Man-Kzin Wars I

The Warriors - Larry Niven

The Goldenage of Earth comes rapidly to an end as a colony ship of humans encounter the Kzinti for the first time.

Iron- Poul Anderson

Following an incident on the artificial world of Tiamat, a privately owned hyperspace craft encounters a rogue star system from the beginning of the universe. Who could possibly find a use for this system ? The Kzin.

Cathouse - Dean Ing

A lone soldier is stranded on a distant planet in what appears to be an alien zoo. His only companions are two sentient female Kzin.

Out of Print. Click the image to check availability

Man-Kzin Wars II

The Briar Patch - Dean Ing

This story continues where Cathouse finished. Locklear leaves Scarface, Kit and Boots to explore the earthlike habitat and discovers that the stasis cave on this side of the force shield is full of Neanderthals.

The Children's Hour - Jerry Pournelle & SM Stirling

Chutt-Ritt is the Kzin governor of Wunderland during the occupation following the Fourth Man Kzin War. Chutt-Ritt is considered a danger by the Earth-based UN Forces due to his unique anti-kzin planning style and a small party is sent to destroy him using an unorthodox entry into the Alpha Centauri star-system. The Kzin don't know quite literally what hit them.

Man-Kzin Wars III

Madness Has It's Place - Larry Niven

A few humans in ARM do their own of making defenses against the underestimated Kzin attack: they reprogram the launching lasers in the solar system. A very accurate LN story of conditions in KS around 2375.

The Asteroid Queen - Jerry Pournelle & SM Stirling

In this sequel to The Children's Hour (MKW II), Hari and Ingrid are still on wunderland dealing with various parts of the resistance. Meanwhile an asteriod miner finds a very unusual rock and unwittingly awakes a Slaver from his 3 billion year-old slumber in stasis.

Inconstant Star- Poul Anderson

In this sequel to Iron (MKW I), Robert Saxtorph's hyperdrive craft Rover is hired by Tyra Nordbo to search out what became of her father, and to clear his name of being a Kzinti collaborator during the wars. The Rover not only discovers Peter Nordbo's fate but also another deadly remnant of the Slavers.

Man-Kzin Wars IV

The Surivor - Donald Kingsbury

This story tells the life story of Short-Son of Chiirr-Nig, a very cowardly Kzin who earns the name Eater-of-Grass from doing so to avoid battle. After being ostracised from the Kzin community he hides himself away in a Jotoki habitat and learns how to bond with the Jotoki and so become a Trainer-of-Slaves.

-

The Man Who Would Be Kzin - Greg Bear & SM Stirling

A story about a human telepath posing telepathically as a Kzin and going onto one of their ships! Incredible plot, but one of the best MKW stories.

Man-Kzin Wars V

In the Hall Of The Mountain King - Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling

A story about a tnuctipun ship and a nice plot on human Kzin colloboration. In-Depth Review by Joel.

Hey Diddle Diddle - Thomas T. Thomas

The four crewmen of the Callisto are suffering from an acute case of cabin fever when the deep radar provides welcome relief from boredom: a Slaver stasis box. After crashlanding on the tree-covered world of Beanstalk, the crew set out to find the Slaver box before the Kzin detect it too. Unfortunately their efforts are somewhat hampered by a Bandersnatchi eating their spaceship....

Man-Kzin Wars VI

The Heroic Myth of Lt. Nora Argamentine - Donald Kingsbury

The sequel to "The Survivor" (MKW4) continues the story of Nora Argamentine and Mellow Yellow, the cowardly Kzin. The story is told through the eyes of her cousin Major Yankee Clandeboye who is on a mission to find out what happened to her.

The Trojan Cat - Gregory Benford & Mark Martin

After being captured by the Kzin, Kenneth Herrenmannen is blackmailed into capturing the Feynman, a slowboat that left Wunderland during the Kzin invasion. With it's journey nearly complete at 0.1 light years from Sol, the Kzin hope to turn the captured ship into a Kzinti Trojan Horse to ensure their victory at Sol.

