Ebooks

Some of Larry's books and short stories are available in various ebook formats, including Kindle, which can be downloaded from online publishers by clicking the links below.

We also have a selection of Larry's stories hosted with permission on our Exclusives page.

Barsoom Project, The

Eviane's first visit to Dream Park - a state of the art amusement arena - had ended in disaster. The special effects had seemed more real than life.... until the holograms she was shooting at with live ammunition turned out to be solid flesh and blood - and very, very dead.

Once a woman of spectacular beauty, she is now plump and out of condition. A prime candidate for the weight-losing fantasy game known as Fat Rippers. Haunted by the past, rebounding from a lengthy spell in a mental hospital, she has returned to Dream Park to exorcise a nightmare that has become reality.

But in Dream Park, nothing is what it seems. And once again her dreams will become frighteningly real as the past begins to repeat itself - this time with Eviane as the target...

Building Harlequin's Moon

In a distant future, a group of far-flung colonists make an emergency stop, which entails terraforming a planet in order to tap its resources so they can complete their journey.

Burning City

Collaboration with Jerry Porunelle. The story begins nearly 14,000 years ago in Tep's Town, located on the future site of Los Angeles. Tep's Town is a city held captive by the slumbering god of fire, Yagen-Atep. Awakening only occasionally, he commands selected men to begin Burnings by giving them the ability to start fires coupled with consuming anger.

Whandall Placehold grows up in the stagnant, three-class society of Tep's town, part of a gang of thieves. No one gets in or out, since the town is hemmed in by a malevolent forest. But when Whandall is chosen by Yagen-Atep to start the Burnings, he resists the compulsion and, aided by Atlantean wizard Morth, escapes through the forest with a group of children he saves from certain death.

As the years pass, Whandall builds an empire, buys wagons and bison, and builds a trade route all along the California coast--except for Tep's Town. Life is good for Whandall and his bride, Willow, until they get a message from a desperate Morth: he convinces Whandall to return to Tep's Town and help eradicate, once and for all, an ancient magical being from Atlantis who has been trying to kill Morth for many years.

Burning Tower

Sequel to The Burning City Collaboration with: Jerry Porunelle. Whandall Feathersnake's daughter Burning Tower carries on her father's work, building a trade empire and pacifying the wilds along the Golden Road.

California Voodoo Game, The

California Voodoo Game, The

Sequel to The Dream Park Collaboration with: Stephen Barnes. It's the ultimate Dream Park game - set in a huge abandoned cliff-face arcology in the California desert - and all the world's greatest players want to be involved. But some of the players are after much more than game points, and will kill to achieve their goals. Alex Griffin, Dream Park security chief, is back again in this sequel and of course murder, mayhem and lots of hi-tech messing about are not far away.

Destroyer of Worlds

Destroyer of Worlds

Sequel to Fleet of Worlds. A distress call from the Gw'oth (the species introduced in Fleet of Worlds) alerts Sigmund Ausfaller and his new friends on New Terra to the inbound threat of the Pak refugee fleets.

Draco Tavern, The

Draco Tavern omnibus with new stories and a new introduction by the author.

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Subject is Closed, The
  • Grammar Lesson
  • Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing!
  • Heights, The
  • Wisdom of Demons, The
  • Smut Talk
  • Ssoroghod's People
  • Schumann Computer, The
  • Green Marauder, The
  • Real Thing, The
  • War Movie
  • Limits
  • Table Manners
  • One Night at the Draco Tavern
  • Missing Mass, The
  • Convergence of the Old Mind, The
  • Chrysalis
  • Death Addict, The
  • Storm Front
  • Slow Ones, The
  • Cruel and Unusual
  • Ones Who Stay Home, The
  • Breeding Maze
  • Playhouse
  • Lost
  • Losing Mars
  • Playground Earth

Dream Park

Collaboration with Stephen Barnes. Dream Park is the amusement park of the future where holograms take the place of rollercoasters and carousels.

Escape From Hell

In this sequel to Inferno, Carpenter continues his journey to free shades in Hell, meanwhile hell is changing around him.

