Known Space: The Future Worlds of Larry Niven

  • Home
  • Larry Niven
  • News
  • Articles
  • Community
  • Writings
  • Universes
  • Multimedia
  • Bibliography
  • About
  • Links

WWW Links

  • Literary Reviews, Essays, Extrapolations and Awards and Bi[bli]ography Sites
  • Information
  • Ringworld Movie Information
  • Graphics Sites
  • Interviews, Commentary and Public Appearances
  • Humor
  • Newsgroups
  • Mailing Lists
  • Clubs and Discussion Boards
  • Everything Else

Literary Reviews, Essays, and Awards

Site Reviews

  • Known Space Site Review
    A review of the Known Space web pages by Mark Wilson, from issue #107 of Science Fiction Weekly. They awarded these pages "Site of the Week" for the week commencing 3 May 1999. Thank you SFW!

Book Reviews (specific)

  • Burning City Review hosted at SciFi Weekly
  • Burning City Review by Robert Barror
  • Destiny's Road Review
    From Science Fiction Age magazine, July 1997. Transcript courtesy of Dave Collins.
  • The Mote in God's Eye Review by Douglas B. McElroy
  • Protector Review by Douglas B. McElroy
  • Rainbow Mars Review by Peter D Tillman hosted by Infinity+
  • Rammer Review
    A review, by Duncan Galloway, of a spoken version of Rammer on compact cassette, released by Infinivox. An unabridged reading by Pat Bottino. You can order the tape from their site for US$10.99.
  • Ringworld Review by Douglas B. McElroy

Book Reviews (multiple), Biographies and Bibliographies:

  • Books of Larry Niven An (incomplete) page featuring summaries of Larry's works'.  by Epoch.
  • Bücherliste (list of books)
    by Jürgen Weinelt. Jürgen's list includes cover scans and information from Ringworld, The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton, and Fallen Angels (German/English).
  • Doug's Library - Larry Niven
    maintained by Douglas B. McElroy. Doug has summaries of many Niven collaborations and has also written his own reviews of Ringworld, Protector and The Mote in God's Eye.
  • Ebooks at Fictionwise.com
    A small, but growing selection of ebooks available for direct download in a variety of ebook formats.  If you're local bookstore doesn't stock any Niven or the title you are searching for is now out of print, this is a good place to try.
  • Larry Niven
    section in Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Formerly España's Science Fiction Page. This site contains a short biography and an extensive bibliography of Larry Niven. There is a fairly extensive list of information on other authors as well.
  • Larry Niven:  Author Information Page Hosted by booksnbytes.com
  • Larry Niven Bibliography Hosted by Fantasticfiction.co.uk
  • Steampunk:  Authors : N : Larry Niven A good selection of reviews and other links are listed on this site.
  • T&M's Online Bookstore
    A selection of Niven reviews.  To access the Larry Niven pages, go to Science Fiction, then Larry Niven.  Direct link not possible due to the site's framesets.
  • Thomas Christensen's Book Reviews
    Reviews of Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, The Ringworld Throne, N-Space, The Mote in God's Eye, The Gripping Hand and finally the World of Ptavvs.
  • Known Space Story List
    A Suggested Reading order for the new Niven reader by Raja Thiagarajan. This list was created after Protector and was voted as Book of the Month in May 2003 on the Hard SF yahoo discussion list.

Essays

  • Andy Love's "Using Science Fiction for Education" Page
    Andy, a teacher, has written study guides for two of Niven's short stories:
    • Neutron Star
    • Flash Crowd

Extrapolations

As Niven played with certain aspects of Known Space History in the unfinished novel Down in Flames, so others have challenged assumptions too:
  • The Tnuctipun Plot by Phillip and Simon Hibbs
  • Six Good Reasons Why The Pak Didn't Build The Ringworld by Simon Hibbs
  • An Outsider Motivation for Building the Ring by Jayson Vantuyl (hosted on Simon Hibbs's site)
  • The Kzin Question: Reconciling the Kzin with the modern Star Trek Universe
    A Speculation by Allyn Gibson.  This essay asks if the Kzin should be considered part of the Star Trek Universe and if so, how can they be fit into the trek folklore without being contrary to its history.  This essay ponders the question of the early trek series, right up to the First Contact movie and postulates a way for the Kzin to exist.

