The Ringworld Throne

(Original Review, 1980-07-01)

Now we're going to argue the reasons for sequels? It's straightforward here. Niven obviously doesn't need the money (although it can't hurt too badly). It's those damned readers who keep begging for more and pawing after him at every convention, in every fanzine, in all his letters, etc. ad infinitum. He's got to do *something* to shut them up, else go insane, bug-nuts. And also, remember that Ringworld, no matter how much we may like it, is an essentially incomplete story, with no real beginning, a middle, and no real ending. The 'resolution' is the strangest one I've ever seen, but a really clever ending for a series. So, its sequel, if reasonably done, can at least attempt to fill out the idea with more show more concrete information, not to mention satisfying those maniacs out there.

It seems pretty obvious to me that Niven really didn't want to write RWE, but was pressured into it by agent/publisher/fans/whoever. This seems clear on reading the introduction. It was just a money-making venture, as opposed to the joy of creation which permeated the original Ringworld. Consequently, it's not surprising that there are inconsistencies to be found. Niven's basic skill keeps it from being hackwork, but RWE can't stand up against Ringworld. Ringworld is a joy to read; RWE is interesting, but definitely inferior. The inexplicable anomalies outlined by others are the result of churning out something to meet the demand, not lovingly crafting a precise construct, as a writer may do when SELF-driven. Outside pressure can never equal a writer's desire to perfect his creation. In short, I'm a little surprised that RWE is as good as it is. RWT is just crap.

[2018 EDIT: This review was written at the time as I was running my own personal BBS server. Much of the language of this and other reviews written in 1980 reflect a very particular kind of language: what I call now in retrospect a “BBS language”.] show less

Ringworld is deservedly a classic. Ringworld Engineers, while not at the same level of quality, is a generally coherent story that also serves to expand greatly upon the cultures and species present on the Ringworld. Ringworld Throne, however, is an absolute mess. Loose plot threads abound, but here are a few:
Hostile Martians?
Chmee's whereabouts?
ARM invasion?
Outsiders observing the Ringworld?
Why the City Builders are so cowed by Bram?
Why does the Shadow City plot, fully the first half of the book, even exist?
etc.

This book needed an editor badly. I can't help but think Niven just wanted to cash a check and so cobbled some writing notes together with the thinnest of threads.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Just like Ringworld, it is complex and slow. All of the satisfaction comes at the end. The concepts and morality gave me a lot to think about. Who you thought you could trust, you could not, and the heroes were unlike. But you can always count on Louis Wu--well, not always because he is dying. Sigh. I think Larry Niven is trying to kill the series as well.

Rishathra, anyone? I loved Ringworld, and found The Ringworld Engineers to be at least somewhat entertaining if largely pointless, but this book is truly awful. Uninteresting and undeveloped characters do uninteresting things in nonsensical settings for the first two thirds of this book; the last third is slightly better but not enough better to keep me from regretting that anyone survived the final confrontation.

I believe it was Isaac Asimov who said that in true science fiction, the setting is the real protagonist. In this third Ringworld book, Niven is finally arriving at that stage; there's frustratingly little of Louis Wu (undoubtedly Niven's most interesting and compelling character) in the first half of this book, so it was slow going for me until the Ringworld itself roped me in. By that, I mean that eventually I kept pushing forward, not because I cared what happened to the people, but more because I was intrigued by what they would find next, and by the ultimate fate of the world. Much the same as the last two of the original six Dune novels in that way.

Not nearly as warm, funny, or emotionally involving as the first Ringworld book, show more but more compelling than The Ringworld Engineers. Again, Niven's intelligence and imagination leave little to be criticized, and this series is definitely worthwhile reading for the fan of speculative fiction. show less

Larry Niven has spun another really cool plot: Louis Wu and his colleagues, still stranded on Ringworld after saving it from falling into its sun in The Ringworld Engineers, become embroiled in a mystery involving Protectors who are both restoring Ramjets along the Rim Wall to keep the Ringworld stable and defending it from invaders by controlling the defense system. Meanwhile, a large part of the book is devoted to an alliance between a number of hominid species trying to rid their sector of a horde of vampires (not the supernatural kind, but rather non-sentient hominids who lure other species through strong pheronome smells, driving them crazy with lust so they can kill and suck their blood).

But I can't take Niven's storytelling any show more more. He's just not good at describing what's going on in a clear way. I found myself bewildered while trying to figure out what was going on. And there are so many characters of many species involved in the vampire hunting that it's very hard to keep them straight, all for a side-story that I was trying to get through just so I could get back to Louis Wu and the Hindmost, who are much more interesting. The machinations around the vampire nest under a floating city are endless, and I couldn't really understand the physics behind what they were trying to do.

I bulled through it because, as I noted, the plot is cool. The concept of Protectors, who are hominids who have been exposed to the Tree of Life plant and essentially become Supermen with an instinct to protect their species, is nicely fleshed out. But it's just too hard to follow the plot- I'm done with Niven. show less

This is the third book in the Ringworld series, taking place in the universe that Niven has created, where humans and humanoids are descendants from the Pak protectors. This book focusses on the protectors on the Ringworld, protectors of and from several different races. It is several years after the events in the Ringworld Engineers. Louis Wu is travelling the Ringworld alone, while some of the Ringworlders that have appeared before are fighting an infestation of vampires. Louis returns to the Hindmost and his ship, is joined by Acolyte, the son of Chmeee, and is turned into a slave by a vampire-protector. In the end the main question of the book is: "Who is the best protector for the whole of the Ringworld, all the species show more together?".
I don't know if it was my mood while reading, or if it was the book itself. I am guessing a bit of both, but the book was pretty confusing to me. I still don't know what the main vampire infestation has to do with the story of the protectors. I couldn't follow half of the things that were happening with Louis, the protectors, the old protectors, Teela, the people from Earth, Ringworld. I felt it was all too much, all was stuffed in this book to give the reader the feeling that he/she is back in the world of Ringworld. It was all a bit disappointing, so three out of four stars from me. show less