This is an overview of Larry Niven’s various series, including a complete listing of stories for each series.

List of Stories by Order of Publication

Known Space

Known Space is the name of Larry Niven's largest and best-developed "future history" series of science fiction stories. Its most famous entry is Ringworld, one of the very few novels to win both the Hugo and Nebula awards. The most recent additions to the series are the novels Fleet of Worlds (2007) and Juggler of Worlds (2008), both co-authored by Edward M. Lerner. See also "Overview of Known Space" elsewhere at this website.

The Seven Eras of Known Space

Known Space is roughly divided into seven eras:

The near future — "After 1975" to 2040: A handful of stories concern exploration of planets in own solar system, which in the Known Space series is called Sol System.

The early interstellar period — 2099 to 2135: Using slower-than-light starships, Humans have established hard-won colonies around nearby stars, mainly on marginally habitable worlds: Wunderland, Jinx, We Made It, Plateau, and Down. Sol System's main asteroid belt has been colonized by Belters, and Humans have their first alien encounters. On Earth, population pressure has forced mandatory birth control, strictly regulated by the United Nations (UN) world government. Life-extending organ transplants are supplied by the organ banks, which are mainly supplied by the bodies of executed criminals. The enormous demand for organs has vastly increased use of the death penalty, to include even minor crimes. Gil Hamilton is a member of the ARM, the UN's elite police force. He investigates various crimes relating to organleggers (black market dealers in organ transplants) and newly discovered, dangerous technologies. Dates range from 2099 to 2135 on our Known Space Timeline.

The intermediate era — 2322 to 2386: The organ bank problem has greatly eased, due to various medical advancements. Several technological improvements, such as advanced psychotropic drug treatments and advanced psychiatric therapy, have created a "Golden Age," a society almost completely free of violence, in Sol System. Most of these advancements have been facilitated by the hidden influence of an unseen superhuman protector, one who sees a threat far beyond anything Humans can imagine. On Human colony worlds, life is not so ideal — especially on oppressed Plateau. The Golden Age ends when Human Space is invaded by the Kzinti Empire.

The Man-Kzin Wars — 2366 to 2505: The Human colony of Wunderland is overrun by the Kzinti. Sol System desperately fends off repeated invasion by fleets of Kzinti warships from the much larger, militaristic Kzinti Empire. Unexpected salvation finally comes in the form of hyperdrive technology, sold to Humans by the mysterious alien Outsiders. More wars with the Kzinti Empire follow over the space of a century or so, all of which are easily won by Humans. By the end of the Man-Kzin Wars, the Kzinti Empire is a pale shadow of its former self, and several former Kzinti colonies are now part of Human Space. Most of the stories covering this period are from the Man-Kzin Wars series (see separate entry, below) of shared-universe collections, edited by Larry Niven but written by other writers. The beginning of this era overlaps the last decades of the "Intermediate era" summarized above.

The Beowulf Shaeffer era — 2637 to circa 2685: Over a century after the end of the Man-Kzin Wars, it is a pleasant period of easy interstellar tourism, using hyperdrive starships. Each interstellar species in Known Space has its own independent sphere of influence, and interaction is mainly peaceful trade. These species include the technologically advanced Puppeteers, and a former Kzinti slave species, the Kdatlyno. Over half the stories from this era concern interstellar tourist (and accidental adventurer) Beowulf Shaeffer.

The Ringworld era — 2850 to 2899: Human Space has expanded somewhat, establishing new colony worlds. A few technologies are more advanced. There is one fundamental change: The spread of the so-called "Teela Brown gene," the ultimate in psionic power, which manipulates probability in a manner making its possessor appear incredibly "lucky." Early in the period it seems little else is different from the previous era. But in later sequels to Ringworld, it seems that the UN central government has become somewhat oppressive, with significant restrictions on personal freedom.

The Thousand Worlds — circa 3105: Known Space has exapanded enormously. Protected by the widespread so-called "Teela Brown gene," Humans have entered an era of ubiquitous peace and prosperity. Such an era may be pleasant to live in, but makes for rather dull stories. Only one such has been published: "Safe at Any Speed."

