Hugo Award Best Novel Winner

Ringworld

by Larry Niven

Summary

A small, mismatched crew of humans and aliens journeys to investigate an immense artificial ring encircling a distant star, a structure with the surface area of millions of Earths. Niven fills the expedition with rigorous physics, ingenious engineering speculation, and the puzzle of who built such a colossal world and why. Set in his Known Space universe, the book is a defining example of hard science fiction and the big dumb object subgenre.

Historical Context & Significance

Ringworld swept the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, and its central megastructure inspired the ringworld concept in the Halo video game franchise.