I read this book a little over a decade ago and I think it's telling that I remember every dope-ass detail of the worldbuilding in this story and literally *nothing* about the characters or plot. Niven was ridiculously good at exactly one thing. -R
Wasn't expecting to see you here. Love your mythology videos! Could you please cover some stories from the Railway Series some time? I'd love to see that. Stay legendary!
Hey, Red! Personally I prefer the Beowulf Schaeffer stories when it comes to Niven, although I am fond of A Goat in Maud's Eye. You could probably have some fun with Dream Park, Niven having fun with comparative mythos and gaming.
hey... maybe... just maaaaaayyyybbbbeeee... you could maybeeeeee... mayyybbbeeee... maybe... mmmmmmmmmm... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... yyyyyyyyyyyyy... bbbbbbbbbbbbbb... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... talk about some Niven and stuffs... oooooooorrrreeeeee... MAYBE!!! percy jackson... or maybe none of those things because this is you own life and you control it :) (Yes I Think I'm Funny)
Yeah, I think we can all understand that. Much as it's nice to rant and rave at something that deserves it, you also need to talk about things you genuinely love. Does wonders for both your physical and mental health.
"I'm not going to reveal exactly what it is because I know a lot of people ignore the spoiler warning even though they intend to read the book"..... no need to call me out like that haha
This is most definitely a case where if this video made you curious about the book, you absolutely should read it. So while this might have been excessive caution about spoilers in many other cases, I think it was the right call in this particular case. And also, go read the book.
I never worry about spoilers alerts because to me the journey is more important than the destination. Even if the spoilers are one interpretation of the journey, it's my interpretation that matters so no amount of information is going to spoil it.
A billion years ago they were human like and also the only animals on the ring. Now the ring has obligate carnivores. Read to see if any cows evolved from people.
Niven's weaknesses with plots applies only to his novels, though often mitigated by co-authors. His true strength is in short stories, where he's a master of tight plotting. This also applies to his characterization--he's great at swiftly introducing fascinating characters, but not so hot at sustaining and developing them for an entire novel. I highly recommend all of his short story collections, many of which are set in Known Space.
omfg I haven't even thought about libraries in ages, but as someone who prefers reading physical books, the ability to just go and rent a book for free, and be able to keep re-renting it until you're done with it instead of having to blind buy books and hope you'll like them after just glancing through it in the bookstore, is an outstandingly amazing feature of society. when the plague is over I need to figure out where the big library in my town actually is. I know there is one, probably downtown, but the local one is tiny and kinda shitty.
I was a librarian for many years, and I can't imagine a better job. I wonder how many people can say they wake up thinking 'Oh, goodie! I get to go to work today!'
Its not the same thing, but a lot of libraries partner with online library organizations (hoopla, kanopy, etc). Been using them more since the pandemic began and it's helped a ton!
Dom, at this point you shouldn't have to apologize for liking swords. They're very cool! And I will not ever be disappointed if you show off your entire collection in a video someday
@@emilyrln meh, pretty sure that like is acceptable for a direct comparison. Since I feel this going off on a grammar tangent moving forward I will go ahead and kill the bit; it would feel like moving an empty handle around and not remotely like cutting anything. It was a semantics point of argument made in an attempt at humor.
To be honest I like spoilers. Even if I'm going to read or watch the story. I'm not a big fan of surprises or bad endings so I like to know in advance what I'm getting. If the story is bad, a surpise end is not going to rescue it - and if the story is good I will enjoy it in any case.
I worked with someone who was like that. Dude would ask me to spoil DBS, which would hype him up making him want to watch it. I could never understand but always told him.
I know I'm way late to the party but had to point this out. Ages ago I read a Niven collection that contained some autobiographical info. He told how a book critic pointed out that "Ringworld" could be boiled down to "The Wizard of Oz" in space. Niven's kneejerk response was that the critic was an idiot, but after a good night's sleep awoke and realized "Yep, I sure did rewrite that!" Louis Wu is Dorothy, the "regular" guy just trying to get home Nessus is the Cowardly Lion, finding courage in his journey Speaker is the Scarecrow, discovering his intelligence Teela is the Tinman, her luck has left her heartless, but she does gain something akin to empathy Halrloprillallar(spelling?) is the Wizard in her floating, magic city Dorothy et al are menaced by a field of poppies - Louis and his crew are menaced by a field of sunflowers. I can't remember all the other parallels that Niven pointed out but there were several.
There’s a very strong supply of negativity right now, we’re in no danger of a shortage. I can do with more enthusiasm myself. Having said that, Dom, I find the fingernails distracting.
@AND ANDREY ISN'T HERE I mean common, how am I supposed to pay attention to the subject at hand when he's waving such marvelously colorful things around?!
Honestly, I wish everyone would stop focusing so much on negativity. I can't be the only one who wants to hear people talking about good things that they actually like more, can I?
That’s called toxic positivity. Things can’t be all good all the time. Life doesn’t work like that it has negative with the good and when you ignore the negative you become a walking bomb of it.
Tbh, I just like his videos, doesn’t matter if he likes or hates the content he’s talking about. That said, I really do appreciate how much he goes through to get videos out.
I completely agree. So many channels just complain about the hobby they love that I start to wonder "what DO you like about the hobby?" It's fine to offer critiques, but only if it comes from a place of being better or admitting faults in something we enjoy.
@@stainlesssteelfox1 I haven't read the book yet but I looked up some covers and the Kzin definitely *look* sexy. I agree about Caitians though, they're very cute cat people lol
Lucas wasn't a particularly good world-builder, either. There's three kinds of "good" world building -- either vast and rich mythology and history, like Tolkien or Sanderson; or intricate and well-defined science or sufficiently analyzed magic, like Niven or, again, Sanderson; or unique and enriching societies and cultures, like LeGuin or certain works of Lois McMaster Bujold. Star wars was great, but... the history and government are insane and clearly made up as he went, and the in-world mythology non-existent; the magic system is very soft and runs on Rule of Cool rather than internal consistency; and the culture is just standard American pop space fantasy. Star Wars started something that turned out to be incredible, but it wasn't (originally) its world-building that did it.
@@Amanda-C.: To be fair Star Wars is like "standard American pop space fantasy" mostly because "standard American pop space fantasy" is like Star Wars. Apart from to some extent Dune and some of Jack Kirby's stuff Star Wars was pretty different from what American sci-fi was like when it came out, and more in line with French trends if anything.
I think the infamous UA-cam algorithm screwed you over on this one. I didn't even know this video existed until I saw your poll. It's a shame too, because this is yet another really great video! ❤️
As an amateur writer I can identify a lot with Niven, I love world building but I struggle with character and plot. Most readers want a story about interesting people who do interesting stuff, the setting is secondary. "A setting with great detail is valuable but alone will never sell." Iv been told.
I completely and entirely disagree, it is all up to the reader and their prefferences, aswell as how it is executed. Make a story built around the setting then. Make a simple story and character who may travel through said world and just embrace the nearly episodic nature of these visitations. You could also just do a third person or narrator perspective and just write it like that, afterall All Tommorows succeeded pretty well despite having no characters and very simple worldbuilding yet it is a beautiful piece of fiction. So, here's some ways: Have a neutral, observer/traveler character and just use plot as a way to get this character into these places to observe them. You can write this in first, second, or third person but personally first person and second person work better for me. You can have a limited, or omniscient narrator, a historical narrative or a mythological lore telling etc. While it won't be for everyone, it can still be great. And yes, you can make it emotional aswell. A good example of this is All Tommorows, though in that story most things are left to the reader's mind. There's also the option of writing it as documents from the world itself. Here's my examples: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, The Silmirillion (that book made by Tolkein) You can also do a narration where a hypothetical author is speculating or imagining about this setting, perhaps even reading about it from some material. They key is to write it for the worldbuilding, or neutral between the worldbuilding and characters/plot like tolkein did.
