Ringworld's Children

I'm changing my mind about this one. I had only remembered it somewhat fondly, but after rereading it, I've got to bump it up because of how satisfying it was. Not only good writing, but it was full of great story, great characters, and the fulfillment of a fear that had followed all of the ringworld books. Well, one of many. I'm referring to poor Louis. I was thrilled and awed and rooting for him the entire way. I wasn't even slightly surprised at the very end, either. It's great to have godlike tech when surrounded by godlike tech. :)

When someone thinks about big, they should always think about what Niven has accomplished. Sure, Stephen Baxter has gotten it right, too, but I still think of Niven as king. Big, Big, Big! A lot of people show more laugh, but it sparks the imagination and makes a reader keep thinking and questioning, and that's one of the biggest and best functions of great sci-fi. :) show less

Ringworld's Children is a big improvement over The Ringworld Throne, but that's not saying much. The rapid pace and narrative format recall the original Ringworld, almost in the style of a comic book. We get a lot more insight into the Ringworld's history and builders, the luck of Teela Brown, and even Hindmost's motivations. And Niven manages to come up with several nice surprises along the way.

Loius Wu continues as our cynical, inventive, take-it-as-it-comes protagonist, but we also get a couple of interesting new characters in Proserpina and Hanuman. Roxanny, the new human female character who survives the crash of an ARM warship on the Ringworld surface, is far from plausible. She seems to be inserted in the story primarily to give show more Louis someone new to have sex with and be injured by, although in the end Roxanny is also caught by the inescapable luck of Teela Brown. If you are looking for science fiction with plausible female characters, the Ringworld series is probably not the ticket.

The bizarre obsession with interspecies sex that dominated so much of book 3 makes only a brief appearance here (in a totally unnecessary scene that runs something like this “Oh, Hi. You must be the giraffe people. Wanna f***?”). show less

Enjoyed it a whole lot more than I thought I would. Picks up right after Ringworld Throne. Lacks the inventiveness of the first two in the series but plays with many of the tools in the toolbox created by the previous books in the series in an entertaining way.

Apparently I missed The Ringworld Throne between reading Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers years and years ago and Ringworld's Children just recently. On the other hand, I don't appear to have missed much.

In the author's notes at the beginning Niven talks about how much fun he's had with the Ringworld series, and how much subsequent novels have been influenced by the observations that fans have made about one aspect or another (Spill mountains, ramjets for wobble adjustment, number and spacing of shadow panels, etc.)

While this installment of the Ringworld series includes all of those 'hard' elements, the story mainly follows the continuing adventures of Louis Wu on the Rignworld and how he and an assortment of suppporting Protectors, show more breeders and stranded outsiders are going to save the Ringworld from being casually destroyed by the ARM, the Kzin and others.

The story moves along quickly enough and the technology, if not explored all that much, is still interesting. Unfortunately it kind of feels like a quick tour of other parts of the Ringworld with a short history of the Pak and some gratuitous sex & violence thrown in for good measure.

If you're a Niven or a Ringworld fan, its worth a few hours reading. Otherwise, just give look a couple of books down the shelf and give the original Ringworld a try. show less

Enjoyable, but not as good as the first volume

A fitting sequel to the Ringworld saga. If you haven't read at least Ringworld, you can't call yourself a science fiction fan.

Fast paced, full of new ideas for the awesome Ringworld. Read the other books first.