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Two authors come to mind when thinking of great novels of the future, Isaac Asmiov and Larry Niven. While many novels exploring the concepts of a dystopian future are hailed by literary critics, these two authors refused to believe that the worst potentials of mankind would overtake us, and instead, we would reach out to the stars and make the galaxy our habitat as much as Planet Earth.

These two writers created entire histories for their futures. Asimov created a story that spanned over 30,000 years, starting with his short story "Bicentennial Man" and ending(?) with his novel "Robots and Foundation." Until the final novel and the revelation therein, these are two seemingly separate threads.

Asimov's magnum opus was his Foundation Trilogy, written as a single novel, but too immense in size to publish as a single volume. The novel covers 20 millenia, with the fall of the human empire around the galaxy, and the triumphant return of reason to guide humanity in its continued development.

Asimov's work has one recurring theme, and a disturbing one. We are alone. There is no other intelligent life in the galaxy, we are a mote in the vastness of reality, and if our spark is snuffed, there will be none to follow behind us. Even after exploring the entire galaxy, no trace of others like us is found.

Niven on the other hand created his Future History series of stories and novels with the concept that we are definitely NOT alone and we need to be careful that this band of hairless monkeys with big brains don't stick our collective fingers into a hole with something dangerous in it. Niven, somehow, manages to create aliens which are truly alien. Sentient beings with nearly incomprehensible intentions and motivations, with varying levels of technology and civilization.

Niven's novel Ringworld showcases the interaction between humans and two of those alien species. Or is it three?

Niven is a master at taking scientific theories and projecting them into the future, and in this novel he speculates on the theory of how best to harness the power of a star, and then send it hurtling through space as a seeming lifeboat. His first edition of this novel bore a flaw in his calculations and the scientist who developed the theory of the Dyson Sphere contacted Niven, pointed out the flaws, and Niven rewrote the book to accommodate the theory. (A first edition of this book, only published in paperback, routinely auctions in the $2500 range).

In the novel, two humans and a felinoid Kzin are captured by a Pierson's Puppeteer, and brought to the Ringworld, with the mission of discovering who its builders were, and what their purpose is in sending it hurtling out of our galaxy, seemingly aimed at our nearest galactic neighbor. When the trio finally finds out who built the massive construct, they all fear revealing the knowledge to the Puppeteer who would flee in terror, leaving them stranded on the artificial world with a land area greater than 1,000 planet earths.

While novels such as Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984 may come to mind as great literature, projecting dark futures of human pitted against human or human against technology, you should explore the more optimistic works of Niven and Asimov, which are equally great literature.

Learn more about this author, W Thomas Payne.
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