
I’m always a sucker for a new rendition of Ringworld, one of the most memorable series I’ve ever read.
I inhaled this third in the Ringworld series in a few days and while I understand the criticism of many of the Amazon reviewers who didn’t like it (mostly because author Larry Niven drops you into it without much prep and doesn’t seem to be taking you anywhere) I enjoyed getting to know the various hominid species. Read carefully, you soon see where it’s going and why. But anyone encountering it alone without having read the previous two would be lost, so it’s a very poor starter.
But it’s a treat if you read them in order–especially one after another the way I have without intervening years to cloud the memory. It’s also a cliffhanger, which I’ve read is resolved, and then some, in Ringworld’s Children, which appears to be the final book. I hope not. Niven hasn’t explored more than a tenth of the available terrain. But maybe he’s tired of it. Maybe I will be, too, after number four. But I doubt it. I’ve put a library hold on it, and hope to have it by Tuesday or so.
Comments Off on Ringworld Throne
Posted in Library
Tagged Acolyte, Bram, Hindmost, Larry Niven, Louis Wu, Puppeteer, Ringworld, Ringworld Throne, Tzin
This second in the Ringworld series was a lot of fun. It was nice to see the old gang back together, except for the missing Nessus the Puppeteer. Even the heroine of the first book has a cameo. If you haven’t read these, you should give them a try. I’m only a few decades late getting to them myself. Got an email yesterday that the library has Ringworld Throne awaiting pickup. After that, there’s only one left.
Comments Off on Ringworld Engineers
Posted in Library
Tagged Larry Niven, Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, Ringworld Throne
Or, as it might be subtitled: The Luck of Teela Brown. Easy to see why this 1970 Larry Niven novel is a classic. It kept me turning the pages to the end. The adventures of Louis Wu, Nessus the Puppeteer and Speaks-to-Animals (plus, of course, Ms. Brown) are a lot of fun. I came away wanting more.
Fortunately there are sequels. And at least Louis Wu reappears. The description of the Ringworld (with six million times the surface area of Earth), not to mention the book jacket cover drawings, certainly was the basic inspiration for the Stanford Torus of the L5 Society, of which I was once in awe. Gerard O’Neil’s ideas for such a space colony (though obviously smaller than Ringworld) still have merit. And the opening title graphics for the first Halo game also are a version of Ringworld. On to the sequel(s). So many good books to read, so little time.