Known Space
From Free net encyclopedia
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 60 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).
Contents |
Overview
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. Their commercial empire pulls strings across many movements and governments, and Puppeteer plots are behind many of the larger events in Known Space.
- 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. Builders of the Ringworld.
- The Kdatlyno, a species enslaved by the Kzinti until humans freed them. Kdatlyno "see" by way of radar 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 descendants of the Thrintun species, after two billion years of degeneration.
- The Tnuctipun, an ancient race of carnivores contemperaneous with the Thrintun; they are known for their technological prowess, especially in genetic engineering.
- 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; they also have three fingers, a triangular mouth etc.
- Martians, primitive humanoids who lived beneath the sands. Recently extinct, except on the "Map of Mars" on the Ringworld.
- The Jotoki, sentient octopus-shaped beings formed by the joining of the lobes of five 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.
- Morlocks, semi-sentient humanoid cave dwellers on Wunderland. Named for the creatures in The Time Machine.
- Whrloo, Meter tall insectiods with long eyestalks, their homeworld has low gravity with a thick, high density atmosphere. They never saw the stars until they were enslaved by the Kzinti.
Also figuring in some stories are intelligent cetaceans and various offshoots of Homo sapiens lineage. Most life in Known Space share similar biochemistries, since they evolved from the Thrintun practice of seeding barren worlds with food yeast.
Locations
One 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.
- Down is the home world of the Grogs (see above), notable for the Bussard ramjet that remains in orbit to destroy the Grog population should they take threatening action against humanity.
- Fafnir is a former Kzin colony covered almost entirely in water captured by humans during the Man-Kzin Wars.
- The Fleet of Worlds are the five planets that are home to the Puppeteers (see above), presently being moved in formation at sub-light speeds out of the galaxy to avoid destruction as the wave of energy from an explosion of the galactic core sweeps towards the outer reaches of the galaxy.
- Home was one of Earth's most distant colonies, decimated by war with the Pak, but re-colonized in later centuries.
- 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.
- Kobold was an artificial world created by Jack Brennan, a human Protector. Composed of a small sphere in the center ringed by a larger torus. Gravity generators facilitate movement between the two sections and are used in games and art.
- Mars, fourth planet in our solar system and the first planetary colony in Known Space. Native Martians were exterminated by the Brennan Monster to protect the colonists.
- Plateau in the Tau Ceti system is Venus-like, with a plateau (called Mount Lookitthat), half the size of California, rising high enough into the dense atmosphere to be habitable. Inhabitants (mountaineers) are divided into rigid hereditary castes, the crew and the colonists, depending on whether their ancestors piloted the colonizing vessel. The crew are the upper caste, and hold power through their monopoly on organ transplantation. The original colonists signed the Covenant of Planetfall agreeing that this outcome was just recompense for the labors of the crew during the voyage; that they signed at gunpoint as they were awakened from hibernation was kept secret from later generations. This system is changed by events in A Gift from Earth, and appears to be nonexistent by the time The Ethics of Madness takes place.
- Ringworld, an artificial world a million times larger than earth, built in the shape of a giant ring orbiting its sun, a million miles across and with a diameter of 180 million miles.
- Sheathclaws a planet colonized by humans aboard Angel's Pencil and Kzinti telepaths.
- 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.
- We Made It orbiting Procyon, got its name because the first colony ship crash-landed. Gravity is about three-fifths Earth's. The planet's axis is pointed along the plane of the ecliptic (like Uranus), creating ferocious winds during half of the planet's year of as much as 1,500 mph, forcing the people to live underground. Natives are known as Crashlanders, and tend to be very tall albinos. Their capital, which was the site of their ship's crash landing, is called Crashlanding City. We Made It also has one ocean.
- Wunderland is an inhabitable planet circling Alpha Centauri, and was the earliest extra-solar colony in Known Space's human history.
- Kzin, translates as Home-of-the-Kzinti or Kzinhome in the Hero's tongue. It orbits 51 Ursae Majoris and has higher gravity than earth and more oxygen in the atmosphere. It has two moons, known as the Hunter's Moon and the Traveller's Moon.
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.
Technology
The series also features a number of "gee whiz" inventions which figure as plot devices. Stories earlier in the timeline feature technology such as Bussard ramjets, and explore how organ transplantation technology enables the new crime of Organlegging, while later stories feature hyperdrive, invulnerable starship hulls, stasis fields, molecular monofilaments, Dyson Spheres, 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 impact of inventions and technology on society is a recurring theme in Niven's work. For example, addiction to electric brain stimulation resulting in Wireheads, or the effects of the invention of teleportation (not often adressed in the Known Space canon).
