Neutron Star (short story)

Last updated
"Neutron Star"
Short story by Larry Niven
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
Publication
Published in Worlds of If
Publication typeMagazine
Publication dateOctober 1966 (1966-10)

"Neutron Star" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven. It was originally published in the October 1966 issue (Issue 107, Vol 16, No 10) of Worlds of If . It was later reprinted in the collection of the same name [1] and Crashlander . [2] The story is set in Niven's fictional Known Space universe. It is notable for including a neutron star before their (then hypothetical) existence was widely known. [3] [4]

Contents

"Neutron Star" is the first to feature Beowulf Shaeffer, the ex-pilot and reluctant hero of many of Niven's Known Space stories. It also marked the first appearance of the nearly indestructible General Products starship hull, as well as its creators, the Pierson's Puppeteers. The star itself, BVS-1, is featured in the novel Protector (1973), where it is named "Phssthpok's Star". A prelude to the story is also included in the novel Juggler of Worlds .

Plot summary

Beowulf Shaeffer, a native of the planet We Made It and unemployed for the last eight months due to a stock market crash, is contracted by a Pierson's Puppeteer, the Regional President of General Products on We Made It, to pilot a General Products-hulled starship in a close approach about neutron star BVS-1. The Puppeteers want to determine why two previous researchers, Peter and Sonya Laskin, were killed during the previous attempt on a similar mission. Shaeffer has no intention of even attempting the dangerous mission but agrees anyway — he has other plans.

He has the Puppeteers construct what he dubs the Skydiver to his precise specifications, supposedly to ensure he survives to return with the relevant data. It includes an advanced sensor package, a high-powered thruster, and a high-powered laser. It is thus the only warship ever constructed by the cowardly and paranoid alien race — a prize beyond value and a perfect means of escape.

Sigmund Ausfaller is an operative of the UN's Bureau of Alien Affairs. Desiring to maintain human-Puppeteer relations, Ausfaller explains the situation to them, and has them install a bomb on the ship. Ausfaller informs Shaeffer that if he does not attempt the mission, he will be sent to debtors' prison, and that if he attempts to escape in the ship, the bomb will be detonated within a week — well before he could even reach another planet, let alone find a buyer for the ship. Shaeffer, realizing he is trapped, agrees to fly the mission.

The Skydiver reaches the neutron star, and the ship's autopilot puts the Skydiver into a hyperbolic orbit that will take 24 hours to reach periapsis with BVS-1, passing a mile above its surface. During the descent, Schaeffer notices many unusual things: the stars ahead of him began to turn blue from Doppler shift as his speed increases enormously; the stars behind him, rather than being red-shifted, were blue too as their light accelerated with him into the gravity well of the neutron star. The nose of the ship is pulled towards the neutron star even when he tries to move the ship to view his surroundings.

As the mysterious pull exceeds one Earth gravity, Shaeffer accelerates the Skydiver to compensate for the unknown X-force until he is in free fall (though the accelerometer registers 1.2 gees). Shaeffer eventually realizes what the X-force is: the tidal force. The strong tidal pull of the neutron star is trying to force the ends of the ship (and Shaeffer himself) into two separate orbits. Shaeffer programs the autopilot in a thrust pattern that allows him to reach the center of mass of the ship in effective free fall, though he nearly fails to do so. The ship reaches periapsis where tidal forces nearly pull Shaeffer apart anyway, but he manages to hold himself in the access space at the ship's center of mass and survives.

After returning to We Made It, Shaeffer is hospitalized (he has received a sunburn by starlight blue-shifted into the ultraviolet) for observation at the Puppeteer's insistence. While explaining tidal forces to the Puppeteer, Schaeffer realizes the alien had no knowledge of tides, something that would be elementary for a sentient species living on a world with a moon. The Puppeteers are extremely cautious when dealing with other species, and keep all details about their homeworld secret. When Schaeffer mentions that he can tell reporters the fact that the Puppeteer's world has no moon, the Puppeteer agrees to give Shaeffer a million stars (a fortune in galactic currency) in return for his silence. Shaeffer asks the alien how he likes being blackmailed for a change.

Notes

Reception

"Neutron Star" won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story and ranked #30 in the LOCUS Magazine Readers Poll, All-time Best Novellette.

Carl Sagan criticized "Neutron Star" for assuming that tidal forces produced by gravity would be forgotten, and that a crewed ship would not be the first to explore a neutron star. [5]

Reviewing the collection Neutron Star , Algis Budrys said that the story was "in itself worth the paperback price of admission". [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Niven</span> American science fiction writer (born 1938)

Laurence van Cott Niven is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel Ringworld won the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. With Jerry Pournelle he wrote The Mote in God's Eye (1974) and Lucifer's Hammer (1977). The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him the 2015 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award.

Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories by American writer Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off Man-Kzin Wars anthologies. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) catalogs all works set in the fictional universe that includes Known Space under the series name Tales of Known Space, which was the title of a 1975 collection of Niven's short stories. The first-published work in the series, which was Niven's first published piece, was "The Coldest Place", in the December 1964 issue of If magazine, edited by Frederik Pohl. This was the first-published work in the 1975 collection.

<i>Ringworld</i> 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven

Ringworld is a 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. Ringworld tells the story of Louis Wu and his companions on a mission to the Ringworld, an enormous rotating ring, an alien construct in space 186 million miles in diameter. Niven later wrote three sequel novels and then cowrote, with Edward M. Lerner, four prequels and a final sequel; the five latter novels constitute the Fleet of Worlds series. All the novels in the Ringworld series tie into numerous other books set in Known Space. Ringworld won the Nebula Award in 1970, as well as both the Hugo Award and Locus Award in 1971.