Story Pub.
Date		 Niven Collection Notes
The Coldest Place 1964 TK, TB
World of Ptavvs 1965 — incorporated into World of Ptavvs
Becalmed in Hell 1965 AM, IM, TK, PM, TB Nebula nominee
The Warriors 1966 SS, TK, MK1, TB
Eye of an Octopus 1966 TK, TB
World of Ptavvs 1966 TB
How the Heroes Die 1966 SS, IM, TK, TB
Neutron Star 1966 NuS, CL Hugo winner
At the Core 1966 NuS, CL
At the Bottom of a Hole 1966 SS, IM, TK, TB
A Relic of the Empire 1966 NuS, PM
The Soft Weapon 1967 NuS, PM
Flatlander 1967 NuS, CL Nebula nominee
The Ethics of Madness 1967 NuS
Safe at Any Speed 1967 SS, TK, TB
The Adults 1967 — incorporated into Protector
The Jigsaw Man 1967 AM, TK, TB Hugo nominee
The Handicapped 1967 NuS orig. title "Handicap"
A Gift from Earth 1968 TB orig. title Slowboat Cargo
Intent to Deceive 1968 TK, TB orig. title "The Deceivers"
Grendel 1968 NuS, CL
There Is a Tide 1968 HS, TK, TB
Wait It Out 1968 AM, TK, PM, TB
Death by Ecstasy 1969 SS, IM, LA, FL orig. title "The Organleggers"
Ringworld 1970 — Hugo winner, Nebula winner, Ditmar winner
Cloak of Anarchy 1972 TK, NSp
The Defenseless Dead 1973 LA, FL, PM
Protector 1973 — Hugo nominee, Ditmar winner
ARM 1975 LA, FL Hugo nominee
The Borderland of Sol 1975 TK, PM Hugo winner
The Ringworld Engineers 1980 — Hugo nominee
The Patchwork Girl 1980 FL
Madness Has Its Place 1990 MK3, NSp, TB
The Color of Sunfire 1993 BG read online here!
Procrustes 1993 BG, CL
Ghost 1994 CL
The Woman in Del Rey Crater 1995 FL
Song of the Night People 1995 — incorporated into The Ringworld Throne
The Ringworld Throne 1996 —
*Choosing Names 1998 MK8
*Fly-By-Night 2002 MK9
Ringworld's Children 2004 —
*The Hunting Park 2005 MK11
Fleet of Worlds 2007 — co-authored by Edward M. Lerner
Juggler of Worlds 2008 — co-authored by Edward M. Lerner
Niven Collections Key:
AM All the Myriad Ways
BG Bridging the Galaxies
CL Crashlander
FL Flatlander
HS A Hole in Space
IM Inconstant Moon
LA The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton
MK1 The Man-Kzin Wars
MK2 Man-Kzin Wars II
MK3 Man-Kzin Wars III
MK4 Man-Kzin Wars IV
MK8 Choosing Names—Man-Kzin Wars VIII
MK9 Man-Kzin Wars IX
MK11   Man-Kzin Wars XI
NuS Neutron Star
NSp N-Space
PM Playgrounds of the Mind
SB Scatterbrain
SS The Shape of Space
TB Three Books of Known Space
TK Tales of Known Space

Chronological Order: See the Known Space Timeline at the Incompleat Known Space Concordance. Warning: This site contains spoilers.

Reading Order: "What to Read First" is a suggested reading order, at the Incompleat Known Space Concordance.

Collecting the Known Space series: With the exception of stories marked with an asterisk (*) on the list above, you can assemble a complete collection of Known Space stories with the following books:

Three Books of Known Space
Flatlander
Protector
Neutron Star
Crashlander
Ringworld
The Ringworld Engineers
The Ringworld Throne
Ringworld's Children
Fleet of Worlds
Juggler of Worlds

More about the series can be found elsewhere at this website, in the notes throughout the collection Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven, and at the Incompleat Known Space Concordance.

 

The Man-Kzin Wars (shared universe stories)

Larry Niven says he does not write war stories. But he has opened the Man-Kzin Wars period of his Known Space series into a shared-universe series, which he edits.

Summaries: The Man-Kzin Wars Series is a complete list of books and stories in the series, along with brief summaries of the stories.

Chronological Order: See the "Man-Kzin Wars Chronological Listing" by Spike MacPhee. Warning: This site contains spoilers.

More about this series can be found in "Canon for the Man-Kzin Wars," in the Niven collection Scatterbrain.

 

Avalon/Destiny

Earth is rich, crowded, and dull. A few hundred hand-picked from the best and brightest set off to found new colonies around distant stars. They struggle with strange new worlds filled with alien life and unknown dangers.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub. Date Notes
The Legacy of Heorot 1987 co-authored by Jerry Pournelle & Steven Barnes
Beowulf's Children 1995 co-authored by Jerry Pournelle & Steven Barnes
Destiny's Road 1997

Chronological order is the same as the order of publication listed above.

