jandi's review against another edition
3.0
Larry Niven's writing style is quite entertaining, and he manages to build a colorful exciting world much bigger than Earth, and unfortunately, unstable. Now, if only rishathra had been left out...
haxxy's review against another edition
3.0
Putin mai bine scrisa decat prima. De pe la jumatatea cartii se fac extensiv referiri la romanul [b:Protector|45160463|Protector|Larry Niven|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653578159l/45160463._SY75_.jpg|2576385]. Nu dezvalui mai multe, asa ca, daca va decideti sa cititi seria Lumea Inelara, e recomandat sa incepeti mai intai cu Protector. Sunt unele neconcordante care, probabil, puteau fi explicate, dar autorul le-a omis, poate neintentionat, sau a decis sa nu intre in detalii.
Anyway, pana acum seria asta nu m-a impresionat deloc. Ii mai dau o sansa cu ultima parte, dar ma indoiesc ca o sa se intample.
Anyway, pana acum seria asta nu m-a impresionat deloc. Ii mai dau o sansa cu ultima parte, dar ma indoiesc ca o sa se intample.
crowfood's review against another edition
2.0
As mentioned in the forward and as shown by the story, this sequel to Ringworld seems to have mostly been written in order to fix scientific problems with the ringworld structure that were pointed out to the author over the years. So, most of the character's time is spent musing over and explaining those hard science issues.
The rest is spent in "rishathra", aka inter-species alien sex. This is used to barter, seal a deal, say hello, bless someone who sneezes, insert purpose here. Our fearless hero indulges in rishathra with just about every female he meets. Including Harka, a woman who was previously forced to have "rishathra" with various aliens in a kind of forced prostitution to pay for various things for her House. This naturally scarred her and prompted her to leave said house and become a librarian, swearing celibacy. This lasts for at least a few pages before she suggests that she and the protagonist, should, in fact, have some kinky times after all.
Did I mention that in the first book the two notable female characters included a naive 20 year old who was sleeping with our 200 year old protagonist from chapter one, and, I kid you not, a 1,000 year old, professional, deep spaceship crew's geisha/sex expert?
Needless to say I have some critiques here.
It was nice to return to the familiar characters from the first book, and again there were some neat ideas. However an overabundance of hard science speculation, and paper thin, sexed-out female characters left little room for the rest of the story.
The rest is spent in "rishathra", aka inter-species alien sex. This is used to barter, seal a deal, say hello, bless someone who sneezes, insert purpose here. Our fearless hero indulges in rishathra with just about every female he meets. Including Harka, a woman who was previously forced to have "rishathra" with various aliens in a kind of forced prostitution to pay for various things for her House. This naturally scarred her and prompted her to leave said house and become a librarian, swearing celibacy. This lasts for at least a few pages before she suggests that she and the protagonist, should, in fact, have some kinky times after all.
Did I mention that in the first book the two notable female characters included a naive 20 year old who was sleeping with our 200 year old protagonist from chapter one, and, I kid you not, a 1,000 year old, professional, deep spaceship crew's geisha/sex expert?
Needless to say I have some critiques here.
It was nice to return to the familiar characters from the first book, and again there were some neat ideas. However an overabundance of hard science speculation, and paper thin, sexed-out female characters left little room for the rest of the story.
cavetoad's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
This is a bad book. Don’t read it unless you are ready for some alien sex and random wandering around. Such a let down after reading the classic Ringworld. He created such a large world that he just did what he wanted with this book. Tons of people and civilizations where the first book had nearly none. Wild distances between places and plots made it feel like he just had a ton of ideas and smashed them together. Good characters from the first book are brought back and treated poorly by the plot. You’ve been warned.
Content Warnings
Spoiler
bad booktaseenmuhtadi's review against another edition
3.0
The book was decent, not bad, not terribly good, just somewhere in the middle. The story is told, it seems to fill in some of the ecological gaps and fix some engineering issues that had been pointed out from the first book. Author even says so in the preface.
The good part of the book is that this time, we actually get to explore a bit more of the Ringworld. Of course given the size of the Ringworld, that bit is a sizable area. Not everything is left mysterious and unexplained. We get to the bottom of some mysteries, which felt good. The book resolves all the engineering issues it sets outs to resolve. From an engineering point of view, the explanations seem solid.
