feelings that you have about Ringworld. The story was really cool, as well as the world that it is set in, but I found that there was a overall lack of depth to the characters and the story seemed to jump around a lot.
Overall it was definitly a good read, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that it is a must read.
In fact I had completely forgotten I had read it until I saw Cam’s review of Ringworld.
2 Cam // Sep 23, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Ringworld’s Children was written only in the last decade. I’d assumed it was some sort of cash grab on the part of Niven, but you make it sound like a decent read Vic. Maybe it’s something I’ll put on my Library list and at least give it a shot. I would like to know more about this world, so maybe it’s worth some of my time.
3 Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven -- A Review | I Read Science Fiction // Feb 8, 2008 at 9:24 am
[...] as some of you know I was disappointed by Ringworld after 30 years of hype. Numerous people encouraged me to either re-read it or read the second book [...]
4 Kendall // Jun 6, 2008 at 1:14 am
I loved Ringworld and the sequel, Ringworld Engineers. (I’m surprised–that doesn’t get good reviews? Or did you just mean the books after that?)
I recommend some of Niven’s other “Known Space” novels and short stories from back in the day. Since the Ringworld environment has a lot of stuff unique to it (in Known Space), the other books might not help with any issues you had with Ringworld, though you don’t say what those are. (But I presume they’re Ringworld-specific.) But he wrote a lot of great stuff in Known Space, back in the day…IMHO. ;-)
I couldn’t get into the Ringworld book after Ringworld Engineers (Ringworld’s Children?), so I didn’t bother buying the fourth book. I felt like Niven was trying (and failing) to relive his glory years or something.
The current prequel-ish books (co-written with Edward Lerner) sound interesting, but I’ve yet to pick up the one that’s out now, Fleet of Worlds.
5 Bryan // Sep 8, 2008 at 10:46 am
Though a sci-fi fan since the 1960’s, I, like you, never read Ringworld. I just finished it yesterday and have now written my review at mark12ministries.wordpress.com
I agree that the adventure side of the story could have been more developed and the character development was weak, with the possible exception of Speaker. While the engineering of it all seems to be the big draw for readers, I was more fascinated by the play on luck vs. the meddling by the Puppeteers. Nivens seems to be seeking an answer to the frequently occurring problem in the sci-fi world of Providence- divine or otherwise.
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