• The Ringworld Throne

  • The Ringworld Series, Book 3
  • By: Larry Niven
  • Narrated by: Richard Powers
  • Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (1,121 ratings)

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The Ringworld Throne  By  cover art

The Ringworld Throne

By: Larry Niven
Narrated by: Richard Powers
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Publisher's summary

Come back to the Ringworld - the most astonishing feat of engineering ever encountered. A place of untold technological wonders, home to myriad humanoid races, and world of some of the most beloved science fiction stories ever written.

The human Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee: legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda - if anyone dares approach them to learn.

Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld throne?

Larry Niven is the multiple Hugo and Nebula award–winning author of the Ringworld series, along with many other science fiction masterpieces. His Beowulf’s Children, coauthored with Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes, was a New York Times best seller. He lives in Chatsworth, California.

©1996 Larry Niven (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Readers who remember Ringworld from earlier encounters will no doubt relish the latest installment of the saga.” ( New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Ringworld Throne

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Should have stopped at the second book.

Unfortunately, this book is not really science fiction, or at least not the kind you normally expect from Larry Niven.

Taking place eleven years after the events in The Ringworld Engineers this book oddly is mostly about sex, and no, not romance but a kind of formalized inter-species ritual that all the the cultures on the ringworld seem to be obsessed with. They do it to seal trade negations, celebrate battle, or whenever they meet someone new.

Oh yeah, and vampires. Lots of vampires who emit a pheromone that makes everybody....you guessed it....want to have sex.

Now I don't mind sex and I don't particularly mind vampires but neither subject makes a good focus for what is supposed to be a hard sci-fi novel.

This really is a far cry from the the first book and very disappointing. I don't think I will continue with the series.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Porn In Space!

Any additional comments?

I am a huge Niven fan, and grew up reading his short stories and known space books. It was one of the great highlights of my young life and had a major impact on leading me into the scientific careers I have worked in over the years. However, something went sideways when he started writing sequels to Ringworld.

Somehow, Larry Niven developed an obsession with sex, nudity, and ritualistic cross-species sex. I am not at all a prude. I enjoy sexual material as much as the next guy, but not as a primary plot device in hard science fiction.

These plot-killers grew slowly over the first two sequels and began to obscure the true story. In Engineers, the story somehow survived between bouts of sex. But in Throne, the story pretty much disappeared beneath a sea of absurd and unnecessary lecherous writing.

I have tried several times to slog through these sequels, but always end up giving up somewhere within Thrones. It breaks my heart to say this about one of my literary heroes, but I would not recommend reading the Ringworld saga beyond the first, and truly amazing, book: "Ringworld".

I WOULD, however highly recommend any of the early Known Space novels. I would also say that Larry Niven is one of the all time great short story authors, so be sure to pick up all of his early short story collections, such as Neutron Star, Convergent Series, A Hole In Space, and several others.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Low point of the Ringworld series

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Disappointing. I loved the original Ringworld book, but the sequels have gotten progressively worse. Most of this book seemed to focus on how much the Ringworld inhabitants are obsessed with having sex. I found it hard to follow, and unsatisfying. The hard science (fiction) of the Ringworld was nearly absent.

Which character – as performed by Paul Michael Garcia – was your favorite?

The narrator was actually quite good. I enjoyed the various voices he used for the different characters. They were convincing, and appropriate.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Rishathra,Rishathra,Rishathra

Any additional comments?

I enjoy the series but i am sick of the constant interruption of the plot for Rishathra.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

You can skip this one

This one was harder to follow than the others. Think you can skip it. About to start reading the next one.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing book

What would have made The Ringworld Throne better?

Less rishathra and more good story telling

What could Larry Niven have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Come up with a good plot, explore the ring world more, focus on the main characters.

What about Paul Michael Garcia’s performance did you like?

It was just fine. He's got more patience than I do to make it through this book, all while reading it aloud!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Skip it. Seriously.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Revulsion. The endless Rishathra

Any additional comments?

I listened to the original Ring World a very long time ago and loved it so much I have listened to it 3 more times. I then got my 12 year old daughter to listen to it with me when we are in the car each morning. Back when I bought the first one, I could not figure out why the audio publisher did not do the second or third books. I now see why.

I doubt this review will remain because for only the second time ever, in the hundreds of books I have bought from Audible, I am also going to use Audible's return offer.

So why? In a word, rishathra. Verb: have "sex" with some other species. Sometimes referenced as rish.

Aerindel said it right! "Should have stopped at the second book.". I wish I could up vote that review about 500 times and I wish I could get the 3 hours of my life back that I wasted on this. I stopped after 3 hours.

Let me save you time. So here's the story. 50 boring words, rishasthra then maybe 50 more boring pointless words and then rishathra and then 50 more words and then rishathra and maybe add on a orgy or two of rishathra and then get "attacked" by vampires which is basically forced orgy rishathra with murder added in.

I am not sure I want to re-listen to Ring World's Children. I bought that right after I bought the first Ring World and I do not remember this... I just can't come up with a word for it.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

If you liked the first two, don't bother

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

While the quality is great, the book itself is crap.

Would you ever listen to anything by Larry Niven again?

I wouldn't bother listening if this is what he's turned into.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really did not enjoy the book at all.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Ringworld Throne?

I didn't listen past the first hour.

Any additional comments?

Just don't bother if you liked the first two, especially if you liked the first.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Rishathraworld: Battles of the Vampires

More Rish with more alternative hominid species than ever before!
Enjoy mind bending battles, and foreplay with fish people. New and old hero's fight and @#$! to save the Ringworld from Vampires!
It's a pretty awesome story, especially if you enjoy indulging in Rishathra as much as I do... wink wink

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Food, sex, vampires = skip this one, really bad book

The charm of three of the four characters from book 1 and 2 is notoriously lacking - as these were replaced by poor substitutes. The humor isn't here either. The hard sci fi isn't here. All that made the first two books good is missing. Toss in a complete lack of plot.

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