Flatlander

[A Beowulf Shaeffer story] Traveling on a spaceliner headed for Earth, spaceship pilot Beowulf Shaeffer strikes up a friendship with Gregory Pelton, the fabulously wealthy descendant of the inventor of the transfer booth--known to his friends as Elephant. Irritated at being labeled a flatlander, Elephant decides visit the most unusual system in the galaxy ... with Beowulf piloting his ship, of course…

Fleet of Worlds

Fleet of Worlds is the first Known Space novel since 1980, other than sequels to Ringworld. It is also the first Known Space story written in collaboration with another author. It has received very positive reviews and was selected as "A Sci Fi Essential book."

A chain reaction of supernova explosions has been discovered, one spreading a wave of deadly radiation across the galaxy. Fleeing ahead of the danger, five years later the Puppeteers (who call themselves "Citizens") are leaving Known Space. And they're taking their worlds with them. This "Fleet of Worlds" is comprised of Hearth, their homeworld, plus a few "Nature Preserve" farm worlds, all orbiting about a common center.

Flying Sorcerers

David Gerrold, a science fiction author in his own right, and probably will be most remembered for penning the script for the hilarious Star Trek episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles" worked with Larry in this novel which is a lighthearted romp with the magic of a primitive people coming into conflict with modern technology. Written in 1971, this was Larry's first collaborative work.

A human explorer/anthropologist discovers indigenous bronze-age hominids on a planet he is surveying. He treats them with indulgent bemusement, until one of them manages to blow up his shuttlecraft. Now he must arrange for pickup by his orbital craft, but he is thousands of miles from the pickup point. So he enlists their aid.

Inferno

A reworking of Dante Aligheri's two volume classic of life in hell.

Juggler of Worlds

Niven and Lerner continue with the "Rozencrantz and Guildenstern" approach begun in Fleet of Worlds, re-telling some of Known Space's greatest stories from the point of view of the Puppeteers.

Legacy of Heorot, The

When the population of the colony world Avalon is threatened by a monster right out of hell, there is only one man who can kill the beast and save the colonists. But his plan to wipe out the grendels has unexpected and disastrous consequences.

There's nothing like a mix of science fiction, scary monsters, and population biology to make for a great story, and this one is highly recommended.

Lucifer's Hammer

Nearly twenty years before the blockbuster "Asteroid strikes Earth" movies such as "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon", Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote this much superior tale of the distruction of an asteriod impact.

When a comet is first detected heading towards the sun, only the most alarmist thought that it might hit the Earth. As it moves closer the likelihood becomes greater and greater, until... A very entertaining treatment of a frequently reworked genre: the disaster novel.

Man Kzin Wars IX

Man Kzin Wars 9 contains four more tales of Known Space. Larry continues the story of Beowulf Shaeffer in Fly-By-Night;Hal Colebatch writes about Kzinti honour in "His Sergeant's Hour", Paul Chafe writes a murder-mystery ARM story entitled "Windows of the Soul" while "Pele" is one of the last published stories of Poul Anderson. Unbelieveably good value for money. To gain acess to the story you will have to register with Baen's websubscriptions service first then a simple search will reveal this book, published in January 2002.

Man Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War

Man Kzin Wars 10 contains four stories by Hal Colebatch. The first story, the novel-length "One War for Wunderland" described the Kzinti invasion of Wunderland's star system and towns in graphic detail. Other titles include "The Corporal in the Caves", "Music Box" and "Peter Robinson".

Mote in God's Eye, The

Collaboration with Jerry Pournelle. First contact: Humans intercept an alien spacecraft and its dead pilot which have been travelling at near-light speed for over 100 years. An expedition to the alien's home system results in the first meeting between the humans and the aliens, dubbed the Moties.

At first the Moties seem friendly and helpful but closer investigation into their culture and history reveals some extremely dangerous facts.

No Exit

"No Exit" is the rarest of all Larry Niven stories. Reprinted only once in an obscure British anthology, it has otherwise only been obtainable by those who could afford the high prices charged for older science fiction magazines. Written with Jean Marie Stine, it appeared in the June 1971 issue of Fantastic Stories. The original magazine blurb for the story read in part: "Stine's review here of television's The Prisoner led to the opportunity to write the third book in that series. Niven is a Hugo winner and the author of the recent novel Ringworld. Put them together and you have?" This special Dwarf-Stars digital republication contains a very personal Introduction by Jean Marie Stine discussing the writing of the story and sharing some unique glimpses of Niven as the young author-in-the-making.

