The Man-Kzin Wars is a series of military science fiction anthologies and is the name of the first. The short stories detail the eponymous conflicts between mankind and the Kzinti, set in Larry Niven's Known Space universe. However, Niven himself has written only a small number of the stories; most were written by other science fiction writers, as Niven opened this part of the Known Space to collaboration in the form of a shared universe. The cover art for the books in the series is created by Stephen Hickman. Origins The first story set in the Man-Kzin Wars, "The Warriors" (1966), was one of Niven's earliest published stories and one of the first of what would become his Known Space series. Niven did not consider himself qualified to write war stories; therefore, although a number of his later stories referenced the Man-Kzin Wars, he never actually showed them. However, there was a large fan demand for stories covering the conflict, and a number of his author friends had shown interest in writing tales set in the time frame. Niven, therefore, allowed the Man-Kzin Wars to become a shared universe, starting with the 1988 release of The Man-Kzin Wars. Starting with volume three, Niven himself has composed several additional stories in the series, although the majority of content has been written by other authors. The resulting series has also been described as a "franchise". Initially, there were only plans for two volumes. Niven, along with John Hewitt (one of the main writers for the Ringworld RPG) composed a "Bible" for aspiring writers, including several pages of notes composed between the two of them and photocopied pages of the RPG. The Bible included corrections for some of the inconsistencies in Niven's work. Jerry Pournelle and Poul Anderson were among the first authors approached, and both ended up writing stories. The series has continued to the current day (volume XV was released in 2019). The stories † Additional Notes: "Iron" and "Inconstant Star" were combined as a single collection, Inconstant Star, in 1991. "Cathouse" and "Briar Patch" were combined as a single collection, Cathouse, in 1990. "The Children's Hour" and "The Asteroid Queen" were combined as a single collection, The Children's Hour, in 1991. "A Darker Geometry" was expanded (an extra segment added to the end) and republished as a novel in 1996. "The Warriors," "Madness Has its Place," "The Man Who Would