Ringworld's Children

By: Larry Niven

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The Ringworld is a landmark engineering achievement, a flat band 3-million-times the surface area of Earth, encircling a distant star. Home to trillions of inhabitants, not all of which are human, and host to amazing technological wonders, the Ringworld is unique in all of the universe.

Explorer Louis Wu, an Earth-born human who was part of the first expedition to Ringworld, becomes enmeshed in interplanetary and interspecies intrigue as war, and a powerful new weapon, threatens to tear the Ringworld apart forever. Now, the future of Ringworld lies in the actions of its children: Tunesmith, the Ghould protector; Acolyte, the exiled son of Speaker-to-Animals, and Wembleth, a strange Ringworld native with a mysterious past. All must play a dangerous role in order to save Ringworld's population, and the stability of Ringworld itself.

Blending awe-inspiring science with non-stop action and fun, Ringworld's Children, the fourth installment of the multiple-award-winning saga, is the perfect introduction for listeners new to this New York Times best-selling series and for long-time fans of Larry Niven's Ringworld.

©2004 Larry Niven (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Great Sci-Fi

I for one happen to like the reading by Whitener. One should read at least "Ringworld" and "Protector" before reading this book as this one is based on both of these works. Great read, one that you don't want to stop until it is finish and then you want more.

Good Sequel - Awful Narrator

What did you like best about this story?

Winds up the Ringworld Story nicely. An enjoyable adventure with a bunch of loose ends tied up.

Would you be willing to try another one of Barrett Whitener’s performances?

No! This narrator almost made me stop listening. Why Blackstone Audio changed narrators on us is beyond me. It totally changed the tone the book. Parts 2 & 3 were beautifully narrated. Even the pronounciation of the names changed! I found it hard to tell characters apart at times.

Any additional comments?

Much better than the third part. Like the second part it still falls short of the first which was just amazing.

Great sequel

Would you consider the audio edition of Ringworld's Children to be better than the print version?

The narrator did a great job on this, his performance matched my own 'inner voices' for the characters and in this way I think enhanced the audio version over the printed one.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ringworld's Children?

Discovering the true history of the Ringworld

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Pretty much - in fact I completed it in a couple of days of travelling

Another must read/listen story by Niven.

The Ringworld is faced with new dangers from every direction. New and old heroes have to invent otherworldly solutions to save the lives of billions of people in this epic space adventure saga.

Narrator fail

I love Niven and all of his books - I have read the Ringworld series several times, but had never listened to it. The first (Tom Parker) and second/third (Paul Michael Garcia) are spot on, well read. For this one, the fourth, narrated by Barrett Whitener - it's clear he never listened to the previous readings at all - he gets all the names wrong, the characters tones change dramatically (he makes the Kizin sound goofy AF) and his enunciation of many words doesn't follow the previous narrators or logic for that matter.

A note to narrators - DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Give it a listen, as you'll want to finish off the series. Niven's writing is superb as always! This narrator just drove me nuts is all.

Great

This book was great. I enjoyed the performance and the story ark. Great long read.

Great but what was with Acolytes voice

It's great, the story is well told, the pacing is fine although the characters actions have little to no value. The only problem I had was Acolytes voice. He goes from werewolf/Klingon to muppet/yogi bear.

Narration wasn’t great.

I love this story. It was my companion across seven states. The tales of known space are always good.

Great sequel but deserves a better narration

Ringworlds Children is as enticing as Ringworld, and I've been a fan of Ringworld since it's original release in the 70's. I won't spoil the ending for anyone here but it was excellent, you won't be disappointed. I have heard better narrations though and would buy this audio book again if a better narration was made. Still, it's great sci-fi.

great hardcore sci-fi

Thoroughly enjoyable despite the narrator, Barret Whitener. Mr. Whitener has a highly annoying habit of reading phrases with an unwarranted ascending intonation. It adds an effect reminiscent of moaning and howling. Fortunately, thanks to the book's content, I was able to ignore it. Presently, as we are offered no choice of narrators, we should be happy to hear this book as offered. Sequel is implied. I look forward towards Audible providing us with other Niven books. (Even if they are read by Whitener.)