The Mote in God's Eye (Mote Series Book 1)

No good, compelling characters. All about events, like an historical docudrama. Trying too hard to be realistic. Didn't really get anywhere until the negotiations with Jock & Charlie were under way.

Book is great but the kindle version is riddled with spelling and grammar errors. i guess no one did a spell check or a review before publishing it for the public to download. =/

still a very good book and one of my favorites!

I would have liked to give this novel three stars, but the sexism was *so* bad that I just could not. The racism (evidently only Caucasians and Arabs made it off of Earth-that-was, and the only Arab that we see is a grating stereotype) was also grim.

The prose is good and the alien culture is much better thought out than most. To the best of my knowledge they got the science right and the speculative science was quite believable. The characterization, though, is lazy, stereotypical, often offensive (the only woman "talks too much"), and generally two-dimensional. This book could be a solid, well written first contact story, but its faults drag it down. It's basically a slightly updated piece of hard 1950's SF written by very skilled Hoary Old White Men of SF.

I can think of three first contact stories by C.J. Cherryh that are at least an order of magnitude better: 'Foreigner', 'Cuckoo's Egg', and 'The Pride of Chanur'. Carl Sagan's 'Contact' is also, on the whole, better.

Is the book worth reading? Yes. It just has telling flaws.

This book can't be a classic of science fiction. It's just not a very good book of fiction, period - despite the prominent endorsement of reputed science-fiction guru Robert Heinlein.

Characters on the daily TV soap operas have more depth, and more full relationships. The "romance" is zero-dimensional.

The plot, about a "first contact" between humans and another specie, is simple - the newly-met specie tries to conceal whom they really are because they don't want humans to fear them and impair their meeting of their unspoken needs. That's obvious around page 200 in the paperback book. The only reason to finish the book is to find out: (1) just how different these non-humans are, and (2) if that's all there is to the story. Trust me, the suspense is at a low level.

There is no adventure as in Carl Sagan's book "First Contact."

Laurie's King's books (A Letter of Mary) are written with a use of English which is lush and deep in meaning. Stuart Woods' books (Santa Fe Rules) are written with snappy dialogue. Ross Thomas' books (The Seersucker Whipsaw) use language like a scalpel to dissect a character and them reassemble them. In this book, Niven and Pournelle use the English language as if they just learned to write with it.

I'm disappointed because I have long been a fan of Jerry Pournelle's writing - about computers in Byte Magazine, and now on his web site [...]. I chose to read this book, even though I know little about science fiction, because I wanted to read what was touted as a classic by Jerry (and Larry).

Reviews of this book speak to Heinlein having offered his endorsement if he were allowed to rewrite some of this book. That may be so, I don't know. But, if Heinlein is proficient writer, the prior draft of "The Mote in God's Eye" must have been pretty bad.

Finally, I don't accept that this book is poorly done because it was written four decades ago, and so much has happened since then. Anthony Boucher was writing much better science fiction short stores in the 1930s to the 1950s (The Compleat Boucher: The Complete Short Science Fiction and Fantasy of Anthony Boucher).

Two stars because it's only not very good.

Take this with a grain of salt, because I only read a few chapters, but I completely agree with the reviewers who say this book does not age well. I never got to the alien culture, which might have been the good part, but the human characters and culture were so mid-20th century in terms of gender and racial/cultural stereotypes that it was hard to credit this as being in the future at all. Moreover, the writing was surprisingly amateurish and pedestrian. I strongly suggest reading a sample before buying.

Bought the Audible version to "re-read" this old favorite. I'm not too picky on narration--all other Audible narrators I've heard have been good to great--but the narrator on this one was awful: annoying voice, rushed reading lacking most nuances that would better convey the flow of dialogue or mood of the moment. Bottom line: for a science fiction classic that ages well, this one has terrible narration

I read this book when it came out, 40 years ago. As I reread it for the first time since then, I was pleased that I could not remember anything about the story (that is no slight against the book, I have trouble enough remembering much from 40 years ago).

