Most Popular Books by Larry Niven

Pierson¿s puppeteers, strange, three-legged, two-headed aliens, have discovered an immense structure in a hitherto unexplored part of the universe. Frightened of meeting the builders of such a structure, the puppeteers set about assembling a team consisting of two humans, a puppeteer and a kzin, an alien not unlike an eight-foot-tall, red-furred cat, to explore it. The artefact is a vast circular ribbon of matter, some 180 million miles across, with a sun at its centre - the Ringworld. But the expedition goes disastrously wrong when the ship crashlands and its motley crew faces a trek across thousands of miles of the Ringworld¿s surface.

They first appear as a series of dots on astronomical plates, heading from Saturn directly toward Earth. Since the ringed planet carries no life, scientists deduce the mysterious ship to be a visitor from another star.

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

A special commemoration of this long_running themed science fiction anthology edited by multiple #1 best seller, Larry Niven. Here is the 25th anniversary edition of the original volume that started it all. Includes an all_new introduction by Larry Niven for this re_issue of the first volume in a series that now numbers fourteen volumes and is still going strong. Larry Nivenu0090s bestselling Man_Kzin series begins! The kzin, formerly invincible conquerors of all they encountered, had a hard time dealing with their ignominious defeat by the leaf_eating humans. Some secretly hatched schemes for a rematch, others concentrated on gathering power within the kzin hierarchy, and some shamefully cooperated with the contemptible humans, though often for hidden motives. In war and in uneasy peace, here is the first masterful volume in the Man_Kzin Wars shared universe anthology created by multiple New York Times best_seller, incomparable tale_spinner, and Nebula_ and five_time Hugo_Award_winner, Larry Niven. At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Science fiction-roman.

Science fiction-roman.

The beginning of a hard sci-fi series, Deam Park is a visionary science fiction classic from Larry Niven and Steven Barnes A group of pretend adventurers suit up for a campaign called "The South Seas Treasure Game." As in the early Role Playing Games, there are Dungeon Masters, warriors, magicians, and thieves. The difference? At Dream Park, a futuristic fantasy theme park full of holographic attractions and the latest in VR technology, they play in an artificial enclosure that has been enhanced with special effects, holograms, actors, and a clever storyline. The players get as close as possible to truly living their adventure. All''s fun and games until a Park security guard is murdered, a valuable research property is stolen, and all evidence points to someone inside the game. The park''s head of security, Alex Griffin, joins the game to find the killer, but finds new meaning in the games he helps keep alive. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fleet of Worlds marks Larry Niven''s first full novel-length collaboration within his Known Space universe, the playground he created for his bestselling Ringworld series. Teaming up with fellow SF writer Edward M. Lerner, Fleet of Worlds takes a closer look at the Human-Puppeteer (Citizens) relations and the events leading up to Niven''s first Ringworld novel. Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs is among the best and brightest of her people. She gratefully serves the gentle race that rescued her ancestors from a dying starship, gave them a world, and nurtures them still. If only the Citizens knew where Kirsten''s people came from.... A chain reaction of supernovae at the galaxy''s core has unleashed a wave of lethal radiation that will sterilize the galaxy. The Citizens flee, taking their planets, the Fleet of Worlds, with them. Someone must scout ahead, and Kirsten and her crew eagerly volunteer. Under the guiding eye of Nessus, their Citizen mentor, they explore for any possible dangers in the Fleet''s path—and uncover long-hidden truths that will shake the foundations of worlds. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jaybee Corbell awoke after more than 200 years as a corpsicle -- in someone else''s body, and under sentence of instant annihilation if he made a wrong move while they were training him for a one-way mission to the stars.But Corbell picked his time and made his own move. Once he was outbound, where the Society that ruled Earth could not reach him, he headed his starship toward the galactic core, where the unimaginable energies of the Universe wrenched the fabric of time and space and promised final escape from his captors.Then he returned to an Earth eons older than the one he''d left...a planet that had had 3,000,000 years to develop perils he had never dreamed of -- perils that became nightmares that he had to escape...somehow!

Acclaimed writing pair Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle offer a new twist on Dante''s classic tale, Inferno. After being thrown out the window of his luxury apartment, science fiction writer Allen Carpentier wakes to find himself at the gates of hell. Feeling he''s landed in a great opportunity for a book, he attempts to follow Dante''s road map. Determined to meet Satan himself, Carpentier treks through the Nine Layers of Hell led by Benito Mussolini, and encounters countless mental and physical tortures. As he struggles to escape, he''s taken through new, puzzling, and outlandish versions of sin—recast for the present day. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This retrospective collection of stories from all phases of Niven''s writing career is rich with gossip, storytelling vigor, and sheer science-fictional play.

“The first satisfying end-of-the-world novel in years . . . an ultimate one . . . massively entertaining.”—Cleveland Plain-Dealer The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known. . . . “Take your earthquakes, waterlogged condominiums, swarms of bugs, colliding airplanes and flaming what-nots, wrap them up and they wouldn’t match one page of Lucifer’s Hammer for sweaty-palmed suspense.”—Chicago Daily News

Science fiction.

