The Ringworld Engineers

This is an adequate sequel to [b:Ringworld 7987601 Ringworld Larry Niven https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1270514178l/7987601.SY75.jpg 924711], quite readable, it continues the story plausibly and clears up a number of points and loose ends.However, it's also a bit of a mess, rambling its way through assorted unnecessary digressions, so the plot feels lumpy and inelegant. The ending is hurried and unhappy: the main protagonists survive, but completely fail in their initial objective, and achieve their second objective only at considerable cost.The book has its moments, but whenever I reread it I have a tendency to skim here and there.In Chapter 2, a character is unexpectedly rejuvenated, and wonders how he can prove his identity, given his new younger body. An odd thing to wonder, given that this is clearly not a new problem in the far future in which the story is set. Also, Niven apparently failed to anticipate in 1980 that genetic analysis would be able to identify even long-dead people within his own lifetime. Cloning could confuse such analysis, but I think Niven never mentions cloning.