Description:

Larry Niven's Convergent Series is an astounding collection of 21 stories ranging from science fiction and fantasy to almost everyday stories of Los Angeles. Murray Simpson believed that the perfect crime (especially murder) demanded the perfect rehearsal. But on the Santa Monica Freeway, nothing is ever perfect. Travelling to the stars can be a particularly dangerous affair, especially if you reach a planet low on food and high on hungry people, or space mutiny, or the complexities of time travel, or the standard paradoxes of cause and effect with interesting, and believable, results. Hans Rebka intends to solve the galaxy's most persistent mystery. He is going to penetrate Paradox. Many have entered Paradox before Hans Rebka, but no one has ever left, at least not with mind intact. But as a troubleshooter, Hans Rebka is in a class by himself. Though he doesn't know it, he's about to uncover the secret of the Artifacts, and loose the most hideous menace ever encountered. Contents: * Introduction (Convergent Series) (1979) • essay by Larry Niven * Bordered in Black (1966) / short story by Larry Niven * One Face (1965) / novelette by Larry Niven * Like Banquo's Ghost (1968) / short story by Larry Niven * The Meddler (1968) / novelette by Larry Niven * Dry Run (1968) / short story by Larry Niven * Convergent Series (1967) / short story by Larry Niven (variant of The Long Night) * The Deadlier Weapon (1968) / short story by Larry Niven * The Nonesuch (1974) / short story by Larry Niven * Singularities Make Me Nervous (1974) / short story by Larry Niven * The Schumann Computer [Draco Tavern] (1979) / short story by Larry Niven * Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing! [Draco Tavern] (1978) / short story by Larry Niven * Grammar Lesson [Draco Tavern] (1977) / short story by Larry Niven * The Subject Is Closed [Draco Tavern] (1977) / short story by Larry Niven * Cruel and Unusual [Draco Tavern] (1977) / short story by Larry Niven * Transfer of Power (1978) / short story by Larry Niven * Cautionary Tales (1978) / short story by Larry Niven * Rotating Cylinders and the Possibility of Global Causality Violation (1977) / short story by Larry Niven * Plaything (1974) / short story by Larry Niven * Mistake (1976) / short story by Larry Niven * Night on Mispec Moor [State / Leshy Circuit] (1974) / short story by Larry Niven * Wrong Way Street [Time Travel - Parallel Universe] (1965) / short story by Larry Niven (variant of Wrong-Way Street) .