I mean, it worked for Larry Niven, Arthur C Clarke, and JRR Tolkien, you'll probably be fine, lol. Mostly joking about Tolkien, as the HOBBITS have rather interesting and nuanced characters (in the books, the movies are exercises in character assassination, imho) but the rest just kinda go along. Also, Clarke and Tolkien are my favorite authors, period, lol.
@@UNSCPILOT I don't recommend doing this as the book requires an extremely high level of engagement, especially if you want the sequel to be easily connected.
This video needs way more likes. Also, is it bad that when you were explaining the time suspention field the first thought I had was "wow that would make a really good refrigerator" ?
One of my favorite scenes in Daniel Suarez's Influx was when a character takes some people to his high tech hideout and starts preparing a meal with mega-future tech. The application of advanced technology to everyday life is an interesting part of sci-fi.
@@Devtrek there was a scene in Peter F. Hamiltons Dreaming Void saga, where a few protagonists are stranded on a space ship that's really, really badly damaged and their food synthesizer isn't working properly (one of them says that their orange juice tastes kinda fishy) and their solution is that the woman gets to eat all the pre-packaged meals and really nice wines and everything the former crew brought with them, while the two men have to eat whatever the synthesizer makes, because they have biononics (organic nano machines) which they use to modify their smell and taste receptors so the food gets at least somewhat enjoyable, but she has none, so she eats lasagne and chocolate truffels and everything xD I found it funny how they're using weapon-grade nanotechnology just so that their food doesn't suck.
There is indeed a bit in Niven's non-Known Space novel _A World Out Of Time_ (which is also very good, and is rather better plotted than _Ringworld_ ) where a character is using a stasis field to store cooked food at the original temperature, not only fresh but piping hot!
It's okay to talk about books that you're passionate about. I've picked up the Earthsea book because of how passionate you talked about it. So I can't wait to see more reviews like this the future.
A bit about the plotline- it very much reminded me of a Pen and Paper RPG, like dungeons and dragons. Not in that it was using those tropes, but in that the characters almost always behaved like a group of Player Characters, and the storyline itself seemed to flow almost like an RPG campaign. So basically the characters were constantly over equipped, more than willing to behave like jerks who know there are no consequences to their actions, and smugly assume that any situation they get in is set up for them to 'win' at. The point where Seeker and Prin join the group feels like the GM had two more people want to join the game and he needed to hamfist in their weird characters. The conclusion at the end of the novel felt like the point where the GM had given up on the campaign and just wanted to slap an ending on it so that they could move on to something else. I found this to be more unintentionally humorous than anything else and still very much enjoyed the book.
@Hot Rod where did they say they were complaining about the spoilers? I personally might read the book, though hard sci-fi isn't really my thing, but I much prefer watching the video than turning it off on the off chance that I might one day actually read the book.
@@EnvoyOfTheBlackAbyss same) paused the video at spoiler warning, waited a month, then caved in and enjoyed the rest of the video, which was rather spoiler-light in my opinion
I mean... they might not after more of their culture.... like that they bred their females into subservience with the exception of a random fluke.... or that they were initially SO aggressive that the wars between them and humans were actually engineered by the Puppeteers as a means of forced, rapid eugenics, killing off a majority of the most dangerous and belligerent in several generations leaving only those capable of restraint *at all*.
Please do a series on your favourite books. I'm always looking for recommendations, and i don't wanna just read classics or whatever's in the current pop culture.
I'm glad that you are putting your mental health before our enjoyment of your UA-cam videos, Dominic. Besides I think that you're funny whatever the subject of the video of the day. Your videos help to relieve my pain and that is enough for me. 😁🥰😁🥰
I'm a librarian. It's part of my job to recommend books. But the best thing is talking with other people about our favorite books. So please do talk about all the books what led to your love of reading.
As a person who is very much afraid of sun exploding someday in the future and destroying all life as we know it, I find the idea of running away from an explosion 20k years in advance a very relatable trait.
@@sandralovesmusic15 Definitely sensible to think long term. I've always admired that in the Martians from Quatermas and The Pit. Sadly they were also psychic Nazis.
Dominic: * talking about a massively fascinating piece of worldbuilding that I find cool and interesting * My ADHD brain on magpie mode: him nails shoiny,,,,, bling bling
Actually from what I heard they're more like the "Lensmen" by E. E. Doc Smith...and having read those I can kinda believe it. A Lensman wears a brilliantly sparkling bracelet on their wrist that gives them basically psionic powers, and anybody who's not worthy to use one dies if they even touch it, and the group includes a wide mix of different alien species. Apparently the similarity between that and the sci-fi version Green Lanterns was an accident, but after this was pointed out the comic book authors went and named a character "Arisia" after the main non-Earth planet (the one that's basically the equivalent of Oa) from the Lensmen series anyway. :) (And then, speaking of the one with the _magic_ ring, there's also the fact that using a Lens for too long can make it so your kids are born with powers, like Alan Scott's kids were...) Would I recommend these books? Well, the writing style is kinda clunky and over the top sometimes. But it does have properly _alien_ aliens, weird and interesting worlds and GOD DAMN ENTIRE PLANETS being slung around as part of an intergalactic war, so...
More Kzinti fun facts: Based on their appearance in Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Kzinti were made a playable race in the Star Fleet Battles universe of tabletop wargames. It wasn't until the tabletop game got adapted to PC (Starfleet Command) that they changed their name for legal reasons (from the Kzinti Hegemony to the Mirak Star League). Alan Dean Foster, who adapted episodes of Star Trek: TAS into print, suggested that the Catian species (which included the character of Lt. M'Ress) were an evolutionary offshoot of the Kzinti. The Kilrathi, the baddies in the Wing Commander series of games, were also heavily inspired by the Kzinti. Loved the video! Looking forward to more hard scifi in the future.
"You've gotten yourself the ultimate sword ... able to cut through titanium like warm butter! ... I really like swords, okay." As do I. I may or may not have replayed that part once or twice.
Dominic: I'm not gonna reveal the last twist because I know there are people ignoring the spoiler warning even if they intent to read the book... Me: Is this a personal attack or something????
@@CatHasOpinions734 the only times I low-key regret being 'spoiled' is for mysteries because I wish I knew whether I'd have figured it out. Otherwise, I don't care at all. I read and rewatch everything I like.
Nivens plot is meh, but the shared universe is great, I especialy enjoied "Cathouse" and its sequel "Neanderthal". Dont't know how one would go about finding those books these days (I personally steal them from my dad), but deffenitly give them a try, if you don't like one, there sure is a different one you will enjoy.
@@alanpennie8013 Gil the Arm is known space. One of the things I like about Niven is that his reasonably consistent world building stretches over hundreds of years in the same universe. Most authors world building cannot outlast one protagonist or one story arc or one royal family.
I love Larry Niven's 'Tales of Known Space' series. "Neutron Star" was one of my favs. I found it funny that the Puppeteers were fleeing the universe by taking their whole solar system with them.
As a considerable fan of Known Space, please do more of them. I would appreciate seeing you do further examination of Known Space in general and the Ringworld in particular. You could open a whole new niche of videos exploring the world building of Known Space
I’m slightly surprised at the lack of a mention of Strata, Sir Terry Pratchett’s loving sendup of Ringworld where he first made use of a Discworld in his writing.
I will check out this book Dominic. I am currently listening to a classic the Mars trilogy - Red , Green and Blue which is more "hard" science fic. I havent been able to put the audio book down its so good. It a good mix of characters, perspectives, their adventures, relationships and expertise in their different fields in science over time.
Side Note: While it's a different genre of hard science fiction The Saints doulogy by Jacqueline Carey is another great read and one of my personal favorites.