Oath of Fealty

Oath of Fealty

Collaboration with Jerry Pournelle. Here they explore the possible ramifications of the logical extension of something which is becoming common nowadays: closed communities, also known as arcologies.

Todos Santos is such a community, existing in an uneasy relationship with its neighbor, Los Angeles of the future. The social and political aspects of such a situation are examined in great detail.

Ringworld's Children

Louis and his friend The Hindmost, an alien of the Pierson's puppeteer race, are prisoners of the Ghoul protector Tunesmith, a Ringworld native, who is deliberately provoking the warships that surround his world. All the star-faring races of Known Space have sent warships to the Ringworld, and they are already at the brink of war. If fighting breaks out, the near-indestructible Ringworld will be destroyed: dissolved by antimatter weapons.

Saturn's Race

Lenore Myles has her whole life ahead of her following her graduation, with career opportunities opening everywhere. Lenore's class' graduation party, held on the idyllic artificial floating islands which make up Xanadu, couldn't be in a better spot to secure future employment for the young and the gifted. Whilst on Xanadu, Lenore meets Chaz Kato III, a millionaire who has sponsored Lenore's education—and who has watched and adored her from afar for years. Chaz offers Lenore not only a lucrative employment package but a place in his life as well.

However, the bubble is set to burst (as it surely does in all such perfect settings). Lenore accidentally stumbles onto a plot which could change the destiny of mankind. Sickened by the knowledge, Lenore flees Xanadu at her earliest opportunity, but makes the mistake of succumbing to a artificially induced nap at an airport

Chaz, realizing that Lenore has left under mysterious circumstances, tracks her down and wages an online war with an unknown assailant, just in time to save her life from the mysterious entity hiding behind the guise of the "Saturn" avatar.

As Lenore tries to recover from the attack on her mind—and fails—she finds that the two days that she spent on Xanadu have been wiped from her memory by the mysterious Saturn, whilst Chaz finds himself under greater and greater surveillance as he tries to determine what Lenore may have stumbled across..... all the while the sickening plan of the Xanadu Council is coming to fruition in the third world.

Scatterbrain

Scatterbrain

Larry Niven is the New York Times bestselling author of such classic science fiction novels as Ringworld and Destiny's Road. His previous collection, 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." Now, ten years later, Scatterbrain collects an equally engaging assortment of Niven's latest work, all in one captivating volume. Here are choice excerpts from his most recent novels, as well as short stories, non-fiction articles, interviews, editorials, collaborations, and correspondence. True to its title, Scatterbrain roams all over a wide variety of fascinating topics, from space stations to convention etiquette. So give yourself a treat, and feel free to pick the brain--or Scatterbrain--one of modern science fiction's most fascinating thinkers.

Stars and Gods

A collection of excerpts from Niven's short stories and novels from approx 2004 - 2010.Each selection is accompanied by a brief introduction.

Contents

  • Excerpt from Ringworld's Children
  • Excerpt from Rainbow Mars
  • Excerpt from Escape from Hell
  • Excerpt from Burning Tower
  • Excerpt from Building Harlequin's Moon
  • Excerpt from Fleet of Worlds
  • Excerpt from Juggler of Worlds
  • Excerpt from Beowulf's Children
  • Excerpt from Achilles' Choice
  • Svetz and the Beanstalk
  • Choosing Names
  • Fly-By-Night
  • Hunting Park, The
  • After Mecca
  • Cadet Amelia
  • Cat Toy
  • Chicxulub
  • Gatherer's Guild, The
  • Solipsist at Dinner, The
  • Boys and Girls Together
  • Travelers
  • Rocket Men
  • Wet Mars (Larry Niven Talks Terraforming)
  • Where Next, Columbus?
  • Choosing Life
  • Free Floaters
  • Finding Myself
  • Missing Mass, The
  • Safe Harbor
  • Hooking the Reader
  • Larry Niven Interview by Brenda Cooper in 2000 AD
  • Food Story for the Con Jose Program Book
  • Inconstant Moon Has Passed