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	Ringworld's Children
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Average Customer Rating:

(49 reviews)

Reviews from Amazon customers:

Review by: Philip J. Herman, NYC area
Rating:

Don't Believe The negative Reviews
I am suspicious of all of the negative reviews of this book. First of all, anyone who says they read this book in one day is lying. The concepts in this story are staggering. The visuals are awe-inspiring. You can read one sentence and then spend 20 minutes visualizing the scene just described. One of the problems with most scifi is that the action is 'toned down' to the level of a bad movie or a TV show. Niven does not do that. He imagines a truly future, amazingly complex reality; and then the characters move along in real time in that situation. The reader has to THINK just to keep up.I kept thinking as I read that " there will never be a movie made of this story... it is just TOO difficult ". Niven is juggling a vast array of disparate elements here; and part of the fun is watching him keep those balls in the air and tell a story at the same time. Not for everyone; but satisfying for those who try. I wrote the above review after reading the book one time. Then I dug out 'Ringworld Throne' and tried to read it again. It took me awhile. The first half of the book is just boring. Then I discovered that the second half deals with the characters we all love, especially Louis. So I forced myself to read through the second half. This helps to appreciate ' Ringworld's Children '. So then I picked up 'Children' and started to read it a second time. Much better. I actually enjoyed most of it. I think I understand what's going on a little more, at least enough to offer some minor helpful criticism: Larry Niven no longer writes any descriptive sentences to help us to understand or visualize what he is talking about. He wastes no time. Almost as if he is a Protector telling a story. He touches on details and keeps moving, forcing us to figure out what is happening. This is a problem. Because sometimes the events are difficult to comprehend or understand. And without understanding them we lose the thread of the story. Another failing is the way the characters talk. We are supposed to believe that an alien living for thousands of years on the Ringworld would be interested in literature from Earth, or phrases or concepts from pre-space-age Earth. This is fun, and makes the story colorful and easier to comprehend; but the idea is still silly. It is never explained what exactly Protectors do with all the time they have lived. Apparently they sit around living for thousands of years and then act quickly in a flurry of excitement during the events in the story. And they teach themselves quantum physics on their own, but fail to grasp simple concepts that to us seem obvious ( super nerds ). And everyone uses the concept of a BallWorld ( like Earth ) but no one thinks to ever call it a sphere-world or cantaloupe-world. I realize now that the problem list goes on and on. Perhaps the concept of the Ringworld is just too big. Maybe a smaller Ringworld would be easier to write about and easier to visualize. I still like the characters, and I love when Hindmost and Louis and Acolyte are doing stuff together. And there are some great situations that Niven plays with . One of my favorite sections involves Louis Wu pretending to be a younger son named Luis and talking to a hot female ARM agent who he is lusting after but pretending not to. And he is trying to interrogate her and at the same time fool her and manipulate her. And she is trying to coerce him and interrogate him at the same time, while she wants to have sex with him and also kidnap him. The dialogue and thought balloons are maddening and great fun and to me 'pure Niven'. All in all I greatly enjoyed 'Children' the second time through. If I understood the physics I think I would like it even more the third time.

Review by: Charles E. Brown Jr.
Rating:

The Ringworld series ends
This book is an improvement on Ringworld Throne, which isn't saying much. There still aren't new striking ideas, but this time Niven brought in ideas from earlier in his career (tricks with hyperdrive, loony ARMS officers), and made it look like he had planned it that way. And the elaborate cover story that Louis comes up with sounds almost like the plan of an unwritten Ringworld novel. Finally some mysteries are finally tied up neatly: (SPOILERS!) Why did Teela die in spite of her "luck"? Because the Teela Brown gene was protecting ITSELF, not her -- Dawkins' selfish gene theory. Why don't the Ringworld Protectors show the xenophobia that they did in PROTECTOR? Because they did genetic engineering on themselves to eliminate the trait. Still, to paraphrase TS Eliot, the RINGWORLD ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

Review by: Andrew Connors, Virginia, VA
Rating:

A Tired Boring Prequel
I liked the original Ring World series, and like any book I enjoy, I found myself reading each book in a day or so. I decided to read RingWorld's Children on the strength of the original series. However, after a couple of weeks, I am still only a 3rd of the way through. I picked it up again today - after reading the new Dune series book and other - well more interesting - books in between, I found it hard to keep reading. Why? Well I decided, sadly, that the story is just plain boring, It drones. It reads like a sad tired addition to the series that I get the distinct impression that Larry Niven probably did not want to write. I honestly do not think I can finish it - which is probably the worst thing I can say about a book. I'll keep it by the toilet in case one day I have a bad case of diarrhea and run out of toiletry boxes to read. It is really quite sad.

Review by: Rodolfo Salas
Rating:

Very happy
The book is in excellent condition. It arrived quickly and it was at a very reasonable price. I am very satisfied with this purchase.

Review by: Eric Kramer, Boston, MA
Rating:

One of Niven's best, but...
I think this book stands up well in comparison to other books in the Ringworld series. The story moves quickly, especially in the first 150 pages, and Niven's ability to combine action and hard sf is in top form. The book will be especially rewarding for readers who, like me, have long wondered what the ringworld was like when it was originally built, governed by a coalition of Machiavellian and super-intelligent beings, rather than the wrecked civilization it became. The main difficulty for the reader is the amount of effort required to understand and enjoy the story. First, it is helpful if the reader is very familiar with the three previous ringworld books, and with the novel Protector. The novel is definitely not a stand-alone story. Second, over the years Niven's writing style has become increasingly telegraphic, so that important plot points are often covered in just one or two sentences. Thus, I recommend reading this book slowly. Trying to read it all in one sitting will give an unfocused and unsatisfying experience.