Larry Niven has been my all time favorite SCI-Fi author for many decades. He keeps things scientifically plausible instead of going into fantasy-land. I've always thought a motion picture of some of his books would have been great.
First read Niven's known space series in the late 60's( as they were published yes I'm that old). Loved his depictions of aliens- he was considered the best at that among his fellow SF writers and among fans. A book you may have missed is " A world out of time" in which the protagonist travels 3 million years into the future. Why none of his works have not been adapted for the screen I do not know perhaps because significant amount of narration would be needed to keep the audience from getting lost-- those that haven't read the books.
Loved these books as a teen in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Just one thing, the Earth was seeded with yeast to feed Bandersnatch (known to the Thrintun as Whitefood) These massive creatures survive on the human colony world of Jinx. I will go back and reread these books, thanks for the reminder.
Great video, always loved the known space mythos, would love to see an in depth break down of the books in chronological order as well as some into the world Niven built. The Pak protector evolution was always my favourite explanation for why hominids physically change as they age. Good work 👍
I really love that you’re taking a look at Larry Niven and his known space series. I found his known space series in the early 80s. The only time I ever skipped school was to finish his book “neutron star“. I couldn’t bring myself to put the book down to get on the school bus lol. I had a very understanding principal who once hearing my excuse for skipping school, of course I was caught, shook his head and told me to go back to class and not do anything like that again. We actually remained friends and often laughed about my matter of fact excuse for truancy until his death only a few years ago. Unfortunately, there were several parts that you got incorrect about the timeline and storyline of the known space novels. They are misunderstandings that perhaps only someone that has read every novel he has ever written, would notice, and certainly make little difference to the breadth and depth of his stories. Larry Nevin’s work has had such a profound influence on my life that 40+ years on I await his next book with the same sense of excitement as I did decades ago. With every new book I’m taken back to the cold wet garage I hid in all those decades ago to finish one of his books I simply could not put down damn the consequences lol.
I've read every single one of the books that you've covered so far on your channel. I've read every single Known Space novel, every single N Space short story, all of The Ringworld books, Protector, which is the oddest book in Nivens' inventory in my opinion, The Moties. All of his collaborations, Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, The Man Kzin novels, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have been staples for me since I was just a little kid. Some recommendations, if you haven't already read them: Peter Hamilton The Reality Dysfunction (series) Pandoras' Star and Judas Unchained The Dreaming Void (series) Fallen Dragon Harry Turtledove The Balance (World War) series Colonization series The Darkness series Supervolcano series A World of Difference Stephen Baxter The Xeelee Sequence (many many books, and short stories, such a rich tapestry of basically the history of the universe and mankind's attempt to become the strongest species in the universe) Greg Bear Eon series The Forge of God, Anvil of Stars Everything else this guy has written. David Brin Uplift series Everything else this guy has written. That's plenty. Just so much great science fiction by those particular authors, to try to list any more or go any further with recommendations would be like offering a tsunami of science fiction, and I don't think that would be survivable.
A true man of culture! but what about world of ptavvs? I thought that was a bit stranger than protector personally. Its funny to me how 2 different dangerous races had a hand in making earth our home. Too bad since protector was written we have found much older hominids. Not that anyone thought that was fact anyway. lol
@@SciFiSecrets World of Ptavvs, I read... back in '90, over 30 years ago. I don't remember much about it, except for the Thrint alien. At the time, I was more immersed in The Smoke Ring and The Integral Trees, and World of Ptavvs, although interesting, seemed like a major disconnect to me at the time. I didn't know it was the first Known Space novel and kind of just forgot about it as a curiosity. Then I read N-Space, and from there jumped directly into Ringworld, and everything Known Space. Somewhere along the way from then to now I read both Motie novels several times. My first introduction to Larry Niven was Inconstant Moon, from which I remember another story called Bordered in Black. Those two stories in particular are what hooked me to Larry Niven.
Now if a filmmaker would want to tackle a science fiction story subject of the same breadth and scope as what James Cameron has managed to do and continues to do with Avatar, this would be it. And please, don't make it into a made-for-TV series, for those are more often than not filled with more drama than visionary science fiction like this story here has been.
It always annoyed me the artwork of a ringworld. visibility in atmosphere on a clear day from a tall building is 100 miles. The ring world is 1 million miles wide, and a diameter of 186 million miles. Just seeing the ringworld rise up in the horizon would be like seeing several distant stars, square shaped, and only visible at night. the halo artwork is a completely different scale. It is nowhere even close to the size of the original ringworld. to put it into perspective. The moon is 283,000 miles away. The distance from terminator to terminator, aka the day/night line, is 14.6 million miles. Also each day square is 9 degrees and a day night cycle is 18 degrees. That means that just before dawn, the previous daylight is a square 15 million miles away and starts 9 degrees up the arch ending 18 degrees up the arch from your position. The square is one million miles wide and 7.3 million miles long. A rectangle. The next square is 30 million miles away, and 27 degrees up the arch ending 36 degrees up the arch... etc. True the squares are much bigger than the moon. The moon occupies 0.5 degrees of the sky. The numbers are pretty darn big to hold in your head all at the same time. It is difficult for me to sleepily figure out the degrees that the rectangles alight would occupy in the night sky of the ringworld. I would truly love to see a ringworld sandbox game. Like minecraft, but a bit less pixelated. I grew up playing quake1, but we live in shadow of the tomb raider days, not twisted metal playstation one game days. Hell we could create a known space open universe sandbox game. complete with outsiders and antimatter solar systems bisecting our galaxy.