The book is set in the far future of mankind, where space has been explored and settled but no alien life has yet been encountered.

Until now.

A probe from a distant planet arrives with a dead alien. The discovery sets off a series of decisions that inevitably leads the curious but cautious human race to investigate the alien's divined planet of origin.

Over the remaining part of the book, we are introduced and taken through a well-thought out and complex civilization with similarities to humanity but superior in many ways.

Various twists and turns leave the reader unsure about the true nature of the aliens and whether they represent boon or bane. Suggesting which (or even both) would give away more than you should want to know.

The writing is crisp, if sometimes stunted. The service to technical "accuracies" is more developed than some of the relationships between the characters. The romantic thread seems particularly awkward.

The book is a compelling read, combining great "old" science fiction with much thought-provoking societal conceptualizing.

I'm not completely satisfied with the ending, though I have not imagined anything more acceptable. In total, it's a recommended novel.

As a seasoned sci-fi reader and huge fan of Heinlein (and encouraged by my husband, a huge Niven/Pournelle fan), thought I would try this out (I am currently trying to find new authors to engage with). It was quite disappointing.

One-dimensional characters and plot, juvenile attitudes toward sex, very little focus on tech/biotech, zero good character development - I felt like I had stumbled into a 50s sci-fi pulp convention. In general, I thought the writing was very poor quality - jerky, flat, tons of typos, marionette-like characters, ridiculous aliens - waited forever to get to the unveiling of certain plot points - no smooth flow or logical exposition.

At times it reads like a book of pastiche - pasted together concepts stolen from existing sci-fi stories and tweaked a little. The main characters read like caricatures of human beings - awkward, wooden, not engaging - as if the authors had a secondhand or superficial grasp on what politicians, scientists, military personnel are really like and just wrote what they thought they would be like.

SPOILER ALERT - the idea that a million year old civilization with experience in genetic engineering would not make it a top priority to fix their societal achilles heel that keeps destroying them is just ludicrous. This plot hole really killed it for me. Necessity is the mother of invention - except for this story where the aliens seem completely flummoxed and incapable in spite of an implied technological superiority. The fact that the first thing the humans did once they figured out the aliens' issue was form a foundation to study the issue to see if a solution could be had - and the aliens lacked the skill to figure this out on their own? Instead, they poured massive resources into museums so they could ramp up each time they destroyed themselves? Rubbish.

Finally, a single planet of organic life could consume all of the metals in a solar system? That's also a bit of a stretch - even if the planet were overpopulated.

Some potential here but not fleshed out well at all - particularly the scenes where the protagonists meet the aliens for the first time - truly unbelievable character sequences in this part of the book. The Mote in God's Eye won't appeal to sophisticated sci-fi readers. Forget Heinlein's endorsement. His blind spot for all things naval addled his perspective on this one - and I say that as a hardcore Heinlein fan.

It is good to see so many people are still reading this and mostly enjoying it. I read it long ago and found it the other day in paperback in the used book store so I grabbed it. It is a good story and yes, the navy depicted runs along lines familiar if you've read C.S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian. No flogging, though. The book might've been shortened by about 150 pages, we get right down to the nitty-gritty here, but I didn't mind, I was having fun.

Not fun for me was the rundown in chapter 26 of the geophysical characteristics of the alien world. The star is Sun-like though slightly dimmer; the world, described as 'cool', is Earth-like though slightly smaller and closer. the atmosphere is 16% O2, 79% N2 and 2.9% CO2 with many minor constituents. They don't give MSLP but since humans breathe it, it must be around 1000 mb or near Earth-normal. Now, everyone reading this should be able to appreciate what it means that 2.9% CO2 translates into 29,000 ppm. Under these conditions the world would be far from 'cool'. There is a law of limiting returns with CO2; double the concentration and you get less than twice the absorption, but our world would be unrecongnizeable with 29,000 ppm CO2. Tropospheric temperatures would go though the roof, the seas be nearly dead, lapping on deserts due to high evaporation rates.

