Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of many of Larry Niven's science fiction stories. In general terms it is the name given by humans to the collection of stars and planets near the Earth, out to some 50 light years, which have been explored and settled in the books set in it. The Known Space stories span approximately a thousand years of history, from the first human explorations of our solar system to the colonization of dozens of nearby systems (and with references to events some billion years ago).
Overview
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Races
In the process of exploring space, humankind encounters several intelligent alien species,
including the following.
- The Kzinti, belligerent giant cat-like aliens with whom the humans fight several brutal wars – mostly offstage until the release of the Man-Kzin Wars short-story collections, largely by other authors.
- Pierson's Puppeteers, a technologically advanced race of three-legged, two-headed creatures descended from herd animals, and noted for their cowardice.
- The Outsiders, fragile low-temperature aliens that cruise deep space and trade information, introducing FTL travel to humans. They have a mysterious connection with the starseeds.
- The Pak, interstellar relatives of humanity whose life-cycle evidences the purpose of human old age.
- The Kdatlyno, a species enslaved by the Kzinti until humans freed them. Kdatlyno "see" by way of sonar and create sculptures intended to be "seen" by Kdatlyno, felt by humans and licked by Puppeteers.
- The Thrintun, a long-extinct species which ruled the galaxy through telepathic mind control.
- The Grogs, sessile furry cones, which can control animals telepathically. The Grogs turn out to be the mutated survivors of the Thrintun species.
- The Tnuctipun, used by the Thrintun as genetic engineers.
- The Bandersnatchi, colossal sluglike creatures, originally created by the Tnuctipun to be grown as a food source by the Thrintun;
- The Trinocs, named for their three eyes, fingers, triangular mouth, etc.
- The Martians, recently extinct, except on the Map of Mars.
- The Jotoki, sentient octopus-shaped beings formed by the joining of the lobes of 5 non-sentient eel-like life forms into a single brain. Former rulers of an interstellar empire, they used Kzinti as body guards, but the Kzinti rebelled and used the Jotoki technology to create their own empire.
- They Who Pass, entities from an other-dimensional universe who view the universe through cosmic strings but are unable to enter. Non-canon.
Also figuring in some stories are intelligent cetaceans and various offshoots of Homo sapiens lineage.
Locations
An amusing and interesting aspect of the Known Space universe is that most of the planets colonized by humans are suboptimal for Homo sapiens. The planets were measured and declared habitable by "dumb" robot probes who were then followed by sleeper ships who had to make the best of a bad situation.
- Plateau in the Tau Ceti system is Venus-like, with a California-sized plateau rising high enough into the dense atmosphere to be habitable.
- Jinx, orbiting Sirius, is a massive moon of a gas giant, stretched by tidal forces into an egg shape, with gravity near the limits of human habitability. The poles lie in vacuum, the equatorial regions are Venus-like (and inhabited by the Bandersnatchi); the zones between have atmosphere breathable by humans. Jinx's poles become a major in vacuo manufacturing area.
- We Made It orbiting Procyon, got its name because the first colony ship crash-landed. The planet's axis is pointed along the plane of the ecliptic, creating ferocious winds during half of the planet's year, forcing the people to live underground.
- Warhead was an uninhabitable Mars-like world being used as a military outpost by the Kzinti, until it was hit with an experimental weapon which tore a long, kilometers-deep, but narrow hole into the crust. Most of the planet's atmosphere fell into this artificial canyon, resulting in a breathable environment. The planet was then renamed Canyon, for the crater, and settled by humans in a huge city running up the crater wall.
- Wunderland is an inhabitable planet circling Alpha Centauri, and was one of the earliest colonies in Known Space's human history.
- Home was one of Earth's most distant colonies, decimated by war with the Pak, but re-colonized in later centuries.
Asteroid belts are usually extensively colonized in Known Space, as well. Sol's is known as the Belt, while Alpha Centauri's is known as the Serpent Swarm.
The series also features a number of "gee whiz" inventions which figure as plot devices, including invulnerable starship hulls, stasis fields, transporter booths (used only on planetary surfaces), the lifespan-extending drug "boosterspice", and the "tasp" which is capable of stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain from a distance.
The milieu can be viewed as representing the climax of the pre-cyberpunk era of science fiction, as the cyberpunk themes of information technology and competition of various sub-governmental groups do not figure in the stories.
