books 2005: The Ringworld Throne, by Larry Niven

[supercheesegirl]

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. I loved the first book, liked the second one, but was just sort of confused by this one. Maybe it's been too long since I read the second one, or maybe I was skimming the boring sciencey sections too much from the start. I don't know, I just didn't really get it. And it felt like it didn't really end at an end--he just dropped Vala's story mid-book, and I wasn't sure what was going on with all the protectors and what not. Was Louis really safe at the end? Now that he's actually young, what's he going to do next? And I thought Chmeee's son was underused, he could have done a lot more stuff. And what really did the whole vampire-fighting group at the beginning have to do with the protectors? Was that just a setup for getting the Night People to the Spill Mountains? If so, the setup was way more interesting than where it led. But maybe that's just because there was lots of interspecies sex at the beginning and hardly any at all at the end. Meh. If you've read these, shed some light on this whole thing. And tell me, is the fourth book worth reading? Carlos, you recommended Protector, which looks interesting, but if Ringworld's Children is like Ringworld Throne I don't know if I'm going to pick it up. Except of course that I do like Louis and want to know what happens to him. :/

Comments

[deadwinter.livejournal.com]

Don't buy Ringworld's Children just yet. Borrow it from me. He ties a lot of loose ends but, really, neither Throne nor Children are anywhere near as good as the first two.

Throne is very inconsistent in keeping the plot moving, to be honest.

The sciency sections are important so you understand why Louis does a lot of the things he does. "Protector" has even more science, and a lot of orbital mechanics. It doesn't have Louis in it, as it takes place a couple of hundred years before the Ringworld events. You could see it as an expansion pack that helps explain the Pak.

I'll be happy to let you borrow both.

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the sciencey part of the "science fiction" is a lot less interesting to me than the characters. I guess I'm just a fantasy fan at heart... :) I would love to borrow both of those from you, though. Thanks for the offer! I'll make sure to think of it next time I see you.

[sleepyworm.livejournal.com]

um...spoilers...

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

Not really. Any characters I mentioned besides Louis you haven't even met yet, and it says on the back that there's vampire problems.

[sleepyworm.livejournal.com]

he's young again!

[supercheesegirl.livejournal.com]

Oops. Sorry, hon. You have full permission to smack me, on any part of my body you feel is deserving of it.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

-You've pretty much accurately summed up Throne, in my opinion. Niven's early stuff tends to be better, except for his collaborations with Pournelle and Barnes, which are in general quite good across the board.

[deadwinter.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Pournelle keeps him in check.
The man likes sex, I'll give him that. His grasp of biology is sometimes tenous, too.