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Ringworld's Children
Copyright 2004 by
Larry Niven
I first read this in November 2004 and most recently on the 29th September 2006
Protectors may control the Ringworld at present but there are many
competitors for ownership of such a limitless treasure.
Around the Ringworld there is a very tense, very temporary stand-off
which will stumble into war.
All the races have their spacecraft orbiting or standing off.
The Outsiders hang back at a distance.
ARM and the Kzinti warships circle closer.
Some of these ships use anti-matter weapons and even scrith, the building
material of the Ringworld, is vulnerable to antimatter.
Luckily Louis & co are on hand to save the Ringworld one more time.
This is a very condensed book. Niven's shovels information at the reader
so fast I found myself say "check!" every few seconds.
"Eighty-four days ago, the display said."
"Check!"
"Sixty-seven Ringworld days."
"Check!"
"Almost a falan."
"Check!"
"A falan was ten Ringworld rotations,"
"Check!"
"seventy-five thirty hour days."
"Check!"
And that's on the first page. I was in uniform and saluting by page twenty-five.
By the fiftieth page I was pulling on my helmet and shouting "Chocks away!".
And even though it is very condensed, it is still fab. No body does this
style better than Niven. Queue song...
Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Larry, you're the best
And it is absolutely great to be back on the Ringworld with Louis Wu once more
It's a very satisfying end to the Ringworld series. I'm left thinking
that the Pak Protector is a deeply cool creation and I particularly enjoy
Niven's techniques for suggesting the relative intelligences of
the various protectors. I'll raise a glass to Louis Wu: superior to any
other entity on Ringworld, regardless of intelligence.
However, let's not forget the protectors Tunesmith, Haruman, and Proserpina,
nor the supporting cast of humans Roxanny and Wemblath,
and the Kzinti Acolyte (with the brief appearance of Chmeee).
And there's even a surprising ending.
Loaded on the 28th February 2007.
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