Known Space Reading Order

Larry Niven is best known for his Ringworld series, but that science fiction universe is far larger, including dozens of short stories and more from multiple authors writing in Niven’s universe.

Whats on the Known Space Reading Order?

Known Space consists of several series by Larry Niven that he stitched together into one cohesive universe. One of those series, Man-Kzin Wars, is a collection of short stories written by various authors, and compiled/edited by Larry Niven. The end of the Man-Kzin Wars also includes the book Treasure Planet, which is a modernized version of Treasure Island, and was itself adapted as an animated film by Disney.

So here is the comprehensive Known Space reading order. Let us know if you see anything that needs changing, adding, or otherwise modified. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy. If you do, be sure to check out some of our other timelines, such as Asimov’s Foundation Universe.

Where to Start?

While you could start with the Man-Kzin Wars, one of the better places to start is with the original Ringworld. It’s the one that got all of this started, even though there are multiple entry points.

Hide BooksHide Short Stories

#	Amazon	Name	Media	Author/Director	Series	Date	Notes
1		Ringworld	Novel	Larry Niven	Ringworld	1970-10-01
2		The Ringworld Engineers	Novel	Larry Niven	Ringworld	1980-01-01	4 parts
3		The Ringworld Throne	Novel	Larry Niven	Ringworld	1996-01-01
4		Ringworld's Children	Novel	Larry Niven	Ringworld	2004-01-01
5		The Coldest Place	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1964-12-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
6		World of Ptavvs	Novel	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-01-01
7		Becalmed in Hell	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1973-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
8		Eye of an Octopus	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
9		The Warriors	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
10		How the Heroes Die	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1973-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
11		Neutron Star	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-10-01	Collected in Neutron Star
12		At the Core	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-11-01	Collected in Neutron Star
13		At the Bottom of a Hole	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1973-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
14		A Relic of the Empire	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1966-01-01	Collected in Neutron Star
15		The Jigsaw Man	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
16		The Handicapped	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-12-01	Collected in Neutron Star
17		The Soft Weapon	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-02-01	Collected in Neutron Star
18		Flatlander	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-03-01	Collected in Neutron Star
19		The Ethics of Madness	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-01-01	Collected in Neutron Star
20		Safe at Any Speed	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
21		The Adults	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1967-01-01
22		Wait it Out	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1968-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
23		Grendel	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1968-01-01	Collected in Neutron Star
24		The Deceivers	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1968-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
25		Tere is a Tide	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1968-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
26		A Gift from Earth	Novel	Larry Niven	Known Space	1968-01-01	3 parts
27		Cloak of Anarchy	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1972-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
28		Protector	Novel	Larry Niven	Known Space	1974-01-01
29		The Borderland of Sol	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1975-01-01	Collected in Tales of Known Space
30		Procrustes	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1994-01-01	Collected in Crashlander
31		Ghost	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1994-01-01	Collected in Crashlander
32		Death by Ecstasy	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1969-01-01	Collected in Flatlander
33		The Defenseless Dead	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1973-01-01	Collected in Flatlander
34		ARM	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1975-01-01	Collected in Flatlander
35		The Patchword Girl	Novel	Larry Niven	Known Space	1980-01-01	Collected in Flatlander
36		The Woman in Del Rey Crater	Short Story	Larry Niven	Known Space	1995-01-01	Collected in Flatlander
37		The Man-Kzin Wars	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1988-01-01	The Man-Kzin Wars are a series of short stories collected into several anthologies. They are roughly in order, so they are presented here as anthologies, not individual short stories.
38		Man-Kzin Wars II	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1989-07-01
39		Man-Kzin Wars III	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1990-07-01
40		Man-Kzin Wars IV	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1991-07-01
41		Man-Kzin Wars V	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1992-07-01
42		Man-Kzin Wars VI	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1994-07-01
43		Man-Kzin Wars VII	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	1995-01-01
44		Choosing Names	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2002-01-02
45		Man-Kzin Wars IX	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2002-01-02
46		Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2003-07-22
47		Man-Kzin Wars XI	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2005-10-04
48		Destiny's Forge	Novel	Larry Niven, Paul Chafe	Man-Kzin Wars	2006-07-04
49		Man-Kzin Wars XII	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2009-02-03
50		Man-Kzin Wars XIII	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2012-04-03
51		Man-Kzin Wars XIV	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2013-12-31
52		Treasure Planet	Novel	Jessica Q. Fox, Hal Colebatch	Man-Kzin Wars	2014-05-06
53		Fleet of Worlds	Novel	Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner	Fleet of Worlds	2007-10-16
54		Juggler of Worlds	Novel	Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner	Fleet of Worlds	2008-09-16
55		Destroyer of Worlds	Novel	Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner	Fleet of Worlds	2009-11-10
56		Betrayer of Worlds	Novel	Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner	Fleet of Worlds	2010-10-01
57		Fate of Worlds: Return from the Ringworld	Novel	Larry Niven, Edward M. Lerner	Fleet of Worlds	2012-01-01
58		Man-Kzin Wars XV	Anthology	Larry Niven	Man-Kzin Wars	2019-02-05