Larry Niven
Larry Niven | |
---|---|
Born | Laurence van Cott Niven April 30, 1938 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Novelist |
Alma mater | |
Period | 1964–present |
Genre | |
Notable works |
|
Notable awards | Inkpot Award (1979)[1] |
Website | |
larryniven |
Laurence van Cott Niven (
His work is primarily
Biography
Niven was born in Los Angeles.[2] He is a great-grandson of Edward L. Doheny, an oil tycoon who drilled the first successful well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field in 1892, and also was subsequently implicated in the Teapot Dome scandal.[4] Niven briefly attended the California Institute of Technology[5] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas in 1962. He also completed a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles. On September 6, 1969, he married Marilyn Wisowaty, a science fiction and Regency literature fan.
Work
Niven is the author of numerous science fiction short stories and novels, beginning with his 1964 story "The Coldest Place". In this story, the coldest place concerned is the dark side of Mercury, which at the time the story was written was thought to be tidally locked with the Sun (it was found to rotate in a 2:3 resonance after Niven received payment for the story, but before it was published).[6]
Algis Budrys said in 1968 that Niven becoming a top writer despite the New Wave was evidence that "trends are for second-raters".[7] In addition to the Nebula Award in 1970[8] and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1971[9] for Ringworld, Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Neutron Star" in 1967.[5] He won the same award in 1972, for "Inconstant Moon", and in 1975 for "The Hole Man". In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Borderland of Sol".
Niven frequently collaborated with Jerry Pournelle; they wrote nine novels together, including The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall.
Niven has written scripts for two science fiction television series: the original
Niven has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern, including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect.
Several of his stories predicted the black market in transplant organs ("
Many of Niven's stories—sometimes called the Tales of Known Space
Niven has also written a logical fantasy series The Magic Goes Away, which utilizes an exhaustible resource called mana to power a rule-based "technological" magic. The Draco Tavern series of short stories take place in a more light-hearted science fiction universe, and are told from the point of view of the proprietor of an omni-species bar. The whimsical Svetz series consists of a collection of short stories, The Flight of the Horse, and a novel, Rainbow Mars, which involve a nominal time machine sent back to retrieve long-extinct animals, but which travels, in fact, into alternative realities and brings back mythical creatures such as a roc and a unicorn. Much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes, but also Brenda Cooper and Edward M. Lerner.
One of Niven's best known humorous works is "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", in which he uses real-world physics to underline the difficulties of Superman and a human woman (Lois Lane or Lana Lang) mating.[11]
Influence
In the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, the card Nevinyrral's Disk uses his name, spelled backwards.[12] This tribute was paid because the game's system where mana from lands is used to power spells was inspired by his book The Magic Goes Away. The card Nevinyrral, Urborg Tyrant was added in Commander Legends, adding the Niven's namesake character fully to the game.[13]
Politics
According to author
Niven was an adviser to Ronald Reagan on the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative antimissile policy, as part of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy—as covered in the BBC documentary Pandora's Box by Adam Curtis.[17]
In 2007, Niven, in conjunction with a think tank of science fiction writers known as SIGMA, founded and led by
Niven's laws
Larry Niven is also known in science fiction fandom for "Niven's Law": "There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it." Over the course of his career Niven has added to this first law a list of Niven's Laws which he describes as "how the Universe works" as far as he can tell.
Bibliography
References
- ^ Inkpot Award
- ^ a b "Niven, Larry". Revised June 14, 2014. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (sf-encyclopedia.com). Retrieved August 15, 2014. Entry by 'JC', John Clute.
- ^ Tolbert, Jeremiah (March 2, 2015). "Larry Niven Named SFWA Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Sfwa. sfwa.org. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ^ "Writers for Relief: An Anthology to Benefit the Survivors of Katrina". Lincoln Daily News. December 13, 2005.
- ^ a b "Larry Niven's Ringworld and Known Space Stories - Kirkus Reviews". kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
- ^ "the Planet Mercury. Tidally locked?". www.kidsnewsroom.org. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ Budrys, Algis (December 1968). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 149–155.
- ^ "1970 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
- ^ "1971 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
- ^ a b "Tales of Known Space – Series Bibliography". Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved August 15, 2014.
- ^ "Larryniven dot net". www.larryniven.net. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ See the "Lim-Dûl the Necromancer" card explanation in this article Archived March 8, 2021, at the Wayback Machine on the official Magic: the Gathering website
- ^ See Making Magic [1] on the Official Magic: the Gathering website
- ^ "Starship Stormtroopers". Archived from the original on December 24, 2002.
- ^ "Nat Tilander Writer, Author, Articles, Non-Fiction, Galaxy Magazine and the Viet Nam War". Natsmusic.net. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
- ^ "Paid Advertisement". Galaxy Science Fiction. June 1968. pp. 4–11.
- ^ Pandora's Box (British TV series)#Part 2. 'To The Brink of Eternity'
- ^ Hall, Mimi (May 31, 2007). "Sci-fi writers join war on terror". USA Today. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
- ^ Magnuson, Stew (January 3, 2008). "Science Fiction Mavens Offer Far Out Homeland Security Advice". National Defense Magazine. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
External links
Bibliography and works
- Official website with bibliography[permanent dead link]
- Larry Niven at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Larry Niven at the Internet Book List
- Works by Larry Niven at Open Library
- Larry Niven at Fantastic Fiction
- Larry Niven at IMDb
- Larry Niven discography at Discogs