Complete List of Larry Niven Books in Order

Larry Niven is a well-known American sci-fi author who has been writing for the last 50 or so years and is best known for his Ringworld science-fiction series which has received several awards, including the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. Reading the Larry Niven books in order involves, however, picking up his Fleet of Worlds, Heorot, and Man-Kzin Wars book series as well.

Here are all the Larry Niven books in reading order for his work over the last 50 or so years. Since the author has several series published, they are listed in the order of publication, starting from Known Space, a series written between 1966-1980.

New Larry Niven Books

Glorious (Bowl Of Heaven #3), 2020

Starborn and Godsons (Heorot #4), 2024

Known Space Books In Order

with Rick Sternbach, Edward M. Lerner

Known Space Short Story Collections

Neutron Star, 1968
The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton, 1969
Tales of Known Space, 1975
Crashlander, 1994
Flatlander: The Collected Tales of Gil “The Arm” Hamilton, 1995

Ringworld Books In Order

with Edward M. Lerner

Ringworld Graphic Novels in Order

Fleet of Worlds Books In Order

Ringworld prequel series

Fate of Worlds is the last book in both the Ringworld and Fleet of Worlds series.

Heorot Books In Publication Order

The Legacy of Heorot, 1987
Beowulf’s Children, 1995
The Secret of Black Ship Island, 2012 (novella)
Starborn and Godsons, 2020

Heorot Books in Chronological Order

The Legacy of Heorot, 1987
The Secret of Black Ship Island, 2012 (novella)
Beowulf’s Children, 1995
Starborn and Godsons, 2020

Man-Kzin Wars Books In Order

Mote Books In Order

with Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer R. Pournelle

Dante/Inferno Books In Order

with Jerry Pournelle

Inferno, 1976
Escape from Hell, 2009

Golden Road Books In Order

The Burning City, 2000
Burning Tower, 2005

Dream Park Books In Order

The State Books In Order

Magic Goes Away Books In Order

Not Long Before the End, 1969 (prequel short story)
What Good Is a Glass Dagger?, 1972 (short story included in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1972)
The Magic Goes Away, 1978
The Magic May Return, 1981
More Magic, 1984
The Seascape Tattoo, 2016

Bowl Of Heaven Books In Order

with Gregory Benford

Standalone Larry Niven Books in Publication Order

The Flying Sorcerers (with David Gerrold), 1971
Lucifer’s Hammer (with Jerry Pournelle), 1977
Oath of Fealty (with Jerry Pournelle), 1981
The Descent of Anansi (with Steven Barnes), 1982
Footfall (with Jerry Pournelle), 1985
Fallen Angels (with Jerry Pournelle, Michael Flynn), 1991
Achilles’ Choice (with Steven Barnes), 1991
Destiny’s Road, 1997
Rainbow Mars, 1999
Saturn’s Race (with Steven Barnes), 2001
Building Harlequin’s Moon (with Brenda Cooper), 2005
The Goliath Stone (with Matthew Joseph Harrington), 2013

Short Stories and Novellas in Publication Order

A Relic of the Empire, 1966
The Locusts, 1979 (with Steven Barnes)
The Return of William Proxmire, 1989

Short Story Collections in Publication Order

Green Lantern: Ganthet’s Tale (with John Byrne, Matt Webb)
All the Myriad Ways, 1968
The Shape of Space, 1969
Inconstant Moon, 1971
The Flight of the Horse, 1973
A Hole in Space, 1974
Convergent Series, 1979
Limits, 1985
N-Space, 1990
Playgrounds of the Mind, 1991
Three Books of Known Space, 1996
Scatterbrain, 2003
The Magic Goes Away Collection, 2005
The Draco Tavern, 2006
Stars and Gods, 2010
Madness from the Inconstant Moon, 2017