@@Viridigitus-y6c I'm sorry, I read the books in german when I was twelve, I don't know the english titles, but yes, I wasn't referring to Ringworld alone but the entire known space. Ther is just SO MUCH MATERIAL, and NOONE IS USING IT!!! I would love to watch something known space related that isn't that one bad star trek the animated series episode....
@@eosbeneder977 it's okay, the one I referred to isn't actually part of the Known Space series but I agree, so little has been done with it and with so many book series getting adapted these days this one should be one of them
well, yes and no i would say. Yes, if you do not mind living without a status quo. Because as its described in the book, your luck will pull you away from your world to the other side of the galaxy just to find the love of your life. Sounds nice, right? But same said luck will strand you there, alone and away from friends, family and other loved ones. It will ruin your career, it will hijack your choises in life. But sure, it will keep you safe. You. Not anyone around you.
@@KamiRecca Well, you and anyone you care about. But developing the ability to care about other people is a lot easier through (shared) hardships, so the lucky bastard tends to be a bit of a narcissist too.
@@KamiRecca Teela Brown's luck may not care about me and mine, but it does care about whether or not she's happy, so nothing tragic is going to happen to her close friends so long as she'd miss them if they weren't around any more...
Saw this review last night before bed and couldn't stop thinking about it. Downloaded the book on kindle as soon as I got up in the morning and I'm already halfway through. I've been really struggling to get back into reading this year and this was exactly the kick-start I needed! Thanks Dom!
@@richmcgee434 I had a look on Amazon, most of the older Known Space is out of print. Not something I would have expected. Maybe Niven just sells the latest & greatest and lets the rest wither. Bringing the old playing game back into print, adding some man kizin war supplements seems easy money.
@@francesconicoletti2547 I'm not surprised. Niven is an author who has fallen into oblivion. It was nice to see Star Trek: Lower Decks reference the Kzinti.
Thanks for the trip through memory lane. I read "Ringworld" when it was new in paperback, and when I read nothing but science fiction. Actually, it wasn't just a phase, but there's been an awful lot of excellent adult fantasy out since then. Makes me wonder, though... how do you like Arthur C. Clarke?
I had the very fortunate opportunity to get to know Dr. Jerry Pournell. He actually read my book and sat down with me for an hour to give me writing tips and advice. I had never forced my ADHD mind to pay attention so hard in my life. (I’m a member of LASFS. Death cannot release you.). He was a friend of Larry Niven’s, so watching this video took me back to a little nostalgia with that conversation. I continue to apply as much of his advice to my mediocre writing skills as I can remember. I miss being in the fannish library at ALA.
One thing I remember him saying was to go through your manuscript backwards and remove all the unnecessary words. He had to find other ways to say what he wanted to say, and ended up shaving off 10 pages. I think (and this was a while ago) that Ray Bradbury told him that. Another bit of advice was to take a character out of the story, and if the story still holds up without them, then they don't need to be in it. If you really want them in it, then give them a reason to be there where their absence would be felt. If it's too forced, then remove the character. I recently had to remove a character I liked because I couldn't make her fit. It's called 'killing babies' where you remove an element of your story to keep the flow and not bog it down.
Honestly though, I really liked the episode even if it wasn't critical, more of this would be great! (Also, the nail polish rocks, I bought a similar shade just last week!)
I'm a big Ringworld fan (though I haven't read it in ages). If you like the puppeteers, the Fleet of Worlds series is pretty intriguing. Really didn't realize you were a hard scifi fan. Maybe next I'll see you review Frederik Pohl's Gateway!
The "luck as a genetic trait" feature reminds me of a character in Iain M. Banks' "The Culture" novels. The Culture builds Minds - fantastically powerful AIs - which inexplicably are occasionally matched by individuals with extremely accurate intuition, who often end up working for what amounts to their military intelligence office. It was an odd thing to read, although to be fair the tech is so advanced that it becomes soft sci-fi almost by default.
For a while now I've been considering claiming your top patreon reward just to request that you read/talk about a book you like for once, so you don't go insane from all the things you put yourself through for this channel. This was nice you should do it more often! Now excuse me I need to go buy some SciFi books :D (not from amazon)
i had an old guide to fictional extraterrestrials that i used to thumb through as a kid for the cool aliens but i never really read it (since it was in sci-fi nerd language with stats and figures and i was maybe 10, max.) it had that exact image from the thumbnail in it, and watching this feels like unlocking a part of my childhood i'd forgotten about. that alone makes me want to read the actual book, so thank you for showing the spotlight on this one, and trusting your taste i genuinely look forward to seeing these videos in the future
I've heard of this but didn't remember the author. I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, written and filmed. There's flaws in many of my favorites but the cool parts always outweigh them. I like the show Lexx, sure it's trying to be Red Dwarf but it maintains that special flavor. World building is hard and sometimes the characters become secondary.
@@hunterhunter1986 Seriously, look at how she's drawn in the original Disney movie of Peter Pan. Tinkerbell is drawn with a perfect hourglass figure and a very short, skimpy dress, now you tell me the animators at Disney weren't channelling some Pin-Up Girl energy there
This is surprisingly timely as I very recently turned up Larry Niven's short story "At the Core", wherein the protagonist makes the discovery of the Core exploding ten thousand years prior. I've never read any of Niven's novels, but he's written several short stories I've thoroughly enjoyed. I don't know that I'm likely to read any of the novels at this point because I'm simply not looking for a new hard sci-fi series right now. I read a lot more fantasy, personally. Still, I do enjoy hearing people talk about books and series they've enjoyed, so I'm always happy to put your videos on.
Oh thank you, some ringworld representation, that stuff is incredibly rare. Please feel free to make as many videos about known space as you like and be asured that I will watch them all. On that note, any idea on why there is so little content on it? Has no producer ever even heared of it? As you say, the worlduilding is incredible, having a TV-series based on it would be so wonderful....
These days, its probably because of Halo popularizing the concept. I'm sure that it being a shared universe with many authors also makes licensing a challenge.
Pausing at the spoiler mark. You've definitely piqued my interest, I've just bought the Ringworld audiobook and I will finish this video once I've listened to it.
I kind of want to recommend the Well of Souls (also known as Well world or hex world) series. Despite the fantasy sounding name, it's a sci-fi series that takes place on an artificial world that: A. is located in a separate dimension. B. was built as an experiment on evolution by an ancient alien specie trying to find out how to reach the highest state of existence. C. contains 1,560 habits (with different rules of technology and sometimes reality) with at least one sentient race in each "hex". D. has a computer in the center of it that CONTROLS ALL REALITY and E. is written by Jack Chalker, so it gets pretty weird.
I love Vernor Vinge and Sheri S Tepper and would definitely be happy to see Dominic do a review of either of them. Something about The Sparrow really didn't work for me though.
You mentioned this wasn't doing well so I'm leaving a comment for the glory of the algorithm. Also I really liked the animations in this, they were very cute!
My dude, my guy, I LOVE hearing folks gush about favorite books! I'm not personally into sci-fi, but this was *fascinating* to listen to and, needless to say, I'm very intrigued! Keep being wonderful~
Technically, the pop science fiction version of the Dyson Sphere is the "Dyson Shell" (which Dyson himself described as ludicrous), while Dyson's original vision of the Dyson Sphere has lately picked up the moniker "Dyson Swarm", since it was supposed to be whatever flavour of frak-huge number of solar collectors, habitation stations and what have you orbiting the star.
