Title: Ringworld

Author: Larry Niven

Publisher: Del Ray 1985

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 342

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Science Fiction; 2011- With a Twist

A new place is being built, a world of huge dimensions, encompassing millions of miles, stronger than any planet before it. There is gravity, and with high walls and its proximity to the sun, a livable new planet that is three million times the area of the Earth can be formed. We can start again!

This book was really mixed. J warned me that it was harder scifi than Have Spacesuit-Will Travel and Ender's Game, and it certainly was. I liked parts of the book and then got confused about other parts. My knowledge of physics ans space travel is not on par with J's and I found myself drifting during those passages. And those passages take up about a third of the book. I kept having to reread sentences; stopping to think about what he was trying to explain. Sometimes, I completely glossed over a concept because I couldn't figure it out in a few mintes. Those were the pages that drained my reading stamina. I had to take a few reading breaks with this book. I couldn't do it all in on sitting.

On the good side, I loved all the parts focusing on interactions between the alien species. Their cultural and language differences intrigued me. I also found the explanations and mysteries of the Ringworld civilization fascinating. Those parts redeemed the book for me and kept me reading. I guess deep down I'm more of an anthropologist than a scifi geek. And that's okay.

Ringworld

#1 Ringworld
#2 The Ringworld Engineers
#3 The Ringworld Throne
#4 Ringworld's Children
#5 Fate of Worlds: Return from the Ringworld (with Edward M Lerner)