Showing results by author "Larry Niven" in All Categories

An incubus disguised as a high school girl puts a disturbing spin on the teacher/student fantasy. An engineer creates a robot with unexpected consequences during the end of the world. A man becomes the pet of alien invaders. From stories of aliens in other worlds to those living among us, these tales will move you out of your comfort zone and open you up to experiencing something - or someone - completely different.

Return to the “vivid and unusual” ( Kirkus Reviews) world of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s The Burning City, where the fire god has retreated into myth, leaving the residents of Tep’s Town unprotected for the first time in their history. Unfortunately, a fiery fate isn’t the only danger Tep’s Town is facing. Monsters are coming forth from the desert - great birds with blades instead of wings, driven by some unknown force. Although they can be killed, the threat these “terror birds” pose is worse than death.

The tragic story of the first manned expedition to Pluto, and the fate of the surviving astronaut who finds a unique way to prolong his lifespan in hopes of rescue.

The first interstellar ship, John Glenn, fled a solar system populated by rogue AIs and machine/human hybrids, threatened by too much nanotechnology, and rife with political dangers. The John Glenn’s crew intended to terraform the nearly pristine planet Ymir in hopes of creating a utopian society that will limit intelligent technology, but by some miscalculation they have landed in the wrong system.

Nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, this short story introduces the Warlock, who discovers to his horror that the world's mana, the fuel that makes magic work, is rapidly dwindling. The news spells doom for magic-based society. Unfortunately, no secret that powerful can stay hidden for long.

In one of Niven's rare stories of cross-dimensional travel, an unnamed protagonist discovers the real reason that things seem so foggy on a foggy night.

Eric is the "Brain" of the first ship to explore Venus. Howie is his human crewmember. When a fault develops, forcing the ship down onto the hostile Venusian surface, Howie must figure out the problem with Eric, be it mechanical or psychological. Becalmed in Hell first appeared in Fantasy and Science Fiction in July 1965.

Fascinating “What If?” stories from Hugo and Nebula award-winning masters of alternate history! What would the world be like if Teddy Roosevelt had fought in World War I? If the space race started during World War II? If Joseph McCarthy had been elected President? These and other questions are answered in this collection of alternate histories. As these stories suggest, the world as we know it might have turned out different than it is today, if only one minor—or major—change had occurred in history.

Can Superman make a baby with Lois Lane, or is he doomed to be the last of his kind? This article discusses the scientific and medical issues involved in copulating with a Kryptonian. Also includes "Unfinished Story No. 1" and "Unfinished Story No. 2".

This nonfiction essay, first published in Vertex in April 1973, discusses the grandfather paradox.

Doctor Toby Glyer has effected miracle cures with the use of nanotechnology. But Glyer’s controversial nanites are more than just the latest technological advance, they are a new form of life - and they have more uses than just medical. Glyer’s nanites also have the potential to make everyone on Earth rich from the wealth of asteroids.

What would the world be like if the space race started during World War II? If Teddy Roosevelt had fought in World War I? If Joseph McCarthy had been elected President? Those and other questions are answered in these nine stories of alternate histories, when the world as we know it might have turned out different than it is today, if only one minor (or major) change had occurred in history.

Like "Cloak of Anarchy", this story is peopled with fictional versions of several of Niven's friends. A discussion among friends about the theory of "Multiple Edens" suddenly becomes all too real, and the reason Tom Findlay has been asking such interesting questions over the years becomes clear.

Aros of Azteca and Neoloth-Pteor are the deadliest of enemies: swordsman and sorcerer, locked in mortal combat, who have tried to kill each other more times than either can count. But when the princess Neoloth loves is kidnapped, there is only one plan that offers any hope of rescue...and that requires passing off the barbarian Aros as a lost princeling and infiltrating the deadliest cabal of necromancers the world has ever seen. They cannot trust each other. They will betray or kill each other the first chance they get. But they're all each other has.

This early Niven story was the first of many to delve deeply into the legal and ethical implications of organ-transplant technology. It introduces Known Space's organ banks and the breed of criminals known as "organleggers".

This nonfiction essay, first published in Galaxy in March 1969, discusses the many uses, implications, and limits of teleportation, from personal transportation to interstellar travel.