Death by Ecstasy
Encyclopedia
Death by Ecstasy is a novella
in the Known Space
universe by Larry Niven
. It is the first of five Gil Hamilton
detective stories, and provides most of the backstory for the character.
A belter
, Owen Jennison, is found dead on Earth in a locked
Los Angeles apartment. His death is an apparent suicide
. Hamilton, a friend and former crewmate of Jennison, is called to the scene to investigate. He finds Owen with a droud
(a wirehead's transformer) plugged into the back of his head. The latter apparently starved himself to death while continuously stimulating the pleasure center
of his own brain.
Hamilton, refusing to believe that his friend would commit suicide or turn wirehead, suspects foul play.
Bill Spangler, Terry Tidwell, Steve Stiles - Fiction - 1991 - 76 pages ISBN 9781563980046
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
in the Known Space
Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
universe by 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...
. It is the first of five Gil Hamilton
Gil Hamilton
Gilbert Gilgamesh Hamilton is a fictional character in the Known Space universe created by Larry Niven. He is one of the few science fiction detectives to appear in the genre...
detective stories, and provides most of the backstory for the character.
A belter
Belter (Niven)
In Larry Niven's fictional Known Space universe, a Belter refers to a resident of the Asteroid Belt around Sol, sometimes known as the Sol Belt to differentiate it from Alpha Centauri's Serpent Swarm....
, Owen Jennison, is found dead on Earth in a locked
Locked room mystery
The locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime—almost always murder—is committed under apparently impossible circumstances. The crime in question typically involves a crime scene that no intruder could have entered or left, e.g., a locked room...
Los Angeles apartment. His death is an apparent suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Hamilton, a friend and former crewmate of Jennison, is called to the scene to investigate. He finds Owen with a droud
Brain implant
Brain implants, often referred to as neural implants, are technological devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain - usually placed on the surface of the brain, or attached to the brain's cortex...
(a wirehead's transformer) plugged into the back of his head. The latter apparently starved himself to death while continuously stimulating the pleasure center
Pleasure center
Pleasure center is the general term used for the brain regions involved in pleasure. Discoveries made in the 1950s initially suggested that rodents could not stop electrically stimulating parts of their brain, mainly the nucleus accumbens, which was theorized to produce great pleasure...
of his own brain.
Hamilton, refusing to believe that his friend would commit suicide or turn wirehead, suspects foul play.
Reference
- Death by Ecstasy: Illustrated Adaptation of the Larry Niven Novella
Bill Spangler, Terry Tidwell, Steve Stiles - Fiction - 1991 - 76 pages ISBN 9781563980046