Information
  • The Encyclopedia of Known Space
    by Brian O'Neill An excellent online encyclopedia of all things Niven. Highly recommended!
  • The Up To Date Known space Chronology
    compiled by I. Marc Carlson This is a very detailed timeline for the Known Spaceuniverse, with additional contributions by Richard Holmes (see below) and converted to HTML by Larry King. Stories, novels, and significant events are all laid out in a continuous history all the way from the beginning of the universe to the projected end of life as we know it due to the galactic core explosion. Great job, guys.
  • Databaun:  Nivenverse An old site that contains a FAQ or PAQ about Larry Niven
  • Technovelgy.com Larry's got 67 entries so far on this interesting site.

Ringworld Movie Information
  • Ain't It Cool News Website: Ringworld Movie Page
    This information page denounces James Cameron's involvement in the project following Larry's announcement at the Albacon Convention.
  • Moviefans.de !!! Ringwelt A German Ringworld movie fan page.

Graphics Sites
  • The Pak Image Gallery
    by Joel Nap. Images of the Pak, some particularly impressive renderings by John C. Atkeson
  • Chmeee's Science Fiction and Computer Graphics Page
    by Steve Sloan II An impressive collection of images and also self rendered POV Ray Art, including a "Ringworld Home Movie". This site also features graphics from David Brin's "Uplift" universe.
  • Ringworld
    by Mark Woolrich A very impressive graphical site which goes into detail describing the Ringworld to the layperson. There is also a Ringworld movie animation which is well worth a download.
  • "Wait it Out" artwork by Joe Bergeron.

Interviews, Commentary and Public Appearances
  • Locus: Larry Niven Interview - Painful Fiction Excerpted from Locus Magazine - February 1997.
  • The Phlogiston Belt: Changing Science and the Hard SF Writer
    This MP3 recording, made by Steven R. Station at the 2001 Phil Con (or MilPhil) is of Larry Niven, Stephen Baxter, Jack McDevitt (M), Derryl Murphy, and Stanley Schmidt at a panel entitled "The Phlogiston Belt: Changing Science and the Hard SF Writer" where they discuss how *real* recent  scientific discoveries invalidate their stories. Larry comments on how his first story, The Coldest Place was obsolete almost before it was published when the first space probes approached Mercury and found that it was not a one face planet, and also on the phenomenon of Flash Crowds on Internet websites. This recording courtesy of Deltos Fleet Computing
  • Larry Niven at Space.com
    Larry has become one of the writers for this website.  Articles which he has written for the site or predominantly feature Niven-related content are listed below:
    • Ringworld Movie Around the Corner (Posted 6/11/00)
    • Making Somebody Pay (Posted 14/09/00)
    • Wet Mars(Posted 10/7/00)
    • The Rocket Men Who'll Sell the Moon (Posted 16/6/00)
    • Travelers (Posted 17/5/00)
    • How to Save Civilization... and Make A Little Money (Posted 14/4/00)
    • Larry Niven Mailbag to Space.com (Posted 24/3/00)
    • Mars, Who Needs It? (Posted 16/3/00)
    • Neutron Star is Still Shining Light on Hard Science Fiction (Posted 18/2/00)
    • Larry Niven: Recommended Reading (Posted 10/2/00)
    • An Interview with Larry Niven (Posted 10/2/00)
  • Speaking With... Larry Niven An interview with Silver Bullet Comics by Marv Wolfman. (2002)
  • Icon Online Chat Transcript (24/09/02)
  • Interview with Slashdot.org (posted 10-March 03)
  • Digital Arts Article Top sci-fi authors, including Larry Niven, discuss the future of technology

Humour

Filks: (Humourous Songs)

  • One Minute Summary of Ringworld from Ringworks' Book-a-Minute site
    • Teela: I'm lucky.
    • Speaker-to-Animals: I'm fierce.
    • Nessus: I'm scared.
    • Louis: I'm old.
    • (They fly to the RINGWORLD, and it is COOL. They almost DIE. They LEAVE.)
    If you follow the link to the site you can read other hilarious summaries including one for Lucifer's Hammer, including other reviews of other works including 2001.

