Neutron Star (story)

Larry Niven's short story "Neutron Star," published in 1966, is widely considered to be the literary cornerstone of his Known Space collection. The short story was originally published in Worlds of If, October 1966, and reprinted in Neutron Star, Larry Niven, New York: Ballantine, 1968, pp. 9-28.

Related Topics:
Larry Niven - 1966 - Known Space

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Starring Beowulf Shaeffer as a ne'er do well ex-pilot of a now-defunct interstellar cruise line, this story shows all the brilliance that Niven demonstrates throughout the next decade and a half. Given the choice between debtor's prison and the "opportunity" to research a neutron star at close range (while simultaneously determining the cause of death of the last poor souls who tried this stunt), the intrepid Beowulf suffers egregiously en route to a satisfying, albeit scientifically flawed, solution to the problem. Niven essentially launched Known Space from this story, which won him a deserved Hugo award, and his greatest works (including Ringworld) stem from it.

Related Topics:
Neutron star - Hugo award - Ringworld

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The star, BVS-1, is also featured in the novel Protector, where it is named Phssthpok's Star.

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