The passion you have for this series and genre was really obvious and super pleasant to watch! I'm excited to see you cover things you enjoy like this in the future
This is one of those books that older SF fans have discussed around me for long enough that while I feel like I know the plot just fine, the wonderfully intricate worldbuilding you explained was actually kind of new. That part doesn't get made fun of at all! also stars do I feel called out by all four of my "if I really had to pick a guy to go straight for...? FINE, IF HE WERE REAL - " pseudocrushes being the go-to for Noble Warrior Race Guy representation
I used to think Sci-Fi's not for me as it came off as just regular Fantasy by any other name, just set in space as an excuse to have all sorts of different fantasy races in it. It bugged me that oftentimes pretty neat concepts would be put out there without being explored in the least. They’re just there for this sort of bling factor. Then I came across Asimov (unoriginal, I know) and things just … clicked. Turns out I absolutely LOVE science fiction, it’s just that I really need the science part to actually be in there. Science fiction with all its in-depth exploration of concepts and thought experiments is exactly what I’m looking for in this sort of book and for whatever reason I’ve never even heard of Larry Niven’s work?? I’m familiar with both the Dyson sphere and Halo and I STILL didn’t know about Ringworld and the Known Space universe?? I’m honestly shocked and excited and will definitely check that out. Thank you so much for making a video on it!
YES! Seriously, if anyone has any interest at all in super heroes, I'd suggest trying them, and even if that's not really your thing generally they're probably still worth a try. Those books never come off my phone. If I'm ever stuck waiting anywhere, and I'm not reading anything else at the time they're some of the books I can always just turn to.
Automatic thumbs up for Known Space. Been reading it since the mid 80's when I was in middle school. Something that my dad and I bonded over - I have his entire collection of paperbacks, as far as I can tell every novel Niven published, and a handful of the Man-Kzin Wars collections (which were written by other authors).
I read this book a little over a decade ago and I think it's telling that I remember every dope-ass detail of the worldbuilding in this story and literally *nothing* about the characters or plot. Niven was ridiculously good at exactly one thing. -R
Wasn't expecting to see you here. Love your mythology videos! Could you please cover some stories from the Railway Series some time? I'd love to see that. Stay legendary!
And was only good at that until 1990 or so.
Hey, Red! Personally I prefer the Beowulf Schaeffer stories when it comes to Niven, although I am fond of A Goat in Maud's Eye. You could probably have some fun with Dream Park, Niven having fun with comparative mythos and gaming.
Kind of reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke
hey... maybe... just maaaaaayyyybbbbeeee... you could maybeeeeee... mayyybbbeeee... maybe... mmmmmmmmmm... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... yyyyyyyyyyyyy... bbbbbbbbbbbbbb... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... talk about some Niven and stuffs... oooooooorrrreeeeee... MAYBE!!! percy jackson... or maybe none of those things because this is you own life and you control it :) (Yes I Think I'm Funny)
We like when you talk about books you love as well!
Yeah, I think we can all understand that. Much as it's nice to rant and rave at something that deserves it, you also need to talk about things you genuinely love. Does wonders for both your physical and mental health.
I like it more than when you talk about books you don't love, personally.
@@eldrago19 Same for me.
Yeah!
Ditto its nice to have some positivity along with with comedy of the criticism
"I'm not going to reveal exactly what it is because I know a lot of people ignore the spoiler warning even though they intend to read the book"..... no need to call me out like that haha
This is most definitely a case where if this video made you curious about the book, you absolutely should read it. So while this might have been excessive caution about spoilers in many other cases, I think it was the right call in this particular case. And also, go read the book.
SAAAAAAAAAME
I never worry about spoilers alerts because to me the journey is more important than the destination. Even if the spoilers are one interpretation of the journey, it's my interpretation that matters so no amount of information is going to spoil it.
A billion years ago they were human like and also the only animals on the ring. Now the ring has obligate carnivores.
Read to see if any cows evolved from people.
Dominic: *gushing about worldbuilding*
Me: *absolutely fascinated with the glittery fabulousness of his nails to the point of distraction*
Hell yeah, those nails rock!
my Cyberpunk experience in a nutshell x)
Oh thank goodness, I thought it was just me
Damn it why'd you have to point out his nails now im fixated on them
I kept just following his hands with my eyes
Niven's weaknesses with plots applies only to his novels, though often mitigated by co-authors. His true strength is in short stories, where he's a master of tight plotting. This also applies to his characterization--he's great at swiftly introducing fascinating characters, but not so hot at sustaining and developing them for an entire novel. I highly recommend all of his short story collections, many of which are set in Known Space.
I never realy conciously noticed this ... but it´s true!
This isn't really related, but I miss libraries.
omfg I haven't even thought about libraries in ages, but as someone who prefers reading physical books, the ability to just go and rent a book for free, and be able to keep re-renting it until you're done with it instead of having to blind buy books and hope you'll like them after just glancing through it in the bookstore, is an outstandingly amazing feature of society. when the plague is over I need to figure out where the big library in my town actually is. I know there is one, probably downtown, but the local one is tiny and kinda shitty.
Same! I've got a whole list of books that I want to check out, but don't want to buy. But instead I've been rereading books I already own.
I was a librarian for many years, and I can't imagine a better job. I wonder how many people can say they wake up thinking 'Oh, goodie! I get to go to work today!'
Its not the same thing, but a lot of libraries partner with online library organizations (hoopla, kanopy, etc). Been using them more since the pandemic began and it's helped a ton!
Considering the video is on ringworld... I don't really miss libraries right now for some reason.
I like when you talk about books you like, you seem so much more energized
Yes, totally!
+++
Absolutely same!
Hell yes on this. More positivity, please!
Absolutely!
Dom, at this point you shouldn't have to apologize for liking swords. They're very cool! And I will not ever be disappointed if you show off your entire collection in a video someday
I'd be down for that.
I disagree that the monofilament blade of time would go through titanium like hot butter.
@@anthonyparker2674 lol wording. "As if the titanium were hot butter."
@@emilyrln meh, pretty sure that like is acceptable for a direct comparison. Since I feel this going off on a grammar tangent moving forward I will go ahead and kill the bit; it would feel like moving an empty handle around and not remotely like cutting anything. It was a semantics point of argument made in an attempt at humor.
@@anthonyparker2674 ahh, I see. Alas, the poor bit. It had a good life. 😂
"I know people ignore the spoiler warning even though they plan to read the book."
Don't call me out like that
I feel seen and I don’t like it!
To be honest I like spoilers. Even if I'm going to read or watch the story. I'm not a big fan of surprises or bad endings so I like to know in advance what I'm getting. If the story is bad, a surpise end is not going to rescue it - and if the story is good I will enjoy it in any case.
I worked with someone who was like that. Dude would ask me to spoil DBS, which would hype him up making him want to watch it. I could never understand but always told him.
I know I'm way late to the party but had to point this out. Ages ago I read a Niven collection that contained some autobiographical info. He told how a book critic pointed out that "Ringworld" could be boiled down to "The Wizard of Oz" in space. Niven's kneejerk response was that the critic was an idiot, but after a good night's sleep awoke and realized "Yep, I sure did rewrite that!"
Louis Wu is Dorothy, the "regular" guy just trying to get home
Nessus is the Cowardly Lion, finding courage in his journey
Speaker is the Scarecrow, discovering his intelligence
Teela is the Tinman, her luck has left her heartless, but she does gain something akin to empathy
Halrloprillallar(spelling?) is the Wizard in her floating, magic city
Dorothy et al are menaced by a field of poppies - Louis and his crew are menaced by a field of sunflowers. I can't remember all the other parallels that Niven pointed out but there were several.
More books that you loved growing up? Does this mean we'll be getting some of the late great Sir Terry Prachett books?
Dom's cat wrote a book?
@@dart5340 "the unadulterated cat"
@@dart5340 PLEASE!!!!!
+
There's 3 live action movies, 2 animated movies, and a radio show, I wanna see Lost in Adaptation
"I know suffering sells better than enthusiasm.."
Outrage is also acceptable.
