| Re: Exactly what was Ringworld about? (Larry Niven)
As far as the book "standing on its own", all I can say is that was the first thing I read by Niven and it's still one of my very favorite novels of all time. I think it stands perfectly well on its own, altho the Neutron Star collection stories do add background, so for anyone new to Known Space I'd recommend starting with that and then reading Ringworld.
Yes, Ringworld does leave very many questions unanswered. And Niven fans are still debating points after all these decades. Larry has said Pak protectors (see Niven's novel Protector) built the Ringworld, in fact there's a brief account of events leading up to its construction on pp. 196-200 of Ringworld's Children. Unfortunately we never get to "see" the actual construction, nor do we ever find out how scrith was made. Larry apparently wants to leave some things "open" to give fans some things to speculate about on their own.
The first sequel, Ringworld Engineers, is quite good also, and like Ringworld it won a Hugo for best novel. A lot of questions are answered there, altho far from all! |