Ringworld, by Larry Niven
Phew, the last of these Niven books. I went on a little jag for some reason, but one might as well end up with the best of them. This is the book that really made Niven famous, and for good reason. There are certainly some issues with it, again largely to do with his characterisation (especially of women) but the sheer energy of his invention, and his willingness to follow an idea through to the furthest possible conclusion, make it all work. To be fair, the lead trio of characters - the cowardly alien Nessus, the warlike cat Speaker, and the human Louis Wu - do actually work together quite well, and the fact that the eponymous space object doesn't actually appear until about a third of the way through the book doesn't really matter. Even when I know what's coming, there's a sense of fun to be enjoyed as the hints slot in to place (well, to be fair, the title of the bloody book is one fairly big hint as to what they're going to find but still...).
Actually, though, there's a surprisingly odd (albeit enjoyable) low-key sense to the book. We never really find out who built the ring, or if they're still around, or... and so on. In fact, the last lines of the book point out that the whole narrative has only covered a tiny amount of the possible territory it could, and implies that there will be a sequel. I still find it odd that it took Niven 10 years to write it, but my copy of that book is hidden away, and I seem to remember that it wasn't very good, so that should be enough Niven for me for now. I read a new copy, during early September, that I borrowed from work, out now, ISBN: 0575082542.