    Jokes

    • Niven Double Dactuls
      This is a collection of a type of poem about Niven's characters called a Double Dactul which was posted on the Larry Niven mailing list by various members and collected by fellow list member Jonathan Sheen
    • Niven's Laws Niven's guidance for surviving life, the universe and everything.
    • What I've Learned from Larry Niven A list of insights from members of the Larry Niven-L Mailing List.

Newsgroups
  • alt.books.larry-niven A newsgroup intended for discussion of Larry Niven's work and on Niven-related topics.
  • rec.arts.sf.science
    A general newsgroup intended for the discussion of the science behind sf works of fiction.  This often includes postings about Niven's work, where boffins nitpick the math of Niven's literary inventions.  Fascinating really.

Mailing Lists
  • The Larry Niven Mailing List
    This is a mailing list devoted to discussions of the works of Larry Niven. This list has been in existence since 1995, and was first set up by Frank Wilson who was a member of staff at Bucknell University.  The list was originally housed on the University, however, since August 2001 the list has been privately hosted by Jonathan Andrew Sheen.  The managers of this site are co-administrators of this list - if you have any problems you can email us, although in the first instance you are better of contacting the Listmaster, jsheen@larryniven-l.org.

    Edwin A Scribner maintains an information page for the list at: http://www.larryniven-l.org

    You can subscribe to Larryniven-l by filling out the following form. You will be sent email requesting confirmation, to prevent others from gratuitously subscribing you. This is a private list, which means that the members list is not available to non-members.

      Your email address:  
      You must enter a privacy password. This provides only mild security, but should prevent others from messing with your subscription. Do not use a valuable password as it will occasionally be emailed back to you in cleartext.
      Pick a password:  
      Reenter password to confirm:  
      Would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest? No Yes

Yahoo Groups

  • Niven
    This is a Yahoo Group for discussing the works of Larry Niven - not as high trafficked as the Main List - you might like to consider this if you can't keep up with the other one!  You need a Yahoo ID to participate.
  • The Ringworld
    This is a Yahoo Group for fans of Larry Niven.  Fishgi is the original founder, but he has granted Founders rights to Nesssus too.  Currently 26 members are in this Club, including Carol Phillips.
  • Larry Niven Fans A new fan group.

Everything Else
  • Origami Puppeteer ...and other sci-fi creatures! Cool!
  • Larry had the opportunity to inspect the I.N.S.S MacArthur personally.  He was so impressed that he signed the bottom of the craft.
  • Ringworld T-Shirts
    by Softwear Toys and TeesThis T-shirt design, approved by Larry Niven, shows the Ringworld from space and says: "Ringworld - Where Every Day's An Adventure" and lists the "attractions":
    • Ski...Fist-Of-God Mountain!
    • Ride...the Tunnel of Rishathra! (must be over 18)
    • See...Our Sunflower Garden!
    • KIDS! Visit the Kzinti Petting Zoo!
    • The universe's biggest amusement park experience can be yours!
    • E-Tickets available from your local General Products representative.
    • (Humans and aliens ride at heir own risk)
  • Sized in Medium, Large, X-Large and XX-Large, Only $18 (plus s&h) from the above Company.
  • Ringworld Physics Simulation
    A java applet simulation of a rotating space settlement without gravity.  You can position objects in the cylinder then adjust the speed of rotation to see what happens to them.  A fun site, by NASA.
  • The Crazy Eddie Project
    Fancy sailing on a 40km high kite? Here's a plan to do it for real. Not quite sure if this is serious or not, but I found this article whilst surfing one day.

Page design and content of this site and its associated web pages are managed by Ted Scribner, Carol Phillips, Mark Firestone, Dave Lambert, David "Lensman" Sooby & Martin Demello.
© 1998-2010 (Known Space) All rights Reserved. | Web Design by Cortex Media and Design

Please address all correspondence relating to the Known Space pages to the Webmasters.