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.
ARM
The ARM are the armed forces of the United Nations. ARM used to be an Acronym for the Amalgamation of Regional Militia, though this is not a term in current usage by the time of the Known Space novels. Their jurisdiction is limited to the Earth–Moon system; other human colonies have their own militia. Nevertheless, in many Known Space stories, ARM agents operate or exert influence in other human star systems (see In the Hall of the Mountain King, Procrustes, and Neutron Star). These interventions begin following the Man-Kzin Wars and the introduction of hyperdrive, presumably as part of a general re-integration of human societies.
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. There are also a number of short stories that are very similar to Known Space stories in style and technology, but which are not a part of the Known Space Universe. ("Bordered in Black" and "Wait it out" are examples.)
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 | Galaxy 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 |
| The 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) | — |
| The Hunting Park | 2005 | (collection only) | Man-Kzin Wars XI |
† 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.)
Man-Kzin Wars
| Title | Published | Collection | Written By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 1988 | Man-Kzin Wars | Poul Anderson |
| Cathouse | 1988 | Man-Kzin Wars | Dean Ing |
| Briar Patch | 1989 | Man-Kzin Wars II | Dean Ing |
| The Children's Hour | 1989 | Man-Kzin Wars II | Jerry Pournelle & S.M. Stirling |
| The Asteroid Queen | 1990 | Man-Kzin Wars III | Jerry Pournelle & S.M. Stirling |
| Inconstant Star | 1990 | Man-Kzin Wars III | Poul Anderson |
| The Survivor | 1991 | Man-Kzin Wars IV | Donald Kingsbury |
| The Man Who Would Be Kzin | 1991 | Man-Kzin Wars IV | Greg Bear & S.M. Stirling |
| In The Hall Of The Mountain King | 1992 | Man-Kzin Wars V | Jerry Pournelle & S.M. Stirling |
| Hey Diddle Diddle | 1992 | Man-Kzin Wars V | Thomas T. Thomas |
| The Heroic Myth Of Lieutenant Nora Argamentine | 1994 | Man-Kzin Wars VI | Donald Kingsbury |
| The Trojan Cat | 1994 | Man-Kzin Wars VI | Mark O. Martin & Gregory Benford |
| The Colonel's Tiger | 1995 | Man-Kzin Wars VII | Hal Colebatch |
| A Darker Geometry | 1995 | Man-Kzin Wars VII | Mark O. Martin & Gregory Benford |
| Prisoner Of War | 1995 | Man-Kzin Wars VII | Paul Chafe |
| Telepath's Dance | 1998 | Man-Kzin Wars VIII | Hal Colebatch |
| Galley Slave | 1998 | Man-Kzin Wars VIII | Jean Lamb |
| Jotok | 1998 | Man-Kzin Wars VIII | Paul Chafe |
| Slowboat Nightmare | 1998 | Man-Kzin Wars VIII | Warren W. James |
| Pele | 2002 | Man-Kzin Wars IX | Poul Anderson |
| His Sergeant's Honor | 2002 | Man-Kzin Wars IX | Hal Colebatch |
| Windows of the Soul | 2002 | Man-Kzin Wars IX | Paul Chafe |
| One War For Wunderland | 2003 | Man-Kzin Wars X | Hal Colebatch |
| The Corporal In The Caves | 2003 | Man-Kzin Wars X | Hal Colebatch |
| Music Box | 2003 | Man-Kzin Wars X | Hal Colebatch |
| Peter Robinson | 2003 | Man-Kzin Wars X | Hal Colebatch |
| Three At Table | 2005 | Man-Kzin Wars XI | Hal Colebatch |
| Grossgeister Swamp | 2005 | Man-Kzin Wars XI | Hal Colebatch |
| Catspaws | 2005 | Man-Kzin Wars XI | Hal Colebatch |
| Teacher's Pet | 2005 | Man-Kzin Wars XI | Matthew Joseph Harrington |
| War And Peace | 2005 | Man-Kzin Wars XI | Matthew Joseph Harrington |
| Destiny's Forge | 2006 | Destiny's Forge | Paul Chafe |
Playground
Niven has described his fiction as "playground equipment", encouraging fans to speculate and extrapolate on the events described. Debates have been made, for example, on who built the Ringworld (Pak Protectors and the Outsiders being the traditional favorites, but see Ringworld's Children for a possibly definitive answer), and what happened to the Tnuctipun.
A rough draft of a "final" Known Space story titled "Down in Flames" is in circulation, which includes a controversial revelation about the Tnuctipun. However, the publication of Ringworld appears to make this draft obsolete.