Gil Hamilton
Encyclopedia
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. He is often called "Gil the Arm", both due to his affiliation with the ARM world police force, and his unusual psychic
ability.
Born in Topeka, Kansas
, to flatlander
parents near the end of the 21st century (it is established he was born in the month of April, but 2086, 2091, 2093, and 2097 are all given as years in various stories), he emigrates
to the Belt
as soon as he becomes an adult. There he begins work on an arduous ten year apprenticeship
towards the acquisition of his singleship licence. During this time he works as a member of small multi-person crews.
After completing several successful trips, Gil loses his right arm. While attempting to move an asteroid with explosives, crew leader "Cubes" Forsythe miscalculates, which results in the destruction of the valuable rock. A fast moving piece of shrapnel penetrates the ship, slicing off Gil's arm and killing Forsythe instantly. The remaining crewmember, Owen Jennison, quickly seals the hull breach, stops Gil's bleeding, and manages to get him to life-saving medical facilities in time.
While recuperating from his injury, Gil broods over his future as a Belter
. Their ship is missing a crew member, Gil is missing an arm, and Owen's reputation is ruined because he took (what Belters consider) unacceptable risks to get Gil back to safety.
In the low gravity of Ceres base, Gil discovers that he has a psi power
. His brain, still remembering the "image
" of his lost arm, can use it much as he did his own arm. He can feel and manipulate objects via ESP and telekinesis, respectively. Finding a third crewman, Homer Chandrasekhar, they make several highly profitable trips over the following year. Gil finds his "imaginary arm", though not strong, to be an asset, as he can reach through walls, and accomplish tasks beyond the ability of a normal person. After six months, Gil has earned enough to repay all his medical fees, with a comfortable cash reserve left over.
Despite much disapproval from Owen and Homer, Gil decides to return to Earth and seek to get his citizenship back. On Earth, he can easily get a transplant
to replace his missing arm. In the Belt he would have to pay exorbitantly high fees for a transplant, or settle for a prosthetic. Gil, by a quirk of his own nature, can not live with a prosthetic.
Gil receives his new arm, but finds he can still dissociate his imaginary arm from his real one, and reach through walls, flesh, and even vidphone
screens to manipulate objects he sees in them. Shortly afterward, Gil finds out that his new arm had not come from a condemned criminal as he had hoped, but from the captured stock of "organleggers
", black market dealers in illicit organ transplants.
To make amends, Gil joins the ARM, the elite global police force.
As an ARM, Hamilton is a high-tech detective, who hunts organleggers and other criminals for a living. With his unusual psi power, he is formidable and highly feared among his enemies.
His exploits are detailed in five "Gil 'the Arm' Hamilton" stories. The stories are noir style, told in first person
, and frequently involve exotic technology and locked room mysteries
:
The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton (1976) (ISBN 0-345-30050-5) contained the first three stories
The Patchwork Girl (1986) was published alone as a novel (ISBN 0-441-65315-4)
Flatlander (1995) (ISBN 0-345-39480-1) is a collection of all five Gil the ARM stories
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 created 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...
. He is one of the few science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
detectives to appear in the genre. He is often called "Gil the Arm", both due to his affiliation with the ARM world police force, and his unusual psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
ability.
Born in Topeka, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, to flatlander
Flatlander (Niven)
Flatlander is a 1995 collection of stories by Larry Niven, all set in Known Space. It is the definitive collection of all stories by Niven about ARM agent Gil Hamilton....
parents near the end of the 21st century (it is established he was born in the month of April, but 2086, 2091, 2093, and 2097 are all given as years in various stories), he emigrates
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
to the Belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
as soon as he becomes an adult. There he begins work on an arduous ten year apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
towards the acquisition of his singleship licence. During this time he works as a member of small multi-person crews.
After completing several successful trips, Gil loses his right arm. While attempting to move an asteroid with explosives, crew leader "Cubes" Forsythe miscalculates, which results in the destruction of the valuable rock. A fast moving piece of shrapnel penetrates the ship, slicing off Gil's arm and killing Forsythe instantly. The remaining crewmember, Owen Jennison, quickly seals the hull breach, stops Gil's bleeding, and manages to get him to life-saving medical facilities in time.