There’s a very strong supply of negativity right now, we’re in no danger of a shortage. I can do with more enthusiasm myself.
Having said that, Dom, I find the fingernails distracting.
@AND ANDREY ISN'T HERE I mean common, how am I supposed to pay attention to the subject at hand when he's waving such marvelously colorful things around?!
Honestly, I wish everyone would stop focusing so much on negativity. I can't be the only one who wants to hear people talking about good things that they actually like more, can I?
Yes i agree. But usually negative responses are more common than positive. Granted criticism is good, but negativity is usually bad.
That’s called toxic positivity. Things can’t be all good all the time. Life doesn’t work like that it has negative with the good and when you ignore the negative you become a walking bomb of it.
Tbh, I just like his videos, doesn’t matter if he likes or hates the content he’s talking about.
That said, I really do appreciate how much he goes through to get videos out.
I completely agree. So many channels just complain about the hobby they love that I start to wonder "what DO you like about the hobby?"
It's fine to offer critiques, but only if it comes from a place of being better or admitting faults in something we enjoy.
After everything in 2020 I’ve notice I’ve stopped watching a lot of UA-camrs who tend to be more negative I’m just tired of it,
"Genetic Luck" reminded of that episode of Red Dwarf where they find positive viruses. "Sexual magnetism is a virus?!"
You just convinced me to give Red Dwarf another shot
@Cee Bee
"Sexual magnetism is a virus?!" *"Well get me to Hospital Buddy!,I'm a terminal case!!"*
I love red dwarf
"Imagine a furry but scary instead of extremely sexy"
*Goes on to describe the sexiest possible furry*
Dom likes softboys, what can be say?
@@PhoebusApollo360 I have to agree with him there
Kzin are awesome, but not the sexy. Kilrathi are basically second rate Kzin knock-offs. Caitians are my pick for sexy cat people.
@@stainlesssteelfox1 I haven't read the book yet but I looked up some covers and the Kzin definitely *look* sexy. I agree about Caitians though, they're very cute cat people lol
Some furries may tag out but the monster fuckers tag in
Oh Dom, anything you want to do, I’ll watch, because somehow I feel like you could make reading the phone book interesting
Yes! If he decided to read the dictionary I'd be here for it.
@@WaspandUnicorn As someone who collects dictionaries, I am now shivering with antici . . .
. . .
pation!
@@maladypond Completely off topic. Is The Rocky Horror still at the midnight movies? You haven't lived until you go at least once.
@@jimcalhoun361 It is an experience, but find the right community to go see it with, it will greatly influence your experience watching.
An lower your inhibitions if you do. Please do.
Nice haircut Dom. I dig it.
Thank you ^^
The hair are cool the nails are a tad too much
@@pisacenere nah. I think Barbie pink would be too much.
Edit: that's because I'm not a very pink person.
@@pisacenere my biggest complaint is that they are distracting, because he keeps moving and doesn't give us a good look!
@@Dominic-Noble like an Arthurian knight
"Niven's was a better world builder than writer"
I'd argue this to be the case for Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas as well.
Honestly, even dear old Tolkien heh
Lucas wasn't a particularly good world-builder, either. There's three kinds of "good" world building -- either vast and rich mythology and history, like Tolkien or Sanderson; or intricate and well-defined science or sufficiently analyzed magic, like Niven or, again, Sanderson; or unique and enriching societies and cultures, like LeGuin or certain works of Lois McMaster Bujold. Star wars was great, but... the history and government are insane and clearly made up as he went, and the in-world mythology non-existent; the magic system is very soft and runs on Rule of Cool rather than internal consistency; and the culture is just standard American pop space fantasy. Star Wars started something that turned out to be incredible, but it wasn't (originally) its world-building that did it.
@@Amanda-C.: To be fair Star Wars is like "standard American pop space fantasy" mostly because "standard American pop space fantasy" is like Star Wars. Apart from to some extent Dune and some of Jack Kirby's stuff Star Wars was pretty different from what American sci-fi was like when it came out, and more in line with French trends if anything.
Disagree on Lucas. Lucas was an amazing filmmaker.
Lucas was good at evocative vignettes and not much else
I think the infamous UA-cam algorithm screwed you over on this one. I didn't even know this video existed until I saw your poll.
It's a shame too, because this is yet another really great video! ❤️
same happened to me
As an amateur writer I can identify a lot with Niven, I love world building but I struggle with character and plot. Most readers want a story about interesting people who do interesting stuff, the setting is secondary. "A setting with great detail is valuable but alone will never sell." Iv been told.
I love a good balance of.both...
I completely and entirely disagree, it is all up to the reader and their prefferences, aswell as how it is executed.
Make a story built around the setting then. Make a simple story and character who may travel through said world and just embrace the nearly episodic nature of these visitations.
You could also just do a third person or narrator perspective and just write it like that, afterall All Tommorows succeeded pretty well despite having no characters and very simple worldbuilding yet it is a beautiful piece of fiction.
So, here's some ways:
Have a neutral, observer/traveler character and just use plot as a way to get this character into these places to observe them. You can write this in first, second, or third person but personally first person and second person work better for me.
You can have a limited, or omniscient narrator, a historical narrative or a mythological lore telling etc. While it won't be for everyone, it can still be great.
And yes, you can make it emotional aswell. A good example of this is All Tommorows, though in that story most things are left to the reader's mind.
There's also the option of writing it as documents from the world itself.
Here's my examples: Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, The Silmirillion (that book made by Tolkein)
You can also do a narration where a hypothetical author is speculating or imagining about this setting, perhaps even reading about it from some material.
They key is to write it for the worldbuilding, or neutral between the worldbuilding and characters/plot like tolkein did.
Maybe you need a co-author with the reverse strengths & weaknesses?
I mean, it worked for Larry Niven, Arthur C Clarke, and JRR Tolkien, you'll probably be fine, lol.
Mostly joking about Tolkien, as the HOBBITS have rather interesting and nuanced characters (in the books, the movies are exercises in character assassination, imho) but the rest just kinda go along.
Also, Clarke and Tolkien are my favorite authors, period, lol.
this sounds like the kind of thing that my adhd brain would get sucked down a wikipedia hole about but never get around to actually reading
I recommend the audiobook, audiobooks in general really, you can listen to the book while doing basically anything else and still enjoy it, it's great
You should read it, it's really good
@@UNSCPILOT I don't recommend doing this as the book requires an extremely high level of engagement, especially if you want the sequel to be easily connected.
This video needs way more likes. Also, is it bad that when you were explaining the time suspention field the first thought I had was "wow that would make a really good refrigerator" ?
HA! You’re right! “Oh dear, my bananas are going bad!” *ZZZIP*
One of my favorite scenes in Daniel Suarez's Influx was when a character takes some people to his high tech hideout and starts preparing a meal with mega-future tech. The application of advanced technology to everyday life is an interesting part of sci-fi.
I thought that immediately
@@Devtrek there was a scene in Peter F. Hamiltons Dreaming Void saga, where a few protagonists are stranded on a space ship that's really, really badly damaged and their food synthesizer isn't working properly (one of them says that their orange juice tastes kinda fishy) and their solution is that the woman gets to eat all the pre-packaged meals and really nice wines and everything the former crew brought with them, while the two men have to eat whatever the synthesizer makes, because they have biononics (organic nano machines) which they use to modify their smell and taste receptors so the food gets at least somewhat enjoyable, but she has none, so she eats lasagne and chocolate truffels and everything xD
I found it funny how they're using weapon-grade nanotechnology just so that their food doesn't suck.
There is indeed a bit in Niven's non-Known Space novel _A World Out Of Time_ (which is also very good, and is rather better plotted than _Ringworld_ ) where a character is using a stasis field to store cooked food at the original temperature, not only fresh but piping hot!
