Fate of Worlds (Ringworld Book 5)

Fate of Worlds is the fifth and final book in Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner's Fleet of Worlds series, concluding Niven's original Ringworld series. For decades, spacefaring species in Known Space have fought over the Ringworld, the galaxy's largest artifact and greatest source of resources and technology. When the Ringworld suddenly vanishes, it leaves behind three rival war fleets with no prize to justify their conflict and losses. The Puppeteers now face pressure to reveal their own secrets instead. Adventurer Louis Wu and Hindmost, an exiled Puppeteer, escaped the Ringworld before its disappearance and have been marooned together for over a decade. During this time, Hindmost has studied Ringworld technology while plotting to regain his power. Meanwhile, multiple threats converge on the trillion Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds: Ol't'ro, the Gw'oth ensemble mind and secret puppet master for a century, grows increasingly unbalanced. Proteus, the artificial intelligence managing Puppeteer defenses, is outgrowing its programming constraints. Sigmund Ausfaller, a paranoid and disgraced human hero, senses a threat to his adopted world. And Achilles, a megalomaniac Puppeteer twice banished and rehabilitated, views the crisis as an opportunity to seize supreme power. The Puppeteers may face their final days.