The Ringworld Throne (Ringworld series, part 3)   Basic facts title: The Ringworld Throne ISBN:  0 345 41296 6 author: Larry Niven language: English (original language) science fiction publisher: Ballantine Books / Del Rey 355 pages published: 1997, first published in 1996 my rating: includes: glossary, Ringworld parameters, cast of characters   The story In part one, 'The Shadow Nest', vampires are massing on the Ringworld, an artificial structure encircling a star and home to a multitude of species. The threatened species combine their forces to attack the vampires in their lair under an ancient floating city. Thanks to Tegger, a red herder who finds a way into the city, they succeed in driving the vampires out. In part two, 'Dancing as fast as I can', the human Louis Wu returns to Hot Needle of Inquiry, a space ship buried under tons of magma in the Ringworld's control center and inhabited by the Pierson's puppeteer the Hindmost. He is unexpectedly followed by the kzin Acolyte and by a protector who forces Louis Wu, Acolyte and the Hindmost to form a pact with him. Together they discover that there are more protectors on the Ringworld, rebuilding the motors needed to keep the Ringworld in place. A battle with these protectors follows, while at the same time spacecraft from the human and kzinti worlds gather to invade the Ringworld.   My opinion The Ringworld as conceived by Larry Niven is inhabited with a multitude of different species, each with their own habits and lifestyle. And it contains many remnants of the ancient technology of the Ringworld builders. The author succeeds very well in describing the various characters and their interaction with the environment in a realistic way. The concept of the Ringworld, an artificial structure that forms a complete circle around a star, is worked out brilliantly throughout the Ringworld series. And I find the concept of Protectors, a phase in the humanoid development that requires infection by a virus, just as intriguing. A lot of information about both concepts is assumed to be familiar to the reader, so if you read this book without such familiarity you will miss a lot. Like with its predecessors the story is never predictable. The first few chapters of the first part are not particularly exiting, but this is more than compensated by the rest of the book. The first part of the book is easy to read, but second part does require you to stay attentive if you don't want to lose track of the developments. I am already looking forward to the next part in the Ringworld series.   Additional notes 'The Ringworld Throne' is the sequel to 'Ringworld' and 'The Ringworld Engineers'. The book can be read without having read these predecessors, but I do not advise you to do this. Not only will you miss the necessary background about the Ringworld concept, but you will also miss the meaning of the references to events from these earlier books. In fact I also suggest that you read Larry Niven's 'Protector' prior to reading the books from the Ringworld series, as it contains the background for understanding the Protector concept.

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