Nebula Award Stories 1, 1966, edited by Damon Knight
Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1966
Dangerous Visions, 1967, edited by Harlan Ellison
World’s Best Science Fiction 1966, 1966, edited by Donald A Wollheim
Seven Trips Through Time and Space, 1968, edited by Groff Conklin
World’s Best Science Fiction 1968, 1968, edited by Terry Carr and Donald A Wollheim
Nebula Award Stories 5, 1970, edited by James Blish
World’s Best Science Fiction 1970, 1970, edited by Terry Carr and Donald A Wollheim
Voyagers in Time, 1970, edited by Robert Silverberg
Twenty Years of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1970, edited by Edward L Ferman and Robert P Mills
Worlds of Maybe, 1970, edited by Robert Silverberg
Quark/4, 1971, edited by Samuel R Delany and Marilyn Hacker
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction 19th Series, 1971, edited by Edward L Ferman
World’s Best Science Fiction 1971, 1971, edited by Terry Carr and Donald A Wollheim
Where Do We Go from Here?, 1971, edited by Isaac Asimov
A Science Fiction Argosy, 1972, edited by Damon Knight
The Best Science Fiction of the Year, 1972, edited by Terry Carr
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1972, edited by Edward L. Ferman
The 1972 Annual World’s Best SF, 1972, edited by Terry Carr and Donald A Wollheim
The Hugo Winners: Volume 2, Part 1, 1973, edited by Isaac Asimov
The Golden Road, 1973, edited by Damon Knight
Zoo 2000, 1973, edited by Jane Yolen
Ten Tomorrows, 1973, edited by Roger Elwood
2020 Vision, 1974, edited by Jerry Pournelle
The Best Science Fiction of the Year 4, 1975, edited by Terry Carr
Antigrav, 1975
The Best from Galaxy, Volume IV, 1976, edited by Jim Baen
The Best from If, Volume III, 1976, edited by Jim Baen
Stellar #2, 1976
Alpha 8, 1977, edited by Robert Silverberg
The Hugo Winners, Volume 3, 1977, edited by Isaac Asimov
The Road to Science Fiction 3, 1979, edited by James Gunn
The Endless Frontier, 1979, edited by Jerry Pournelle
The Science Fictional Solar System, 1979, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
The Best of Analog, 1978, edited by Ben Bova
Asimov’s Choice: Extraterrestrials and Eclipses, 1978, edited by Isaac Asimov
Andromeda 3, 1978, edited by Peter Weston
Black Holes, 1978, edited by Jerry Pournelle
100 Great Science Fiction Stories, 1978, edited by Isaac Asimov
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories, 1978, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Joseph Olander
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction, 1979, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction, 1980
Microcosmic Tales, 1980, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Joseph Olander
Aliens!, 1980, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
The Best of All Possible Worlds, 1980, edited by Spider Robinson
The 1980 Annual World’s Best SF, 1980, edited by Donald A Wollheim
Catastrophes!, 1981, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Stellar 7, 1981, edited by Judy-Lynn del Rey
The Survival of Freedom, 1981, edited by John F Carr and Jerry Pournelle
The Magic May Return, 1981, edited by Larry Niven
Galaxy, 1980, edited by Martin H Greenberg, Joseph Olander and Frederik Pohl
Galaxy 2, 1981, edited by Martin H Greenberg, Joseph Olander and Frederik Pohl
There Will Be War, 1982, edited by Jerry Pournelle
TV: 2000, 1982, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Unicorns!, 1982, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
Wizards, 1983, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Asimov, Aliens and Outworlders, 1983, edited by Shawna McCarthy
The Mammoth Book of Fantastic Science Fiction, 1984, edited by Isaac Asimov
Top Science Fiction, 1984, edited by Josh Pachter
More Magic, 1984, edited by Larry Niven
Sci-Fi Private Eye, 1984, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Supermen, 1984, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Light Years and Dark, 1984, edited by Michael Bishop
Far Frontiers, 1985, edited by Jim Baen and Jerry Pournelle
Berserker Base, 1985
The Hugo Winners: Volume 4, 1985, edited by Isaac Asimov
Great Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1985
Medea, 1985, edited by Harlan Ellison
Project Solar Sail, 1986, edited by David Brin and Arthur C Clarke
Barbarians, 1986, edited by Robert Adams, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Tin Stars, 1986, edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
Worlds of If, 1986, edited by Martin H Greenberg, Joseph Olander and Frederik Pohl
L Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume II, 1986, edited by L Ron Hubbard
Mathenauts, 1987, edited by Rudy Rucker
The Wizards of Odd, 1987, edited by Peter Haining
Great Science Fiction of the 20th Century, 1987, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Robert Silverberg
Robert Adams’ Book of Alternate Worlds, 1987, edited by Pamela Crippen Adams, Robert Adams and Martin H Greenberg
Tales from the Spaceport Bar, 1987, edited by Darrell Schweitzer and George Scithers
The Drabble Project, 1988, edited by Rob Meades and David B Wake
Arabesques, 1988, edited by Susan Shwartz
Robert Adams’ Book of Soldiers, 1988, edited by Pamela Crippen Adams, Robert Adams and Martin H Greenberg
