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Kzinti
The Kzinti (singular: Kzin) are an alien cat-like species developed by Larry Niven in his ''Known Space'' series. The Kzinti were initially introduced in Niven's story "The Warriors" (originally in '' Worlds of If'' (1966), collected in ''Tales of Known Space'' (1975)) and " The Soft Weapon" (1967), collected in ''Neutron Star'' (1968). A Kzin character, Speaker-to-Animals (later known as Chmeee), subsequently played a significant role in Niven's Hugo and Nebula award-winning ''Ringworld'' (1970) and '' Ringworld Engineers'' (1980), giving considerably more background on the Kzinti and their interactions with human civilizations. Following ''Ringworld'', Niven permitted several friends to write stories taking place in the time following "The Warriors" but before "The Soft Weapon"; These stories (including a handful by Niven) were collected in some volumes of ''The Man-Kzin Wars'', which eventually reached fourteen volumes, the first published in June 1988. Kzinti also appears in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jotoki
This is a list of fictional characters featured in the ''Known Space'' novels by Larry Niven. Individual characters Sigmund Ausfaller Sigmund Ausfaller, a native of Earth, is a member of the Amalgamated Regional Militia ("ARM"), working in the Bureau of Alien Affairs on Earth. To protect puppeteer (and Earth) interests, in "Neutron Star" Ausfaller plants a bomb in the lifesystem of Beowulf Shaeffer's ship, the ''Skydiver'', so that Shaeffer will not attempt to steal it. Years later, in ''The Borderlands of Sol'', when Shaeffer encounters him on Jinx, he offers Shaeffer and Carlos Wu a ride home to Earth on his ship, ''Hobo Kelly'', in hopes of attracting the attention of whoever or whatever was causing ships to disappear when entering or leaving Sol system. Some years later, Ausfaller, having almost caught up with Shaeffer on Fafnir, is killed by Ander Smittarasheed in order to protect Smittarasheed's interest in the special nanotechnology autodoc developed by Carlos Wu, left o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories by American writer Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off ''Man-Kzin Wars'' anthologies. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) catalogs all works set in the fictional universe that includes Known Space under the series name Tales of Known Space, which was the title of a 1975 collection of Niven's short stories. The first-published work in the series, which was Niven's first published piece, was "The Coldest Place", in the December 1964 issue of ''If (magazine), If'' magazine, edited by Frederik Pohl. This was the first-published work in the 1975 collection. The stories span approximately one thousand years of future history, from the first human explorations of the Solar System to the colonization of dozens of List of nearest stars, nearby systems. Late in the series, Known Space is an irregularly shaped "bubble" about 60 l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Soft Weapon
"The Soft Weapon" is a science fiction short story by the American writer Larry Niven, set in his ''Known Space'' universe. It was first published in the February 1967 issue of ''If (magazine), If''.- - - The story introduces the character of Nessus (Pierson's Puppeteer), Nessus, a Pierson's Puppeteers, Puppeteer who later became one of the main characters of the novel ''Ringworld''. The story is retold, from the point of view of Nessus, in ''Juggler of Worlds''. "The Soft Weapon" was first published in ''If'' in 1967 and has since been included in the short story collections ''Neutron Star (short story collection), Neutron Star'' (1968) and ''Playgrounds of the Mind'' (1991). Plot Nessus is returning from a diplomatic mission to the Outsider (Known Space), Outsiders, having purchased what is apparently a Thrint Stasis (fiction), stasis box, on a passenger ship run by a human couple, Jason and Anne Marie Papandreou. They stop at Beta Lyrae to sight-see where they unexpectedly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Fleet Universe
''Star Fleet Battles'' (SFB) is a Military tactics, tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the ''Star Trek'' setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole, it has had four major editions. The current edition is published by Amarillo Design Bureau as ''Star Fleet Battles, Captain's Edition''. ''Star Fleet Battles'' is a ship-to-ship warfare simulation game, which uses cardboard Counter (board wargames), counters to represent the ships, shuttles, seeking weapons, terrain, and information on a hexagonal map. It is a game system for two or more players (there are some solitaire scenarios). Typically, a player will have one ship in a game, though they can control an entire fleet, if they can keep track of the paperwork and options involved; multiple players can play as teams, with each team splitting up the work of running a squadron or fleet, or a 'free-for-all' fight can be run. Ships represented in the game are typically starships from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |