I think that the most enjoyable books are the ones where the author thinks of a compelling situation and then throws some compelling characters into the mix and sees what happens. This is what Larry Niven has done with the novel Ringworld.
The situation is immediately compelling. A metallic ring stretching around an entire orbit of a sun, comprising a surface area three million times that of Earth's. The characters are equally compelling: a cowardly alien, a vicious tiger-looking thing, a 200 year old man, and a girl who is uncannily lucky.
While other authors might spend pages upon pages agonizing over the plausibility of their situations, Larry Niven gives just enough background to be enjoyable and not so much as to be pedantic. Any initial skepticisms that readers might have (aliens, robots, Dyson spheres...) are quickly forgotten as the story sweeps along, full of clever twists and turns.
If you're looking for a challenging read or a book with scientific accuracy, Ringworld is not for you, but it walks a line between becoming a technical manual and insulting your intelligence.
The result is an enjoyable read, and a break from all the dystopian pontificating that seems to be favored by modern science fiction writers.
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Cross-posted to Leoniceno's Corner
Article comments
1 - Bennett Dawson
Larry Niven not only gives you an enjoyable story, he always manages to give you a better grip on the incredible size of the universe that surrounds us.
The sheer scale of ringworld is hard to grasp within the context of a review, but within the plots and sub-plots, the unexpected twists and turns of the storyline, and his ability to paint clear pictures for your inner eye, Niven takes you to a world unlike any other. A world where you, and your imagination, will never really leave.
Thanks for reviewing this book!
2 - Leoniceno
Niven does do well at portraying scale, and it's a lucky thing, because if he didn't the book would not work nearly so well. It's a tough trick to describe a mountain 1,000 miles high, but Niven manages it.
3 - mike hollihan
This is probably my all-time favorite novel. I love the really big ideas, the vast sweep, the constant action and the fun characters. There's only enough science to keep it science fiction rather than fantasy, but the characters, the setting and their backstories, are compelling and interesting.
We're finally at a point CGI-wise where it could be made into a movie, too, and I hope someday it is.
BTW, a "vicious tiger-looking thing!?" Try a seven foot tall, 800 pound cat/tiger, as smart as a man; a predatory carnivore with a hair-trigger temper and claws that can scratch steel! Picture your tabby cat with the size and strength of a grizzly bear but mean. Looking at you. And hungry....
Remember, when a Kzinti bares his teeth to you, he's not smiling....
I can't recommend this book too much. A wonderful read!
4 - Leoniceno
Alright, alright...so I didn't feel like waxing poetic on the kzin.
Sue me! But what I enjoyed about the Kzin character (Speaker-to-Animals) the most is that he seems to be having a constant internal debate over whether to take offense and rip someone to shreds.
-Leoniceno
5 - DrPat
Sounds like many commenters here might be related to kzinti...
6 - Bennett Dawson
.... a formal challenge is not required. Usually a scream followed by a leaping attack is sufficient.*
*Close to the original text.
7 - gonzo marx
if ya like Larry Niven...and i do..
then ya will most likely LOVE the work of Larry NIven and Dr. Jerry Pournelle
Inferno and Lucifer's Hammer come to mind easily...both awesome reads..
IMO both of these Authors are rock solid master's of their Craft...but when the two fo them work together...Magic occurs..
Legacy of Heorot...with it's sly Tribute to Heinlein..and the Mote in God's Eye series are also fine reads..
on a side note..the above Poster who thought "only enough science to keep it from fantasy"..might want to look a bit deeper...the Dyson sphere and many other bits that Niven tosses in there are founded on very good science...and in the collaborations i mention..well..Dr. Pournelle didn't get his degree out of a cracker jack box...
heh
Excelsior!
8 - mike hollihan
Heeheehee.... Sorry Leoniceno. ;-) But thanks for posting this review/rec.
Bennett: "You scream and you leap. Great."
Gonzo! Glad to know you're a Niven fan. I'd add that the Man-Kzin Wars books have some great stories and novellas in them, too, written by other authors.
And I only meant that Ringworld isn't science-heavy; it's there if you like it (I do!) but you can glide over it if you care about the characters and story more. You don't have to understand tech to like the book.
Yeah, Niven is my favorite author. He has a serious talent for creating accessible but alien aliens. Like the thrint, chirpsithra, the ringworlders, kzin, Pierson's puppeteers, etc.
9 - gonzo marx
heh..Mike..all i can say is..
as yer "gonzo"..i highly Advise you go out and read some Heinlein!!
nuff said?
Excelsior!
10 - Bennett Dawson
Gonzo,
Dead on re: Pournell/Niven. Lucifer's Hammer is on my top ten greatest books ever list (about 30 books make this list). My 18 year old son remarked that "not only is the character development exceptional, but the growth of the characters as they face the aftermath of the impact is extraordinary!"
