The Ringworld Engineers

The Ringworld Series, Book 2

By: Larry Niven

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

It’s been 20 years since the quixotic and worldsweary Louis Wu discovered the Ringworld. Now he and SpeakertoAnimals are going back, captives of the Hindmost, a deposed puppeteer leader.

With Louis’ help, the Hindmost intends to regain his status by bringing back such extraordinary treasures from the Ringworld that his fellow puppeteers will have to be impressed. But when they arrive, Louis discovers that the Ringworld is no longer stable - and will destroy itself within months. To survive, he must locate the control center of the legendary engineers who built the planet.

His quest becomes a wild and gripping venture blended with the mysteries and spectacular technologies that only Larry Niven can conjure.

©1980 Larry Niven (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The Ringworld Engineers has all the imaginativeness, convincing detail, and narrative vivacity that have come to be associated with the works of Larry Niven. Furthermore, it answers a lot of questions that have been tantalizing his readers for a long time. Most highly recommended!” (Poul Anderson)

I love Larry Niven!!!

physics AND an imagination - A perfect combination. I've never been let down by any novel by Larry Niven.

Loved it!

I enjoyed this one every bit as much as the first novel. I thought the narrator did a very good job despite the other reviews I read to the contrary. Looking forward to listening to the next sequel!

Just as awesome as the first book!

Read Ringworld, Book 1, and then you have to read this book 2 Engineers. Awesome.

Tres bien!!

Good stuff! The narrator has respect for the source material and that's necessary for a story like this. Thanks, Larry Niven!

Great Listening!

I really loved having this faithfully amazing tale read to me. Creates a much different vibe than just reading words.

well written

strong characters ,very good story line, inventive and interesting and keep me engaged highly recommend by friends did not disappoint

excellent tech sci-fi

great story, well told. finally, tech sci-fi without much fantasy. I loved it! wish there would be more!

Great continuation for what was never a series

First let me say that the Narrator isn't as good as the one on the first book but not as bad as the one for the 4th book Ringworld's Children, it should be the same narrator for all the books in a series but I guess its not possible every time

This is the start of a series of books that the author never set out to make a series, this was never planed but after 10 years and many fans point out errors with the Ringworld as well as wanting more he made this book and I am glad he did.

The author says that MIT students attending the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention chanted, "The Ringworld is unstable! The Ringworld is unstable!" Niven says that one reason he wrote The Ringworld Engineers was to address these engineering problems.

In the first book you are introduced to the Ringworld and there are some inaccurate or overlooked features about the Ringworld that were corrected in this book or at least helped to explain them better, if you read the first book and loved it then this is a must read.

Louis Wu went to the Ringworld 20 years ago and now he goes back with his friend Chmeee (the "ch" is pronounced like a guttural German "ch", as in "ach" the narrator does it correct in this book but the one for the 4th one Ringworld's Children don't) "Speaker-to-Animals" from the first book who has a name.

This book explores some of the Ringworld and you get to see more of how it works, it has become unstable in its orbit and if not corrected it will brush against its sun and obliterate everything on the surface and probably destroy the Ringworld itself but Louie Wu and hos motley crew are back to help fix the problem.

There must be a control or repair center on the Ringworld to fix the problem and they must find it, but who made the Ringworld and how long ago is still a mystery that will be discovered in this book.

There are whole maps of planets in a 1:1 scale on the Ringworld that are of Worlds in Known Space including Earth and Mars, others are unknown but you find out its the home world of the makers of the Ringworld.

other questions still remain after reading this book, some will be answered in the following books and others can be found in the prequels, still others remain a mystery for the reader to infer.

This is pretty much a must read if you liked the first book, now some people say the next one isn't that good and that the 4th one is also not so good, I have read them all and they aren't bad, you can read my reviews of them also if you look them up

Great Fun Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. If you enjoy hard sci fi, you will enjoy the Ringworld engineers.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Teela Brown and Chmee the Kzin were my favourite characters. Teela as the Protectors always intrigue me and the Kzin, well who wouldn't love a battle cat?

Did Paul Michael Garcia do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes and no. I find one reader has a hard time bringing the different characters to life. Even trying different accents for different characters. A cast of readers would be much better see the Time Machine classic radio sci fi available on Audible. It was an old radio show I believe with lots of readers, sound effects, music etc etc. Very entertaining. Sci fi has so much going for it where sound effects would really lift the experience.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Killing Teela. Very sad, regrettable.

Any additional comments?

The original Rinworld was written as a stand alone novel. The books that followed did a great job of blending the Protector Novel into the Ringworld Saga and known space scenarios. As the books go forward Niven seems to have improved his writing. The Ringworlds Children was a very entertaining novel, it just finished too soon! More please Mr Niven!

Good Story Mediocre Reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The reader

What did you like best about this story?

It was a reasonable follow on to the original story, and contained a lot of good plot twists.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Michael Garcia?

Tom Parker

Was The Ringworld Engineers worth the listening time?

yes

Any additional comments?

I will continue with the series, but may avoid the ones with Garcia with his gayness, and his gross lack of connection with the material.