Niven, Larry

Larry Niven was born in Los Angeles , California . For some time he attended the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena , the University of California at Los Angeles , in 1962 he graduated from the University of Washburn , Topeka , in Kansas , with a bachelor 's degree in mathematical sciences (with a study of psychology ). Having become a professional writer, he lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles , including Chatsworth and Tarzana. Inherited a large sum of money from his grandfather, Edward L. Doheny.

Niven is the author of many science fiction novels and short stories, starting with the 1964 story “The Coolest Place”; five-time winner of the Hugo Prize. Other awards include the Nebula , Ditmar , Skylark, and the Locus Magazine Awards.

In 1967, Niven received the Hugo Award for Best Short Story - The Neutron Star. He received the same award in 1972 ("The Unstable Moon") and 1975 ("Man is a black hole"). In 1976, he received the Hugo Award for Best Short Story - The Frontier Strip of the Sun.

Niven also writes scripts for various science fiction shows, including the series "Land of the Lost" and the animated series " Star Trek " ("Weapons of the Slave Owner"). He adapted one of his short stories (“The Unstable Moon”) for the episode of the television series “ Beyond the Possible .”

In recent years, he often co-wrote with Jerry Purnell and / or Steve Barnes .

A significant part of Niven’s novels and short stories is included in the cycle “Famous Cosmos” (“Space Mastery”, Eng. Known Space ). Among other stories, one can distinguish the cycles “Svets”, “The Circle of Leshy”, “The Dragon Tavern”, “Magic”, as well as stories about parallel worlds and the impact of teleportation on society (among the latter, the story “Flash of the crowd” should be especially noted (Flash Crowd) (1973), which describes the phenomenon currently called the "Flash Mob").

In his novels and stories, Niven manages to create extremely convincing and catchy images of alien creatures. Among them, the kzins became the most famous - huge tigerlike intelligent creatures that are distinguished by exceptional militancy. Armed conflicts between people and the kzin play a large role in the “future history” of the “Famous Cosmos” cycle. Subsequently (mainly by a number of other authors) a whole cycle of novels and short stories was created under the general title “Wars of the People and the Kzin”. Since these books were written according to the author’s instructions of Niven, and in accordance with chronology, they are usually ranked among the canons of the “Famous Cosmos”. To date, 11 volumes have been published.

Famous Cosmos Series

• World of the Ptavvs ( 1966 )
• Gift of the Earth ( 1968 )

Ring World

1. Ring World ( 1970 )
2. Ring Engineers ( 1979 )
3. Larry Niven's Guide to the World of the Ring ( 1994 ) / co-authored by Kevin Stein
4. Throne of the Ring ( 1996 )
5. Children of the Ring ( 2004 )
6. Fleet of Worlds ( 2008 )

• Neutron Star (compilation) ( 1968 )
• Image of the cosmos (collection) ( 1969 )
• All Myriad Paths (compilation) ( 1971 )
• The Unstable Moon (compilation) ( 1973 )
• Defender ( 1973 )
• Stories of the Famous Cosmos : Universe Larry Niven (collection) ( 1975 )
• Jill Hamilton's Long Arm ( 1976 )
• Girl from the flaps ( 1980 )
• The emergency worker (compilation) ( 1994 )
• Flat Earth (compilation) ( 1995 )

Co-authored with Jerry Purnell

• Hell ( 1976 )
• The Hammer of Lucifer ( 1977 )
• Pledge of allegiance ( 1982 )
• Tread ( 1985 )

Moshkits (works about the Moshchik civilization)

1. The little cat in the apple of the Lord ( 1974 )
2. Grasping hand ( 1993 )

Golden Road (action takes place in the same world as Magic leaves )

1. Burning City ( 2000 )
2. Burning Tower ( 2005 )

Heorot (co-authored with Steve Barnes and Jerry Purnell)

1. Heorot's Legacy ( 1987 )
2. Heorot Dragons ( Beowulf Children ) ( 1995 )
3. The Road of Fate ( 1997 ) / Niven only

Park Dreams Series (co-authored with Steve Barnes)

1. Daydream Park ( 1981 )
2. The Barsum Project ( 1989 )
3. California Voodoo Game ( 1992 )
4. Anansi is landing ( 1982 )

State Series

1. Timeless World ( 1976 )
2. Integral Trees ( 1984 )
3. Smoke Ring ( 1987 )

Magic Leaves Series

1. Magic leaves ( 1978 )
2. Magic may return ( 1981 )
3. More Magic ( 1984 )
4. Warlock Time ( 1984 )

Novels

• Flying Sorcerers ( 1971 ) / co-authored by David Herrold
• Fallen Angels ( 1991 ) / co-authored with Jerry Purnell and Michael Finn
• Achilles Choice ( 1992 ) / co-authored with Steve Barnes
• Race with Saturn ( 2000 ) / co-authored with Steve Barnes (the action takes place in the same world as the Achilles Choice )
• Construction of the Moon by Harlequin ( 2005 ) / co-authored by Brenda Cooper

See also

“The Unstable Moon ” - an episode of the science fiction television series “ Beyond the Boundary of the Possible ” ( USA - Canada , 1996 )

• Biography and bibliography on fantlab.ru
• LarryNiven.org - fan site (English)
• Larry Niven in the library of Maxim Moshkov
• An article about Larry Niven from Game Country Magazine
• Vl. Gakov. The Lord of the Ring // If: Journal. - Moscow: Favorite book, 2008. - No. 4 . - S. 272-278 . - ISSN 0136-0140 .