Science Fiction - Larry Niven
Explore the best science fiction books by Larry Niven, featuring thrilling space adventures, futuristic worlds, and iconic series like Ringworld. Dive into his acclaimed works today!
Book
Ringworld
by Larry Niven
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel Four travelers come to the ringworld. . . Louis Wu: human and old; bored with having lived too fully for far too many years. Seeking a challenge, and all too capable of handling it. Nessus: a trembling coward, a puppeteer with a built-in survival pattern of nonviolence. Except that this particular puppeteer is insane. Teela Brown: human; a wide-eyed youngster with no allegiances, no experience, no abilities. And all the luck in the world. Speaker-To-Animals: kzin; large, orange-furred, and carnivorous. And one of the most savage life-forms known in the galaxy. Why did these disparate individuals come together? How could they possibly function together? And where, in the name of anything sane, were they headed?
Book
Ringworld Engineers
by Larry Niven
A return voyage to the astonishing world of Larry Niven’s Ringworld, with even more remarkable adventures and surprises, and a solution to that tantalizing question left from the earlier book: how was Ringworld built and by whom? It’s been twenty years since the quixotic and worldsweary Louis Wu discovered the Ringworld. Now he and Speaker-To-Animals are going back, captives of the Hindmost, a deposed puppeteer leader. With Louis’ help, the Hindmost intends to regain his status by bringing back such extraordinary treasures from the Ringworld that his fellow puppeteers will have to be impressed. But when they arrive, Louis discovers that the Ringworld is no longer stable . . . and will destroy itself within months. To survive he must locate the control center of the legendary engineers who built the planet. His quest becomes a wild and gripping venture, blended with the mysteries and spectacular technologies that only Larry Niven can conjure! Praise for Ringworld Engineers “For new readers, there’s fascinating adventure in plenitude. For old fans of Niven’s Known Space series, or of the original volume, there are all the fine, characteristic touches that delight us Niven fans, and which support his reputation for uncommon wittiness and fast narrative pace.”—Chicago Sun-Times “The Ringworld Engineers has all the imaginativeness, convincing detail, and narrative vivacity that have come to be associated with the works of Larry Niven. Furthermore, it answers a lot of questions that have been tantalizing his readers for a long time. Most highly recommended!”—Paul Anderson “When I finished The Ringworld Engineers, I cleared my calendar for a week, sat down, and reread every word of the Known Space cycle from scratch, then reread The Ringworld Engineers. It was worth the effort, and left me staggered by the breadth and scope of Larry’s vision. . . . If you count yourself as a true friend of Larry Niven, race right out and get this one.”—Analog Science Fiction Magazine “Another fine masterpiece from the master of science fiction . . . The coming conquest of space has always been a central myth of science fiction, and Larry Niven’s future worlds have made the most of it. The Ringworld itself is a dazzling notion, carrying the future evolution of technology about as far as possible.”—Jack Williamson “Adventurous exploration of a mind-boggling landscape.”—Publishers Weekly
Book
Protector
by Larry Niven
A classic novel of known space Phssthpok the Pak had been traveling for most of his thirty-two thousand years. His mission: save, develop, and protect the group of Pak breeders sent out into space some two and a half million years before . . . Brennan was a Belter, the product of a fiercely independent, somewhat anarchic society living in, on, and around an outer asteroid belt. The Belters were rebels, one and all, and Brennan was a smuggler. The Belt worlds had been tracking the Pak ship for days—Brennan figured to meet that ship first . . . He was never seen again—at least not by those alive at the time.
Book
Flatlander
by Larry Niven
Gil “The Arm” Hamilton was one of the top operatives of ARM, the elite UN police force. His intuition was unfailingly accurate; his detective skills second to none; and his psychic powers—esper sense and telekinesis—were awesome. Tough and deadly, Gil Hamilton could reach right into a person's brain for the truth . . . or for the kill! Read all the stories of the legendary ARM operative, collected here in one volume for the very first time: • Organleggers aren't stopping at robbing body parts from the corpses of the frozen dead. Now they're stealing from the living . . . and Gil is a prime target! • The most beautiful woman on Luna has been falsely accused of murder. Unless Gil can prove her innocence, she's doomed to end up as a sack of spare parts in the organ banks. . . . • And more . . . Plus an all-new, never-before-published Gil Hamilton adventure!
