World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Laurence van Cott Niven

ローレンス・ヴァン・コット・ニーヴン（ラリー・ニーヴン）

Laurence van Cott Niven

Aliases: Larry Niven

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1938-04-30 （Los Angeles, California, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Los Angeles, California, U.S. → Topeka, Kansas (attended Washburn University) → Mountain View, California (event/visits)

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, screenwriter (television)
Active Years
1964-
Influenced
Influenced the Magic: The Gathering card design (e.g., Nevinyrral's Disk named after Niven backwards)

Education

California Institute of Technology (attended briefly)
Country: United States
Attended briefly; did not complete a degree here
Washburn University
Mathematics (minor in Psychology)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 〜1962
Year of Graduation: 1962
Country: United States
BA in mathematics with a minor in psychology
University of California, Los Angeles (graduate work)
Mathematics (graduate-level work)
Country: United States
Completed one year of graduate work

Awards

Nebula Award (Best Novel)
1970
Work: Ringworld
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)
Result: winner
Hugo Award (Best Novel)
1971
Work: Ringworld
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: Worldcon (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
Locus Award
1971
Work: Ringworld
Organization: Locus Magazine
Result: winner
Ditmar Award
Work: Ringworld
Organization: Ditmar Award organization (Australia)
Result: winner
Hugo Award (Best Short Story)
1967
Work: Neutron Star
Category: 最優秀短編
Organization: Worldcon (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
Hugo Award (Best Short Story)
1972
Work: Inconstant Moon
Category: 最優秀短編
Organization: Worldcon (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
Hugo Award (Best Short Story)
1975
Work: The Hole Man
Category: 最優秀短編
Organization: Worldcon (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
Hugo Award (Best Novelette)
1976
Work: The Borderland of Sol
Category: 最優秀中編
Organization: Worldcon (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
Inkpot Award
1979
Organization: Comic-Con International (Inkpot Award)
Result: winner
Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award
2015
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Ringworld

1970 Hard science fiction 342 pages

A novel set on the enormous artificial Ringworld, focusing on exploration and encounters with unknown civilizations; notable for its use of physics-based settings and big-science concepts.

megastructuresexplorationalien civilizationshard SF

The Mote in God's Eye

1974 Hard science fiction / collaboration

Co-authored with Jerry Pournelle. Describes humanity's encounter with an alien species (the Moties) and explores social and technological implications in a space-opera context.

first contactmilitary and political tensioncivilizational friction

Lucifer's Hammer

1977 Disaster / post-apocalyptic SF

Co-authored with Jerry Pournelle. A novel about the societal collapse following the impact of a comet/asteroid, focusing on the breakdown of civilization and survivor stories.

disastersocietal collapsesurvival

Dream Park

1981 SF / game-fiction

Set in an amusement park hosting large-scale live-action role-playing games; explores intersections of technology and entertainment industries.

blurring of game and realitytechnology and entertainment

Bibliography

  • The Coldest Place (short story, 1964)
  • Neutron Star (short story, 1967)
  • Ringworld (novel, 1970)
  • The Mote in God's Eye (with Jerry Pournelle, 1974)
  • Lucifer's Hammer (with Jerry Pournelle, 1977)
  • Dream Park (1981)

Adaptations

  • Inconstant Moon → adapted as an episode of The Outer Limits (TV)
  • The Soft Weapon → adapted / scripted for Star Trek: The Animated Series

Style & Themes

Literary Style
physics-informed hard SF, emphasis on plausible scientific detailrational fantasy (treating magic as a finite resource)narratives focused on exploration and adventure
Recurring Motifs
big-science conceptsencounters with alien speciestechnological paradoxes and ethicsmagic-as-exhaustible-resource (The Magic Goes Away)

Legacy

Larry Niven is known as a leading hard-SF writer; works such as Ringworld earned him wide acclaim. He won multiple Hugo Awards for short fiction and influenced science fiction and popular culture, including references in games (e.g., a Magic: The Gathering card).

Academic Societies

  • Associated with Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) awards

In Popular Culture

  • Referenced in Magic: The Gathering (card Nevinyrral's Disk, name is Niven backwards)

Quotes

  • There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
    Source: Niven's Laws

Trivia

  • Great-grandson of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny.
  • Began publishing fiction with the 1964 story 'The Coldest Place'.
  • Ringworld is one of his best-known works and won multiple major SF awards.
  • Some stories anticipated issues like organ black markets ('organlegging').
  • Wrote scripts/adaptations for TV series including Land of the Lost and Star Trek: The Animated Series.