But once I shut those thoughts off, I enjoyed the read, I have not read the sequels, they're never as good are they.

I loved this book. It's a great take on first contact. It's a topic that fascinates me, and one that is often tackled by science fiction authors, and this book is a fascinating read. It touches on details that I hadn't thought of in this situation.

The book is formed from two parts. The first is the initial contact with the aliens and the expedition to initiate first contact. This was my favourite part of the book. The aliens are well realised, with just enough commonality to allow the reader to relate to them, but with sufficient differences to make them feel alien. To be honest, I would have been happy to read more about this process.

Naturally the aliens have a secret, one that threatens any possible deal with humanity. This leads into the second part of the book with the political fallout and dealings within the human empire. While this didn't interest me as much as discovering the aliens, it did raise some interesting points and does set it up nicely for the next book.

It does have it's flaws though. The core story is fine, but some of the components don't match up. The characterisation is limited in many cases with most just filling their roles for the plot. Don't let that put you off though, this is a gem of a read.

Most older sci-fi suffers from the massive evolution of technology we have had. Tape recorders, massive yet slow computers, and paper printouts stand out awkwardly. The blue-tooth, nano-technology gadgetry we have now is startlingly absent from a humanity so advanced. Once you get past that, and the seventies era stereotypes, this book has some fascinating points. There are contributions which have now been used so many times they might seem like old hat, but I'll bet they were new and fresh when this came out. I enjoyed the Dune-est "galactic empire" bit, and a militarization of space that only sunk a little into the Star Trek mode of pigeonholing characters. The Moties (the alien race in question) started out endlessly intriguing, but seemed to adapt to human ways and manifest human characterizations a little too quickly. They were very different and alien to begin with, but their home planet reverted into a bit too much of what I would expect of a human planet (cars, skyscrapers, and the like). That said, there were some really interesting new angles and ideas here, and when the writing wasn't weighed down with slow moving non-essential events and seventies clutter, it was actually quite a bit of a page turner.

Originally posted at FanLit

The Mote in God's Eye, co-written by frequent collaborators Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is a classic First Contact science fiction story which Robert A. Heinlein called "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The story takes place in 3017 AD in the future of Jerry Pournelle's CODOMINION universe (though it's not necessary to have read any of those books to enjoy The Mote in God's Eye). Humans have developed the Alderson Drive which allows them to immediately jump to certain points in space. Thus they've been able to colonize many planets which are ruled by a single government similar to the British monarchy.

Up to this point humans have assumed they're the only intelligent species in the universe, but an alien spaceship has just been detected near the Mote system. The spaceship MacArthur, captained by Lord Roderick Blaine, is dispatched to intercept the alien. Besides its regular crew, MacArthur has a couple of civilian passengers temporarily on board: Horace Bury, a trader and political prisoner, and Sally Fowler, a cultural anthropologist (how fortuitous) and senator's niece.

It turns out that the alien in the probe ship is dead, but the humans figure out where the home planet must be, so Roderick Blaine, Sally Fowler, Horace Bury, a priest, the crew of MacArthur and a team of scientists are sent on a diplomatic mission to the planet they call Mote Prime. The ship Lenin is sent for back up. It's captained by Admiral Kutuzov, a ruthless but effective man whose job is to not let the Moties learn anything that could help them build an Alderson Drive and escape the bounds of their own solar system.

Upon arrival at Mote Prime the diplomats find that the Moties are friendly and want to be allies. An alliance and trade agreement with the Moties would be beneficial to the human empire because, except for the lack of an Alderson Drive, the Moties are far more technologically advanced. But that means they're also a threat. The diplomatic mission must discover all they can about the Motie society so it can make a recommendation to the empire about how to deal with this species they're sharing the universe with. This, of course, is not as easy as it seems. Do the Moties really have pure intentions toward the humans, or are they deceiving them for some reason?

