Known Space Chronological Ordering
Based on the timeline in Tales of Known Space (1975); updated by Richard S.
Holmes. If your web browser can't handle tables, see an older version of
this page.
This is a listing of all the Known Space fiction by Larry Niven I know of in
what I believe to be correct chronological order. Estimated dates for (the
start of) each story are given where possible. For a more detailed
chronology of events in the Known Space universe, see Larry King's Known
Space Chronology page. Larry's page is based on a chronology by I. Marc
Carlson supplemented with other information. (Note that there are some minor
diasagreements on dates between Larry's page and mine.)
I have not included the non-Niven Known Space stories in the Man-Kzin Wars
books, most of which I haven't read. Spike R. MacPhee had a chronological
ordering, with a few specific dates, in his Man-Kzin Wars page, but that
seems to have gone the Way of All Pages. Larry King's page also includes
entries based on the Man-Kzin War stories.
"Down in Flames" is not included here for a couple of reasons; (1) it was
never completed -- what has been published (in N-Space) is an outline for a
proposed novel; and (2) it was written before Ringworld and is badly
inconsistent with many of the later stories.
I also have not made use of the Ringworld game or the book Larry Niven's
Guide to Known Space or whatever it was called, since I don't have either.
I've found it easiest to treat Protector as two stories, "The Adults" (the
first part, which was first published separately under that name) and
"Vandervecken".
Up to three dates are given for each story:
* A "TOKS" date, the date given in the timeline in Tales of Known Space.
(I haven't put all these dates in yet.)
* An "explicit" date, the date given specifically in the text of that
story
* A "best" date, my best estimate of the date based on weighing evidence
from story data as well as any explicit date. In some cases,
examination of the evidence turns up inconsistencies; see below. In
these cases the "best" date is marked with an asterisk. Dates as given
in the TOKS timeline are not accepted uncritically; as noted below,
most such dates are not confirmed by the story, and some are
inconsistent with data in the story. However, with few exceptions the
TOKS timeline's grouping of stories into centuries is not inconsistent
with the evidence, nor is its order for the stories. The exceptions are
A Gift From Earth and "The Ethics of Madness", and I have rearranged
the positions of these stories in the chronology accordingly. Further
input on this is solicited.