<i>Orphans of the Sky</i> 1963 SF novel by Robert A. Heinlein

Orphans of the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), consisting of two parts: "Universe" and its sequel, "Common Sense". The two novellas were first published together in book form in 1963. "Universe" was also published separately in 1951 as a 10¢ Dell paperback. The work presents one of the earliest fictional depictions of a generation ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algis Budrys</span> Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic

Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome Bixby, John A. Sentry, William Scarff, and Paul Janvier. In 1960, he authored Rogue Moon, a novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierson's Puppeteers</span> Fictional species

Pierson's Puppeteers, often known just as Puppeteers, are a fictional alien race from American author Larry Niven's Known Space books. The race first appeared in Niven’s novella Neutron Star.

<i>The Integral Trees</i> 1984 science fiction novel by Larry Niven

The Integral Trees is a 1984 science fiction novel by American writer Larry Niven. Like much of Niven's work, the story is heavily influenced by the setting: a gas torus, a ring of air around a neutron star. A sequel, The Smoke Ring, was published in 1987.

<i>Crashlander</i> 1994 novel by Larry Niven

Crashlander is a fix-up novel by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1994 (ISBN 978-0345381682) and set in his Known Space universe. It is also a term used in the Known Space universe, denoting a human born on the planet We Made It.

<i>The Smoke Ring</i> (novel) 1987 novel by Larry Niven

The Smoke Ring is a 1987 science fiction novel by Larry Niven. Like much of Niven's work, the story is heavily influenced by the setting: a gas torus, a ring of air around a neutron star. It is a sequel to The Integral Trees.

<i>Man-Kzin Wars</i> Series of military SF short story collections

The Man-Kzin Wars is a both the name of series of military science fiction anthologies as well as the name of the first book in the series. The short stories detail the eponymous conflicts between mankind and the Kzinti, set in Larry Niven's Known Space universe. However, Niven himself has written only a small number of the stories; most were written by other science fiction writers, as Niven opened this part of the Known Space to collaboration in the form of a shared universe. The cover art for the books in the series is created by Stephen Hickman.

"At the Core" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1966. It is the second in the series of Known Space stories featuring crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in Worlds of If, November 1966, and reprinted in Neutron Star (1968) and Crashlander (1994).

"Flatlander" is an English language science fiction short story by American writer Larry Niven, published in 1967. It is the third in the series of Known Space stories featuring crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in Worlds of If, March 1967, and reprinted in Neutron Star, and Crashlander.

"Grendel" is an English language science fiction short story written in 1968 by Larry Niven. It is the fourth in the series of Known Space stories featuring crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in Neutron Star (1968), and reprinted in Crashlander (1994). It has no connection to the creatures called Grendels in Niven's Heorot series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Borderland of Sol</span> 1975 science fiction novelette by Larry Niven

"The Borderland of Sol" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Larry Niven. It is the fifth in the Known Space series of stories about crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer.

"Procrustes" is an English-language science fiction short story written in 1993 by Larry Niven. It is the sixth in the series of stories about crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer. The short story was originally published in Bridging the Galaxies (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mars Is Heaven!</span> 1948 short story by Ray Bradbury

"Mars Is Heaven!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, originally published in 1948 in Planet Stories. "Mars Is Heaven!" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929–1964. It also appears as the sixth chapter of The Martian Chronicles, revised as "The Third Expedition."

<i>Juggler of Worlds</i> 2008 science fiction novel by Niven & Lerner

Juggler of Worlds (2008) is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner, a sequel to their Fleet of Worlds.

<i>Neutron Star</i> (short story collection) Collection of short stories by Larry Niven

Neutron Star is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Larry Niven, published in April 1968. The individual stories were published in If and Galaxy Science Fiction in 1966–1967, under Frederik Pohl as editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutron stars in fiction</span>

Neutron stars—extremely dense remnants of stars that have undergone supernova events—have appeared in fiction since the 1960s. Their immense gravitational fields and resulting extreme tidal forces are a recurring point of focus. Some works depict the neutron stars as harbouring exotic alien lifeforms, while others focus on the habitability of the surrounding system of planets. Neutron star mergers, and their potential to cause extinction events at interstellar distances due to the enormous amounts of radiation released, also feature on occasion. Neutronium, the degenerate matter that makes up neutron stars, often turns up as a material existing outside of them in science fiction; in reality, it would likely not be stable.

References

  1. New York: Ballantine, 1968, pp. 9-28, ISBN   0-345-29665-6
  2. New York: Ballantine, 1994, pp. 8-28, ISBN   0-345-38168-8
  3. Robert Bly, James Gunn (2005). The science in science fiction . BenBella Books, Inc. p.  197. ISBN   1-932100-48-2. The first science fiction story to feature a neutron star is Larry Niven's "Neutron Star", published in Worlds of If, October 1966.
  4. Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy: themes, works, and wonders. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 751–752. ISBN   0-313-32952-4. Neutron stars are featured in a number of science fiction stories. These are the small remnants of supernovae, a few kilometers in diameter, which are made up exclusively of neutrons. Larry Niven's "Neutron Star" (1966) describes the dangers of flying a spaceship too close to such an object
  5. Sagan, Carl (1978-05-28). "Growing up with Science Fiction". The New York Times. p. SM7. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  6. Budrys, Algis (December 1968). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 149–155.