The Ringworld Engineers (Ringworld) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Larry Niven (Author), Donato Giancola (Illustrator) "Louis Wu was under the wire when two men came to invade his privacy..." (more)
Key Phrases: superconductor cloth, stepping discs, rim transport system, Louis Wu, Great Ocean, City Builder (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Ringworld (1970), the most celebrated work in Niven's "Known Space" sequence, posited a vast body of matter - enough for an entire solar system - spinning around a sun in the form of a single giant artifact of unknown origin: a continuous million-mile-wide ribbon provided with oceans, atmosphere, and vast flat projections (life-size "maps") of Earth and other inhabited planets. The present book takes up the puzzle some 20 years after Louis Wu's escape from the Ringworld. Kidnapped by the mate of Nessus, their two-headed alien companion of the previous voyage, Louis and his catlike ally Chmeee are transported to the Ringworld - now spinning dangerously off-center - in an attempt to discover the cause of the aberrant rotation before the world grazes its sun. Searching for clues to the design of the structure's long-vanished original engineers, they encounter various hominid and other races before finding the barely feasible, wholly appalling solution hidden beneath the "Map of Mars." Niven, a longstanding favorite with "hard" sf buffs, commands an impressive vein of invention, but his plotting here is limp and threadbare; the idea was more striking the first time around. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
"This rousing sequel to the classic Ringworld continues the adventures of Louis Wu and Speaker-to-Animals on that fantastic planet."--School Library Journal An ALA Best Book for Young Adults


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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (November 12, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345334302
• ISBN-13: 978-0345334305
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,097 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Ringworld Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible sequel that expands upon Ringworld., March 3, 2005

By	Harvey H. Meeker (Shelton, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Ringworld Engineers is the sequel to Ringworld. In Ringworld, Larry Niven introduced us to the concept of a world made in the shape of an extraordinarily large ring encircling a star. In this book he gives us answers to questions we might not have even asked about the Ringworld, but that others apparently did. After the publication of Ringworld, Niven received numerous pieces of correspondence from people offering helpful information about the details of how the Ringworld would actually function. Niven took inspiration from the enthusiasm of those people and created the Ringworld Engineers in part to publish the answers to important questions about the structure. Around those answers he has created a thoughtful and engaging story that adds in a positive way to the Ringworld legacy.

The basic premise behind the Ringworld Engineers is that twenty or so years have passed since Louis Wu and Speaker To Animals returned from the Ringworld. Since then, Louis has withdrawn into a life of ascetic practices livened up by his addiction to current stimulation. Speaker to Animals (who has earned his full name of Chmeee for the treasure he brought back from the original Ringworld adventure) lives a prosperous life on Kzin having earned high status from his Ringworld discoveries. The circumstance that brings Louis and Chmeee back to the Ringworld is one quite familiar to them, but the situation they face upon arriving on the Ringworld is quite different than when they left. The Ringworld is moving out of position around the sun and the only way for Louis and Chmeee to find out how to fix it lies with the origins of the Ringworld Engineers.

I found the Ringworld Engineers to be engaging and interesting wholely apart from the original Ringworld. While certainly the references to parts of the original book are made more clear having read that novel, this book is very readable even having read Ringworld many years before. Having said that, I would advise that it is a good idea to read Ringworld first as there are certainly items of that book which are spoiled herein.

The way that Niven engages parts of his other novels of Known Space and entertwines them with this book made me want to go give some of those a shot as well. He truly is a master storyteller and this is one of his best novels on his own. Niven's collaborations with author Jerry Pournelle are also highly recommended. The classic The Mote In God's Eye as well as Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer are all very well done and certainly are must read novels for any Niven fan.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read 'em all!, January 12, 1999

By A Customer

What most people seem to have forgotten is that the Ringworld books (Ringworld, R.E., R.Thr.) aren't the only books in the series. ALL of the Known Space books must be taken as a whole. For instance, it's impossible to fully comprhend Ringworld E. without having read "Protector." All the known space books link together, PLUA the short stories. I suggest reading them all in chronological order and putting the pieces together yourselves. Sure, it will require more trips to the library, but, hey, whoever said life was easy?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Ringworld, but still good., August 24, 2005

By	Brad (CT) - See all my reviews

I read this in a couple of days just because I had nothing else to do. I enjoyed it, but I enjoyed Ringworld more. The ending was wrapped up pretty quickly, like Niven was tired of writing about the Ringworld and just wanted to get it over with. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because I was tired of reading about the Ringworld at this point. I should have put a buffer between Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers by reading another book, perhaps something from the Ender Wiggin series. I still recommend Ringworld Engineers if you enjoyed Ringworld as it answers numerous questions you may or may not have had. After reading Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers, I think I'm going to pick up a few more novels by Niven.