Science fiction-roman.

BOOK ONE IN THE CLASSIC HEOROT SERIES FROM GENRE LEGENDS LARRY NIVEN, JERRY POURNELLE, AND STEVEN BARNES The two hundred colonists on board the Geographic have spent a century in cold sleep to arrive here: Avalon, a lush, verdant planet lightyears from Earth. They hope to establish a permanent colony, and Avalon seems the perfect place. And so they set about planting and building. But their very presence has upset the ecology of Avalon. Soon an implacable predator stalks them, picking them off one by one. In order to defeat this alien enemy, they must reevaluate everything they think they know about Avalon, and uncover the planet''s dark secrets. At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About The Legacy of Heorot: "Page-turning action and suspense, good characterization and convincing setting . . . may be the best thing any of those authors has written.”—The Denver Post “Outstanding! . . . The best ever, by the best in the field . . . the ultimate combination of imagination and realism.”—Tom Clancy “Well written, action-packed, and tension filled . . . makes Aliens look like a Disney nature film."—The Washington Post “Spine-tingling ecological tale of terror.”—Locus About sequel Beowulf''s Children: "Few writers have a finer pedigree than those here. . . . As one might suspect Beowulf''s Children is seamless . . . absorbing, substantial . . . masterful novel."—Los Angeles Times "Panoramic SF adventure at its best."—Library Journal About Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle: "Possibly the greatest science fiction novel I have ever read."—Robert A. Heinlein on The Mote in God''s Eye About Larry Niven: “Larry Niven’s RINGWORLD remains one of the all-time classic travelogues of science fiction — a new and amazing world and fantastic companions.”—Greg Bear "Our premier hard SF writer.”—The Baltimore Sun "The scope of Larry Niven''s work is so vast that only a writer of supreme talent could disguise the fact as well as he can."—Tom Clancy "Niven is a true master."—Frederik Pohl About Jerry Pournelle: "Jerry Pournelle is one of science fiction''s greatest storytellers."—Poul Anderson "Jerry Pournelle''s trademark is first-rate action against well-realized backgrounds of hard science and hardball politics."—David Drake "Rousing . . . The Best of the Genre"—The New York Times "On the cover . . . is the claim ''No. 1 Adventure Novel of the Year.'' And well it might be."—Milwaukee Journal on Janissaries About Steven Barnes: “Brilliant, surprising, and devastating.”—David Mack “Sharp, observant and scary.”—Greg Bear "Profound and exhilarating."—Maurice Broaddus, author of The Knights of Breton Court “Barnes gives us characters that are vividly real people, conceived with insight and portrayed with compassion and rare skill and then he stokes the suspense up to levels that will make the reader miss sleep and be late for work.”—Tim Powers “[Barnes] combines imagination, anthropology and beautiful storytelling as he takes readers to the foot of the Great Mountain, today known as Mount Kilimanjaro.”—Durham Triangle Tribune on Great Sky Woman

Larry Niven is the New York Times bestselling author of such classic science fiction novels as Ringworld and Destiny''s Road. One of his previous collections, N-Space, was lauded by the Houston Post as "Outstanding . . . hours of entertainment," while Publishers Weekly called it "A must for science fiction fans." A follow-up volume, Playgrounds of the Mind, was praised by Kirkus Reviews as "Grand Entertainment." Niven returns with the sequel to his most recent collection, Scatterbrain, which gathers an equally engaging assortment of Niven''s latest work, all in one captivating volume. Here are choice excerpts from his most recent novels, including Ringworld''s Child, as well as short stories, non-fiction, interviews, editorials, collaborations, and correspondence. Stars and Gods roams all over a wide variety of fascinating topics, from space stations to conventional etiquette. Give yourself a treat, and feel free to pick the brain of one of modern science fiction''s most fascinating thinkers. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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.

The long-awaited follow-up to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle''s classic science-fiction reimagining of Dante''s Inferno.

The future is a strange and dangerous place. Chaz Kato can testify to that. He is a citizen of Xanudu, a city-sized artificial island populated by some of the wealthiest men and women on future Earth. A place filled with hidden wonders and dark secrets of technology gone awry. Lenore Myles is a student when she travels to Xanadu and becomes involved with Chaz Kato. She is shocked when she uses Kato''s access codes to uncover the grizzly truth behind Xandu''s glittering facade. Not knowing who to trust, Lenore finds herself on the run. Saturn, a mysterious entity, moves aggressively to break the security breach. With interests of the world''s wealthiest people at stake, and powerful technology at it''s fingertips, Saturn, puts Lenore racing for her life, against a truly formidable foe. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over the largest artifactNand grandest prizeNin the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. Without warning the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets.