The Mote in God's Eye, published in 1974, is a nice change of pace from most of the human vs. alien science fiction that had been previously published. Niven and Pournelle create a truly alien society and explore its evolution, history, sociology, and motivations. The story is compelling because Niven and Pournelle capitalize on the mystery, leaving the reader as much in the dark about the Moties' true intentions as the human characters are. The truth is surprising (though, I thought, not completely believable).

Niven and Pournelle write unique stories but they're not superior stylists; I read their books for the plot and ideas -- not to admire their use of structure or language. This particular story is interesting, has a few great characters (Blaine, Kutuzov, the priest, and the Brownie aliens), and has an occasional nice touch of humor, but it sometimes suffers from shallow characterization, excessive dialogue, and an old-fashioned feel. The action is exciting, but limited. There is a lot of the normal "hard SF" explanation of drives, fields, stars, ships, etc, but there are also a lot of meetings in which the humans (or aliens) are trying to figure out what the aliens (or humans) know, assume, intend, and plan. Some of this was amusing (for example when the aliens are trying to figure out some aspects of human behavior) but many of the discussions just go on too long. Also, for a story set in 3017, ideas about birth control, sex, and women's roles in society feel rather quaint.

The Mote in God's Eye was published in 1974 and nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. Nearly 20 years later Niven and Pournelle published a sequel called The Gripping Hand. It was not well received so, in 2010, Jerry Pournelle's daughter J.R. Pournelle wrote and published another sequel called Outies.

I listened to Audible Frontier's audio version of The Mote in God's Eye. L.J. Ganser does a great job with the narration. This title has recently been released in CD format by Brilliance Audio.

This book sits among many peers as a first contact story. Many years in the future, humans encounter an alien race that seems drastically different with unique abilities. At first glance they are friendly, but then they show evidence of potential malice. After a while they convince the humans that they have no ill intent, but not everyone is so trusting. The story seems to flip flop as to whether we like the moties or not, but I'll let you work the truth out on your own.

What I really enjoyed was the way the story relates to human nature. In several instances it is pointed out how the moties make choices just like humans and vice versa. Despite all of the differences, humans and moties may not be so different.

Very well written. The story tends to stall at some points, but overall flows well.

The Mote in God’s Eye is a good old space opera, written decades ago, but which easily translates to sci-fi readers today. It is a good first contact novel, with a space opera setting, an untested captain too young for his post, a human empire spanning most of known space complete with aristocracy. The details of the first contact are what really drive the book. The cultural nuances humans and the aliens must come to terms with. This is what makes good sci-fi, the “human” element, not other details like the science and future science.

Modern readers often comment that comparisons between this book and a certain famous scifi television series are annoying or too perceptible. I on the other hand don’t mind the comparisons since these authors actually wrote some of the episodes and later movies. I actually kind of like the parallels. I loved that show, and this book has the same tone. Not surprising that I love this book too.

Some books I tear through. And some just lag. For me, this book was engaging and entertaining enough that I was not quite tearing through it, but, had problems putting it down.

The Mote in God’s Eye is a good old space opera, written decades ago, but which easily translates to sci-fi readers today. It is a good first contact novel, with a space opera setting, an untested captain too young for his post, a human empire spanning most of known space complete with aristocracy. The details of the first contact are what really drive the book. The cultural nuances humans and the aliens must come to terms with. This is what makes good sci-fi, the “human” element, not other details like the science and future science.

Modern readers often comment that comparisons between this book and a certain famous scifi television series are annoying or too perceptible. I on the other hand don’t mind the comparisons since these authors actually wrote some of the episodes and later movies. I actually kind of like the parallels. I loved that show, and this book has the same tone. Not surprising that I love this book too.

Some books I tear through. And some just lag. For me, this book was engaging and entertaining enough that I was not quite tearing through it, but, had problems putting it down.

What's cool:
All the thought that's gone into the scenario of mankind meeting an alien civilization for the first time. Creative and interesting. If that's your thing you'll want to read this.

