Customer Reviews
Most Helpful
3 out of 5 stars
By
J. Gowan
on
07-28-15
Rishathra,Rishathra,Rishathra
Any additional comments?
I enjoy the series but i am sick of the constant interruption of the plot for Rishathra.
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6 of 6 people found this review helpful
3 out of 5 stars
By
Aerindel
on
09-06-12
Should have stopped at the second book.
Unfortunately, this book is not really science fiction, or at least not the kind you normally expect from Larry Niven.
Taking place eleven years after the events in The Ringworld Engineers this book oddly is mostly about sex, and no, not romance but a kind of formalized inter-species ritual that all the the cultures on the ringworld seem to be obsessed with. They do it to seal trade negations, celebrate battle, or whenever they meet someone new.
Oh yeah, and vampires. Lots of vampires who emit a pheromone that makes everybody....you guessed it....want to have sex.
Now I don't mind sex and I don't particularly mind vampires but neither subject makes a good focus for what is supposed to be a hard sci-fi novel.
This really is a far cry from the the first book and very disappointing. I don't think I will continue with the series.
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16 of 19 people found this review helpful
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful
1 out of 5 stars
By
Mr. J. Forsyth
on
12-11-16
Worst so far in series. Very poor.
I struggled a bit with this, the first half of the story being so dislocated from the main plot (yes it links up and even set up aspects but really? Talk about the long way round). I dare say without it, vol and vampire nest, the story wouldn't suffer much. That says a lot to me about the story.
A plethora of new characters all with weird unpronounceable names (5* to narrator there!) and alien culture being thrown at the plot in rapid succession only to be held together by Larry Niven's love of rishathra (inter-species sex).. Its the third book and it still makes me cringe and let me tell you this book made me cringe A LOT. Just remembering the sheer amount and I'm downgrading my rating. The ending was more like the other books (actually the same as book 2 in principle) and seemed ok but I will not be reading anymore of these stories.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By
John B Parkin
on
06-11-16
An excellent presentation.
To get the most out of it read / listen to Book 1 (at least) and Book 2. Incredible characters, plots and themes. A book that will, like the others from Larry Niven, be listened to many times.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful