Well, Ringworld is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi novels, but it's true that the
characterization is not its strongest point. That said, however, I really like
Speaker-to-Animals and Nessus (interesting, isn't it, that the aliens are more fully
realized than the humans? Niven has always created fascinating aliens.)
I think it helps, at least a little, to have read the stories in his Neutron Star
collection before reading Ringworld; but saying that may sound like a way of saying
that Ringworld can't stand on its own, which is not what I mean at all.
*One* of the selling points of sci-fi is what many fans call the "Wow Factor" - ideas
that make you gasp and go, "Wow!" Ringworld, as much as any novel I've read, has wow
factors to burn.
What's wrong with funny looking aliens? Why read a dry scientific journal when you can
vicariously participate in a terrific adventure? Yeah, Niven's not Ursula K. LeGuin or
Roger Zelazny as a prose stylist - but who else is, anyway?
Ringworld is a wonderful adventure novel, it has a great premise, it more than
delivers all the thrills it promises, it's fun to read - what more do you want?
Have I read better novels? I've read better-*written* novels. I've read more thought
provoking novels. I've read more moving novels. But when I think of science fiction as
science fiction, as *science* fiction, fiction based on a strong scientific premise,
fiction exploring "strange new worlds" and taking me along for the ride, *I* can't
think of a better science fiction novel than Ringworld.
Tom Beck
