The Ringworld Throne

Infobox Book |
name = The Ringworld Throne


image_caption = Ballantine front-cover
author = Larry Niven
cover_artist = Barclay Shaw
country = US
language = English
series = Ringworld, Known Space
genre = SF
publisher = Ballantine Books
release_date = 1996
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 424 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-345-35861-9
preceded_by = The Ringworld Engineers 1980
followed_by = Ringworld's Children 2004

"The Ringworld Throne" is a novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1996. It is the direct sequel to his previous work "The Ringworld Engineers" (1980).

Plot summary

This book consists of two main plot threads, which only come together towards the end of the book. The majority of the first half of the story is devoted to a plot where a variety of hominid species from the ring join together to kill a large nest of vampires (the shadow nest) which has been feeding on all of them. Some of the characters are also found in "The Ringworld Engineers", as early on in this book Niven tells us that relatively few of the hominids died when Louis Wu and the Hindmost restabilised the ring at the end of the previous book.

The second part of the book details the continuing adventures of Louis Wu, who is now aging and ill. Eventually he returns to the Hindmost and is healed, only for the pair of them -- and also a Kzin called Acolyte, who is Chmee's son -- to be enslaved by a vampire Pak protector. What follows is a power struggle between Protectors on the rim wall and the vampire protectors who have control of the ringworld's defences. In many of the situations in this section of the book Louis, the Hindmost and Acolyte are present only as observers, as it is the Protectors who are the main protagonists of the story.

Release details

* June 1996, HB, ISBN 0-345-35861-9, US edition, Ballantine Books
* 1996, HB, ISBN 1-85723-399-9, UK edition
* June 2004, HB, ISBN 0-765-30167-9, US edition, Tor
* July 1997, PB, ISBN 1-85723-470-7, UK edition, Orbit
* March 1997, PB, ISBN 0-345-41296-6, US edition, Del Rey