It's okay to talk about books that you're passionate about. I've picked up the Earthsea book because of how passionate you talked about it. So I can't wait to see more reviews like this the future.
A bit about the plotline- it very much reminded me of a Pen and Paper RPG, like dungeons and dragons. Not in that it was using those tropes, but in that the characters almost always behaved like a group of Player Characters, and the storyline itself seemed to flow almost like an RPG campaign. So basically the characters were constantly over equipped, more than willing to behave like jerks who know there are no consequences to their actions, and smugly assume that any situation they get in is set up for them to 'win' at. The point where Seeker and Prin join the group feels like the GM had two more people want to join the game and he needed to hamfist in their weird characters. The conclusion at the end of the novel felt like the point where the GM had given up on the campaign and just wanted to slap an ending on it so that they could move on to something else. I found this to be more unintentionally humorous than anything else and still very much enjoyed the book.
And interestingly, Ringworld was adapted into a pen-and-paper RPG :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld_(role-playing_game)
@@timwebber9277 Ok that is awsome
Holy shit :O . I just realized that! You're absolutely right!
"I get to monetize your cuteness in the bloopers now." Yeaaaaaaaaaaah you know why we watch all the way to the end XD
"Ignore the spoiler warning even though they intend to read the book"... Oh, you got me.
@Hot Rod nah some people just dont care for spoilers even if they intend to read the book
The story is 50 years old anyway.
@Hot Rod where did they say they were complaining about the spoilers?
I personally might read the book, though hard sci-fi isn't really my thing, but I much prefer watching the video than turning it off on the off chance that I might one day actually read the book.
To be fair, I have SO many books on my TBR list, I’ll probably forget the plot by the time I get around to this book.
@@EnvoyOfTheBlackAbyss same) paused the video at spoiler warning, waited a month, then caved in and enjoyed the rest of the video, which was rather spoiler-light in my opinion
i was immediately hyped to hear you talk about cool sci-fi. watching a ton of negative videos burns our watchers too. keep these videos coming.
Bold of you to assume that furries will not find the kzinti extremely sexy.
I mean... they might not after more of their culture.... like that they bred their females into subservience with the exception of a random fluke.... or that they were initially SO aggressive that the wars between them and humans were actually engineered by the Puppeteers as a means of forced, rapid eugenics, killing off a majority of the most dangerous and belligerent in several generations leaving only those capable of restraint *at all*.
@@darklordofsword some Omegaverse fans will sure be into all of that
@@TooFatTooFurious ew.
@@darklordofsword" I cAn FiX hIm"
@@aubreyackermann8432 please no. It hurts.
Puppeteers: All Edges are rounded in the living spaces and the entire Sun-System gets flewn out of danger :) So Coooool
I love them so much!
I personally really like these videos, especially the ones about Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. We could call it “Story Time with Dom” :)
Please do a series on your favourite books. I'm always looking for recommendations, and i don't wanna just read classics or whatever's in the current pop culture.
Same, plus always nice to hear what others are liking I might not have heard of.
I'm glad that you are putting your mental health before our enjoyment of your UA-cam videos, Dominic. Besides I think that you're funny whatever the subject of the video of the day. Your videos help to relieve my pain and that is enough for me. 😁🥰😁🥰
Which will likely lead to better videos since Dom won't be burned out.
I love hearing people talking about the stuff they're into and know a lot about. I'm all for more videos of you getting to focus on topics like this.
Snowman?
@@zubzerrolastname6599 My pfp? Yup that's her.
I'm a librarian. It's part of my job to recommend books. But the best thing is talking with other people about our favorite books. So please do talk about all the books what led to your love of reading.
Man, I haven't read Ringworld since high school! Good times. Doesn't the book start with Louis celebrating his birthday in every time zone?
As a person who is very much afraid of sun exploding someday in the future and destroying all life as we know it, I find the idea of running away from an explosion 20k years in advance a very relatable trait.
It is a pretty big challenge to deal with. Makes sense to give yourself a lot of time to deal with it.
@@sandralovesmusic15
Definitely sensible to think long term.
I've always admired that in the Martians from Quatermas and The Pit.
Sadly they were also psychic Nazis.
Dominic: * talking about a massively fascinating piece of worldbuilding that I find cool and interesting *
My ADHD brain on magpie mode: him nails shoiny,,,,, bling bling
Why would you do that to me? I can't pay attention to anything else anymore. What is he saying? Shiny shiny sporkle.
Oh my god saaamme! Just commented that I love them and they're so shiny lol
Niven also help change the Green Lantern from a guy with a magic ring to an alien police force.
Actually from what I heard they're more like the "Lensmen" by E. E. Doc Smith...and having read those I can kinda believe it. A Lensman wears a brilliantly sparkling bracelet on their wrist that gives them basically psionic powers, and anybody who's not worthy to use one dies if they even touch it, and the group includes a wide mix of different alien species.
Apparently the similarity between that and the sci-fi version Green Lanterns was an accident, but after this was pointed out the comic book authors went and named a character "Arisia" after the main non-Earth planet (the one that's basically the equivalent of Oa) from the Lensmen series anyway. :)
(And then, speaking of the one with the _magic_ ring, there's also the fact that using a Lens for too long can make it so your kids are born with powers, like Alan Scott's kids were...)
Would I recommend these books? Well, the writing style is kinda clunky and over the top sometimes. But it does have properly _alien_ aliens, weird and interesting worlds and GOD DAMN ENTIRE PLANETS being slung around as part of an intergalactic war, so...
More Kzinti fun facts:
Based on their appearance in Star Trek: The Animated Series, the Kzinti were made a playable race in the Star Fleet Battles universe of tabletop wargames. It wasn't until the tabletop game got adapted to PC (Starfleet Command) that they changed their name for legal reasons (from the Kzinti Hegemony to the Mirak Star League).
Alan Dean Foster, who adapted episodes of Star Trek: TAS into print, suggested that the Catian species (which included the character of Lt. M'Ress) were an evolutionary offshoot of the Kzinti.
The Kilrathi, the baddies in the Wing Commander series of games, were also heavily inspired by the Kzinti.
Loved the video! Looking forward to more hard scifi in the future.
That the Caitians are the same species as The Kzinti is now canon (according to Memory Alpha).
I really, REALLY love listening to you talk about something you’re truly passionate about. PLEASE do more books like this!
"You've gotten yourself the ultimate sword ... able to cut through titanium like warm butter! ... I really like swords, okay."
As do I. I may or may not have replayed that part once or twice.
Swords are very dangerous when the other guy has a tasp
Now we just have to wait for Shadiversity to discuss whether or not it would make a good sword in actual use.
Dominic: I'm not gonna reveal the last twist because I know there are people ignoring the spoiler warning even if they intent to read the book...
Me: Is this a personal attack or something????
*raises hand guiltily*
Also me! I don't feel bad though, I usually enjoy stories more the second time, so spoilers are a kind of short cut to that second, better experience.
*Look nerviously at my bible of Earthsea *
@@CatHasOpinions734 the only times I low-key regret being 'spoiled' is for mysteries because I wish I knew whether I'd have figured it out. Otherwise, I don't care at all. I read and rewatch everything I like.
@@emilyrln Good point! I recently watched Knives Out and that's definitely one you want to watch unspoiled the first time.
"One Of The Best Science Fiction Universes Ever Written" Oh, no! "It's just a shame about the plot." Oh, yes!
Nivens plot is meh, but the shared universe is great, I especialy enjoied "Cathouse" and its sequel "Neanderthal". Dont't know how one would go about finding those books these days (I personally steal them from my dad), but deffenitly give them a try, if you don't like one, there sure is a different one you will enjoy.
@@eosbeneder977 there are three pages of Niven on Kindle Books, obviously not all of them are Known Space.
