| Authors | Title | Series | Description | Format |
|---|
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | Oath of Fealty | | In the near future, Los Angeles is an all but uninhabitable war zone, racked by crime, violence, pollution and poverty. But above the blighted city, a Utopia has arisen: Todos Santos, a thousand-foot high single-structured city, designed to used state-of-the-art technology to create a completely human-friendly environment, offering its dwellers everything they could want in exchange for their oath of allegiance and their constant surveillance . But there are those who want to see the utopia destroyed, whose answer to tomorrow’s best and brightest hope is mindless violence. And they have just entered Todos Santos. . . . --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven | N-Space | | "What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers?" or, indeed, about any of the provocative ideas that Niven ( Ringworld ) raises in this retrospective collection ranging over three decades of work. This bemusingly titled story is one answer to the question: Why is nobody out there talking to us? "Bordered in Black" provides a second answer, and "The Fourth Profession" a third. "Madness Has Its Place" is a missing tale from the Known Space series, while "Down in Flames" gives the outline for a story in which all Known Space is destroyed. "Brenda" is a novella featuring the Sauron Superman described in Mote; it is nicely complemented by "Building The Mote in God's Eye. " In "The Return of William Proxmire" the title character uses a time machine to save the health and military career of Robert A. Heinlein. While some of the stories here are classics, most have not previously been collected in book form. Niven's essays on the SF genre and commentaries on the stories make this collection a must for SF fans.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | Inferno | | "Inferno is quite literally a cake walk through hell, with a science fiction writer as Dante and Benito Mussolini as Virgil. I kid you not, Pournelle and Niven have had the chutzpah to re-write Dante's Inferno as if they were some unholy hybrid of Roger Zelazny, Robert Heinlein, and Phil Jose Farmer. You are right there in the nether-reaches of the ultimate Sam Peckinpah movie with all the matter-of-fact solidity of a Hal Clement novel. It gets to you, it really does. This being lunacy of a transcendent order."--Norman Spinrad
"A dazzling tour de force."--Poul Anderson on Inferno
"A fast, amusing and vivid book, by a writing team noted for intelligence and imagination."--Roger Zelazny on Inferno
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes | The Legacy of Heorot | | | |
| Larry Niven | Gift From Earth | Known Space | | Paperback |
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | Footfall | | "NOBODY DOES IT BETTER THAN NIVEN AND POURNELLE.
I LOVED IT!"
--Tom Clancy
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.
The world's frantic efforts to signal the aliens go unanswered. The first contact is hostile: the invaders blast a Soviet space station, seize the survivors, and then destroy every dam and installation on Earth with a hail of asteriods.
Now the conquerors are descending on the American heartland, demanding servile surrender--or death for all humans.
"ROUSING . . . THE BEST OF THE GENRE."
--The New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven | Playgrounds of the Mind | (sequel to) N-Space | A followup to last year's N-Space , this large and varied collection from hard science fiction master Niven displays the strengths and the weaknesses of that subgenre. With stories such as "The Soft Weapon," in which the hero must solve the mystery of an alien artifact to save himself and his companions, and "Becalmed in Hell," where two explorers on Venus find themselves in peril, Niven provides the old-fashioned SF pleasures of intellectual problem-solving and rigorously depicted astronomical wonders. The "Draco's Tavern" series of brief thought-pieces, set in a multispecies spaceport bar, explore larger philosophical questions. But in focusing his attention on accurate scientific detail and describing the marvels of space, Niven often neglects matters of characterization and literary style, and his marginalization of female characters is unfortunate. Excerpts from Niven's novels are included, but they aren't long enough to convey the feel of the larger works, and the self-congratulatory, repetitive snippets of autobiography and science fiction convention memories add very little. Readers should stick to the short stories, many of which are exemplary hard science fiction; "Ramer" and "Wait It Out," for instance, are especially rewarding.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | The Gripping Hand | (sequel to) Mote in God's Eye | This sequel to the authors' 1974 classic The Mote in God's Eye takes place some 25 years after the events of that book. The alien "Moties" remain quarantined in their own system, but the formation of a new star nearby suggests an opportunity for the Moties to escape into the galaxy, where their explosive population growth and the efficiency of their specialized subspecies--Engineers, Mediators, Warriors, etc.--may challenge the survival of the Empire of Man. Imperial scientists, however, may have found a way for the Moties to control their population and thus reduce their threat enough to allow them to become the Empire's allies. Led by Horace Bury and Kevin Renner (veterans of the first Mote expedition), a hastily assembled Imperial force struggles to contain the Moties long enough to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Though the first third of the book drags, once the action moves to the Mote system, readers will be hooked. Some of the intriguing subtexts, such as the prevailing xenophobia, are disturbing, while others, including warnings about overpopulation, enlighten. But Niven and Pournelle ( Footfall ) don't explore these ideas deeply enough to make their story any more than a perfectly adequate, largely irrelevant sequel.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle | Lucifer's Hammer | | Monumental devastation will sweep across the globe if the newly-discovered Hamner-Brown comet collides with the one major obstacle in its path: Earth.