Man-Kzin Wars VII

The Colonel's Tiger - Hal Colebatch

The reports from the Angel's Pencil of the anatomy and physiology of the attacking Kzin trigger a memory of an ARM agent. After a little searching, he finds the account of Colonel Vaughn who battled with a "tiger man" in India during the earth year 1878.

A Darker Geometry - Gregory Benford & Mark O. Martin

This story depicts man's first contact with the Outsiders and is a forerunner to the use of hyperdrive by humans. It is a tale that has generated much controversy between Niven Fans - whether it can be considered "Cannon" or not. I'm actually in the pro-forum and found the story quite interesting, especially as it introduced the "Guardian" caste of Puppeteers. However, I did find some of the dialogue from the viewpoint of the Outsiders very difficult to follow. On the flipside here are comments from Andrew S Duncan that he posted on the Larry Niven Mailing List. We will let you judge for yourselves into which forum you fall into.

Prisoner of War - Paul Chafe

A surveillance trip into the Sol system by the Kzin scout ship Silent Prowler ends in disaster after a cat-and-mouse chase with the earth destroyer Excalibur. The Kzin Fleet Commander is the only survivor and is taken as a prisoner of war.

Man-Kzin Wars VIII

Choosing Names - Larry Niven

Short story about a captured telepath, who demands his own Name.

Telepath's Dance - Hal Colebatch

A sequel to what happened to the Angel's Pencil.

Galley Slave - Jean Lamb

Takeover of a patrol ship in the vicinity of earth, a female computer programmer helps to defeat the Kzinti by reprogramming the food synthesizers just before the ship is boarded by earth forces. This partially free story is available to read on-line.

Jotok - Paul Chafe

A story of a Jotok scout coming to a pre-civilized Kzin world. Very insight on early Kzinti civilization.

Slowboat Nightmare - Warren W. James

A story about a slowboat encounter/takeover by a Kzin ship. Storyline as known, a few humans take out an entire Kzin crew, but the twist with the telepath and the battle on the ship itself are great!

Man-Kzin Wars IX

Pele - Poul Anderson

This is Poul Anderson's last published story. It first appeared in Analog Science Fiction Magazine just as he died. The story is a sequel to Inconstant Star. Thirty light years from Earth, the star "Pele" is about to undergo a major cataclysm: a 10-Jupiter mass gas giant is about to be absorbed by the star. As the planet "Kumukhahi" begins its deadly spiral, science ships from Earth and Kzin and a passenger ship containing Tyra Nordbo arrive to witness the destruction. Of course the dishonoured Kzin "Chrul-Captain" just can't resist being a hero and uses a prototype ship to get right in the middle of the action.

His Sergeant's Hour - Hal Colebatch

Set during the last days of the Kzin occupation of Wunderland, His Sergeant's Hour tells the story of how Raargh-Sergeant and a bunch of other wounded Kzinti defend the life of a collaborator who has been branded a traitor by the Provisional Free Wunderland Government, all for a sense of honour.

Windows of the Soul - Paul Chafe

Captain Joel Allson of the ARM has a murder on his hands with a dismembered body being found in a transport tube on the asteroid-come-space station world of Tiamat. This story is very reminiscent of the Gil The Arm tales by Larry himself.

Fly-By-Night - Larry Niven

Baen books definitely saved the best for last with Larry's latest Known Space short story returns us to the adventures of one of its favourite characters, Beowulf Shaeffer, ex-pilot, adventurer and one of Larry's typical "space tourists".

Set after the events of Procrustes, Shaeffer finds himself onboard a passenger ship, the Odysseus, just as it is being captured by a ship of Kzinti pirates. Shaeffer is taken prisoner and develops an unusual alliance with a non-practising Kzinti Telepath, "Fly-by-Night" and his octopus-like Jotoki slave, "Paradoxical".