"This rousing sequel to the classic Ringworld continues the adventures of Louis Wu and Speaker-to-Animals on that fantastic planet."--School Library Journal An ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Worlds closer to the galatic core than Known Space are --or were--home to intelligent speciers. Some learned of the core explosion in time to flee. Destroyer of Worlds opens in 2670, ten years after Juggler of Worlds closes; with refugee species fleeing in an armada of ramscoops in the direction of the Fleet of Worlds. The onrushing aliens are recognized as a threat; they have left in their trail a host of desolated worlds: some raided for supplies, some attacked to eliminate competition, and some for pure xenophobia. Only the Puppeteers might have the resources to confront this threat--but the Puppeteers are philosophical cowards... they don''t confront anyone. They need sepoys to investigate the situation and take action for them. The source of the sepoys? Their newly independent former slave world, New Terra. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

IT ALL HAPPENED SO FAST One minute the two space Hab astronauts were scoop-diving the atmosphere, the next they''d been shot down over the North Dakota Glacier and were the object of a massive manhunt by the United States government. That government, dedicated to saving the environment from the evils of technology, had been voted into power because everybody knew that the Green House Effect had to be controlled, whatever the cost. But who would have thought that the cost of ending pollution would include not only total government control of day-to-day life, but the onset of a new Ice Age Stranded in the anti-technological heartland of America, paralyzed by Earth''s gravity, the "Angels" had no way back to the Space Habs, the last bastions of high technology and intellectual freedom on or over the Earth. But help was on its way, help from the most unlikely sources .... Join # 1 national bestsellers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle and Michael Flynn in a world where civilization is on the ropes, and the environmentalists have created their own worst nightmare: A world of Fallen Angels At the publisher''s request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

The first interstellar starship, John Glenn, fled a Solar System populated by rogue AIs and machine/human hybrids, threatened by too much nanotechnology, and rife with political dangers. The John Glenn''s crew intended to terraform the nearly pristine planet Ymir, in hopes of creating a utopian society that would limit intelligent technology. But by some miscalculation they have landed in another solar system and must shape the gas giant planet Harlequin''s moon, Selene, into a new, temporary home. Their only hope of ever reaching Ymir is to rebuild their store of antimatter by terraforming the moon. Gabriel, the head terraformer, must lead this nearly impossible task, with all the wrong materials: the wrong ships and tools, and too few resources. His primary tools are the uneducated and nearly-illiterate children of the original colonists, born and bred to build Harlequin''s moon into an antimatter factory. Rachel Vanowen is one of these children. Basically a slave girl, she must do whatever the terraforming Council tells her. She knows that Council monitors her actions from a circling vessel above Selene''s atmosphere, and is responsible for everything Rachel and her people know, as well as all the skills, food, and knowledge they have ever received. With no concept of the future and a life defined with duty, how will the children of Selene ever survive once the Council is through terraforming and have abandoned Selene for its ultimate goal of Ymir? At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A new look at Niven''s Known Space, two hundred years before the discovery of the Ringworld

Welcome to a world like no other. The Ringworld: a landmark engineering achievement, a flat band 3 million times the surface area of Earth, encircling a distant star. Home to trillions of inhabitants, not all of which are human, and host to amazing technological wonders, the Ringworld is unique in all of the universe. Explorere Louis Wu, an Earth-born human who was part of the first expedition to Ringworld, becomes enmeshed in interplanetary and interspecies intrigue as war, and a powerful new weapon, threaten to tear the Ringworld apart forever. Now, the future of Ringworld lies in the actions of its children: Tunesmith, the Ghould protector; Acolyte, the exiled son of Speaker-to-Animals, and Wembleth, a strange Ringworld native with a mysterious past. All must play a dangerous in order to save Ringworld''s population, and the stability of Ringworld itself. Blending awe-inspiring science with non-stop action and fun, Ringworld''s Children, the fourth installment of the multiple award-winning saga, is the perfect introduction for readers new to this New York Times bestselling series, and long-time fans of Larry Niven''s Ringworld. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

From the mind of #1 New York Times bestselling author Larry Niven, come twenty-six tales and vignettes from this interplanetary gathering place, collected for the first time in one volume. When a tremendous spacecraft took orbit around the Earth''s moon and began sending smaller landers down toward the North Pole, the newly arrived visitors quickly set up a permanent spaceport at Mount Forel in Siberia. Their presence attracted many, and a few people grew conspicuously rich from secrets they learned from talking to the aliens. One of these men, Rick Schumann established a tavern catering to all of various species of visiting aliens, a place he named the Draco Tavern. This collection includes: "The Subject Is Closed": A priest visits the tavern and goes one-on-one with a chirpsithra alien on the subject of God and life after death. "Table Mannners: A Folk Tale": Rick Schumann is invited to hunt with five folk aliens, but he''s not quite sure what their hunt entails, or if he will be the hunted. "Wisdom of Demons": The age-old question of wisdom vs. knowledge is asked when Rick is confronted by a human who has been granted the wisdom of an individual gligstith(click)optok alien. "Losing Mars" in this unpublished tale, a group of aliens who call Mars and its moon home, arrive at the Tavern only to find that humans have mostly forgotten about their neighboring planet. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Citizens Tree people rescue a family of loggers and learn for the first time of a society known as the Admiralty, which may have maintained intact the original computer library of the ship Discipline.

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