''Limits'' is a collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
and essays by
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
author
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...
, originally published in 1985.
* "The Lion in his Attic" - Seventy-six years after
Atlantis
Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
drowned, a sorceress and a prince learn to their dismay that not all lions eat red meat.
* "Spirals"
* "A Teardrop Falls" - In his youth, Hilary Gage had fought men and studied the ravages of Berserkers. As a machine, he
terraformed
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...
planets and lay in wait . . . .
* "Talisman"
* "Flare Time"
* "The Locusts"
* "Yet Another Modest Proposal" At last, a solution to the problem of
radioactive wastes that costs nothing and yields an immodest profit.
* "More Tales from Draco Tavern"
* "Limits" - Two aliens fascinated by man's fondness for defining boundaries decide to make sure he doesn't get out of the habit.
1985 short story collections
Short story collections by Larry Niven
Del Rey books
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