BOOK: Ringworld

[Dandelion_Wine]

I was at Half Price Books the other day with my son and I’m a Larry Niven fan and I stumbled upon Ringworld’s Children. Of course they didn’t have *Ringworld *and I thought to myself that I’d stop at the library and get it.

Wiki says there are 3 sequels and 4 prequels. Anyone read 'em all? Is there a suggested reading order? Do I start with *Ringworld *and read them in published order or start with the prequels or any other suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[GEddie]

I was at Half Price Books the other day with my son and I’m a Larry Niven fan and I stumbled upon Ringworld’s Children. Of course they didn’t have *Ringworld *and I thought to myself that I’d stop at the library and get it.

Wiki says there are 3 sequels and 4 prequels. Anyone read 'em all? Is there a suggested reading order? Do I start with *Ringworld *and read them in published order or start with the prequels or any other suggestions?

Thanks.

I’ve read the first 3, starting with Ringworld.

This one, I think, should be your starting point, as it sets up the background for the subgenre.

ICXC NIKA

 

[DakiniArtist]

Love the novels and we own them.

Yeah, start with the first.

 

[didymus]

I was at Half Price Books the other day with my son and I’m a Larry Niven fan and I stumbled upon Ringworld’s Children. Of course they didn’t have *Ringworld *and I thought to myself that I’d stop at the library and get it.

Wiki says there are 3 sequels and 4 prequels. Anyone read 'em all? Is there a suggested reading order? Do I start with *Ringworld *and read them in published order or start with the prequels or any other suggestions?

Thanks.

Definitely read Ringworld first.
From the Wikipedia entry for Ringworld Engineers:

In the introduction to the novel, Niven says that he never planned to write more than one Ringworld novel, but that he did so, in a large part, due to fan support. Firstly, the popularity of Ringworld resulted in a demand for a sequel. Secondly, many fans had identified numerous engineering problems in the Ringworld as described in the novel. A major problem being that the Ringworld, being a rigid structure, was not actually in orbit around the star it encircled and would eventually drift, resulting in the entire structure colliding with its sun and disintegrating. In the novel’s introduction, Niven says that MIT students attending the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention chanted, “The Ringworld is unstable! The Ringworld is unstable!” Niven says that one reason he wrote The Ringworld Engineers was to address these engineering problems.

And also, I suspect, because publishers prefer the tried and true to new material. You don’t have to read past *Ringworld Engineers *if you don’t feel like it – there’s a definite fall-off in quality as series progress.