There are quite a few "in-jokes" to watch for in the story:

• Shaeffer screaming and leaping at a Kzin - ok he's got an excuse - he's in a vacuum and must expel all oxygen from his lungs before they pop.
• The Kzin of the title using corks on his claws so he can use a human designed laptop keyboard.
• A kzin using cheese as a face disguise!

Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War

One War for Wunderland - Hal Colebatch

The story of how the first Kzinti invaders were spotted on Wunderland and how the Wunderland Government prepared for the first onslaught of war. This proved difficult in the light of the ARM-censored culture on war information and weaponry.

Professor Nils Rykermann as the University of Munchen's Biologist is called in to sit on the Wunderland Defence Council Meetings before the invasion begins in force. But despite the efforts of the Meteor Defence crews and the heroic bravery of the Serpent Swarm asteroid miners, Rykermann doubts that the Wunderland forces can keep the Kzinti at bay, and he takes to the hills to go into hiding with fellow scientist Dimity Carmody.

This is the first time that the start of the Wunderland invasion has been touched on in the Man Kzin War series. This novel-length story by Hal Colebatch describes the Space and ground war for Wunderland in graphic detail.

The Corporal in the Caves - Hal Colebatch

Thirty or so years after the invasion, Kzinti forces are still moping up the resistence of feral humans living in the Hohe Kalkstein cave system. With a cleverly-laid series of traps despatching over half the kzinti squads, the surviving Kzin leader, earned himself a commission and his Name, Raargh. In a later attack by the cave-dwelling Morlocks forces the Kzin and remaining surviving humans to fight as one force to survive the onslaught, forging a permanent alliance between Raargh-Sergeant and Rykermann of the Resistence.

Music Box - Hal Colebatch

After the last of the Kzinti forces surrendered on Wunderland Raargh-Hero escaped the cities taking with him the last surviving member of Chuut-Ritt's kits: Vaemar.

Since then, Raargh and Vaemar have been living in the wildlands hunting their own prey and doing an odd job or two for neighbouring farmers. But with the political situation on Wunderland finally stabilising, Vaemar is in danger of becoming a political tool to lead the Kzin on Wunderland to victory again, and Raargh takes him to visit Professor Rykermann - now turned politician - for his advice. Unfortunately Vaemar and Raargh are captured en route by a group of humans loyal to the memories of Chuut-Ritt.

This story also reunites Professor Rykermann with Dimity from the first story "One War for Wunderland".

Peter Robinson - Hal Colebatch

This last story is a little hidden gem. Set during the contemporary Known Space era of the Ringworld Throne, an expedition by the Institute of Knowledge on Jinx, funded by the Puppeteers sets of to explore a recently detected slaver stasis box.

When arriving at the target, the team of six explorers consisting of Wunderlanders, a Jinxian and two Kzinti approach the stasis box which is floating freely in space, sensors detect that it is nine miles in diameter, the largest box ever discovered.

The prologue and the first seven chapters of "One War for Wunderland" can be read at Baen.com

Man-Kzin Wars XI

Description Pending

The Best Of All Possible Wars

Larry Niven, Greg Bear, SM Stirling and Jerry Pournelle

A best of collection containing The Warriors and Madness Has It's Place by Larry Niven, The Man Who Would be Kzin by Greg Bear and SM Stirling and In the Hall of the Mountain King by Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling.

Our advice would be to purchase this volume if you have missed any of the previous volumes as volume IV is now out of print.

The Houses of the Kzinti

Jerry Pournelle, SM Stirling and Dean Ing

Another compilation of Kzinti stories, containing my personal favourite, "Cathouse" and by Dean Ing, and together for the first time in one volume with "The Children's Hour" by Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling. This title is now otherwise out of print.

My advice would be only purchase if you have missed any of the previous volumes, which are becoming increasingly difficult to find, see above for the individual story ratings.

Annals of the Man-Kzin-Wars: An Unofficial Companion Guide

This is a Companion novel to the Man Kzin War series. Whilst in-depth and detailed, we do feel that some of the information contained inside has no doubt been researched from this very website.