Ringworld
The ' (1970–2004), by science fiction author Larry Niven, is a part of his Known Space set of stories. Its backdrop is the Ringworld, a giant artifact 600 million miles in circumference around a sun. The series is composed of four standalone science fiction novels, the original award-winning book and its three subsequent sequels: 1970: Ringworld 1980: The Ringworld Engineers 1996: The Ringworld Throne 2004: Ringworld's Children The core series was developed with three side series of prequels set in the same Ringworld universe, and written in collaboration: 1988–2009: Man-Kzin Wars (by various edited by Niven) 2007–2010: Fleet of Worlds (by Niven and Edward M. Lerner) 2010-2011: Juggler of Worlds (by Niven and Edward M. Lerner)
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Ringworld
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
An aging Earth man named Louis Wu is hired by a two-headed alien Puppeteer to join a Kzin warrior and a lucky young woman on a mission to a huge ringed structure orbiting an unknown star.
Yes. Ringworld won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards in 1971. It is one of the foundational big-dumb-object science fiction novels and influenced concepts including Larry Niven's Known Space universe and Halo's setting.
Larry Niven wrote four main Ringworld novels: Ringworld, The Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, and Ringworld's Children. Several connected novels in Known Space expand the world.
Ringworld was written by Larry Niven, published in 1970 by Del Rey Book/Ballantine Books.
Ringworld is 336 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Ringworld takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Ringworld is a standalone novel by Larry Niven, not part of a series.
Ringworld is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.