Ringworld cover art

Ringworld

Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Ringworld

Written by: Larry Niven
Narrated by: Tom Parker
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.16

Buy Now for $21.16

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, Ringworld remains a favorite among science fiction readers and listeners.

The artifact is a vast circular ribbon of matter, some 180 million miles across, with a sun at its center. Pierson’s puppeteers—strange, three-legged, two-headed aliens—discovered this “Ringworld” in a hitherto unexplored part of the galaxy. Curious about the immense structure, but frightened by the prospect of meeting the builders, they set about assembling a team to explore it:

Louis Wu, human—old and bored with having lived too fully for too many years, seeking an adventure, and all too capable of handling it.

Nessus, puppeteer—a trembling coward from a species with an inbuilt survival pattern of nonviolence. This particular puppeteer, however, is insane.

Speaker-to-Animals, kzin—large, orange-furred, and carnivorous. The kzin are one of the most savage life-forms known.

The party’s expedition, however, goes disastrously wrong when their ship crash-lands and its motley crew faces a daunting trek across thousands of miles of Ringworld territory.

©1970 Larry Niven (P)1996 Blackstone Audiobooks
Classics Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Fiction Interstellar
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Ringworld

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    57
  • 4 Stars
    36
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    52
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Give the narrator a chance!

Great series of books but the narrator takes some time to find his voice, but he does and it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very imaginative concepts

Well written with interesting characters and a strong story. Classic SiFi that challenges your thinking about what maybe possible.
Even though this book was written 50 years ago, it is still relevant today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

scifi 101

loved story from my teen years. very nice to listen to it after so many years

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Longstanding Favourite of Mine

Larry Niven creates believable worlds and populates them with interesting characters like no other. Ringworld is a Sci-fi classic and the performance of the audio book was enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not for me.

I don't enjoy old science fiction and I mistakenly bought an old science fiction novel.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bicycle tricycle flycycle

You'll see what I mean once you get to the flycycle section. Lol.

Very fun read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Pretty underwhelming

Finally decided to give this a listen after hearing so much about it over the years, but I have to admit that i this book didn't live up to expectations. This book has some good ideas and an interesting premise, but this gets bogged down by dull characters and mediocre storytelling. I also wasn't a fan of the narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wow this book has some sexist tones!

Alot more sexist than expected. Female depiction is concerning. Definitely contains an old mans fantasy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

very dated interesting concepts but without depth

charactes are pretty flat and more time is spent on interesting moments then padding out the cool stuff with more explanation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I’m sure it was alright in its day

Characters are flat and boring. The story is slow and you never feel any real suspense. The story just happens to you and you’re left bored and only very mildly interesting like you may feel in the dentist chair while he digs around in your mouth. I only toughed it out because it’s a classic. If you want fun/interesting hard sci-fi then listen to the bobiverse. Im sure dennis e. taylor stole some ideas from here especially for “heavens river” but he massive improved on them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!