The State (Larry Niven)
Encyclopedia
"The State" is a fictional totalitarian
world government
in a future history
that forms the back-story of three of Larry Niven
's novels: A World Out of Time
(1976), The Integral Trees
(1984), and The Smoke Ring (1987). It is also the setting of two short stories, "Rammer" (which became the first chapter of A World Out of Time) and "The Kiteman" (printed in N-Space
) as well as a stalled fourth novel, The Ghost Ships. After several years in development, Niven announced that The Ghost Ships would never be made, and wrote The Ringworld Throne
instead. The novel would have focused on a race of self-aware natural ramjet
s birthed in the supernova that created Levoy's Star and were returning to their place of birth to mate. According to Playgrounds of the Mind
, Kendy and the kite-fliers from "The Kiteman" would have returned also.
on the Discipline is noted as having to explain to others what a Christmas
wreath
is. A comment from Kendy in The Smoke Ring indicates that the State abolished capitalism when it was established. In The Smoke Ring Kendy also states that as of the time when Discipline left Earth, the State had colonized all ten planets of the solar system, thirty moons, and hundreds of asteroids, with twenty-eight extrasolar worlds in the process of terraforming
. According to Niven, The Ghost Ships would have revealed that the State had split into two factions, the Inner State based in the Solar system
and the Outer State based on the extrasolar colony worlds, which would have featured in the novel. This is also implied by a graphic presentation in A World Out Of Time, which the protagonist interprets as showing a distinction between "people, like us" (the Inner State) and "not people, not like us" (the colonies).
The State is technologically extremely advanced, even in its first appearance; in addition to fusion-assisted interstellar spaceflight, it has technologies which enable personalities to be transferred chemically from one body to another, and can transfer personalities extracted from medically unsalvageable bodies of "corpsicle
s" frozen in the past to mindwipe
d criminals to use them as agents in circumstances where their free-thinking skills can still be useful to the State, such as in piloting ramships to other stars. The State has also perfected the storage of human personalities within AI systems
, and can install copies of the personalities of "checkers" loyal to the State into the ramships' control computers, in order to keep a watch on potentially disloyal revived corpsicles.
The temporal dilation of the novel permits the protagonist of A World Out of Time a view of the State in several widely-spaced time periods, over three million years. He describes it to his AI minder as a hydraulic empire
, accounting for its very long life and stability. He claims that hydraulic empires only fall to barbarians from outside - but there is nothing "outside" of the State, which encompasses all of human civilization. It is eventually revealed that the State created its own "barbarians" by establishing colonies in other systems.
A World Out of Time was nominated for a Locus Award in 1977, and The Integral Trees won a Locus Award in 1985.
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
world government
World government
World government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...
in a future history
Future history
A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...
that forms the back-story of three of Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
's novels: A World Out of Time
A World Out of Time
A World Out of Time is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven and published in 1976. It is set outside the Known Space universe of many of Niven's stories, but is otherwise fairly representative of his 1970s hard science fiction novels...
(1976), The Integral Trees
The Integral Trees
The Integral Trees is a 1984 science fiction novel by Larry Niven . Like much of Niven's work, the story is heavily influenced by the setting: a gas torus, a ring of air around a neutron star...
(1984), and The Smoke Ring (1987). It is also the setting of two short stories, "Rammer" (which became the first chapter of A World Out of Time) and "The Kiteman" (printed in N-Space
N-Space (short story collection)
N-Space is a collection of short stories by American science fiction author Larry Niven released in 1990. Some of the stories are set in Niven's Known Space universe. Also included are various essays, articles and anecdotes by Niven and others, excerpts from some of his novels, and an introduction...
) as well as a stalled fourth novel, The Ghost Ships. After several years in development, Niven announced that The Ghost Ships would never be made, and wrote The Ringworld Throne
The Ringworld Throne
The Ringworld Throne is a novel by Larry Niven, first published in 1996. It is the direct sequel to his previous work The Ringworld Engineers...
instead. The novel would have focused on a race of self-aware natural ramjet
Ramjet
A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...
s birthed in the supernova that created Levoy's Star and were returning to their place of birth to mate. According to Playgrounds of the Mind
Playgrounds of the Mind
Playgrounds of the Mind is a collection of short stories by Larry Niven, published in 1991. It is the sequel to N-Space.Many of the stories are set in Niven's Known Space universe...
, Kendy and the kite-fliers from "The Kiteman" would have returned also.
Overview
Most information regarding the State comes from A World Out of Time, including a brief overview of its formation in the aftermath of a "global brush war". The precise timeframe the State occupies is not defined. In A World Out of Time, the State exists as of 2190; Kendy notes that the State was established 455 years before Discipline reached the Smoke Ring (which itself was 512 years before The Integral Trees, 532 years before The Smoke Ring, and 580 years before "The Kiteman"). It rules over an extremely crowded world, in which privacy is no longer a concept. Religion (or at any rate Christianity) is apparently no longer in practice, as a corpsicleCorpsicle
Corpsicle is a term that has been used in science fiction to refer to a corpse that has been cryonically cryopreserved. It is a portmanteau of "corpse" and "popsicle"...
on the Discipline is noted as having to explain to others what a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
is. A comment from Kendy in The Smoke Ring indicates that the State abolished capitalism when it was established. In The Smoke Ring Kendy also states that as of the time when Discipline left Earth, the State had colonized all ten planets of the solar system, thirty moons, and hundreds of asteroids, with twenty-eight extrasolar worlds in the process of terraforming
Terraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
. According to Niven, The Ghost Ships would have revealed that the State had split into two factions, the Inner State based in the Solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and the Outer State based on the extrasolar colony worlds, which would have featured in the novel. This is also implied by a graphic presentation in A World Out Of Time, which the protagonist interprets as showing a distinction between "people, like us" (the Inner State) and "not people, not like us" (the colonies).
The State is technologically extremely advanced, even in its first appearance; in addition to fusion-assisted interstellar spaceflight, it has technologies which enable personalities to be transferred chemically from one body to another, and can transfer personalities extracted from medically unsalvageable bodies of "corpsicle
Corpsicle
Corpsicle is a term that has been used in science fiction to refer to a corpse that has been cryonically cryopreserved. It is a portmanteau of "corpse" and "popsicle"...
s" frozen in the past to mindwipe
Mindwipe
For the Transformers character, see Mindwipe .Mindwipe is a technique used in some science fiction scenarios, where the subject's memories and personality are erased and replaced by new memories and personality more useful to those who are carrying out the mindwiping, or to their area's...
d criminals to use them as agents in circumstances where their free-thinking skills can still be useful to the State, such as in piloting ramships to other stars. The State has also perfected the storage of human personalities within AI systems
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, and can install copies of the personalities of "checkers" loyal to the State into the ramships' control computers, in order to keep a watch on potentially disloyal revived corpsicles.
The temporal dilation of the novel permits the protagonist of A World Out of Time a view of the State in several widely-spaced time periods, over three million years. He describes it to his AI minder as a hydraulic empire
Hydraulic empire
A hydraulic empire is a social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive control over access to water...
, accounting for its very long life and stability. He claims that hydraulic empires only fall to barbarians from outside - but there is nothing "outside" of the State, which encompasses all of human civilization. It is eventually revealed that the State created its own "barbarians" by establishing colonies in other systems.
A World Out of Time was nominated for a Locus Award in 1977, and The Integral Trees won a Locus Award in 1985.