Ringworld - Larry Niven

This is solid classic sci-fi.

Great world building.

It's part of a series.The " Known Space" series.

The books were written by American author Larry Niven.

 

The series is composed of five standalone science fiction novels.

• 1970: Ringworld
• 1980: The Ringworld Engineers
• 1996: The Ringworld Throne
• 2004: Ringworld's Children
• 2012: Fate of Worlds (by Niven and Edward M. Lerner)

Fate of Worlds is also a sequel to the four books of the Fleet of Worlds series, set in the same "Known Space" universe and all written by Niven and Edward M. Lerner:

• 2007: Fleet of Worlds
• 2008: Juggler of Worlds
• 2009: Destroyer of Worlds
• 2010: Betrayer of Worlds
•  
• "Neutron Star" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven. It was originally published in the October 1966 issue (Issue 107, Vol 16, No 10) of Worlds of If. It was later reprinted in the collection of the same name and Crashlander. The story is set in Niven's fictional Known Space universe. It is notable for including a neutron star before their (then hypothetical) existence was widely known.

“Ringworld” was written in Oct, 1970.

It follow the adventures of Louis Gridley Wu, who accepts the invitation to join a young woman and a couple of aliens on a journey to the mysterious Ringworld.

The Ringworld, is a giant object, 600 million miles in circumference, (1 million miles across),

 built around a star. It's a  megastructure, a marvel of engineering, consisting of a greater mass than Jupiter.

The ring has an atmosphere like Earth's and it rotates around the star to provide artificial gravity.

 A compromise between a Dyson Sphere and a planet ?

 

This is definitely a classic and I recommend that anyone interested in Sci-Fi  read it.

However, the story telling is a bit slow and tedious, so be warned. I did struggle with myself to finish it. I think the book may have won it's Hugo award on its concept which is pretty cool for the time.

These travelers become stranded on the hostile ring, and must find a way to get home.

 

Luis Wu, must outplay the murderous Kzin, & conquer the traps the ringworld.

It turns out that the Puppeteers have been manipulating humans for their "luck gene"

and the Kzin for aggression.

It's I guess why they are called puppeteers.

Getting towards the end of the book I realised that the whole novel really is about the female character Teela. Was the entire mission a result of her luck gene? In the end, it unites her with her true love.

It's interesting that luck is considered a genetic trait, that can be strengthened by selective breeding.

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