While recuperating from his injury, Gil broods over his future as 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....
. Their ship is missing a crew member, Gil is missing an arm, and Owen's reputation is ruined because he took (what Belters consider) unacceptable risks to get Gil back to safety.
In the low gravity of Ceres base, Gil discovers that he has a psi power
Psionics
Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
. His brain, still remembering the "image
Phantom limb
A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached to the body and is moving appropriately with other body parts. 2 out of 3 combat veterans report this feeling. Approximately 60 to 80% of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in their...
" of his lost arm, can use it much as he did his own arm. He can feel and manipulate objects via ESP and telekinesis, respectively. Finding a third crewman, Homer Chandrasekhar, they make several highly profitable trips over the following year. Gil finds his "imaginary arm", though not strong, to be an asset, as he can reach through walls, and accomplish tasks beyond the ability of a normal person. After six months, Gil has earned enough to repay all his medical fees, with a comfortable cash reserve left over.
Despite much disapproval from Owen and Homer, Gil decides to return to Earth and seek to get his citizenship back. On Earth, he can easily get a transplant
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
to replace his missing arm. In the Belt he would have to pay exorbitantly high fees for a transplant, or settle for a prosthetic. Gil, by a quirk of his own nature, can not live with a prosthetic.
Gil receives his new arm, but finds he can still dissociate his imaginary arm from his real one, and reach through walls, flesh, and even vidphone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
screens to manipulate objects he sees in them. Shortly afterward, Gil finds out that his new arm had not come from a condemned criminal as he had hoped, but from the captured stock of "organleggers
Organlegging
Organlegging is the name of a fictional crime in the Known Space universe created by Larry Niven. It is the illicit trade of black market human organs for transplant...
", black market dealers in illicit organ transplants.
To make amends, Gil joins the ARM, the elite global police force.
As an ARM, Hamilton is a high-tech detective, who hunts organleggers and other criminals for a living. With his unusual psi power, he is formidable and highly feared among his enemies.
His exploits are detailed in five "Gil 'the Arm' Hamilton" stories. The stories are noir style, told in first person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
, and frequently involve exotic technology and locked room mysteries
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...
:
- Death by EcstasyDeath by EcstasyDeath 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....
(1968) - The Defenseless DeadThe Defenseless DeadThe Defenseless Dead is a novella in the Known Space universe by Larry Niven. It is the second of five Gil Hamilton detective stories. It was published in 1973 in the Roger Elwood anthology Ten Tomorrows....
(1973) - ARMArm (novella)ARM is a science fiction novella by American author Larry Niven. Set in the Known Space cycle, it is the third of five Gil Hamilton detective stories....
(1975) - The Patchwork GirlThe Patchwork GirlThe Patchwork Girl is a story in Known Space by Larry Niven. It is the fourth of five Gil Hamilton detective stories and the first to be published as a stand-alone novel. It was published alone as a novel in 1986 . It was later included in the Gil Hamilton anthology Flatlander.In a break from his...
(1980) - The Woman in Del Rey Crater (1995)
The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton (1976) (ISBN 0-345-30050-5) contained the first three stories
The Patchwork Girl (1986) was published alone as a novel (ISBN 0-441-65315-4)
Flatlander (1995) (ISBN 0-345-39480-1) is a collection of all five Gil the ARM stories
See also
- Elijah BaleyElijah BaleyElijah Baley is a fictional character in Isaac Asimov's Robot series. He is the main character of the novels The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn, and of the short story "Mirror Image". He is seen in flashbacks several times and talked about frequently in Robots and Empire,...
- Dirk GentlyDirk GentlyDirk Gently is a fictional character created by Douglas Adams and featured in the books Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul...
- Rick DeckardRick DeckardRick Deckard is the protagonist in Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,and also the 1982 film adaptation Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott...
- Detective fictionDetective fictionDetective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
- WhodunitWhodunitA whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...