Character development, unfortunately, seems to stay stuck at book 1. We get the old characters back, they show some minor changes, but are more or less the same; showing very little development throughout this book. We have Louis Wu, who appears to give more thoughts to the consequences of his actions this time round. We have Speaker-to-animals, who, for all his aggression and pride in his species, ultimately follows Louis. And then we have a stereotypical Pearson’s Puppeteer replacing Nessus. The author tries to spice up a somewhat dry exploration story by introducing a few women here there, who apparently have nothing better to do then throw themselves at Louis the first chance they get.
The cultures of Ringworld don’t feel all that alien, mostly because all the species are hominid, but also because that does not appear to have been the focus of the narrative.
The author ultimately fails to make a hard SF narrative into an engaging story. Which is rather sad, given that the hard SF elements were very well written.
The good part of the book is that this time, we actually get to explore a bit more of the Ringworld. Of course given the size of the Ringworld, that bit is a sizable area. Not everything is left mysterious and unexplained. We get to the bottom of some mysteries, which felt good. The book resolves all the engineering issues it sets outs to resolve. From an engineering point of view, the explanations seem solid.
Character development, unfortunately, seems to stay stuck at book 1. We get the old characters back, they show some minor changes, but are more or less the same; showing very little development throughout this book. We have Louis Wu, who appears to give more thoughts to the consequences of his actions this time round. We have Speaker-to-animals, who, for all his aggression and pride in his species, ultimately follows Louis. And then we have a stereotypical Pearson’s Puppeteer replacing Nessus. The author tries to spice up a somewhat dry exploration story by introducing a few women here there, who apparently have nothing better to do then throw themselves at Louis the first chance they get.
The cultures of Ringworld don’t feel all that alien, mostly because all the species are hominid, but also because that does not appear to have been the focus of the narrative.
The author ultimately fails to make a hard SF narrative into an engaging story. Which is rather sad, given that the hard SF elements were very well written.
ninj's review against another edition
3.0
It wasn't bad, maybe 3.5.
Decent ideas, continuation of characters and all. But it was written in 1980 and has a bit of that >30 year old feel. Not necessarily a bad thing if you like your sci-fi a little more on the classic side.
Decent ideas, continuation of characters and all. But it was written in 1980 and has a bit of that >30 year old feel. Not necessarily a bad thing if you like your sci-fi a little more on the classic side.
thesmudge's review against another edition
4.0
It had been awhile since I last read this so it was a pleasant read. Story is about what one would expect with a Niven novel and wraps up some lose ends and questions from the first book.
laci's review against another edition
3.0
I expected a lot more.
The basic premise was nice - Ringworld, with all its immense wonders and beautifully paradoxical civilizations, is in danger, and the previous heroes return.
But if it weren't for this premise, and for the last part of the book (leading to the climax), I'd give it a worse overall rating.
Two things jump to mind when I think of this book: how the hero's addiction to "current" wasn't explored that well, and how everyone tried constantly to have sex with *everything*. I had the feeling that most encounters/deals/whatever had to result in a session of inter-species sex lasting at least two hours. It often seemed as if humans (and humanoids, and non-humanoids too) couldn't force themselves to think about anything else for at least a damn moment.
The basic premise was nice - Ringworld, with all its immense wonders and beautifully paradoxical civilizations, is in danger, and the previous heroes return.
But if it weren't for this premise, and for the last part of the book (leading to the climax), I'd give it a worse overall rating.
Two things jump to mind when I think of this book: how the hero's addiction to "current" wasn't explored that well, and how everyone tried constantly to have sex with *everything*. I had the feeling that most encounters/deals/whatever had to result in a session of inter-species sex lasting at least two hours. It often seemed as if humans (and humanoids, and non-humanoids too) couldn't force themselves to think about anything else for at least a damn moment.
natelee's review against another edition
3.0
Gives us some answers to questions from the previous book, while adding more questions… But the new questions are not as interesting. The author's "kink" for interspecies sex gets more play, and is even more distracting and inappropriate.
tarsel's review against another edition
5.0
Epic physicality, epic story, epic imagination. A worthy successor to Ringworld.