Author Topic: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon  (Read 28591 times)

Offline sanman

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Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« on: 10/01/2017 07:49 am »
Amazon will adapt Ringworld, Snow Crash and Lazarus into TV series for Amazon Prime:

https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/09/snow-crash-lazarus-and-ringworld-shows-are-coming-to-amazon-prime/




Larry Niven's Ringworld is about a large artificially created ring-shaped megastructure which serves as a habitat and is the backdrop for the story.
(Incidentally, Ringworld is yet another series that was slated to be developed by SyFy but was passed up by it, just like Philip K Dick's Man in the High Castle, which Amazon also picked up after and found success with)
« Last Edit: 10/01/2017 08:05 am by sanman »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #1 on: 10/01/2017 01:21 pm »
I'd caution that this only means that they might do this.

There are lots of examples of novels and past shows that get optioned and go nowhere:

Red Mars:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2925/1

Space 1999:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2040/1

Capricorn One:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/811/1

Of the above, I'm most disappointed that Red Mars fell apart.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress has also been bopping around for awhile and did not get made.

Offline catdlr

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #2 on: 10/01/2017 03:54 pm »
and reminds me of Auther C. Clark's "Rendezvous with Rama"

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Online ccdengr

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #3 on: 10/01/2017 03:57 pm »
I'd caution that this only means that they might do this.
We might hope they don't -- movie/TV adaptations of classic SF have so far been pretty disappointing IMHO.

In the case of RINGWORLD, I can't see any of the Known Space background surviving into an adaptation, and to me that was the good part of the original novel (I'm not much of a fan of the sequels.)

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #4 on: 10/01/2017 04:54 pm »
and reminds me of Auther C. Clark's "Rendezvous with Rama"

I think there was discussion of doing that as a TV movie. Cannot remember specifics, but obviously it has not happened.

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #5 on: 10/01/2017 04:56 pm »
I'd caution that this only means that they might do this.
We might hope they don't -- movie/TV adaptations of classic SF have so far been pretty disappointing IMHO.


I dunno. I thought that Childhood's End was excellent. And it got much less attention and praise than it deserved. And The Expanse has been a great adaptation.

I would love to see Red Mars make it as a miniseries, but it would require a lot of money and effort. And as you note, this can be done wrong.


Offline hektor

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #6 on: 10/01/2017 05:00 pm »
Can't wait to see a Pierson's puppeteer.
« Last Edit: 10/01/2017 05:02 pm by hektor »

Online ccdengr

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #7 on: 10/01/2017 05:20 pm »
I dunno. I thought that Childhood's End was excellent. And it got much less attention and praise than it deserved. And The Expanse has been a great adaptation.
Well, I get that.  FWIW, I think the people who made Childhood's End were trying as hard as they could, but ultimately I found the changes jarring and I don't think it really captured either the themes or the flavor of the book at all.  Of course I can't claim any objectivity; Childhood's End was one of the first real SF books I read as a kid and I've read it dozens of times since.

Every once in a while I am impressed with a specific scene in The Expanse but in general I find it oddly paced and surprisingly boring.  I'm not a big fan of the books, either, though.  But again, the producers are clearly trying really hard and I respect the fandom's response, I just don't share it.

Online ccdengr

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #8 on: 10/01/2017 05:21 pm »
Can't wait to see a Pierson's puppeteer.
It would amaze me if that element makes it in, assuming this ever materializes at all.

Offline nacnud

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #9 on: 10/01/2017 05:30 pm »
That image makes the ringworld look really small! The surface area in the book is around 3 million times that of the Earth. I really hope they have someone with a big enough imagination to do this justice.
« Last Edit: 10/01/2017 05:31 pm by nacnud »

Offline zhangmdev

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #10 on: 10/01/2017 07:37 pm »
Like Rama, Ringworld is heavy on world-building but not much on narrative. The first part is largely talking and Exposé, during the second part, the protagonists just go from one place to another, encounter weird people and phenomena, they have little say on the events unfolding, just tag along, then more talking and revelations until the end.

A naive and helpless female protagonist. Breed for luck. Tasp. I think many concepts are very hard to adopt for TV audience. Removing all those hard, unpopular, tedious stuff, there is not much left. A few actions, but not enough. Unless they can pull a Total Recall or Blade Runner on it.

Nobody can possibly do justice to a world that huge, not even Larry Niven himself. Imagine the geography, history, culture, fauna and flora, possibility is endless, but the actual story is such a let down.

Offline nacnud

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #11 on: 10/01/2017 08:09 pm »
Exactly, take the good elements - Puppeteers, etc but completely redo the story to better encompass the vast scale of the world, without falling down the monster of the week. I really liked the idea of dropping hominids from 1-2 million years ago into such a world, but having the story ark remain consistent throughout.

IE make sure the series has an ark, and then stop.

