Neutron Star first appeared in the October 1966 issue (Issue 107, Vol 16, No 10) of Worlds of If.
I love Larry Niven's works.
Ground breaking stuff for it's time. He attempted to base his stories on reality unlike much out there which is really more fantasy.
The story is set in the Known Space universe.
It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story and ranked #30 in the LOCUS Magazine Readers Poll, All-time Best Novellette.
The short adventure is just 14 pages long but it has some notable firsts.
It mentions a neutron star before their existence was widely known.
The star is named BVS-1. It's featured in the novel Protector (1973), where it is named "Phssthpok's Star".
We also meet for the first time the Pierson Puppeteers.
These creatures appear throughout the "Known Space" novels.
These are an advanced alien race with two heads & 3 legs. They are highly manipulative with little empathy
for the suffering of other races. Described as cowardly or diplomatic, they will often turn their back on danger.
"Puppeteers are foremost concerned with their own safety and the survival of their species and try to expose themselves to as little risk as possible.
They do not appear to be disturbed when required to make choices that result in the deaths of billions or trillions." (Wikipedia).
Thus they prefer to manipulate other species into doing their dangerous tasks for them.
The novella also for the first time introduces the General Products Hull for StarShips.
This hull is almost indestructable, and is advertised as being capable of "flying through the upper
atmosphere of a star unscathed" (although the occupants many not live).
"General Products" is the Puppeteers mercantile empire through which they trade with other species.
Neutron Star" is the first time we meet Beowulf Shaeffer, the ex-pilot of many of Niven's Known Space stories.
He is from the planet "We Made It".
He is a very important character appearing in many later novels.
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