If I had to pick, I'd say it was Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven. I actually forget which of his books I read first, but that one introduced me to the idea of writing a UNIVERSE, not just a story. I mean I knew about the star wars and star trek universes but they didn't seem as rich and varied as his did.

That was the beginning of my desire to not create a world, but a universe where many worlds live. That's still the heart of my desire but now I want to make it a universe where other people want to go too.

Stay tuned. 😁