Ringworld vs Words of Radiance: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Guerres et batailles imaginaires, Imaginary wars and battles, Life on other planets, Fiction
Ringworld
The ' (1970–2004), by science fiction author Larry Niven, is a part of his Known Space set of stories. Its backdrop is the Ringworld, a giant artifact 600 million miles in circumference around a sun. The series is…
vs
Words of Radiance
The eagerly awaited sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings. Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty…
The verdict
- Readers rate Words of Radiance highest: Words of Radiance 4.8 · Ringworld 3.9.
- Ringworld is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 20 for Words of Radiance.
- Words of Radiance has the widest readership — 527911 ratings behind its score.
- Words of Radiance runs the darker storyline; Ringworld stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Want a one-evening read?
Ringworld
≈ 5h vs 20h for Words of Radiance
Want the crowd-tested pick?
Words of Radiance
527911 ratings vs 131007 for Ringworld
Just want the better-reviewed one?
Words of Radiance
4.8 vs 3.9 from readers
New to the genre?
Ringworld
Light vs Moderate for Words of Radiance
In the mood for something dark?
Words of Radiance
a darker storyline than Ringworld
Scores by source
| Ringworld | Words of Radiance | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (131007) | 4.8 (527911) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (736) | 4.7 (3) |
| Google Books | 3.5 (8) | 5.0 (4) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (383) | 5.0 (8455) |
Reception
| Ringworld | Words of Radiance | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 131007 | 527911 |
| Editions | 49 | 23 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 90482 | 171247 |
| Reading it now | 2889 | 27142 |
| Written reviews | 5227 | 37238 |
| Wikipedia attention | 12343 | 7794 |
| Pages | 305 | 1088 |