In Review: Ringworld

 Over the last few years I have been delving into older sci-fi and fantasy.Ringworld by Larry Niven is often mentioned as a science fiction classic. It has a reputation as a hard science fiction novel that helped define the genre and inspired other works. 

The main focus of the novel is the titular Ringworld. It is a variation on the Dyson sphere concept. And if I have lost you at Dyson sphere, then this may not be the novel for you. If Niven did not come up with the concept of a ring world, then he certainly made it famous. A great deal of effort went into explaining the mechanics and ecology of the Ringworld. Apparently, there were some errors in the math that readers pointed out to him so he addressed them in later books. I for one was not going to read with a calculator in hand, but appreciate that Niven was willing to take what was pointed out and address it.

The plot is fairly straight forward. Our protagonist, Louis Wu, has just turned 200 years old and is approached by an alien (called a Pierson’s puppeteer) named Nessus. The Nessus is recruiting Louis as part of a crew to go on an exploratory mission. They next recruit Speaker to Animals. Speaker is a Kzin, which are basically just klingons that look like tigers. Lastly they recruit Teela Brown. Nessus wants her as a good luck charm because he believes that humans have been breeding for psychic luck and her genetic history suggests she is very lucky indeed.

It is almost halfway through the story when the real adventure begins. They reach the Ringworld and find themselves stuck there. They have to find a way to get off which is not easy because the engineers that built the ring do not appear to be around any more. With their own flying vehicles and advanced technology there is little to threaten them, but nothing to help them to leave. Louis finally does come to a realization about the Ringworld that they can use to escape.

If the story sounds sparse, that is because it is. The plot is there mostly to serve as a way to convey the thought experiment that is the Ringworld. There is little adventure or exploration. Once they do finally crash onto the Ringworld there is no threat other than the possibility of being trapped. They do not delve into ruins to find the secrets of the ancients, just fly across the vast ring.

The most interesting part of the story are the aliens. I found myself far more captivated learning about the history of the Kzin and the society of the Pierson’s puppeteers than anything else. The speculative biology was very well thought out and did feed the plot more than any of the technology.

The Kzin are a giant, tiger-like warrior species. You’ve seen them before with the Klingons and Krogan. Possibly literally as Niven reused them in Star Trek. The Kzin are the ultimate male chauvinists. Their leader is the Patriarch and they used genetic manipulation to reduce their females to sub-sapience. However, their disastrous wars against humans have led to some new developments in their genepool. 

The Puppeteers are a bit more out there. They have three legs and two heads. There most noticeable trait is innate cowardice and dedication to survival. They run away or go comatose at the slightest threat. Indeed, they are so risk adverse that they dare not risk the dangers of space travel. Instead, they have to send their insane (ie brave) on off world missions. Despite all of this they are one of the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy. They have also made appearances in Star Trek as well as DC and Marvel comics.

I would not describe Ringworld as an exciting novel, but it was interesting at least. The pace seemed to drag on and the characters were not particularly compelling. However, if you enjoy hard science fiction or have an interest in classics of the genre then it is worth taking a look at.