I did okay with m'boy.
P.S. As one who can turn raw barley into beer and whiskey, I'd make it into the Senator's encalave. Wooo Hooo!
11 - gonzo marx
so i guess ya figured out who the character of Robert Anson is..and why everyone shut up when he spoke?
how's that for a sub-referential Tribute..
read Legacy of Heorot...an even more blatant kudo to the late great Grand Master
i was born in 1961..the same year both Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land were published...
those two books form as much of a "bible" to me as i'm ever likely to have...tho i have consumed most "religious" texts...
sez quite a lot about who i am, eh?
and gives more clues than i care to admit about where my Rants come from when ya think about it..
Excelsior!
12 - Leoniceno
I read some of 'Mote in God's Eye', the rest of the books that you guys are mentioning now are kinda foreign. I'll jot down their names.
13 - gonzo marx
oh yeah..and Bennet...sounds like ya did an awesome job with yer son..
/golfclap
now keep it going..the toughest job in the world...
and it NEVER ends..
Excelsior!
14 - Bennett Dawson
<
so i guess ya figured out who the character of Robert Anson is..and why everyone shut up when he spoke?>>
He was a character in FootFall, right? (dreamer fttp) I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't pick up on that! Damn, I should have. Lots of great stuff in that novel. Especially the launch sequence of the Orion ship.
Me, I'm the guy managing the compost heap.
BTW, regarding "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", I'm amazed that R.A.H. was able to tuck a total "how to" description on a designing successful revolution into the story. Of course it was critical to the plot, but a lesser writer would have fluffed it, instead of spelling it out.
I have two years on you Gonzo, and we share many things. Esp. religious leanings.
The boy's my step son, headed for college this Fall. "No, you will not watch TV, it's all crap. There's the bookshelf, enjoy!"
I'm proud of him.
15 - SFC Ski
Bennett, regarding your TV comment, hear,hear. For a time in my teens, I was staying at a friend's house. My friend's father was like a second dad, and when he found me reading comic books, he asked me why I read them. I respondedthat I liked the plots, characters, and action. Being an English teacher, he took almost no time in writing up a list of books, told me to pick up 3, and kicked me out of his house across the street to the library. I read them all and enjoyed most, it was years later that I realized he was why I liked reading so much.
AS for Niven, I never made it through Ringworld, but I read all his A.R.M books, and loved his Tales from Known Space. Just the names he came up with for colonized planets and the odd ethncities that sprang up on them captivated me in my teens. Maybe I need to revisit them.
16 - Bennett Dawson
Ski, Turning a child on to the joys of reading, is arming him(her)for bear in a country increasingly lacking in intellegence (imigrants aside).
Is it Natalie's post "What's Going On In Our Country"? I'd answer that we are reaping what we have sewn over the past 50 years.
Show me incidents of high school shootings between 1900 and 1950. Tell me that TV is good for America. Tell me that "Grand Theft Auto" develops eye-hand coordination. Go on, I dare you.
We are facing a crisis in America, and I don't have the answer to "why?". But I do believe that if we do our best to see that every child's environment includes books, culture, and parental involvement - and excludes excessive TV, video games, and violent imagery - we will be on the right path towards eliminating the Collumbine type incidents that seem to be on the increase.
JMHO however.
17 - JR
then ya will most likely LOVE the work of Larry NIven and Dr. Jerry Pournelle
I've always preferred solo Niven. Pournelle seems to dilute Niven's creativity; their collaborations tend to have more pages with fewer clever ideas and their socio-political scope seems to be limited by Pournelle's narrow-minded ideology.
18 - Jon Sobel
The Mote In God's Eye and Ringworld were two of my all-time favorite science fiction novels. Problem is, I'm afraid to re-read classics like this, because so many of my science fiction favorites seem to lose a lot of glamour when I re-read them as an adult and discover that although their imaginative reach is what I remembered, the writing quality is only poor to mediocre. How is Niven (and Niven/Pournelle) as a writer as opposed to a storyteller?
I also recall there being some sequels to Ringworld, which I never read. Am I remembering right?
19 - Leoniceno
Niven as a writer is no master, but his style is tolerable and proficient.
The Mote in God's Eye, I had trouble getting through it because it struck me as a bit florid.
As for the sequels, you're right, there are pics of all of them at the bottom of the post. I've never read them either.
20 - mike hollihan
The sequels suffer as all sequels do. The first one is pretty good: we go back and see more, like tourists who are comfortable and more competent. After that, it's all tie-in with other parts of Niven's work and rehash and tedium.
I also agree, Niven isn't the best prose stylist. Sturdy might be a good word. But his characters and cultures are always fun.