Questions tagged [ringworld]

Ringworld is an award winning Science Fiction book by Larry Niven and also a ring-shaped structure encircling and orbiting a star at a safe distance, described in that book.

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Can a Slaver Disintegrator destroy a General Products Hull?

The books say that the hull is indestructible (except to Antimatter) and that it is immune to all known weapons. But the books also say that the hull is a molecule, and that the Slaver Disintegrator ...
lbenedetto's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
2k views

How did Louis guess the major reveal in Ringworld?

I've just finished the original Ringworld, but I'm slightly confused by the ending. Specifically, Louis Wu explains how Louis explains to Speaker What does he mean by this? How did he work it out? (...
Sparhawk's user avatar
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2 answers
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Will Ringworld be taken over by the sunflowers?

In Larry Niven's novel Ringworld, there is a scene over the field of "sunflowers" that badly burn Speaker. Won't those plants eventually take over the whole of Ringworld? Or do they have some sort ...
Caleb's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
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Why did the Ringworld Engineers use flatten map as a way of forming maps of worlds?

Note: I don't ask here why did they created "maps of worlds" at all. That has been mainly answered in this question. My question is: why map exactly, as a way of (visually) forming "maps of worlds"? ...
hindmost's user avatar
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3 answers
733 views

Does the Ringworld have frozen belts near the rim walls?

The Ringworld is an object around 1 million miles wide and with a diameter of approximately 2 AU, encircling a Sun-like star. From what I can tell the surface of the Ringworld is "flat", as in the ...
Thomas Jacobs's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
903 views

Advise on Ringworld series [duplicate]

I just got finished reading the "Ringworld" series by Larry Niven (Ringworld, The Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, Ringworld's Children). Should I now read the "Fleet of Worlds" series (...
Harry's user avatar
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13 votes
2 answers
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Why are there Kzinti on Ringworld?

Maybe I've missed it in my marathon readthrough of the Ringworld series, but I can't understand what the Kzinti are doing on the Ringworld. The Protectors went to enormous lengths to make the breeders ...
Shamshiel's user avatar
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24 votes
5 answers
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How would one navigate on Larry Niven's "Ringworld"?

A long,long time ago I read Larry Niven's "Ringworld" and "The Ringworld Engineers". It recently occurred to me that trips on the Ringworld have a problem: The Ringworld is so vast that finding out ...
David Tonhofer's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
1k views

Where did the escapees from Ringworld end up?

I don't recall that Larry Niven provided any clues as to the fate of the Ringworld denizens that fled the structure via the space vehicles they constructed out of the stabilizing rockets(rim jets) ...
Major Stackings's user avatar
25 votes
4 answers
11k views

How much did Larry Niven's Ringworld inspire the Halo game franchise?

I have heard that the First Person Shooter Halo game franchise was inspired by Larry Niven's Ringworld. How Ringworldy is it? Is there more to the connection between Niven's classic Ringworld and the ...
Major Stackings's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
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Did the "Lying Bastard" create the Fist of God?

Did Louis Wu's General Products' #2 hull equiped spacecraft, the "Lying Bastard", create the Fist of God mountain on Ringworld?
Major Stackings's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
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What is the "Kzinti Lesson" from Larry Niven's Ringworld?

I am re-reading Ringworld now, and I came across this term; does anyone know where I can find the origin in Niven's canon of work?
BrianClayton's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
917 views

Why is the indentation for Mars missing from the underside of the Ringworld?

I was reading Lary Niven's "The Ringworld Engineers" last night. In the last chapter I read, they were flying the Needle underneath the Ringworld, passing under The Great Ocean, looking at the ...
Kevin's user avatar
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28 votes
3 answers
37k views

Recommended order of Ringworld novels

Larry Niven's novel Ringworld is, according to wikipedia, "followed by three sequels, and preceded by four prequels". 1) Is it a good idea to read all of them (or is there another Star Warsgate ...
Thomas's user avatar
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2 answers
791 views

If the Puppeteer worlds are traveling near light-speed, shouldn't their time be dilated?

If it were, the time that Louis Wu spent there would have seemed very short, but would have actually been years. Was this ever addressed?
DampeS8N's user avatar
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10 votes
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How close was the Puppeteer's homeworld to the Ringworld?

Specifically, I'm curious about 2 key points in time. When the Ringworld was first explored by Louis Wu (Ie, the book Ringworld) During the Fringe War (Ringworld's Children) And if you want a bonus ...
PearsonArtPhoto's user avatar
19 votes
6 answers
4k views

Who is the Hindmost in the Ringworld sequels?

In Ringworld, the puppeteer Nessus leads the expedition with a goal of mating with the Hindmost. In the sequels, the Conservatives took over power on the Fleet of Worlds and the deposed Hindmost ...
R. Martinho Fernandes's user avatar
20 votes
8 answers
1k views

Puppeteers' homeworld heat a major problem?

I recently read the Ringworld series by Larry Niven, and I was most intrigued by the Puppeteers. In particular, was the claim that their homeworld could do just about anything, except for get rid of ...
PearsonArtPhoto's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

Instability of Niven's ringworld

I've read that the ringworld's design is actually unstable, and that it would drift and eventually collide with the star it was supposed to orbit. How is this flaw corrected in the subsequent stories?
liewl's user avatar
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What were the "mistakes" in the first paperback edition of Ringworld?

The dedication of The Ringworld Engineers reads If you own a first paperback edition of Ringworld, it's the one with the mistakes in it. It's worth money. What are these mistakes that were corrected ...
R. Martinho Fernandes's user avatar