Stories in Known Space
Unlike many fictional universes, the component tales of known space were largely released as short stories or serials in various science fiction anthology magazines. These stories were generally subsequently released in one or more collection volumes. To add some further confusion, some of the shorter novels were also later re-released as part of collections. Due to the large number of stories, it is particularly difficult for a completionist fan of the series to have read the entire span of the work.
After the mid-1970s, Larry Niven began to write significantly less Known Space stories. In his note that accompanies "Man-Kzin Wars", he indicates that it had become more and more difficult to be inspired to write in the universe as it had grown too difficult. At that point, he opened up the series to works by other authors.
In the Known Space stories Niven had created a number of technological devices (GP hull, stasis field, Ringworld material) which, combined with the 'Teela Brown' gene, made it very difficult to construct engaging stories beyond a certain date - the combination of factors made it tricky to produce any kind of creditable threat/problem without complex contrivances. Niven demonstrated this, to his own satisfaction, with Safe at Any Speed.
Stories by Niven himself
| Title | Published | First Appeared In | Collection
|
| The Coldest Place | 1964 | Worlds of If | Tales of Known Space
|
| World of Ptavvs | 1965† | Worlds of Tomorrow
|
| One Face | 1965 | Galaxy Magazine | The Shape of Space
|
| Becalmed in Hell | 1965 | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction | Tales of Known Space
|
| Eye of an Octopus | 1966 | Galazy Magazine | Tales of Known Space
|
| The Warriors | 1966 | Worlds of If | Tales of Known Space
|
| Bordered in Black | 1966 | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction | The Shape of Space
|
| Neutron Star | 1966 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| How the Heroes Die | 1966 | Galaxy Magazine | Tales of Known Space
|
| At the Core | 1966 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| A Relic of the Empire | 1966 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| At the Bottom of a Hole | 1966 | Galaxy Magazine | Tales of Known Space
|
| The Soft Weapon | 1967 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| Flatlander | 1967 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| The Ethics of Madness | 1967 | Worlds of If | Neutron Star
|
| Safe at any Speed | 1967 | The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction | Tales of Known Space
|
| The Adults | 1967† | Galaxy Magazine
|
| The Handicapped | 1967 | Galaxy Magazine | Neutron Star
|
| The Jigsaw Man | 1967 | Dangerous Visions | Tales of Known Space
|
| Slowboat Cargo | 1968† | Worlds of If
|
| The Deceivers | 1968† | Galaxy Magazine | Tales of Known Space
|
| Grendel | 1968 | (collection only) | Neutron Star
|
| There is a Tide | 1968 | Galaxy Magazine | Tales of Known Space
|
| The World of Ptavvs | 1968 | (novel)
|
| A Gift From Earth | 1968 | (novel)
|
| Wait It Out | 1968 | Futures Unbounded | Tales of Known Space
|
| The Organleggers | 1968† | Galaxy Magazine | The Shape of Space
|
| Ringworld | 1970 | (novel)
|
| Cloak of Anarchy | 1972 | Analog Science Fiction | Tales of Known Space
|
| Protector | 1973 | (novel)
|
| The Defenseless Dead | 1973 | (collection only) | The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton
|
| The Borderland of Sol | 1974 | Analog Science Fiction | Tales of Known Space
|
| ARM | 1975 | Epic | The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton
|
| The Ringworld Engineers | 1980 | (novel)
|
| The Patchwork Girl | 1980 | (novel)
|
| Madness Has Its Place | 1990 | (collection only) | Man-Kzin Wars III
|
| Procrustes | 1994 | (collection only) | Crashlander
|
| The Woman in Del Rey Crater | 1995 | (collection only) | Flatlander
|
| Ringworld Throne | 1996 | (novel)
|
| Choosing Names | 1998 | (collection only) | Man-Kzin Wars VIII
|
| Fly-By-Night | 2002 | (collection only) | Man-Kzin Wars IX
|
| Ringworld's Children | 2004 | (novel)
|
† Additional Notes:
- "World of Ptavvs" was expanded and republished as a novel in 1968.
- "The Adults" was expanded and republished as "Protector" in 1973.
- "Slowboat Cargo" was expanded and republished as "A Gift From Earth" in 1968.
- "The Deceivers" was subsequently renamed "Intent to Deceive"
- "The Organleggers" was subsequently renamed "Death by Ecstasy"
(Note that most stories appeared in more than one collection, though only one each is listed here.)
Official stories in "Known Space" by other authors
Some fans consider these stories to be non-canonical.