Another Round at the Spaceport Bar, 1989, edited by Darrell Schweitzer and George Scithers
The World Treasury of Science Fiction, 1989, edited by David G Hartwell
Alternate Empires, 1989, edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H Greenberg
Breakthrough, 1989, edited by David Drake and Bill Fawcett
A Century of Fantasy 1980-1989, 1990, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Robert Silverberg
Cosmic Critiques, 1990, edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H Greenberg
Sworn Allies, 1990, edited by David Drake and Bill Fawcett
Phantom Regiments, 1990, edited by Robert Adams and Martin H Greenberg
The Ultimate Werewolf, 1991, edited by Byron Preiss
Great Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1992, edited by unlisted
Futurecrime, 1992, edited by Charles Ardai and Cynthia Manson
Isaac Asimov’s War, 1993, edited by Gardner Dozois
Aliens and UFO’s, 1993, edited by Charles Ardai and Cynthia Manson
How to Save the World, 1995, edited by Charles Sheffield
Sisters of the Night, 1995, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Barbara Hambly
Tomorrow Bites, 1995, edited by Greg Cox and T K F Weisskopf
The Wizards of Odd, 1996, edited by Peter Haining
Supernatural Sleuths, 1996, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Charles G Waugh
The Way It Wasn’t, 1996, edited by Martin H Greenberg
Treasures of Fantasy, 1997, edited by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis
Time Machines, 1997, edited by Bill Adler Jr
Cyber-Killers, 1997, edited by Ric Alexander (Peter Haining)
The Playboy Book of Science Fiction, 1998, edited by Alice K Turner
A Magic-Lover’s Treasury of the Fantastic, 1998, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Margaret Weis
The Best of All Possible Wars (Man-Kzin), 1998, edited by Larry Niven
Armageddons, 1999, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
We Could Do Worse, 1999, edited by Martin H Greenberg
Explorers, 2000, edited by Gardner Dozois
Redshift, 2001, edited by Al Sarrantonio
Masterpieces, 2001, edited by Orson Scott Card
The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century (Best of the 20th Century), 2001, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Harry Turtledove
Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown (Phobos Science Fiction Anthology, Volume 2), 2003, edited by Orson Scott Card, Christian O’Toole and Keith Olexa
The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century (Best of the 20th Century), 2004, edited by Martin H Greenberg and Harry Turtledove
Flights, 2004, edited by Al Sarrantonio
Space Cadets, 2006, edited by Mike Resnick
Elemental (The Tsunami Relief Anthology), 2006, edited by Alethis Kontis and Steven Savile
This Is My Funniest 2, 2007, edited by Mike Resnick
Under Cover of Darkness, 2007, edited by Julie E Czerneda and Jana Paniccia
Fast Forward 1 (Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge, Fast Forward, book 1), 2007, edited by Lou Anders
Thrilling Wonder Stories, Volume 2, 2009, edited by Winston Engle
Before They Were Giants (First Works from Science Fiction Greats), 2010, edited by James L Sutter
Assassin and Other Stories, 2010
Gateways (A Feast of Great New Science Fiction Honoring Grand Master Frederik Pohl), 2010, edited by Elizabeth Anne Hull
Unnatural Creatures, 2013, edited by Neil Gaiman
Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 5, 2013, edited by Mike Resnick
Unicorns I, 2014, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
Multiverse (Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds), 2014, edited by Greg Bear and Gardner Dozois
Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 10, 2014, edited by Mike Resnick
The Best of Galaxy’s Edge 2013-2014, 2014, edited by Mike Resnick
Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 14, 2015, edited by Mike Resnick
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 31 (Writers of the Future, book 31), 2015, edited by David Farland and L Ron Hubbard
Worst Contact, 2015, edited by Hank Davis
There Will Be War Volume X (There Will Be War, book 10), 2015, edited by Jerry Pournelle
Bridging Infinity (Infinity Project, book 5), 2016, edited by Jonathan Strahan
Ad Astra and Beyond (The Forry Award Anthology), 2016, edited by Forrest J Ackerman and Fred Patten
Galaxy’s Edge Magazine: Issue 26, 2017, edited by Mike Resnick
Infinite Stars, 2017, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt
The Best of Galaxy’s Edge: 2015-2017, 2018, edited by Mike Resnick
Space Pioneers, 2018, edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Conversations From the Edge: The Galaxy’s Edge Interviews, 2019
Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers, 2019, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Born of the Sun (Adventures in Our Solar System), 2020, edited by Mike Ashley
Cosmic Corsairs, 2020, edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
Overruled!, 2020, edited by Hank Davis and Christopher Ruocchio
2020 Vision 50th Anniversary Edition, 2020, edited by Diane Girard, Jerry Pournelle and AE Voyt
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November-December 2022
Black Cat Weekly #28 (Black Cat Weekly, book 28), 2022
They’re Here!, 2023, edited by Hank Davis and Sean C W Korsgaard
Sense of Wonder, 2023