For millionaire Tim Hamner, the comet is a ticket to immortality. For filmmaker Harvey Randall, it's a shot to redeem a flagging career. And for astronauts John Baker and Rick Delanty, it's a second chance for glory in outer space.
But for a world gripped by comet fever, fascination quickly turns to fear. And only those who survive the impact will know the even greater terror, when rich and poor, politicians and killers, turn to each other or against each other--and the remnants of humanity grow savage to battle for what little remains . . .
Including an all-new introduction by the authors! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven, Steven Barnes | The California Voodoo Game (A Dream Park Novel) | | Dream Park, the ultimate in amusement parks, was about to embark on the greatest Game ever: the California Voodoo Game. Across the world bets were being placed; fortunes and reputations hung in the balance. Gaming careers would be made--or destroyed. And the most advanced software package ever invented was going to be tested.
But one of the players was a murderer--and worse. Only Alex Griffin, head of Dream Park Security, and Game Master Tony McWhirter guessed the extent of the treachery tainting the Game. Somehow, they had to catch the killer--but above all, the Game must go on.... | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | Tales of Known Space: The Universe of Larry Niven. | Known Space | | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | The Ringworld Engineers (Ringworld #2) | Ringworld | Ringworld (1970), the most celebrated work in Niven's "Known Space" sequence, posited a vast body of matter - enough for an entire solar system - spinning around a sun in the form of a single giant artifact of unknown origin: a continuous million-mile-wide ribbon provided with oceans, atmosphere, and vast flat projections (life-size "maps") of Earth and other inhabited planets. The present book takes up the puzzle some 20 years after Louis Wu's escape from the Ringworld. Kidnapped by the mate of Nessus, their two-headed alien companion of the previous voyage, Louis and his catlike ally Chmeee are transported to the Ringworld - now spinning dangerously off-center - in an attempt to discover the cause of the aberrant rotation before the world grazes its sun. Searching for clues to the design of the structure's long-vanished original engineers, they encounter various hominid and other races before finding the barely feasible, wholly appalling solution hidden beneath the "Map of Mars." Niven, a longstanding favorite with "hard" sf buffs, commands an impressive vein of invention, but his plotting here is limp and threadbare; the idea was more striking the first time around. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven | Ringworld (Ringworld #1) | Ringworld | ''Tom Parker captures the personalities of the travelers through individual vocalization and provides smooth, expressive narration. The listener is soon caught up in the adventures of these vivid characters as they struggle to survive . . . a rousing adventure.'' --AudioFile
''Niven's style is such that you can be awed, then titillated, then amused all on the same page. . . . After more than thirty years, the story remains interesting, and the ideas fascinating. I highly recommend this audiobook, whether you've experienced Ringworld already or not. I enjoyed every minute.'' --SFFAudio.com
''[Parker] skillfully uses inflection and timing to heighten drama or highlight humorous details as appropriate. Parker deftly brings to life Louis Wu and other members of the 'motley crew' . . . This is SF--and narration--at its best.'' --Kliatt --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven, Steven Barnes | Dream Park | | Unadulterated wish fulfillment. (Locus) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | Convergent Series | | This impressive collection of Larry Niven's short stories -- science fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction, and mixed genres (detective-noir-meets-aliens) -- shows the range of this Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author's fiction, with many clever twists. A feast for lovers of the short story.
"His tales have grit, authenticity, colorful characters and pulse-pounding narrative drive. Niven is a true master!"
- Frederik Pohl
"Larry Niven is one of the giants of modern science fiction."
- Mike Resnick
"Our premier hard SF writer."
- The Baltimore Sun
"Niven...lifts the reader far from the conventional world -- and does it with dash."
- The Los Angeles Times
"Niven...juggles huge concepts of time and space that no one else can lift."
- Charles Sheffield
"In creating a geologic world and in the interactions between humans and aliens, Niven is superb."
- Boston Sunday Globe
"One of the genre's most prolific and accessible talents."
- Library Journal
"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
Born April 30, 1938 in Los Angeles, California. Attended California Institute of Technology; flunked out after discovering a book store jammed with used science fiction magazines. Graduated Washburn University, Kansas, June 1962: BA in Mathematics with a Minor in Psychology, and later received an honorary doctorate in Letters from Washburn. Interests: Science fiction conventions, role playing games, AAAS meetings and other gatherings of people at the cutting edges of science. Comics. Filk singing. Yoga and other approaches to longevity. Moving mankind into space by any means, but particularly by making space endeavors attractive to commercial interests. Several times we’ve hosted The Citizens Advisory Council for a National Space Policy. I grew up with dogs. I live with a cat, and borrow dogs to hike with. I have passing acquaintance with raccoons and ferrets. Associating with nonhumans has certainly gained me insight into alien intelligences. www.larryniven.net
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | The Integral Trees | | In this novel, Niven presents a fully-fleshed culture of evolved humans who live without gravity in the gas cloud surrounding a neutron star. In this Smoke Ring, free-floating life forms flourish, and all of them, from fish to fowl, can fly... | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | Ringworld Throne (Ringworld #3) | Ringworld | In Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers Larry Niven created Known Space, a universe in the distant future with a distinctive and complicated history. The center of this universe is Ringworld, an expansive hoop-shaped relic 1 million miles across and 600 million miles in circumference that is home to some 30 trillion diverse inhabitants. As in his past novels, Niven's characters in The Ringworld Throne spend their time unraveling the complex problems posed by their society. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven | Protector | Known Space | | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | The Smoke Ring | (sequel to) The Integral Trees | The setting of Niven's 1984 novel The Integral Trees was striking and imaginative, even for this acclaimed world builder; it's well worth the second visit made in this sequel. Around a neutron star an envelope of gas holds a breathable atmosphere and a strange profusion of plant and animal life, all floating in free-fall. Five hundred years after the crew of the Earth ship Discipline mutinied and deserted to this paradise, their descendants are still watched over by the ship's unbalanced computer mind. The machine is busy manipulating its one small contact group into exploring the larger city they have been avoiding for years. Aspects of this society are intriguingfor instance, the disdain of the better-adapted taller, thinner people for the "dwarfish" throwbacks, even though only the short can fit into the scientific relics of the old ship. As usual with Niven, character and story are just an excuse for working out the properties of his wonderful imaginary world, where people can fly like birds and ponds full of fish hang in midair. Unfortunately, in this book he fails to marshal the visual and dramatic flair needed to show it off to best effect.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. | Hardcover |
| Larry Niven, Steven Barnes | The Descent of Anansi | | It's the American Revolution all over again. But this time it's a ragtag band of space colonists vs. the United States. And the fate of the world hangs by a thread--200 miles above the earth. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | All the Myriad Ways | | | Paperback |
| Larry Niven | A World Out of Time | | 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! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. | Paperback |
| Larry Niven (ed.) | Magic May Return | | | Trade Paperback |
| Garth Nix | Sabriel (The Abhorsen Trilogy) | | After receiving a cryptic message from her father, Abhorsen, a necromancer trapped in Death, 18-year-old Sabriel sets off into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands. Unlike other necromancers, who raise the dead, Abhorsen lays the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him--and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father's title and duties--to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible exhaustion, violent confrontations, and terrifying challenges to her supernatural abilities--and her destiny.
