Amph Ringworld

Are we supposed to be discussing this in the Books/Comics forum?

 

I think that we drifted a bit.


SO... why do people like this book so much?

 

I'll tell you why I like it. First off the very idea of it is not only mind numbingly huge it's actually quite original. Stapleton had what would later be called Dyson Spheres, but a ring around a solar system was a first. Secondly Luis Wu is a great character. He has, as everyone in Known Space does, an option to live forever or not; death is an option. And with time removed as a factor he becomes the ultimate tourist with the Universe to explore. Thirdly, the story has alot of good dressing. The Kzin, GP hulls, teleportation, sky cyles, floating cities, genetically engineered luck, Seeker walking to "The Arch", the hlographic map room, full sized map of the Earth, and much more make for a fully relized 'world' for the reader.

 

Well it's been years since I read it, I should read it again before I try to read books three and four. But I like it because the idea is cool but the characters are really interesting and entertaining. I loved the tension between Speaker-To-Animals, the Pierson's Puppeteer and Louis Wu. Good stuff.

 

Ringworld was my first exposure to the Kzin. After that I started reading the Man/Kzin Wars books which I passed over for years. That is a great series of books. They are integrated into the Known Space community yet they hold onto a sense of honor. Irony is pointed out by Luis that the kzin finally take over the "Earth" on the Ringworld.

 

I actually like The Integral Trees a lot mor. I picked up Ringworld after reading that book. But I still enjoyed it. I loved it for the many worlds within ringworld and how there were so many diverse cultures within the world

 

I loved both The Integral Trees and its sequel The Smoke Ring. Really interesting and creative science fiction. There's some ideas we've not really seen before.

 

I never read the third and fourth books in the Ringworld series, so I just went back and re-read the first two books. I am now halfway through The Ringworld Throne and I like it. I am not sure about all the stuff with the war between all the hominids and the vampires. It's hard to keep track of all the bizarre names and it seems to go on a bit too much. Still, once Louis Wu was back in the story it got better for me.

 

I never got past Ringworld Engineers, but the first two books are very entertaining. Known Space in general is just all kinds of entertaining, but I haven't read any of it in years and years.

 

Flying around Ringworld, to scale.