Larry Niven

An epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre.

Like Earth, the space colony of Destiny has its trading caravans, except on Destiny they don't deal in spices but speckles, an ingredient necessary for mental health. The hero is a member of a caravan and as the novel follows his adventures it describes the colony's unusual culture.

"Avalon was thriving. The cold sleep colonists from Earth had settled on a verdant, livable world. The fast and cunning predators humans named "grendels" were under control, and the mainland outposts well established. Avalon's new mainland hydroelectric power station was nearly complete, and when on-line would compensate for the nuclear power systems lost in the Grendel Wars. Humans would have power, and with power came the ability to make all the...

When a chain reaction of supernovae explosions at the core of the galaxy unleashes a deadly wave of radiation that will sterilize the entire galaxy, the Citizens--accompanied by Kirsten Quinn-Kovacs, a descendant of human survivors--flee into the unknown.

"For decades, the spacefaring species of Known Space have battled over the largest artifact -- and grandest prize -- in the galaxy: the all-but-limitless resources and technology of the Ringworld. But without warning the Ringworld has vanished, leaving behind three rival war fleets... But the crises converging upon the trillion Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds go far beyond even the onrushing armadas. One way or another, the fabled race of Puppeteers...

Fleeing the supernova chain reaction at the galactic core, the Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds seek a way to survive among enemies and crises. Fleeing the supernova chain reaction at the galactic core, the cowardly Puppeteers of the Fleet of Worlds have---just barely---survived. They've stumbled from one crisis to the next: The rebellion of their human slaves. The relentless questing of the species of Known Space. The spectacular rise of the starfish-like...