Suggested reading order: The Legacy of Heorot should be read before the sequel, Beowulf's Children. Destiny's Road may be read at any time.

 

Draco Tavern

The galaxy is ruled by the benevolent, lobster-like Chirpsithra, who have established a spaceport on Earth. Adjacent to the spaceport, and run by the human Rick Schumann, is a tavern which caters to the various aliens traveling on Chirp ships. This tavern is the setting for the stories, nearly all of which are vignettes.

 

List of Stories in Chronological Order
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
The Subject is Closed 1977 DT, CS, NL
Grammar Lesson 1977 DT, CS, NL
Assimilating Our Culture,
That's What They're Doing!		 1979 DT, CS, NL, PG
The Schumann Computer 1979 DT, CS, NL
The Green Marauder 1979 DT, Lm, NL, PG
The Real Thing 1982 DT, Lm, NL
War Movie 1981 DT, Lm, NL, PG
Limits 1981 DT, Lm, NL, PG
Table Manners 1984 DT, Lm, NL, PG orig. title "Folk Tale"
The Heights 2001 DT
The Wisdom of Demons 2000 DT
Smut Talk 2000 DT, SB Read online here!
Ssoroghod's People 2001 DT
The Missing Mass 2000 DT Read online here!
The Convergence of the Old Mind 2002 DT
Chrysalis 2002 DT
The Death Addict 2003 DT
Storm Front 2004 DT
The Slow Ones 2006 DT
Cruel and Unusual 1977 DT, CS, NL
The Ones Who Stay Home 2003 DT
Breeding Maze 2006 DT
Playhouse 2006 DT
Lost 2006 DT
Losing Mars 2006 DT
Playground Earth 2006 DT
Niven Collections Key:
CS Convergent Series
DT The Draco Tavern
Lm   Limits
NL Niven's Laws
PM Playgrounds of the Mind
SB Scatterbrain

 

Suggested reading order is the same as the chronological order given above.

Collecting the series: All stories to date (January 2008) can be found in the Niven collection entitled The Draco Tavern.

More about this series can be found in the "Introduction" to The Draco Tavern collection. Niven also wrote a script for a 1984 WorldCon masquerade (costume contest) presentation: "One Night at the Draco Tavern," which appears in the Niven collections Playgrounds of the Mind and The Draco Tavern.

 

Dream Park

Dream Park is a futuristic amusement park using holograms and other advanced technologies to entertain customers, including live-action role-players. Dream Park, The Barsoom Project and The California Voodoo Game follow security chief Alex Griffin as he attempts to solve various mysteries set in the park. The other stories in this series have only a peripheral connection. Saturn's Race is a prequel to Achilles' Choice; both involve young adults technologically "upgrading" their bodies in an effort to join the world's ruling elite.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub. Date
Dream Park 1981
The Descent of Anansi 1982
The Barsoom Project 1989
Achilles' Choice 1991
The California Voodoo Game 1992
Saturn's Race 2000
Dream Park Series Chronology
2018 The Descent of Anansi
2020   Saturn's Race
2048 Achilles' Choice
2051 Dream Park
2058 The Barsoom Project
2059 The California Voodoo Game

 

Suggested reading order: Dream Park, The Barsoom Project, and The California Voodoo Game should be read in that order. The other books may be read in any order.

More about this series can be found in two "Afterword" commentaries in Dream Park and The Barsoom Project.

 

The Léshy Circuit

"[F]ive worlds circling five suns in a bent ring, with Earth and Sol making a sixth" form a series of colony worlds, named after lands in James Branch Cabell's "Poictesme" fantasy series. The circuit forms a trade route for Bussard ramscoop ships.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
Passerby 1969 NSp, AM
The Fourth Profession 1972 NSp, HS Hugo nominee
Night on Mispek Moor 1974 NSp, CS
Niven Collections Key:
AM All the Myriad Ways
CS Convergent Series
HS A Hole in Space
NSp   N-Space

 

The Léshy Circuit Series Chronology: "The Fourth Profession" is first. Beyond that, no determination has been made.

Suggested reading order: The stories can be read in any order.

Collecting the series: All stories to date (January 2008) can be found in the Niven collection entitled N-Space.