The breding for luck can go, tasp is ok, sunflowers - meh, Pak protectors and breeders - meh. Whole new story would be better.
« Last Edit: 10/01/2017 08:16 pm by nacnud »

Offline KelvinZero

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #12 on: 10/02/2017 01:07 am »
You can be pretty sure someone has suggested "Hey, lets make it like Game of Thrones" :-)

Offline Thorny

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #13 on: 10/02/2017 01:52 am »
and reminds me of Auther C. Clark's "Rendezvous with Rama"

I think there was discussion of doing that as a TV movie. Cannot remember specifics, but obviously it has not happened.

For a while (10+ years ago) it was a feature film with Morgan Freeman attached.

Offline synchrotron

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #14 on: 10/02/2017 03:15 pm »
That image makes the ringworld look really small! The surface area in the book is around 3 million times that of the Earth. I really hope they have someone with a big enough imagination to do this justice.

Their imagination will have to include a way to make the ringworld fundamentally stable.  Which is ain't...

Offline Sam Ho

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #15 on: 10/02/2017 03:47 pm »
That image makes the ringworld look really small! The surface area in the book is around 3 million times that of the Earth. I really hope they have someone with a big enough imagination to do this justice.

Their imagination will have to include a way to make the ringworld fundamentally stable.  Which is ain't...
Yes, that was brought up at the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention, and Niven dealt with it in The Ringworld Engineers (1980).

Offline the_other_Doug

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #16 on: 10/02/2017 04:03 pm »
That image makes the ringworld look really small! The surface area in the book is around 3 million times that of the Earth. I really hope they have someone with a big enough imagination to do this justice.

Their imagination will have to include a way to make the ringworld fundamentally stable.  Which is ain't...
Yes, that was brought up at the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention, and Niven dealt with it in The Ringworld Engineers (1980).

Yep -- Bussard ramjets mounted along the ring walls, collecting and burning the solar wind-generated gasses, served as "attitude control jets" for Niven's Ringworld.

It's perhaps good that Amazon has picked up this property.  If Syfy was going to do it, all of those nice scenes featuring rishathra would have been censored out...;)
-Doug  (With my shield, not yet upon it)

Offline nacnud

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #17 on: 10/02/2017 10:21 pm »
It's perhaps good that Amazon has picked up this property.  If Syfy was going to do it, all of those nice scenes featuring rishathra would have been censored out...;)

I'm British, a nice cup of tea and a sit down will do just fine thank you. Though in extremis a biscuit would be nice too.

Offline synchrotron

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #18 on: 10/03/2017 04:03 pm »
That image makes the ringworld look really small! The surface area in the book is around 3 million times that of the Earth. I really hope they have someone with a big enough imagination to do this justice.

Their imagination will have to include a way to make the ringworld fundamentally stable.  Which is ain't...
Yes, that was brought up at the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention, and Niven dealt with it in The Ringworld Engineers (1980).

Yep -- Bussard ramjets mounted along the ring walls, collecting and burning the solar wind-generated gasses, served as "attitude control jets" for Niven's Ringworld.


A planet replacement/equivalent that requires an active OACS for many millennia is a distinctly unsatisfying kludge.

Offline Lar

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #19 on: 10/03/2017 04:57 pm »
Like Rama, Ringworld is heavy on world-building but not much on narrative. The first part is largely talking and Exposé, during the second part, the protagonists just go from one place to another, encounter weird people and phenomena, they have little say on the events unfolding, just tag along, then more talking and revelations until the end.

A naive and helpless female protagonist. Breed for luck. Tasp. I think many concepts are very hard to adopt for TV audience. Removing all those hard, unpopular, tedious stuff, there is not much left. A few actions, but not enough. Unless they can pull a Total Recall or Blade Runner on it.

Nobody can possibly do justice to a world that huge, not even Larry Niven himself. Imagine the geography, history, culture, fauna and flora, possibility is endless, but the actual story is such a let down.
Exactly my issues.
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Offline joncz

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #20 on: 10/03/2017 07:43 pm »
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

-- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Offline A_M_Swallow

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #21 on: 10/05/2017 02:39 pm »
Like Rama, Ringworld is heavy on world-building but not much on narrative. The first part is largely talking and Exposé, during the second part, the protagonists just go from one place to another, encounter weird people and phenomena, they have little say on the events unfolding, just tag along, then more talking and revelations until the end.

A naive and helpless female protagonist. Breed for luck. Tasp. I think many concepts are very hard to adopt for TV audience. Removing all those hard, unpopular, tedious stuff, there is not much left. A few actions, but not enough. Unless they can pull a Total Recall or Blade Runner on it.

Nobody can possibly do justice to a world that huge, not even Larry Niven himself. Imagine the geography, history, culture, fauna and flora, possibility is endless, but the actual story is such a let down.

"Go from one place to another ...". We are back to wagon trains in space. Early Star Trek.

