The Ringworld Throne

The Ringworld Series, Book 3

By: Larry Niven

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins

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)

Yet another fun read.

Where does The Ringworld Throne rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Ringworld Throne?

Spoiler alert!! Tunesmith killing Bram and brams passing did it for me.

What does Paul Michael Garcia bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice characterizations were quite good. He tried to bring the characters to life in what I am sure was a grueling time.His Bram was especially good as the character would struggle with pronunciation as it had no lips or teeth!

Any additional comments?

Well done Mr Niven and Mr Garcia

Whoever enjoyed the predecessors

and is interested in finding out more about the different races of the ringworld and how they have shaped its fate will enjoy this book. Whoever is easily offended by otherworldly cultural practices or is only in for space exploration and engineering might enjoy it less.

well read, but the story seems to ramble

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

not allow it to ramble as much.

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

I genuinely enjoy the reader's performance. His use of tone & inflection is quite remarkable

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no

unbelievable

Do you have sex with every stranger as soon as you meet? All the characters in this story do.
Did you read Protector? Forgot everything you learned about Pac.
I listened to this twice, because I couldn't believe how the story unfolds. And that says a lot. I usually ignore conflicting parts of a story, after all it is science FICTION. But I had trouble doing that in this story. I am considering reading the sequel, I followed the Known Space series for years. I got out of reading SF about the time this came out. Audible helped me find the time to get back into Known Space. Now I wondering if buying the sequel is worth the money.

Rishathra,Rishathra,Rishathra

Any additional comments?

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

Interesting Sequel

What did you like best about The Ringworld Throne? What did you like least?

For me the constant infatuation with rishathra draws away from the story rather than enhancing it. I realise it is key to the society of Ringworld but this book just repeats the theme almost to the point of a teenage fantasy, maybe the fact I'm married is colouring my view...

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I immediately downloaded and listened to the next book in the series (I'd read them as a teenager).

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

Excellent dramatisation and realisation of the characters. I really liked the way he coloured his voices to match the physical reality of the characters.

Do you think The Ringworld Throne needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, and fortunately Larry gave us Ringworld's Children :)

What just happened?

Hard to follow what was going on. I understand the everyone does it with everyone. Beyond that ...

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

I just love Niven

the narrator reads very well, lots of distinctions between different characters and different emotional states in the tone of voice.

and I just love Niven

different but good

I saw a lot of negative reviews but despite this I have been pleasantly surprised.

I would say if you have genuinely enjoyed the previous books, it's worth reading. I would recommend reading it if you have not read the second book, naturally, you will find yourself lost. Also if you haven't realized up to this point, this series is definitely more science fantasy. The series isn't for hard sci-fi fans that need that need things to be believable- Ringworld has always been pulpy, horny space adventure.

I will point out at this point the narrative structure of the book diverges from the previous two. There are parts narrated by Louie Wu and part narratived by ringworld natives.

I will say sometimes things happen fast and get a little confusing, but if you don't worry yourself too much about always understanding 100% of whats going on or remembering all the names it's fine, as events are often reiterated upon from different perspectives and there's no need to sweat the little details.

Some might be skeptical of the vampire thing but, you just gotta trust me it's not what you are thinking and they fit in with the setting. They did appear briefly in book two after all.

There's also some new characters I find very interesting.