The Guide to Larry Niven’s Ringworld

You are about to encounter the largest artifact in all Known Space, and very possibly in the universe itself. How large is that? Pretend that the Earth, as it orbits the Sun, leaves a track a million miles wide. If the sun were stationary, the result would be a ring around the sun, a Ringworld with the surface area of three million Earths. Such a world exists. It was built millions of years ago by an unimaginably powerful race who then seeded it with species from all over the galaxy--and disappeared. A lot can happen in a place like that. You're going to need a Guide... Fighting on a battlefield isn't romantic, it's bloody hell - and Master Author David Drake gives his stories a realism as only someone who has been there can do. Here we have some top people in their various fields who, one way or another, have been through that hell - some injured enough for retirement, others with mistakes they wish to atone for. They are grouped together as a survey team on a planet specializing in the production of gage - a most potent drug. The civilians are at the mercy of two criminal syndicates who make their lives as miserable as they can - and take great pleasure in doing so. What can a small survey team do about it? Quite a bit, actually. A terrific read. Guides readers through Ringworld, a land area of seven million Earths populated by strange and wonderful beings. By the author of Tales of Known Space. A comprehensive guide to one of science fiction's most exciting created universes A mercenary team enters a civil war on the planet Cantilucca