Larry Niven Biography

Born in 1938 in Los Angeles, California, Laurence van Cott Niven spent most of his childhood in Beverly Hills.

In 1956, he enrolled at the California Institute of Technology, however, after 1.5 years he left school. Eventually, he returned to his studies, this time attending Washburn University, Kansas, from where he graduated in 1962 with a B.A. in Mathematics and a minor in psychology.

Next, he went to UCLA where he studied for one year as a graduate student in Mathematics, before once again, dropping out of his studies due to science-fiction. This time it was not because he liked to read, but because he wanted to write his own books.

In 1964 he sold a short story he wrote under the title The Coldest Place, for $25. The same year, the story appeared in the December issue of Worlds of If. Two years later, in 1966, he published World Of The Ptavvs, which would become the first novel in the Known Space series.

The author received numerous awards for his books, including the so-much coveted Nebula Award, the Hugo and Locus awards.

Besides writing books, short stories, and anthologies, he has also written several scripts for a few TV shows, such as Land of the Lost series; Star Trek: The Animated Series. In addition, he is known for writing the Green Lantern character for the DC Comics.

Someone sent me an email asking me, “Is Larry Niven still alive?” Well, yes, the author is still alive and kicking and hopefully working on his next Known Space book.

Tales of the Known Space includes not only the four books in the Known Space series but also several other books in related series that are set in the same world. These combine Ringworld, Fleet of Worlds, Man-Kzin, along with several short stories and standalone novels as well.

The Known Space is an entire universe set across a thousand years in the future where humans live next to incredible alien species, all spawning across various habitable star systems. It starts from the initial human explorations of the Solar System and spawns the colonization of several near systems.

The Coldest Place describes the darkest side of Mercury. The Larry Niven Ringworld stories start on Earth, sometimes in the future when humans can live up to 200 years. They set on a course to the Ringworld, a huge artificial ring with a habitable inner surface.

Some of the locations visited during the Known Space stories are the Moon, Mars, the Sol Belt, Jinx, Down, Canyon, Fafnir, Hearth, Kzin, Ringworld, and Silvereyes, among others. So far the last book in the Known Space is Fate of Worlds, which is also the last book in the Ringworld and the Fleet of Worlds series.

So far among the latest books by Larry Niven is a short story titled By the Red Giant’s Light, which was published in the 11-12 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, published November 1 in 2017. It is a short story about two characters, one a human and one a robot, who are involved in stopping an asteroid from destroying the planet Pluto. It is a fun story which reminds us just how great the author is.

It is interesting that Larry has written often about Pluto in several works. For example, in World Of The Ptavvs, he virtually set Pluto on fire. The 1968 short story Wait It Out, the story features an astronaut who landed on Pluto. In another short story, The Borderland of Sol, the author theorized that Pluto is an escaped moon of Neptune.

Praise for Larry Niven

Larry Niven’s RINGWORLD remains one of the all-time classic travelogues of science fiction — a new and amazing world and fantastic companions. (Greg Bear)
If there isn’t a Ringworld out there somewhere, we ought to build one someday. Until then we have Larry Niven’s. A rich and fantastic story.” (Fred Saberhagen)
The scope of Larry Niven’s work is so vast that only a writer of supreme talent could disguise the fact as well as he can. (Tom Clancy)
Niven is a true master. (Frederik Pohl)
Great storytelling is alive in science fiction because of Larry Niven (Orson Scott Card)
Another fine masterpiece from a master of science fiction (Jack Williamson)

References

Books Reading Order » Science Fiction Authors » Larry Niven Books in Order

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Comments

Jason Helms says
March 10, 2025 at
I still get a chuckle out of thinking that the entire Star Trek universe is set in Known Space. Not only were the Kzinti clearly portrayed in an episode of the animated series but they and the Man/Kzin wars have been mentioned in one or two of the movies and, I believe, one of the series (Discovery?) as well. I’d love to see one of the crews interact with a Puppeteer or a Pak some day.
Message: SENDING 0,75670775 bitcoin. Next >>> https://telegra.ph/Binance-02-11-7?hs=0f629755af999dce1a58469b15f5ee98& says
February 17, 2025 at
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Dean says
July 6, 2020 at
love his books, hard to set down once you start one. But when as some of the books going to be available for reading with a Kindle? I can’t seem to find book 3 or 4 of the ring world series.
Gabriel says
July 1, 2020 at
You have a typo, duplicated text at the end of the page. Just search for “an escaped moon of Neptune” and you will see.
- admin says
  July 1, 2020 at
  Thank you for the heads-up, Gabriel, fixed it.

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