@@francesconicoletti2547
He wrote other interesting stuff, about The Warlock's World, and Gil The Arm.
@@alanpennie8013 Gil the Arm is known space. One of the things I like about Niven is that his reasonably consistent world building stretches over hundreds of years in the same universe. Most authors world building cannot outlast one protagonist or one story arc or one royal family.
@@francesconicoletti2547
That is impressive.
I love Larry Niven's 'Tales of Known Space' series. "Neutron Star" was one of my favs. I found it funny that the Puppeteers were fleeing the universe by taking their whole solar system with them.
As a considerable fan of Known Space, please do more of them. I would appreciate seeing you do further examination of Known Space in general and the Ringworld in particular. You could open a whole new niche of videos exploring the world building of Known Space
Seconded.
I’m slightly surprised at the lack of a mention of Strata, Sir Terry Pratchett’s loving sendup of Ringworld where he first made use of a Discworld in his writing.
I was wondering why no one was mentioning it.
@@adorabell4253
It has been mentioned a couple of times above
But it's not very well known.
And understandably so.
"I Know a lot of people ignore the spoiler warning even though they intend to read the book"....
I feel expose
He saw us D:
To be honest, *I* was starting to get burnt out on the non-stop suffering and negativity from this channel. I found this refreshing.
I will check out this book Dominic. I am currently listening to a classic the Mars trilogy - Red , Green and Blue which is more "hard" science fic. I havent been able to put the audio book down its so good. It a good mix of characters, perspectives, their adventures, relationships and expertise in their different fields in science over time.
Side Note: While it's a different genre of hard science fiction The Saints doulogy by Jacqueline Carey is another great read and one of my personal favorites.
And Fry’s full name, huh, and sneaking in Worf and Ka D’argo, and sneaking in another TNG reference. Well done.
I love Larry Niven's worldbuilding so, so much but you can definitely tell the era in which his books were written.
That stuff should deffenitly be rebootet as a modern tv show. There's just so much material, so manny possibilities....
@@eosbeneder977 Even some of the other books. I'd love to see a modern take on The Mote in Gods Eye for instance.
@@Viridigitus-y6c I'm sorry, I read the books in german when I was twelve, I don't know the english titles, but yes, I wasn't referring to Ringworld alone but the entire known space. Ther is just SO MUCH MATERIAL, and NOONE IS USING IT!!! I would love to watch something known space related that isn't that one bad star trek the animated series episode....
@@eosbeneder977 it's okay, the one I referred to isn't actually part of the Known Space series but I agree, so little has been done with it and with so many book series getting adapted these days this one should be one of them
@@Viridigitus-y6c Right? Has no one with a connection to the industry read any of it? Why? How?
Sir Dominic noble: explaining genetic luck
me: so genetic plot armor
and plot contrivances. A character hat if you will, made entirely of lampshades
well, yes and no i would say. Yes, if you do not mind living without a status quo. Because as its described in the book, your luck will pull you away from your world to the other side of the galaxy just to find the love of your life. Sounds nice, right? But same said luck will strand you there, alone and away from friends, family and other loved ones. It will ruin your career, it will hijack your choises in life.
But sure, it will keep you safe. You. Not anyone around you.
@@KamiRecca Well, you and anyone you care about. But developing the ability to care about other people is a lot easier through (shared) hardships, so the lucky bastard tends to be a bit of a narcissist too.
@@rmsgrey well, im not sure Tiela Browns luck would care if you wanted people safe, if their deaths or dispair would keep Tiela safe.
@@KamiRecca Teela Brown's luck may not care about me and mine, but it does care about whether or not she's happy, so nothing tragic is going to happen to her close friends so long as she'd miss them if they weren't around any more...
This was an awesome video. It was so fun to see you excited for something you clearly enjoyed, and to have you share it with us all.
Saw this review last night before bed and couldn't stop thinking about it. Downloaded the book on kindle as soon as I got up in the morning and I'm already halfway through. I've been really struggling to get back into reading this year and this was exactly the kick-start I needed! Thanks Dom!
Just finished reading and wow! Thank you for sharing something you love, now I love it too! Getting ready to get the next book in the series
The main characters sound like a joke dnd group
Ringworld has a role playing game.
Joke groups can make for super interesting campaigns too if you have the right players.
@@richmcgee434 I had a look on Amazon, most of the older Known Space is out of print. Not something I would have expected. Maybe Niven just sells the latest & greatest and lets the rest wither. Bringing the old playing game back into print, adding some man kizin war supplements seems easy money.
@@francesconicoletti2547
I'm not surprised.
Niven is an author who has fallen into oblivion.
It was nice to see Star Trek: Lower Decks reference the Kzinti.
dm: how much luck did you give them?
player: yes
Thanks for the trip through memory lane. I read "Ringworld" when it was new in paperback, and when I read nothing but science fiction. Actually, it wasn't just a phase, but there's been an awful lot of excellent adult fantasy out since then. Makes me wonder, though... how do you like Arthur C. Clarke?
I love when UA-camrs talk about things they love!!! It helps me know what to try out, not just what to avoid
I had the very fortunate opportunity to get to know Dr. Jerry Pournell. He actually read my book and sat down with me for an hour to give me writing tips and advice. I had never forced my ADHD mind to pay attention so hard in my life. (I’m a member of LASFS. Death cannot release you.). He was a friend of Larry Niven’s, so watching this video took me back to a little nostalgia with that conversation. I continue to apply as much of his advice to my mediocre writing skills as I can remember. I miss being in the fannish library at ALA.
One thing I remember him saying was to go through your manuscript backwards and remove all the unnecessary words. He had to find other ways to say what he wanted to say, and ended up shaving off 10 pages. I think (and this was a while ago) that Ray Bradbury told him that.
Another bit of advice was to take a character out of the story, and if the story still holds up without them, then they don't need to be in it. If you really want them in it, then give them a reason to be there where their absence would be felt. If it's too forced, then remove the character.
I recently had to remove a character I liked because I couldn't make her fit. It's called 'killing babies' where you remove an element of your story to keep the flow and not bog it down.
What a handsome cat Sir Terry is.
Great closing song again.
Honestly though, I really liked the episode even if it wasn't critical, more of this would be great! (Also, the nail polish rocks, I bought a similar shade just last week!)
I'm a big Ringworld fan (though I haven't read it in ages). If you like the puppeteers, the Fleet of Worlds series is pretty intriguing. Really didn't realize you were a hard scifi fan. Maybe next I'll see you review Frederik Pohl's Gateway!
I blame the Ring world books, fan novel "Cat House" and the Kzin for giving me a very confused sexual awakening as an adolescent 🤪
I couldn't put this book down. I thank God I read this in Summer
The "luck as a genetic trait" feature reminds me of a character in Iain M. Banks' "The Culture" novels. The Culture builds Minds - fantastically powerful AIs - which inexplicably are occasionally matched by individuals with extremely accurate intuition, who often end up working for what amounts to their military intelligence office. It was an odd thing to read, although to be fair the tech is so advanced that it becomes soft sci-fi almost by default.
This just makes me really want to hear Doms take on Stephen Baxters Exultant and Cixin Lius Deaths End.
