Sign in with Facebook
Manny's Reviews > Ringworld
Ringworld (Ringworld, #1)
by
The magic intersection point of the old and new styles of SF... basically, Golden Age space opera with cool aliens, but also including sex. (The sex isn't with the cool aliens, in case you were wondering - that's James Tiptree Jr. you're thinking of).
If you are an SF fan and have never been to the Ringworld, try and visit them some time! If you're not particularly into SF, well, these days Iain M. Banks does the same kind of thing better, so I would recommend reading "Consider Phlebas", "Player of Games" or "Use of Weapons" instead. But Ringworld is still a fun book.
by
Manny's review
bookshelves: science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, older-women-younger-men
Dec 20, 2008
bookshelves: science-fiction, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, older-women-younger-men
The magic intersection point of the old and new styles of SF... basically, Golden Age space opera with cool aliens, but also including sex. (The sex isn't with the cool aliens, in case you were wondering - that's James Tiptree Jr. you're thinking of).
If you are an SF fan and have never been to the Ringworld, try and visit them some time! If you're not particularly into SF, well, these days Iain M. Banks does the same kind of thing better, so I would recommend reading "Consider Phlebas", "Player of Games" or "Use of Weapons" instead. But Ringworld is still a fun book.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Ringworld.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 1972
–
Finished Reading
December 20, 2008
– Shelved
December 20, 2008
– Shelved as:
science-fiction
January 2, 2009
– Shelved as:
too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts
October 8, 2010
– Shelved as:
older-women-younger-men
Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Paul
(new)
-
rated it 1 star
Dec 23, 2008 07:32AM
Well I confess this underwhelmed me quite a lot - when they get to the great' fab very very big Ringworld, they (spoiler alert) don't actually do anything, just kind of wander about, like I do when I visit a stately home, hmm very nice, you know, now what?
reply
|
flag
Harsh! I must admit I haven't looked at this book for more than 30 years... but I seem to recall quite a lot of interesting plot development, as it gradually becomes clear to what extent the Puppeteers have been messing around with everyone's destinies. And the main characters do have the rather important problem to solve of how to escape from the damn thing and head home. I always felt the story was going somewhere, and it's fun to learn how the Ringworld functions. OK, it isn't Madame Bovary or Lord of the Rings for that matter, but does it ever claim to be?
Nope - I'm still after a great modern (last 20 years) sf novel. Haven't found one yet.
Well, as I said in the review, Iain M. Banks is the obvious place to look first. The early Culture novels are very fine - full of great ideas and well-written too, to a level unusual in SF. Don't see any of those on your list...