Book
Three Books of Known Space
by Larry Niven
Let three complete books in one take you on a dazzling journey into science fiction's most famous future history: Known Space! World of Ptavvs Kzanol was a thrint from a distant galaxy. He had been trapped on Earth in a time-stasis field for two billion years. Now he was on the loose, and telepath Larry Greenberg knew everything he was thinking. Thrints lived to plunder and enslave lesser planets . . . and the planet Kzanol had in mind was Earth! A Gift from Earth Shrouded in lethal mists, the world named Mount Lookitthat was never meant for humans. Life existed only on one plateau, unreachable except from space. But still the planet had been colonized, and the settlers struggled to survive under a ruthless dictatorship on a rebellion-proof world . . . until fate dealt them a wild card named Matthew Keller, whose secret talent might just be their only hope! Tales of Known Space A classic collection of stories that traces humankind's expansion and colonization throughout the galaxy from the twentieth century to the thirty-first . . . And more: Larry Niven's latest thoughts on the evolution—both creative and “historical”—of known space, as well as an updated Timeline of Known Space and a complete Niven bibliography!
Book
Crashlander
by Larry Niven
At last, all the Beowulf Shaeffer stories in one volume—plus a brand-new story and never-before-seen material linking them all together. Crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer has long been one of the most popular characters in Known Space. Now, for the first time ever, Larry Niven brings together all the Beowulf stories—including a breand-new one—in one long tale of exploration and adventure! Neutron Star Beowulf Shaeffer uncovers one of the puppeteers' greatest secrets. At the Core Beowulf Shaeffer learns something that scares the puppeteers into fleeing Known Space. Flatlander Beowulf Shaeffer meets the love of his life and discovers a haunted planet. Grendel Beowulf Shaeffer solves a mystery, foils a kidnapping, and rescues an alien. The Borderland of Sol Beowulf Shaeffer stops a mass murderer and destroys the ultimate weapon. Procrustes An exciting new story in which Beowulff Shaeffer loses his head—literally. PLUS—an all-new framing story that pulls together all of Beowulf Shaeffer's adventures and allows Shaeffer and his family to make a clean start at life once and for all!
Book
Ringworld Throne
by Larry Niven
Come back to the Ringworld . . . the most astonishing feat of engineering ever encountered. A place of untold technological wonders, home to a myriad humanoid races, and world of some of the most beloved science fiction stories ever written! The human, Louis Wu; the puppeteer known as the Hindmost; Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee . . . legendary beings brought together once again in the defense of the Ringworld. Something is going on with the Protectors. Incoming spacecraft are being destroyed before they can reach the Ringworld. Vampires are massing. And the Ghouls have their own agenda—if anyone dares approach them to learn. Each race on the Ringworld has always had its own Protector. Now it looks as if the Ringworld itself needs a Protector. But who will sit on the Ringworld Throne? “Niven’s work has been an intriguing and consistent universe, and this book is the keystone of the arch. . . . [His] technique is wonderfully polished, his characters and their situations are nicely drawn . . . wraps up (maybe) a corner of a very interesting universe.”—San Diego Union-Tribune
Book
Man-kzin Wars VI
by Larry Niven
Chronicles the continuing battle between the humans of Earth and the lethal felines of Kzin.
Book
Man-Kzin Wars VII
by Larry Niven
Chronicles the continuing battle between the humans of Earth and the lethal felines of Kzin.
Book
Man-Kzin Wars V
by Larry Niven
The time-honored tradition of the ultra-successful Man-Kzin Wars saga continues with the fifth exciting book in the series, two fine short novels in a single volume. Mother Lode by Jerry Pournelle and Steve Stirling and Hey Diddle Diddle by Thomas T. Thomas both tell of humans and Kzini teaming up for adventure in the calm between the wars.
Book
Choosing Names
by Larry Niven
Traces the earliest days of the first war, during which humans foil the huge feline warriors' attempt to turn them into slaves by enslaving the kzin instead, until one of the creatures turns out to be gifted with mental telepathy.
Book
The Best of All Possible Wars
by Niven
The catlike Kzin race, bred to be conquerors, believes that the salad-eating ape-humans of planet Earth will be pushovers, until they realize their opponents are pacifists only because they are so good at warfare.