One brave soul recently asked me which Science Fiction series is my favorite. From the context, he probably meant “TV series” (his examples were Star Trek and StarGate), but he didn’t specify. Besides, with the exception of the first half-dozen or episodes of Heroes, I haven’t really turned the TV on long enough to watch anything.
So I gave him my best, most truthful answer: Known Space.
“Known Space” isn’t a TV series; it’s a collection of stories, mostly written by Larry Niven, that are all tied together. It’s essentially a “Future History” of mankind, much like Asimov’s Robot series. (I believe the term “Future History” may first have been applied to some of Heinlein’s earlier works, but I haven’t read them recently enough to cite examples.)
Probably the best known collection of Known Space stories is the Tales of Known Space anthology. Crashlander (the collected stories of Beowulf Shaeffer) is another good starting point. Other Known Space titles include Neutron Star, and then, the four books of the Ringworld series (five if you count Protector) also have roots in Known Space.
The various Man-Kzin Wars titles are deserving of special notice. Although they all take place in Known Space, Larry Niven only wrote two of those stories (he professes that he doesn’t know how to write war stories). The remainder of the Man-Kzin stories were written by other authors who were visiting Niven’s “playground.”
Also worth a look (and kinda scary for how close some of today’s headlines are) is Flatlander which is the collected stories of Gil “The Arm” Hamilton. It’s not strictly Known Space, but it definitely contains the social roots of the other stories. (The Amalgamation of Regional Militias – or A.R.M. – in particular figures heavily in the other stories.)
Not that I’m the least bit fanatical about the stuff. 🙂
(Not sure what a “cziltang brone” is? The best way to find out is to go and read The Ringworld Engineers. But if you’re in a hurry, you can always take a shortcut.)