I came here because the two headed puppet person from the thumbnail looked adorable. I stand by my statement 🤣
For a while now I've been considering claiming your top patreon reward just to request that you read/talk about a book you like for once, so you don't go insane from all the things you put yourself through for this channel. This was nice you should do it more often! Now excuse me I need to go buy some SciFi books :D (not from amazon)
"Imagine a furry but scary instand of extremely sexy" dom clearly only scemed the surface level of FA and DA
Or he only notices what he's into~
those dont have to be conflicting things
i had an old guide to fictional extraterrestrials that i used to thumb through as a kid for the cool aliens but i never really read it (since it was in sci-fi nerd language with stats and figures and i was maybe 10, max.) it had that exact image from the thumbnail in it, and watching this feels like unlocking a part of my childhood i'd forgotten about. that alone makes me want to read the actual book, so thank you for showing the spotlight on this one, and trusting your taste i genuinely look forward to seeing these videos in the future
I prefer hearing about good books, I might actually want to read them/buy an audiobook
It's such a nice way to get recommendations
I've heard of this but didn't remember the author. I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, written and filmed. There's flaws in many of my favorites but the cool parts always outweigh them. I like the show Lexx, sure it's trying to be Red Dwarf but it maintains that special flavor. World building is hard and sometimes the characters become secondary.
I liked the first season of Lexx. The second just seemed a bit mean spirited and depressing considering how it ended.
"If furries were scary instead of extremely sexy."
Leaned something new about you today.
He kind of outed himself reviewing how to tame your dragon
I heard "Fairy" and was like "wait, are fairies sexy"?
@@funkie1221 They can be, depends on how you draw them. Tinkerbell was certainly drawn with a killer figure and a very skimpy dress
@@weldonwin bro, what
@@hunterhunter1986 Seriously, look at how she's drawn in the original Disney movie of Peter Pan. Tinkerbell is drawn with a perfect hourglass figure and a very short, skimpy dress, now you tell me the animators at Disney weren't channelling some Pin-Up Girl energy there
Can we appreciate how smooth that nail polish looks? Pop off king
This is surprisingly timely as I very recently turned up Larry Niven's short story "At the Core", wherein the protagonist makes the discovery of the Core exploding ten thousand years prior.
I've never read any of Niven's novels, but he's written several short stories I've thoroughly enjoyed. I don't know that I'm likely to read any of the novels at this point because I'm simply not looking for a new hard sci-fi series right now. I read a lot more fantasy, personally.
Still, I do enjoy hearing people talk about books and series they've enjoyed, so I'm always happy to put your videos on.
Oh thank you, some ringworld representation, that stuff is incredibly rare. Please feel free to make as many videos about known space as you like and be asured that I will watch them all.
On that note, any idea on why there is so little content on it? Has no producer ever even heared of it? As you say, the worlduilding is incredible, having a TV-series based on it would be so wonderful....
These days, its probably because of Halo popularizing the concept.
I'm sure that it being a shared universe with many authors also makes licensing a challenge.
@@cthulhupthagn5771 yeah, probably
Just fyi: love the nails!
Pausing at the spoiler mark. You've definitely piqued my interest, I've just bought the Ringworld audiobook and I will finish this video once I've listened to it.
Did you finish it? How was it?
@@flamebrindger3984 Not yet - it's on a shortlist of books I'm going to read, but I haven't gotten to it just yet.
Aaaahhhh!! XD Dammit Neige! When are you going to release an album with all these parodies?! Starman is one of my favorite all time songs.
Thanks , finally found the original song.
I kind of want to recommend the Well of Souls (also known as Well world or hex world) series.
Despite the fantasy sounding name, it's a sci-fi series that takes place on an artificial world that:
A. is located in a separate dimension.
B. was built as an experiment on evolution by an ancient alien specie trying to find out how to reach the highest state of existence.
C. contains 1,560 habits (with different rules of technology and sometimes reality) with at least one sentient race in each "hex".
D. has a computer in the center of it that CONTROLS ALL REALITY
and
E. is written by Jack Chalker, so it gets pretty weird.
Thank you, Mr. Noble...Niven is my all-time favorite author!
My dude!!! Have you read Vernor Vinge? Or The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell? Or Grass by Sheri S. Tepper??
I love Vernor Vinge and Sheri S Tepper and would definitely be happy to see Dominic do a review of either of them. Something about The Sparrow really didn't work for me though.
"one of the best sci fi universes ever written"
Finger raise meme...
*Pause*
I mean, bold move but not necessarily wrong....
And here we have the fusion of three memes
You mentioned this wasn't doing well so I'm leaving a comment for the glory of the algorithm. Also I really liked the animations in this, they were very cute!
My dude, my guy, I LOVE hearing folks gush about favorite books! I'm not personally into sci-fi, but this was *fascinating* to listen to and, needless to say, I'm very intrigued! Keep being wonderful~
Once again, those nails. Where do you get the polish from. You know for a friend
I must know!!! They're so shiny and I want
Lol. We are all cats. I also must have shiny nails.
"luck as a genetic trait" that's just the Force, isn't it?
That's more accurate than most people are when it comes to the Force, including Han Solo.
I suspect Nivin was trying for a hard science rational for magic, most hard SF authors do at some point, so yes.
Yes
Not at all. It does not grant flashy super powers, and in the end it turns out that the luck was ------------- REDACTED------------.
no.
the force is more psychic powers.
this is like Domino in Marvel comucs
I love being a viewer of this channel because it's the only time in the week that I'm called "beautiful".
Technically, the pop science fiction version of the Dyson Sphere is the "Dyson Shell" (which Dyson himself described as ludicrous), while Dyson's original vision of the Dyson Sphere has lately picked up the moniker "Dyson Swarm", since it was supposed to be whatever flavour of frak-huge number of solar collectors, habitation stations and what have you orbiting the star.
The passion you have for this series and genre was really obvious and super pleasant to watch! I'm excited to see you cover things you enjoy like this in the future
Loving the nails! Also, I'm not big on sci-fi, but this one did catch my interest, thank you!
When you talked about the use of luck in this book, the 1st thing I thought of was Domino from Deadpool 2.
Dom, not to be forward, your hair looks GREAT on you today! Also, feel free to talk about Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy all you want, please!
This is one of those books that older SF fans have discussed around me for long enough that while I feel like I know the plot just fine, the wonderfully intricate worldbuilding you explained was actually kind of new. That part doesn't get made fun of at all!
also stars do I feel called out by all four of my "if I really had to pick a guy to go straight for...? FINE, IF HE WERE REAL - " pseudocrushes being the go-to for Noble Warrior Race Guy representation
I used to think Sci-Fi's not for me as it came off as just regular Fantasy by any other name, just set in space as an excuse to have all sorts of different fantasy races in it. It bugged me that oftentimes pretty neat concepts would be put out there without being explored in the least. They’re just there for this sort of bling factor.
Then I came across Asimov (unoriginal, I know) and things just … clicked. Turns out I absolutely LOVE science fiction, it’s just that I really need the science part to actually be in there. Science fiction with all its in-depth exploration of concepts and thought experiments is exactly what I’m looking for in this sort of book and for whatever reason I’ve never even heard of Larry Niven’s work?? I’m familiar with both the Dyson sphere and Halo and I STILL didn’t know about Ringworld and the Known Space universe?? I’m honestly shocked and excited and will definitely check that out. Thank you so much for making a video on it!
Niven seems to have fallen down the memory hole for some reason.
I'm really happy he's getting some attention from The Dom.
Book-wise the Foundation Trilogy was my introduction to scifi in literature.
I read Destiny's Forge before reading Dune, imagine my surprise when reading Dune years later and finding out it's pretty much exactly the same story
Dom. You should read the “wearing the cape” series by Marion G. Harmon.
YES! Seriously, if anyone has any interest at all in super heroes, I'd suggest trying them, and even if that's not really your thing generally they're probably still worth a try. Those books never come off my phone. If I'm ever stuck waiting anywhere, and I'm not reading anything else at the time they're some of the books I can always just turn to.
I love the concept of you doing a deep analysis of books you love...I love finding joy in books and seeing that joy in others as well!
Automatic thumbs up for Known Space. Been reading it since the mid 80's when I was in middle school. Something that my dad and I bonded over - I have his entire collection of paperbacks, as far as I can tell every novel Niven published, and a handful of the Man-Kzin Wars collections (which were written by other authors).