Rating: 
Summary: Yeow, this is bad
Review: Remember the original Star Trek series? Remember where most of the *best* episodes took place ? Out in space, doin' space stuff, right? Remember where the *worst* episodes took place? On some planet, amongst the dull, boring natives, right? Well, that's what we have here - an entire "planet"-based episode. Actually more a soap opera as we watch the various Ringworld species fight each other, because?, because??, I guess because there's no TV is the only thing I can think of. When not fighting they're having inter-species sex. Sounds interesting you say? Not every other page it isn't. Niven's clearly fascinated by this, for no good reason I can see. Then there's the native species - each one more contemptible than the next. Our major characters are Ghouls, vampires, flesh eaters, and the like. Among them there's no group, no individual we (appalled readers) can root for. Yeah, I'm hoping the vampires beat the ghouls, 'cause those ghouls, boy they're bad. There's token appearances by a Kzin, and I think even Louis Wu was dragged into this. But, were this a movie, the actors portraying them would be on the set two days max., and phoning in the voice-overs. Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers are great books - buy them, read them. But this, this, this is total, embarrassing crap.
Rating:
Summary: Re-read Ringworld instead...
Review: Everything that made Niven novels (Ringworld, The Intergral Trees, Footfall...) such great reads is missing from this book. Don't ruin it for yourself, stay away from this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good enough. I enjoyed it.
Review: Once again, we return to the ringworld to encounter all the myriad weirdos it holds: Retarded vampires, giants whose giant women don't have orgasms, little red midgets with sharp teeth, and best of all, an engineer race whose women have beards! Yeah! I really could have done without having to picture someone having sex with a bearded lady, though. Really exciting war against a horde of sex-hormone-secreting vampire ho's. I liked it overall.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent conclusion to an excellent series
Review: Not being a big Niven fan otherwise, I am quite partial to the Ringworld series. The poor reviews given to this book by others are perhaps from hardcore Niven fans who expect works similar to his other writings. This book falls in well with the Ringworld series though, and in that regards I'm happy to give it 5 stars. If you aren't the Niven equivalent of a Deadhead, then try reading this entire series. I'm certain you'll enjoy them all.
Rating:
Summary: Ughhhhh...
Review: The first Ringworld novel was great, but it just went down from there. Why did Niven have to go and spoil that great seemingly empty ringworld of the first novel by populating it with all sorts of pitiful creatures. I mean, vampires? Give me a break.
Rating:
Summary: I Hated this book!
Review: Whatever happened to Larry Niven? When I first got into science fiction about15 years ago, it was Larry Niven's stories I always went back to after reading something terrible, just to remind myself what great stories were like. Does anyone else still remember the feelings they had as they read Footfall, The Legacy of Herot, Lucifer's Hammer or the first Ringworld novel? I sure do, and it was incredible! But let me tell you something; the gig is up. After reading this piece of trash, I couldnt bring myself to touch another Larry Niven work for months. And then when I did, it was a book that was even worse: Children of Beowulf (or whatever its called). I'd like to make a deal with Mr. Niven. If you promise to delete these books from the publisher's catalog, and NEVER speak of them again, I promise to spend my money on your next book. Deal?
Rating:
Summary: Definitely the worst Known Space book.
Review: Being a fan of Larry Niven's Known Space and particularly liking the character of Louis Wu, a return the Ringworld seemed like an ideal book. Unfortunately, Larry Niven provides a book that is tepid at best, filled with astounding mental leaps by the main characters and poor characterization, where it exists at all. This book felt like an afterthought, and does not even rate "airplane reading" quality. Check it out of the library.
Rating:
Summary: Forgettable? Yep, I forgot.
Review: I needed to read some reviews here before I could remember if I had ever read this book. After seeing a few attempts at plot summary, I recalled that the answer was "yes," but that the novel was so difficult and unfulfilling that I completely lost all memory of the reading experience. Coming from an avid Niven fan: avoid this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ringworld native are still dull
Review: I enjoyed this story, but I found the bits about the Ringworld natives tedious. The feeling is best described as Star Trek Alien syndrome--- there were too many oddly shaped humanoids hanging around. Niven is at his best when he is creating really strange aliens and letting them interact with humans. Humanoids interacting with humans aren't nearly as interesting. The story lines about old Niven favorites, the protectors, the martians, the Hindmost and Acolyte the kzin are what keep the book interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Niven's worst book
Review: Larry Niven is one of the best living SF authors, but he bombed out here. The only thing saving it from the horrible 1-star rating is the fairly exciting first half of the book. Notably, this did not feature Louis Wu, who even in the classic novels Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers seemed to be mainly a window through which the reader could see the real hero, the Ringworld itself. The second half dealt entirely with Protector politics. Had I not read the excellent Destiny's Road, I might have given up on Niven entirely.
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