The concept was interesting I guess but it was petty sexist.

I've put off reading this book for years, for some reason. It seemed daunting, and old, and weird. It was very good! I was actually reminded a little of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; both books mix clever sci-fi concepts and a daring adventure with lots of humor (although HHGG is more like a string of jokes attempting to form a plot). Most of the humor in this book comes from the two aliens in the motley spaceship crew; they're refreshingly alien, and cultural differences often lead to funny verbal exchanges and other situations. The concepts are also amazing, everything from the ringworld itself (which is like the one in Halo except that it's as large as three million Earth surfaces) to things like luck being a genetic quality (which, funnily enough, also reminds me of Halo). The weakest part of the plot was what actually happens down on the ringworld, though. The premise is very exciting, but finding out what actually happened with the fallen civilization wasn't as fulfilling. It was still cool to learn about the ringworld while they walked around on it though. Also, I'm not entirely sure what I think about the portrayal of women yet; it's not necessarily a negative portrayal, but there is a bit of focus on sex.

Teeters on the edge of greatness. Interesting for the jeopardy it places its characters in despite their great and magic tech. Somehow his soft technologies - the "stasis field" and the "variable-sword" (lightsaber) - feel real, because he pays consistent attention to tolerances, constraints, parameters. Not literary, not hard, and yet not pulp. successful.

(17/63+) In my Hugo Read-Through review coming soon! Quick review: I loved it! 1 part pulpy sci-fi, 1 part Hard scifi, and 2-parts the MYST game

At first I was going to give this a four. It was a short, fun read. But the story isn't very much of one. Therefore it gets a three.

I’d heard the Sci-Fi channel was in the process of making this book into a mini-series and decided to give it a shot. Being an inspiration for Halo also tipped my interest. This one follows the idea of a Dyson Ring, which has always been an intriguing topic to me. The idea that one Dyson Ring could have the habitable area of 3 million earth-size planets is mind-blowing. The world was more interesting than the characters, unfortunately. There is some controversy about the minimized role of women in this book, which I’d also agree with.