This is the book that introduced me to science fiction before Ringworld I thought star-trek was science fiction I thank Larry for setting me straight in my misguided youth.

This book plays with a fascinating idea that kept my mind bissy for weeks and a great story to show you around the world.

In this book I discovered a type of story where the plot isn't the main thing instead it is a tour guide for an amazingly detailed world that predicts a possible and believable world in the far future.


5/5 this man is my hero

This is the first in the series I read. Great book and it arrived in just a couple of days. Josehf Lloyd Murchison, Author of “Tails of a Gay Incubus” sold at Chapters.

I picked this up expecting it to be slightly dated, perhaps, but still interesting.

Well, I was close. While the only female character, Teela Brown, drove me absolutely bonkers, she did have enough character and drive to be at least a little independent (though she did derive most of her motivation through who she was in love with).

But where I erred was in expecting an actual delicate plot. This story experience, to me, was more of a romance of technology meets a fall of a civilization discussion - there wasn't actually much of a plot. A quartet of explorers (two of them alien) discover the Ringworld, crash land on it, and then try to get off (the only real tension being whether or not they will manage to escape). There's some interesting sociology, especially in the idea of what could possibly cause a civilization clever enough to build a Ringworld to collapse. But for the most part, I found the story only generally interesting. The Kzin (cat-like warrior aliens) and the Puppeteers (dual-headed herbivore aliens with fear as their primary motivation) were quite interesting and fresh (even today), and they made the read the most worthwhile.

Still, it really was an enjoyable immersion in a fantastic setting, and it was worthwhile from a "reading one of the great early works of science fiction" point of view.

CALLING ALL SCIENCE FICTION BUFFS:
If you enjoy science fiction of ANY kind, don't just sit there - buy a copy of this book!! Ok, picture a 50 ft strip of blue Christmas ribbon. Stand it on edge, and string it in a circle. Place a candle in the center. Sounds harmless, right? Ok, now picture the candle as a sun.
It's 186 million miles in diameter, 900 million miles long, and 1 million wide. And if that wasn't enough, his thing isn't natural... someone BUILT it.
Got your attention?
I thought so. An EXCELLENT book. Must-read.