Larry Niven


About Larry Niven

Larry Niven was born in 1938 in Los Angeles, California. In 1956, he entered the California Institute of Technology, only to flunk out a year and a half later after discovering a bookstore jammed with used science-fiction magazines. He graduated with a B.A. in mathematics (minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Kansas, in 1962, and completed one year of graduate work before he dropped out to write.

His first published story, "The Coldest Place," appeared in the December 1964 issue of Worlds of If. He won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1966 for "Neutron Star," and in 1974 for "The Hole Man." The 1975 Hugo Award for Best Novelette was given to The Borderland of Sol. His novel Ringworld won the 1970 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the 1970 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 1972 Ditmar, an Australian award for Best International Science Fiction. Larry Niven is one of today's foremost science fiction authors, and gets shamefully little attention in the literary world as a whole. His work is typical science fiction, very concerned with original ideas and scientific concepts with a rollicking good story underneath.
 


Books of Known Space
 
 
Ringworld
 
 Ringworld 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Ringworld is the most stunning artifact in known space - an artificial world with 3 million times Earth's surface area. Possibly Niven's best-known work; an exploration of a strange place populated with strange creatures (the sunflowers from World of Ptaavs show up here; it's all connected). Characters aren't bad, alien characters are believably alien, tensions are well-drawn, and the stuff they find is cool. 
 
 
 
 
Ringworld Engineers
 
 The Ringworld Engineers 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Return to the ringworld; a lot of it is just "hey, remember this, wasn't this cool?" but there's a certain amount of original material. Guess who built the ringworld. The sequel to "Ringworld". Louis Wu, Speaker-to-Animals, and the Hindmost return to Ringworld. Their aim is to prevent cataclysm. In the process, they find themselves learning Ringworld's incredible secrets.
 
 
 
 
Ringworld Throne
 
 Ringworld Throne
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
The sequel to "Ringworld Engineers". Ringworld is the most stunning artifact in known space - an artificial world with 3 million times Earth's surface area.
 
 
 
 
Man-Kizi Wars
 
 Man Kzin Wars 
  Larry Niven
  Poul Anderson and Dean Ing
Two aggressive species, each believing in its own 
supremacy. After initial contact, centuries of war stretched 
between them, every new outbreak being sparked off by the Kzin, warlike, feline aliens who just couldn't believe that these seemingly weak humans could defeat them again and again. These three tales of those wars mark the 
progress of one of the mightiest conflicts in the history of 
known space.
 
 
 
 
Destiny
 
 Destiny's Road 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Planet Destiny is humankind's second attempt at colonizing an inhabitable planet of a distant star. Following a fight and the accidental death of a trader, Jemmy is forced to flee the small community of Spiral Town on the only road available - the one forged by lander-craft Cavorite 250 years ago.
 
 
 
 
Fallen
 
 Fallen Angels 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
2073. Earth falls victim to a new ice age and parodoxically, the Green politicians have rejected the technology that could save the planet. Two astronauts have crash-landed in the frozen American midwest - their only hope of survival is a group of science enthusiasts who can return them to freedom.
 
 
 
 
Footfall
 
 Footfall
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
It was big alright. Far bigger than any craft any human had seen. It had been decelerating for weeks and it was still travelling fast enough to escape the sun's gravity with ease. Now it was headed for Earth.Good ole-fashioned bad aliens invading Earth and humans running for cover (and setting off nuclear bombs, etc...). Kind of Stephen King-ish without the horror; has the interesting and rather amusing plot device of a council of science fiction writers who are considered the experts on saving the Earth from aliens (well, who better?). Diverting fare with some small meat. 
 
 
 
 
Limits
 
 Limits 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
A collection of short fantasy and science fictions stories by 
the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of "Ringworld".
 
 
 
 
Barsoom
 
 The Barsoom Project 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Combining science fiction and fantasy with action, adventure and suspense, this novel is set in Dream Park, where nothing is what it seems and the ultimate fantasy could turn into a nightmare. The authors have also written the "Legacy of Heorot".
 
 
 
 
Dragons
 
 The Dragons Of Heorot 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
The sequel to "The Legacy of Heorot". Twenty years ago, the colonists of Avalon waged a war against the grendels, reptilian creatures larger than alligators. The battle was bloody and brutal, but the humans triumphed, building a haven for themselves on their island capital of Camelot. Now the colony is flourishing, but a rift has grown between those who remember all too well the horrors of the grendel wars and the youngsters, who yearn for excitement and adventure and dream of claiming the entire planet for human kind. Now the younger members of the colony want to explore the mainland where the grendels still roam - and claim the entire planet. 
But the dangers awaiting them on the mainland are far greater than anyone could imagine, for lurking there is something even worse than grendels... something that eats grendels.
 
 
 
 
Legacy
 
 The Legacy Of Heorot 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Civilization on Earth was rich, comfortable and overcrowded. Millions applied, but only the best were chosen to settle on Tau Ceti Four. The colony was a success, an idyll, the stuff of dreams, but beyond the perimeter the nightmare has begun to chatter.
 
 
 
 
N-space
 
 N-space 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
A collection of science fiction writing from all phases of the author's career, ranging from stories such as "Inconstant Moon" and "All the Myriad Ways" to extracts from his novels. They are underlined by Niven's comments and afterthoughts, together with essays by other science fiction writers.
 
 
 
 
Mote in God's Eye
 
 The Mote In God's Eye
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
Aliens - Moties - were first contacted in AD3017 in the region of space known as the Coalsack. The eponymous mote in his eye, which has winked out, much to the distress of pious Himmists, just might have been Motie laser light. It might even indicate the position of their home planet.
 
 
 
 
Mote in Murch's Eye
 
 The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
 This is the sequel to "The Mote in God's Eye". Humankind has spent 100 years agonizing over the threat posed by the only aliens they have ever threatened, the Moties. The three-armed aliens have been quarantined within the confines of their own solar system - until now.
 
 
 
 
Oath
 
 Oath Of Fealty
  Larry Niven
  Jerry Pournelle
A stirring adventure story for the future, set in Todos Santos: a self-contained, self-governing community of a quarter of a million people which towers above the slums of Los Angeles.
 
 
 
 
Lantern
 
 Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
 
 
 
 
 
Lantern
 
 Integral Trees 
  Larry Niven
  Orbit Books  (Paperback)
 This story takes place in the toroidal atmosphere around a stellar body whose nature I can't recall. The Integral Trees themselves are large trees which grow long trunks with tufts pointing in opposite directions, like an Integral sign.
 
 
 
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