Ringworld Audiobook By Larry Niven cover art

Ringworld

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Ringworld

By: Larry Niven
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, Ringworld remains a favorite among science fiction readers.

The artifact is a vast circular ribbon of matter, some 180 million miles across, with a sun at its center. Pierson’s puppeteers—strange, three-legged, two-headed aliens—discovered this “Ringworld” in a hitherto unexplored part of the galaxy. Curious about the immense structure, but frightened by the prospect of meeting the builders, they set about assembling a team to explore it:

Louis Wu, human—old and bored with having lived too fully for too many years, seeking an adventure, and all too capable of handling it.

Nessus, puppeteer—a trembling coward from a species with an inbuilt survival pattern of nonviolence. This particular puppeteer, however, is insane.

Speaker-to-Animals, kzin—large, orange-furred, and carnivorous. The kzin are one of the most savage life-forms known.

The party’s expedition, however, goes disastrously wrong when their ship crash-lands and its motley crew faces a daunting trek across thousands of miles of Ringworld territory.

©1970 Larry Niven (P)1996 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Accolades & Awards

Hugo Award
1971
Locus Award
1971
Nebula Award
1970
Action & Adventure Adventure Classics Fiction Hugo Award Locus Award Nebula Award Science Fiction Funny Suspenseful
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Critic reviews

“Larry Niven’s 1970 Hugo Award winner, Ringworld, is arguably one of the most influential science fiction novels of the past fifty years…It’s clear that Ringworld hasn’t just become a cultural staple because it’s a good idea: its inspirational power comes from Niven’s success in bringing it to life. The sense of scale and wonder is joyful. I challenge you to read it without feeling awestruck.”

“[Grover Gardner] captures the personalities of the travelers through individual vocalization and provides smooth, expressive narration. The listener is soon caught up in the adventures of these vivid characters as they struggle to survive…A rousing adventure.”

“Niven’s style is such that you can be awed, then titillated, then amused all on the same page…After more than thirty years, the story remains interesting, and the ideas fascinating. I highly recommend this audiobook, whether you’ve experienced Ringworld already or not. I enjoyed every minute.”

“[Gardner] skillfully uses inflection and timing to heighten drama or highlight humorous details as appropriate. Parker deftly brings to life Louis Wu and other members of the ‘motley crew’…This is SF—and narration—at its best.”
Fascinating Worldbuilding • Innovative Concept • Distinctive Character Voices • Engaging Exploration • Creative Physics

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My husband has been telling me about Ringworld for about 10 years now, so when I saw it available on Auidble, I was excited to hear this book, which stuck with him since his teen years. This book is super unique and creative. It doesn't feel dated at all. I also found it to be a very different kind of Sci Fi book, as much about the characters and their personal curiosities as it is about the RingWorld itself.

This is not a rock 'em sock 'em space war sci fi book - it's much more cerebral and about the characters from three different species trying to relate to each other while they learn the secrets of the RingWorld.

My ONLY problem with this book was that it ended rather abruptly! I guess I have to listen to the next in the series. But this book is definitely worth the listen and totally earned it's Hugo!

Still Worth Listening 40 Years Later!

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This is a classic and a great concept. However, I was waiting for the storey to develop and it never really did. The idea of the Dyson Sphere is fascinating and the SciFi was good.

Great concept but boring

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Novel provides the requisite character development to hook the reader. I'm buying more Ringworld.

Great Intro

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This story reads like somebody's personal Journal. While the plot does have multiple twist there is no real storyline for the whole book. There's no beginning middle and end. And the ending left me severely disappointed. No conclusions, no resolutions, just stopped.

Not my favorite

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An average sci-fi adventure novel. It didn't exactly keep me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me coming back for an hour or so a day until I finished it. My two main criticisms are that I didn't really take anything away from this book and it had a pretty lackluster ending.

Not bad. Not great. A descent book all around.

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