Garth Nix delves deep into the mystical underworld of necromancy, magic, and the monstrous undead. This tale is not for the faint of heart; imbedded in the classic good-versus-evil story line are subplots of grisly ghouls hungry for human life to perpetuate their stay in the world of the living, and dark, devastating secrets of betrayal and loss. Just try to put this book down. For more along this line, try Nix's later novel: Shade's Children. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Review by Ann Cecil (PARSEC):
Sabriel is a teenage witch, in a very proper, very British sort of way. At eighteen, after years of girls convent-like boarding school, she thinks herself very ready to face the perils of rescuing her father. After all, he has sent her his sword and his bells, so she gathers her magical armor and spell books, and marches off into the Old Kingdom, which seems the source of both good and bad magic.
The good magic is called Charter Magic; along with Sabriel, we discover that the Charter Magic is embodied in three bloodlines (hers, the royal family, and a half-explained odd group) and two physical objects: the Wall (that separates the Old Kingdom from the New), and the Charter Stones. The bad magic is called Free Magic, and seems to embody a Chaos principle. It is clearly a Dark Force, oozing evil and blackness at every chance.
The New Kingdom, called Ancelstierre, seems to be England in about the 1920s; they have electricity, steam power, guns, and telephones. The Old Kingdom is a distinctly medieval place, retaining the quaintly British names (Holehallow, Nestowe, Cloven Cleft), with villagers bobbing servilely, lots of big stone castles and mazes, clearly stuck in an earlier pre-industrial age. The beginning sections of the book, as Sabriel starts her search for her father, sounded very Lord of the Rings-like to me: Sabriel is pursued by a Mordicant, a dark menace that foreshadows the eventual rise of a Greater Evil, and she must pursue a quest to restore the land from outside threat, complete with magic silver ring, through a path that leads underground, across narrow fragile stone bridges over chasms and rushing water.
What makes the book different ultimately are two innovations: 1) Death is a land, with Seven Gates, and Sabriel can walk there at will and return; and 2) her familiar is a talkative cat with a sharp and twisted sense of humor. The swordplay is kept to a minimum; a complex set of bells are used as the real magic weapons, spicing the fairly standard coming-of-age and romance plot. There is a real surprise at the climax of the book, logical but jolting for the reader.
Obviously this is the first book in yet another trilogy, but it is a very quick read. It is targeted, I'm told, for the young adult audience (i.e., teenagers), and comes from an Australian author I've not read before. I'm not sure how I would have liked it when I was a teen; the LOTR parallels would not have occurred to me, and the scenery would have intrigued. The palace reservoir is an extremely cool and unusual place, with the weird skylights adding an otherworldly touch. Ultimately, the success of the book depends on how much you are cheering for the heroine, and eager to read her further adventures. I had a bit of trouble with her level of sophistication in areas like sex, given the background setup, but her growing awareness of how little she really knows, as she tries to apply her training to the real world, is all too recognizable. For me, Sabriel was interesting if not compelling. | Paperback |
| William F. Nolan, George Clayton Johnson | Logan's Run | | It's the 23rd Century and at age 21... your life is over! Logan-6 has been trained to kill; born and bred from conception to be the best of the best. But his time is short and before his life ends he's got one final mission: Find and destroy Sanctuary, a fabled haven for those that chose to defy the system. But when Logan meets and falls in love with Jessica, he begins to question the very system he swore to protect and soon they're both running for their lives. When Last Day comes, will you lie down and die... or run! Bluewater Comics proudly presents a new adaptation of William F. Nolan's masterpiece of dystopian future: Logan's Run. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. | Paperback |