More about this series: A fourth story, "Rammer" (1971), was formerly considered part of this series, but is now considered part of "The State" series. "The Léshy Circuit," an unfinished planetarium script contained in Bridging the Galaxies, contains information about the universe, but cannot properly be considered a part of the series.

 

Moties and the Empire of Man

The interstellar Empire of Man makes contact with a previously undiscovered race of technologically advanced aliens, "Moties" who hold dark secrets. This series of stories is set in Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium/Empire of Man universe.

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
The Mote in God's Eye 1974 — co-authored by Jerry Pournelle
Hugo nominee, Nebula nominee
Motelight 1976 NSp co-authored by Jerry Pournelle; a prologue edited out of The Mote in God's Eye; contained in "Building the Mote in God's Eye"
Reflex 1983 &mdash co-authored by Jerry Pournelle; opening edited out of The Mote in God's Eye; pubbed in There Will Be War, ed. by Jerry Pournelle
In Memoriam: Howard Grote Littlemead 1984 NL Poem referencing the backstory to The Mote in God's Eye
Brenda 1988 NSp
The Gripping Hand 1993 — co-authored with Jerry Pournelle
Niven Collections Key:
NL Niven's Laws
NSp   N-Space
Moties and the Empire of Man Series Chronology
2640-2656   Brenda
2862-2902   Motelight
2902 In Memoriam: Howard Grote Littlemead
3017 Reflex
3017 The Mote in God's Eye
3042 The Gripping Hand

 

Suggested reading order: The Mote in God's Eye should be read before its sequel, The Gripping Hand. "Motelight" and "Reflex" tell of events leading up to Mote, but it is not necessary to read them to understand the latter. Other than that, the stories may be read in any order.

More about this series can be found in "Building the Mote in God's Eye" (1976), in the Niven collection N-Space.

 

The State

Earth is a very grim and very overcrowded dystopia, tightly controlled by "The State," which has attempted to extend its rule to an interstellar empire by seeding planets around nearby stars with life, then planting colonies. But the State finds that distant colony worlds elude its iron grip. One such colony is the unique "Smoke Ring": circling a star is a torus of atmosphere, inhabited by alien animals, enormous "integral trees," and humans which have adapted to live in zero-gee.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
Rammer 1971 WT, HS, PM incorporated into A World Out of Time
Down and Out 1976 WT incorporated into A World Out of Time
The Children of the State 1976 WT incorporated into A World Out of Time
A World Out of Time 1976 — Hugo nominee, Nebula nominee
The Integral Trees 1983 —
The Smoke Ring 1987 —
The Kiteman 1990 NSp
Niven Collections Key:
HS A Hole in Space
NSp   N-Space
PM Playgrounds of the Mind
WT A World Out of Time

 

The State Series Chronology
A World Out of Time—chapters 1-2 (revised from "Rammer" and "Down and Out")
The Integral Trees
The Smoke Ring
The Kiteman
A World Out of Time—chapters 3-9 (orig. "The Children of the State")

Suggested reading order: The Integral Trees, The Smoke Ring, and "The Kiteman" should be read in that order. A World Out of Time may be read at any time.

 

Svetz

This series came about because Larry Niven believes time travel is fantasy. In these comedy adventures, Svetz is an agent from a polluted future repeatedly sent back in time to fetch extinct animals for his mad ruler's menagerie. What no one understands is that the time machine travels to parallel worlds where magic works, and the hapless Svetz finds himself facing formidable beasts with fearsome powers.

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
The Flight of the Horse 1969 RM, FH orig. title "Get a Horse!"
Leviathan! 1970 RM, FH, PM
Bird in the Hand 1970 RM, FH
There's a Wolf in My Time Machine 1971 RM, FH
Death in a Cage 1973 RM, FH
Rainbow Mars 1999 RM
Niven Collections Key:
FH The Flight of the Horse
PM Playgrounds of the Mind
RM   Rainbow Mars

Chronological order is the same as the publishing order listed above. (Or perhaps, for this time travel series, that should be "chronological disorder"!)

Suggested reading order is the same as the publishing order listed above.

Collecting the series: All stories to date (January 2009) appear in the Niven collection Rainbow Mars.

More about this series can be found in "Afterword" in the Flight of the Horse collection, and in "Afterword: Svetz and the Beanstalk" in the Rainbow Mars collection.

