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I just tried to make a dumb joke about this very hard material on the star.

I deserve the downvotes. I'm not even a real dad.

> Nivens and his Ringworld series would be good examples

Nivens features several not-quite-scientific features, though he does a better job than many at keeping them constrained. I still wouldn’t consider him a hard science fiction author.

I think Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke (as mentioned), and Michael Crichton are better examples of hard science fiction.

Niven has FTL all over, and lots of psychic powers type stuff to boot.

I’ll never understand the voting patterns here. The plot of Ringworld is literally predicated on a second generation FTL dive. I love the series and it’s semi-hard sci-fi, but the whole thing is predicated on a hyperdrive, and how a civilization with it would build and live differently from a vastly powerful species without it.

don't forget Peter Watts.