Niven, Larry. Ringworld: A Novel. NY: Del Rey, 1990 (originally published in 1977 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston). 342pp. $5.99. 76-45284. ISBN 0-345-33392-6. C.I.P.
This Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning classic starts with the assumption that an advanced civilization has re-engineered its solar system into a colossal ring-shaped habitat around its star. Ringworld spins with enough velocity to give its inhabitants the sensation of gravity and to keep the atmosphere within its walls. It has three million times the surface area of the Earth, enough room to solve nearly any population crisis. The story centers around a motley quartet of Ringworld explorers. The leader is a human, Louis Wu, who, by virtue of advanced medicine, has just celebrated his 200th birthday. He is accompanied by another human, Teela Brown, who has, by genetic manipulation, been bred for luck. (Yes, luck!) Their companions are aliens. Speaker-to-Animals is a representative of the catlike Kzin, who once tried to conquer Human Space, but lost miserably. Nessus is a Puppeteer, a three-legged, two-headed mercantile race descended from a herd species. The Puppeteers look and act harmless, but in fact are the discoverers of Ringworld and the employers of Wu, Brown, and Speaker. Niven does a wonderful job describing his aliens and their behavior, and handles the physics of Ringworld very well. There is of course the usual science fiction ploy of faster-than-light travel, but Niven handles even this speculative aspect of physics convincingly. Ringworld is part of a comprehensive future history known as Known Space. Wu and Nessus have both appeared in earlier Niven stories. There is no bad language and very little gore, but some teachers may be uncomfortable with the sexual relations between Wu and Brown.—John J. Wheaton, St. Francis High School, Louisville, KY
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