Offline Lars-J

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #22 on: 10/05/2017 06:55 pm »
Amazon will adapt Ringworld, Snow Crash and Lazarus into TV series for Amazon Prime:

https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/09/snow-crash-lazarus-and-ringworld-shows-are-coming-to-amazon-prime/



Most depictions just fail to give an impression of the vast size of Niven's Ringworld. Here is a video that comes close to doing it justice:


As for the prospects for the show (if it indeed happens), I think it could be used as an interesting setting for something, something based on Ringworld rather than a retelling. Because the book plot is not very compelling.

Offline clongton

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #23 on: 10/09/2017 12:51 am »
As for the prospects for the show (if it indeed happens), I think it could be used as an interesting setting for something, something based on Ringworld rather than a retelling. Because the book plot is not very compelling.

Agreed. I have read the book series - twice. It is still a compelling story if only because of how the immensity of the ringworld boggles the mind. I agree with your premise. A successful series would, like Star Trek, need to be a series of different stories with the common environment and difficulties of the ringworld. That might work. But a story "about" the ringworld would quickly become a one-of, and pass into the list of also rans.
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Offline KelvinZero

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #24 on: 10/09/2017 01:28 am »
Someone might already have done this (shades of "The Last Ship"), but I was thinking you could have an interesting procedural SF based around an aircraft carrier somehow transported to a ringworld.

It could be essentially the exact same plot setup as star trek voyager, but done with present day technology.

Offline abreauj

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #25 on: 03/22/2018 02:58 am »
Can't wait to see a Pierson's puppeteer.

If they do this, I hope they model them on Wayne Barlowe's drawings from his book "Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials". Barlowe's drawings were awesome.

Offline JQP

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #26 on: 03/22/2018 03:28 am »
The Expanse had me at "hi, we're at least kinda trying to do hard sci-fi." Do wish they'd drop the sound effects in a vacuum thing, though. Play some music to keep the audience engaged during exterior space shots, dagnabbit.

The problem is that sci-fi isn't as big a draw as I wish it was. So sci-fi has to be all 'splodey to sell. I'd love something along the lines of a 2001 show sans aliens that tried to do hard SF right. E.g., shouldn't combat engagement distances be ginormous in space? First one to spot the other guy wins? Fire a missile/laser/railgun at the far-away target and only see the results on your instrument panel? Do boarding actions or special ops if you want an adrenaline rush. I know stuff like this is more niche, but it does get done outside of sci-fi (e.g., Tom Clancy's stuff).

Online rakaydos

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #27 on: 03/29/2018 08:48 pm »
The Expanse had me at "hi, we're at least kinda trying to do hard sci-fi." Do wish they'd drop the sound effects in a vacuum thing, though. Play some music to keep the audience engaged during exterior space shots, dagnabbit.

The problem is that sci-fi isn't as big a draw as I wish it was. So sci-fi has to be all 'splodey to sell. I'd love something along the lines of a 2001 show sans aliens that tried to do hard SF right. E.g., shouldn't combat engagement distances be ginormous in space? First one to spot the other guy wins? Fire a missile/laser/railgun at the far-away target and only see the results on your instrument panel? Do boarding actions or special ops if you want an adrenaline rush. I know stuff like this is more niche, but it does get done outside of sci-fi (e.g., Tom Clancy's stuff).

In the last ringworld book, there's a scene where the ARM, Patriarchy, and Puppeteer fleets are watching the ringworld and each other in a paranoid fashion... As they emerge from hyper, they find all "enemy" ships, and assume that the nearest will fire a laser weapon at them the moment they are seen, and do another hyper microjump before that theoretical laser could arrive. Except everyone else is doing the same thing.

Offline MickQ

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #28 on: 04/06/2018 05:09 am »
I haven't seen that book, only Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers.  How many are there ?

Offline nacnud

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #29 on: 04/06/2018 06:27 am »
From wikipedia Ringworld Series

Quote
The Ringworld series is a series of science fiction novels written by American author Larry Niven. It is part of his Known Space set of stories. Its backdrop is the Ringworld, a giant artifact 600 million miles in circumference around a star. The series is composed of five standalone science fiction novels, the original award-winning book and its four sequels:

1970: Ringworld
1980: The Ringworld Engineers
1996: The Ringworld Throne
2004: Ringworld's Children
2012: Fate of Worlds (by Niven and Edward M. Lerner)

Fate of Worlds is also a sequel to the four books of the Fleet of Worlds series, set in the same "Known Space" universe and all written by Niven and Edward M. Lerner:

2007: Fleet of Worlds
2008: Juggler of Worlds
2009: Destroyer of Worlds
2010: Betrayer of Worlds

« Last Edit: 04/06/2018 06:28 am by nacnud »

Offline MickQ

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Re: Ringworld to be Made into Series by Amazon
« Reply #30 on: 04/08/2018 11:25 am »
Hell !  I've got some reading to do.

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