 

Teleportation

This near-future series explores the effect on society of a ubiquitous network of teleportation booths, which have replaced nearly all other transportation. Some stories feature reporter Jerryberry Janson.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection
Flash Crowd 1973 FH
The Alibi Machine 1973 HS
All the Bridges Rusting 1973 BG, HS
A Kind of Murder 1974 HS
The Last Days of the
Permanent Floating Riot Club		 1974 HS

Niven Collections Key:

BG   Bridging the Galaxies
FH The Flight of the Horse
HS A Hole in Space

Chronological order is the same as the publishing order listed above.

Suggested reading order is the same as the publishing order listed above.

Collecting the series: All stories to date (January 2008) can be found in the Niven collection entitled A Hole in Space except for "Flash Crowd", which appears in the Niven collection The Flight of the Horse.

More about this series: Niven's ideas about how teleportation booths might work can be found in his speculative science article "Exercise in Speculation: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation," which appears in the Niven collection All the Myriad Ways.

 

The Warlock's Era

Once upon a time, many thousands of years ago... It is a golden age of luxury and plenty, provided by powerful magic. All too powerful, for the mana which powers the wizards' spells is fast running out. An ancient sorcerer known only as the Warlock is the first to discover that magicians must make do with less and less in a world in which the magic is going away. This series takes a logical, scientific approach to magic — just what you'd expect from a master of hard-SF.

 

List of Stories by Order of Publication
Story Pub.
Date		 Niven
Collection		 Notes
Not Long Before the End 1969 AM, MC, MR, TW Hugo nominee, Nebula nominee
Unfinished Story #1 1970 AM, PM, TW orig. title "Unfinished Story"
What Good Is a Glass Dagger? 1972 FH, PM, TW
The Magic Goes Away 1976 — Short story; expanded into a novlet in 1978.
The Magic Goes Away 1978 MC, TW An expansion first published by Ace Books as an "illustrated novel;" art by Esteban Moroto.
Talisman 1981 Lm, MC, MM co-authored by Dan Girard
The Lion in His Attic 1982 Lm, MC, MM, PM
The Wishing Game 1989 PM
The Portrait of Daryanree the King 1989 PM
The Burning City 2000 — co-authored by Jerry Pournelle
Chicxulub 2004 —
Boomerang 2004 —
Rhinemaidens 2005 —
Burning Tower 2005 — co-authored by Jerry Pournelle
Niven Collections Key:
AM All the Myriad Ways
FH The Flight of the Horse
Lm Limits
MC The Magic Goes Away Collection
MM   More Magic
MR The Magic May Return
PM Playgrounds of the Mind
TW The Time of the Warlock

Chronological order: Some stories in this series offer only vague clues regarding their time frame. Therefore the best we can do at present is a tentative timeline.

The Warlock's Era—Tentative Chronological Order
Chicxulub
Not Long Before the End
Unfinished Story #1
What Good is a Glass Dagger?
Talisman
The Magic Goes Away
The Wishing Game
The Lion in His Attic
The Portrait of Daryanree the King
Rhinemaidens
The Burning City
Burning Tower
Boomerang

Recommended reading order: Reading the stories in order of publication will avoid spoilers. That aside, "Not Long Before the End," "What Good Is a Glass Dagger?," The Magic Goes Away, and "The Wishing Game" form a continuing story, and should be read in that order. The Burning City is followed by its sequel, Burning Tower. Characters from "The Lion in His Attic" later appear in The Burning City, although this continuity does not appear important. "Rhinemaidens" is a sequel to "The Lion in His Attic." The other stories can be read in any order.

Collecting the series: No single book contains all the stories in this series, but the recent The Magic Goes Away Collection (2005) contains The Magic Goes Away plus the two shared universe collections detailed below.

More about this series can be found in the notes at the end of The Time of the Warlock.

 

The Warlock's Era: Shared Universe Stories

Niven has invited other authors to write stories set in The Warlock/Magic Universe series. Two collections, edited by Larry Niven, have been published.

The Magic May Return
illustrated by Alicia Austin		 1981
Not Long Before the End Larry Niven
Earthshade Fred Saberhagen
Manaspill Dean Ing
"...but fear itself" Steven Barnes
Strength Poul Anderson &
Mildred Downey Broxon
 
More Magic
illustrated by Alicia Austin		 1984
The Lion in His Attic Larry Niven
Shadow of Wings Bob Shaw
Talisman Larry Niven & Dan Girard
Mana from Heaven Roger Zelazny