Order of Larry Niven Books

Larry Niven is an American author of hard science fiction, best known for his Ringworld series, which is part of the largely Known Space universe. Much like Isaac Asimov, his books follow a set of rules, which include:

• Never fire a laser at a mirror.
• Giving up freedom for security is beginning to look naive.
• It is easier to destroy than to create.
• Ethics change with technology.
• The only universal message in science fiction: There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.

Larry Niven became a published author in 1966 with the novel World of Ptavvs – part of the Known Space universe. Below is a list of Larry Niven’s books in order of when they were originally published (and in chronological order):

Publication Order of Known Space Books

The World of Ptavvs	(1966)
A Gift from Earth	(1968)
Neutron Star	(1968)
The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton	(1969)
Protector	(1973)
Tales of Known Space (By:Rick Sternbach)	(1975)
The Patchwork Girl	(1980)
Crashlander	(1994)
Flatlander	(1995)

Publication Order of Ringworld Books

(with Edward M. Lerner)

Ringworld	(1970)
The Ringworld Engineers	(1979)
The Ringworld Throne	(1996)
Ringworld's Children	(2004)
Fate of Worlds (With: Edward M. Lerner)	(2012)

Publication Order of Moties Books

(with Jerry Pournelle, Jennifer R. Pournelle)

The Mote in God's Eye	(1974)
The Gripping Hand / The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye	(1993)
Outies (By:Jennifer R. Pournelle)	(2010)

Publication Order of Inferno Books

(with Jerry Pournelle)

Inferno	(1975)
Escape from Hell	(2009)

Publication Order of The State Books

A World Out of Time	(1976)
The Integral Trees	(1983)
The Smoke Ring	(1987)

Publication Order of Magic Goes Away Books

The Magic Goes Away	(1978)
The Magic May Return	(1981)
The Time of the Warlock	(1984)
More Magic	(1984)
The Seascape Tattoo	(2016)

Publication Order of Dream Park Books

(with Steven Barnes)

Dream Park	(1981)
The Barsoom Project	(1989)
California Voodoo Game / The Voodoo Game	(1992)
The Moon Maze Game	(2011)

Publication Order of Heorot Books

(with Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes)

The Legacy of Heorot	(1987)
Beowulf's Children / The Dragons of Heorot	(1995)
The Secret of Black Ship Island	(2012)
Starborn and Godsons	(2020)

Chronological Order of Heorot Books

(with Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes)

The Legacy of Heorot	(1987)
The Secret of Black Ship Island	(2012)
Beowulf's Children / The Dragons of Heorot	(1995)
Starborn and Godsons	(2020)

Publication Order of Man-Kzin Wars Books

Man-Kzin Wars III	(1990)
Man-Kzin Wars IV (By:S.M. Stirling)	(1991)
The Children's Hour (By:S.M. Stirling,Jerry Pournelle)	(1991)
Man-Kzin Wars V (By:Jerry Pournelle)	(1992)
Man-Kzin Wars VI (By:Gregory Benford,Mark O. Martin)	(1994)
A Darker Geometry (By:Gregory Benford)	(1996)
The Best of All Possible Wars (By:S.M. Stirling)	(1998)
Man-Kzin Wars VIII: Choosing Names	(1998)
Man-Kzin Wars IX (By:Jim Baen)	(2001)
The House of the Kzinti (By:Jerry Pournelle)	(2002)
Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War	(2003)
Man-Kzin Wars XI (By:Matthew Harrington)	(2005)
Destiny's Forge (By:Paul Chafe)	(2006)
Man-Kzin Wars XII	(2009)
Man-Kzin Wars XIII	(2012)
Man-Kzin Wars XIV	(2013)
Man-Kzin Wars XV	(2019)

Publication Order of Golden Road Books

(with Jerry Pournelle)

The Burning City	(2000)
Burning Tower	(2005)

Publication Order of Ringworld Prequel Books

Fleet of Worlds	(2007)
Juggler of Worlds	(2008)
Destroyer of Worlds	(2009)
Betrayer of Worlds	(2010)

Publication Order of Bowl Of Heaven Books

(with Gregory Benford)

Bowl of Heaven	(2012)
Shipstar	(2014)
Glorious	(2020)

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Flying Sorcerers (With: David Gerrold)	(1970)
Lucifer's Hammer (With: Jerry Pournelle)	(1977)
Oath of Fealty (With: Jerry Pournelle)	(1981)
The Descent of Anansi (With: Steven Barnes)	(1982)
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)	(2000)
Building Harlequin's Moon (With: Brenda Cooper)	(2005)
The Goliath Stone (With: Matthew Joseph Harrington)	(2013)

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

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)

Publication Order of Stellar Guild Books

Tau Ceti (By:Kevin J. Anderson,Steven Savile)	(2011)
On the Train (By:Rachel Turtledove)	(2012)
When the Blue Shift Comes (By:Robert Silverberg,Alvaro Zinos-Amaro)	(2012)
New Under the Sun (By:Nancy Kress)	(2013)
The Aethers of Mars (By:Eric Flint)	(2014)
Red Tide (With: Matthew Joseph Harrington,Brad R. Torgersen)	(2014)

Publication Order of Berserker Books

Berserker (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1967)
Brother Assassin / Berseker (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1969)
Berserker's Planet (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1975)
Berserker Man (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1979)
Ultimate Enemy (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1979)
The Berserker Wars (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1981)
Berserker Base (With: Connie Willis,Poul Anderson,Edward Bryant,Roger Zelazny,Stephen R. Donaldson,Fred Saberhagen)	(1985)
The Berserker Throne (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1985)
Blue Death (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1985)
The Berserker Attack (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1987)
Berserker Lies (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1991)
Berserker Kill (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1993)
Berserker Fury (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1997)
Shiva in Steel (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(1998)
Berserker Prime (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(2003)
Berserker's Star (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(2003)
Rogue Berserker (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(2005)
Berserker Death (By:Fred Saberhagen)	(2005)

Publication Order of Anthologies

Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1966	(1966)
Dangerous Visions	(1967)
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction Nineteenth Series	(1971)
The Best of All Possible Worlds	(1980)
Robert Adams' Book of Alternate Worlds	(1987)
Robert Adams' Book of Soldiers	(1988)
Under Cover of Darkness	(2007)
The Best of Galaxy's Edge	(2018)

If You Like Larry Niven Books, You’ll Love…

• Orson Scott Card
• David Weber
• William Gibson

Notes: The Ringworld Prequel series was co-authored by Edward M. Lerner. The Heorot books were co-authored by Steven Barnes and Jerry Pournelle. The Bowl of Heaven series is co-authored by Gregory Benford. The Goliath Stone was co-authored by Matthew Joseph Harrington.

Inferno, Lucifer’s Hammer, Oath of Fealty, Footfall, Escape From Hell, the Moties series and the Golden Road series were co-authored by Jerry Pournelle.

The Dream Park series, the Magic Goes Away series, The Descent of Anansi, Achilles’ Choice and Saturn’s Race were co-authored by Steven Barnes.

The Flying Sorcerers was co-authored by David Gerrold. Building Harlequin’s Moon was co-authored by Brenda Cooper.

The California Voodoo Game is known as The Voodoo Game in the UK. The Gripping Hand is known as The Moat Around Murcheson’s Eye in the UK. Beowulf’s Children is known as The Dragons of Heorot in the UK.

Red Tide is based on an earlier novella entitled Flash Crowd and is co-authored with Matthew Joseph Harrington and Brad R. Torgersen.

One Response to “Order of Larry Niven Books”

1. GeorgeOlduvai: 5 years ago

   Destiny’s Road is a standalone novel.