SUMMARY: Come back to the Ringworld . . . the most astonishing feat of engineering ever encountered. A place of untold technological wonders, home to a myriad humanoid races, and world of some of the most beloved science fiction stories ever written!The human, Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee . . . legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the Protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda--if anyone dares approach them to learn.Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own Protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a Protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld Throne?"Niven's work has been an intriguing and consistent universe, and this book is the keystone of the arch. . . . [His] technique is wonderfully polished, his characters and their situations are nicely drawn . . . wraps up (maybe) a corner of a very interesting universe."--San Diego Union-Tribune Come back to the Ringworld . . . the most astonishing feat of engineering ever encountered. A place of untold technological wonders, home to a myriad humanoid races, and world of some of the most beloved science fiction stories ever written! The human, Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee . . . legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the Protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda--if anyone dares approach them to learn. Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own Protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a Protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld Throne? "Niven's work has been an intriguing and consistent universe, and this book is the keystone of the arch. . . . [His] technique is wonderfully polished, his characters and their situations are nicely drawn . . . wraps up (maybe) a corner of a very interesting universe". --San Diego Union-Tribune From back cover Del Rey paperback May 1997: *Come back to the Ringworld... the most astonishing feat of engineering ever encountered. A place of untold technological wonders, home to a myriad humanoid races, and world of some of the most beloved science-fiction stories ever written!* The human, Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, so of the Kzin called Chmeee... legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the Protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda -- if anyone dares approach them to learn. Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own Protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a Protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld Throne? In the twenty-ninth century, Louis Wu, a 200-years-young adventurer, became one of the first humans from Known Space to set foot on the Ringworld, and his exploits there became legends among many of the native races. During Louis Wu's second sojourn on the Ringworld, he was able to save it from total destruction ... but several hundred million people died anyway, and that was a mighty weight on one man's conscience. But odd events on the Ringworld would require Louis Wu's attention once again: Vampires were gathering in untold numbers; Protectors, immensely powerful beings dedicated to safeguarding their own bloodlines above all else, were interfering with species not their own and with each other. If the Ringworld was to remain intact, it was going to need one central Protector of its own. But who would sit on the Ringworld Throne? .. In the 28th Century, a war breaks out on Ringworld, a conglomeration of nations and cultures occupying 600 million miles of space. The hero is Louis Wu, a 200-year-old human scientist attempting to mediate the conflict Each Race Of The Ringworld Has Always Had Its Own Protector, But When Something Goes Wrong And Every Incoming Spacecraft Is Destroyed Before Arrival, All The Legendary Beings Must Unite To Save Their World. Reprint.