Customer Reviews

Ringworld Engineers

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Niven stages John Campbell's definition of 'the alien' against a humungous big backdrop. Niven minored in Psych, and in college his genteel nerves got him in the nut hatch.
Are Protectors Hans Eysenck's Psychopaths with thicker skins and big brains?
I got the RE serial in Galileo magazine twent years ago, and loved it.

This is money well spent. I enjoyed this novel and spent nearly a whole night reading it in one sitting. I will never tire of Larry Niven when he sticks to Known Space, the best of his fiction areas. I like the Pupperteers, the Kzin, and Pac. Larry delivers a nearly perfect end to the Ringworld series. I have had personal conversations with him back in 1983 and he never intended to make more Known Space books. Note, you should read this novel before reading "Ringworld's Children", due out in Summer of 2004. Enjoy it, I did!

If you enjoyed the original Ringworld, then Ringworld Engineers will be worth your time.

Twenty years after the first Novel, Louis Wu goes back to find the Ringworld's orbit has degenerated and will collide with its parent star in a matter of a few years. He decides to save Ringworld no matter the cost.

Although not quite as enthralling as the first installment, the book is worth the effort as Niven reveals who built the Ringworld and some more information on some of its intricacies. A good read and highly recommended.

Granted, I couldn't put it down, but that's just how I am when I want to know the answer to something. I was dissapointed at how short it was, and there is no sense of time. Events which are suposed to take a week or more seem to fly by in minutes. I noticed this lack of time in many places.

It wasn't as sex-filled as some of the reviews say....I was actually expecting more sex after reading the reviews here. Although somewhat dissapointed by the book, I was satisfied to have answers to some of the questions left by the first book, but I think this book just opens up more questions. I still am womdering "What happens now?"

Ringworld Engineers is one of the best Sci Fi books I've ever read. It greatly expands on its predecessor, filling in gaps and solving the mysteries of the first book. 23 years after escaping the Ringworld, Louis and Speaker-to-Animals are kidnapped and brought back. Their captor--a deposed Pupeteer leader--is searching for vital technology and secrets that will impress his people and reinstate himself. However, the Ring is falling towards its sun and will soon be destroyed. Thus, Louis and Speaker (now called Chmeee) must find a way to free themselves before the inevitable collision.

As the two travel across the Ring they uncover secrets and origins that could possibly save them--or destroy them. The story is a race against time to uncover the ultimate secrets never revealed in the first book. Despite the protests of a few hardcore Niven fans, most Sci Fi readers I have talked with highly recommend this book, as do I. Together with the original, Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers comprise one of the most compelling, original works of fiction that I have ever read.

Larry Niven never intended to write a sequel to his 1970 Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel RINGWORLD, but science fiction fans were so enthralled by the Niven's concept of a ring-shaped world 93 million times the size of the Earth that Niven felt compelled to give the fans more. Unfortunately, THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS is one of Niven's poorest works, and it is bad enough to tarnish the excellent first book.

THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS opens 23 years after the end of RINGWORLD. Louis Wu has become a wirehead, an addict to current fed directly into the pleasure center of the brain, and is living a pathetic life in the frontier world Canyon. He is kidnapped by The Hindmost, the deposed puppeteer supreme leader, along with Speaker-to-Animals, who is now a noble called Chmee. The Hindmost takes them back to the Ringworld, hoping to find the transmutation device that was spoken of during the first time on the Ringworld and so impress the Fleet of Worlds that they will accept him as ruler again. When they arrive, however, they discover that the Ringworld is unstable and will impact the sun in a year's time...

Larry Niven spends a lot of time detailing the various species of hominids on the Ringworld, and this is where the book falls apart. The hominids cannot reproduce except within their own species, and rishathra, or risk-free sex between species but within the hominids, is used to seal contracts and express friendly intentions.Niven is so obsessed with this concept that the introduction of every new town is an excuse for Louis Wu to engage in graphic sex. The plot of THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS exists essentially to string sex scenes together.

THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS also fails because it contradicts much of Niven's previous Known Space work, especially the novels RINGWORLD and PROTECTOR. In the initial part of the book Niven, wanting to settle the issue, just says "Well, the Pak created the Ringworld" even though this goes against the Known Space setup that Niven spent fifteen years building.

Finally, a great deal of the novel simple isn't Niven's work. In the introduction he states that most of the ideas were contributed by readers. As a result, he has cobbled together some truly terrible ideas sent in by fans that don't bear much resemblance to the quality Known Space works of the late 1960's.

THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS is a terrible book.While not as bad as the execrable third volume in the Ringworld series, THE RINGWORLD THRONE, it is bad enough to taint one's memories of the first book, which was well-written and introduced some fascinating concepts. Unfortunately, readers who read the RINGWORLD often feel compelled to move on to the sequels. Take my advice, however, and avoid THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS.

Should you read The Ringworld Engineers? Absolutely. But I caution to put some distance between Ringworld and it's sequel. The latter book was written a decade after Ringworld, and Niven backpeddled on some of his best concepts and characters. Why the book is fascinating, and a good sequel, a little time to appreciate the first book in innocence is a good thing!

Ringworld Engineers is a classic continuation of one of the greatest science fiction books of all time. The story line is nearly flawless and Mr. Niven's writing is powerful stuff. If you are looking for quality science fiction, here it is.

The only real downside to this novel is that it takes a little adjusting to after the first novel. Its hard to explain why but its not a good idea to read this directly after the first book. That aside it is fantastic and expands on the first book dramatically, although it is a little confusing.

This the second on a series of three books. I do recommend you read Ringworld first. The main Character, Louis Wu, has been located and dissuaded by the ancient race of Piersons Puppeteers into returning to the Ringworld. But when they do, they discover someone has been altering the ancient order of things.

Ringworld was basically a cliffhanger. Ringworld Engineers is an excellent continuation of this story!