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Questions tagged [larry-niven]

Laurence van Cott Niven is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics.

9 votes
1 answer
299 views

What was Niven's fix for the problem in "Neutron Star"?

This is a follow-up to the question 'Unclear meaning of introductory blurb to "Neutron Star"', which quotes Niven writing retrospectively "As is, Schaeffer dies. See the collection ...
sdenham's user avatar
  • 191
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Unclear meaning of introductory blurb to "Neutron Star"

I'm reading "Neutron Star" in the collection The Best of Larry Niven (on archive). Before the story there is a blurb: This won my first Hugo Award, and a lot of mail. There are folk out ...
Mad Physicist's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
158 views

Does The Man-Kzin Wars series have any specific reading order?

Is there any specific order in which The Man-Kzin Wars series should be read in order to avoid missing any vital information that is taken for granted in later volumes?
glahn's user avatar
  • 949
16 votes
1 answer
3k views

Source of the quote "I will blurb your book, or I will read it, but not both"

This is a quote I heard in the mid to late 1980's, attributed to a famous SF author (I usually think it's Larry Niven). But the quote appears to have fallen into the dreaded Internet Late 1980s ...
Spencer's user avatar
  • 16k
3 votes
1 answer
159 views

Canonicity of "Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch" and "Return to Ringworld"

Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch and Return to Ringworld are two adventure games set in Known Space, published by Tsunami Media in 1993 and 1994 respectively. Broadly, they concern events some 20 ...
Nick Matteo's user avatar
  • 1,621
41 votes
2 answers
3k views

Panshin's "savage review" of World of Ptavvs

In Larry Niven's collection N-Space, he says this regarding his novel World of Ptavvs: Alexei Panshin wrote a savage review of PTAVVS. I wish I had a copy, but I tore the fanzine up in a rage, and I ...
Nick Matteo's user avatar
  • 1,621
2 votes
1 answer
476 views

Why couldn't Teela Brown make the same calculation that Louis Wu and Chmeee did?

In Larry Niven's The Ringworld Engineers, Louis Wu, Chmeee, and Harkabeeparolyn But there they run into Teela Brown, who But it's weird: Teela tells Louis: "Furthermore, there is a solution ...
Spencer's user avatar
  • 16k
10 votes
1 answer
388 views

What is the name of the Larry Niven story/book predicting Neil Armstrong as first man on moon?

Some eighteen months or so before Apollo 11, Larry Niven wrote a story in which he predicted that Neil Armstrong would be selected by NASA to be the first man on the moon. He also, some years after ...
Pieter Geerkens's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
224 views

What TV series had an adaptation of "Inconstant Moon"?

Larry Niven wrote a short story called "Inconstant Moon." It starts with the hero waking up in the middle of the night to find that the moon is drastically brighter than he has ever seen it. Wackiness ...
user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
722 views

Bowl Of Heaven was riddled with errors. Has Niven or Benford explained the awful editing?

In the novel Bowl of Heaven by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford, the editing is sloppy and there are many, many continuity errors. It's quite awful. 22% of reviewers on Amazon gave the book 1 star out ...
James from NZ's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
2k views

How did Louis guess the major reveal in Ringworld?

I've just finished the original Ringworld, but I'm slightly confused by the ending. Specifically, Louis Wu explains how Louis explains to Speaker What does he mean by this? How did he work it out? (...
Sparhawk's user avatar
  • 362
6 votes
2 answers
387 views

Larry Niven near-light-speed story - spaceship on course to hit the Earth. Would like to know more about it [closed]

Larry Niven near-light-speed story - spaceship on course to hit the Earth. Would like to know more about it. I am always concerned with the energy of rocket flight because it seems most space ...
RandomAccelerationsTestUnit's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
229 views

Can stepping discs transport a functioning stasis field?

In Larry Niven's Known Space universe, stepping discs teleport matter from a sending disc to a receiving disc. Teleportation occurs at the speed of light. The sending and receiving discs must have ...
Kyle Jones's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
756 views

Why did Larry Niven name his creature "Bandersnatch?"

Why did Larry Niven call his immense armless, headless, sentient Known Space creatures Bandersnatch? How does the name relate to the Lewis Carroll beast mentioned in the "Jabberwocky"?
Major Stackings's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
192 views

How old is the civilization in The Integral Trees?

In Niven's The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring, how long have the humans been living there since the colony was founded? Clearly, long enough for villages to form and different tribes to develop. ...
JDługosz's user avatar
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