Neutron Star : Including the Winning Best Short Story

It's a great short story, highly recommended. Well worth the 99¢. But it's not the full collection that is pictured, detailed, and reviewed, above.

This is by far the best short-story collection Niven has published, and he's written some good ones. It was also his first collection. It still holds up after all this time. I especially recommend The Soft Weapon.

This was the first book of Larry Niven's I ever read and it immediately became my favorite. I have faithfully read every one of his books ever since. I love his style of writing, although others I have shared it with say it's too technical. Very original characters (the two-headed puppeters who are simultaneously unscrupulous capitalists and cowards), new concepts (indestructable transparent spaceship hulls made by the the puppeters) and humor. It was "new wave" science fiction in the 70's but it still holds up today. The precursor to Ringworld. Actually, I think it's better than Ringworld. Very enjoyable. Highly recommended.

I normally stay away from short story collections mostly because I would rather read novels than quick little tales. Larry Niven is one of the few writers I believe can write the short story and novel with equal ease and this collection more than proves it. The tales are all founded on mostly hard science, but still maintain a flavor all their own, even with the task of fitting them in his Known Space series. They range from funny to scary to introspective to everything in between. All are excellent examples of what science-fiction has to offer. Lately Niven hasn't been doing too well in the novel department, so maybe the time is right for him to release another short story collection. Even if they're only half as good as these, it'd be a great piece of writing. Highly recommended.

Once again the ubiquitous puppeteer Nessus pops his heads into humanities business; also learn about the first (and last) expedition to the Core of the Galaxy. Several other stories round out this well written book