What not so cool:
The characters are just dull, at least in my perception of them. The author failed at making them memorable and there were times when I had difficulty differentiating between some of the lesser albeit significant characters, most notably the middies. Also, what attempts there are at humor remind me of dad-jokes. Then again this book is rather old.

I recommend it to:
People who like science fiction and think humans are boring and should stay that way - even in books.

Larry Niven is incredibly good at hard science fiction. In fact, most modern authors of that genre take inspiration from Niven and his frequent co-author, Jerry Pournelle. In this novel, Niven creates an incredible species comprised of specialists: different sub-forms of the species are incredibly good at one thing. Then Humans arrive with our "jack of all trades, master of none" composition. And it doesn't take us long to realize a startling truth: if the aliens ever escape their world, that will spell the end of all Humanity!

I appreciated how the author was able to create a species with a completely non-Human physiology and mindset, but without falling into the trap of a lot of such sci-fi that trumpets the superiority of Humanity over other forms. He renders the aliens with a tenderness and sympathy missing from most other sci-fi alien novels.

This is a fine piece of sci-fi, and probably should be in any must-read sci-fi books list.

What makes this book special is that it explores in good detail how an encounter between us and an alien race could happen (assuming they don't come to visit us first!). Niven and Pournelle were able to explore that contact in a realistic way, and also developed a coherent concept behind the alien race. I mean, this alien race is quite different from us, but all their differences are consistent and make sense within the story.
The book has a good level of thrill and explores these differences at length.

Criticisms:
- At 70-80% of the book the story gets slow.. .it's not clear where it's going... gets a little bit boring
- The human characters are not wholly believable.. .not as deep as they could. Not only that but the political system and discussions described at the end of the book are just not real, and seem to be a little bit naive or simplistic. This is not uncommon in sci-fi, but still...
- The romance part of the book is unnecessary or, if actually needed, could be made more realistic too.

The books compensates the simplicitiy of some elements with a rich description of the alien race, still making it a very interesting read.

As a reader, I have to admit that I don't read a huge amount of sci-fi. I like a good sci-fi story and I've read some of the "classic" sci-fi novel, such as Frank Herbert's DUNE. However, unlike many of my friends who read sci-fi novels, I just can't keep up. A lot of sci-fi authors create an entire universe and after the initial book or trilogy, a lot of action and story are lost. Not only that, but often the devotion to detail and actual scientific probability that some authors have, makes a lot of sci-fi reading rather boring. In general, sci-fi (even the crappy stuff) has good character development, semi-realistic dialogue, and based in reality. On the other hand, in general, sci-fi also often lacks action and suspense (not just the political kind). The best sci-fi books have not only an attention to detail, good character development, and decent dialog but lots of action and suspense.

When a good friend of mine discovered my interest in sci-fi, he gave me his old copy of THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE. He told me that Robert Heinlein had said it was one of the best pieces of sci-fi he had ever read. He also told me he thought it was one of the best sci-fi pieces he had read and he has a huge collection. At that time, I had never heard of Larry Niven or Jerry Pournelle, so I didn't know anything about either author's writing style.

THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE can be taken both literally and figuratively. In the novel, the phrase refers to a star in a particular area of space. However, on a deeper level the phrase can be taken as a metaphor for the aliens the humans encounter. There's also all the Biblical imagery going on about taking the log out of your own eye before complaining about the mote (or speck) in someone else's.

Anyway, the story basically revolves around humanity's first encounter with an intelligent alien race. This race becomes known as the "Moties". The Moties appear somewhat humanoid, but their physiology is much different. In fact, there is a major difference in their physiology that is a key plot element of the story. Although they are a very old race, they appear to be on the verge of intergalactic travel. Two ships are sent through the transportation point in the Mote, a battleship and a cruise ship carrying those who will be part of the scientific and diplomatic part of the mission to Mote space. Initially things seem to be going well, but then the battleship is overtaken by Moties who seem to reproduce overnight. That ship is ultimately abandoned and destroyed. The scientists and diplomats aboard the cruiser do much better and eventually return home with the survivors of the battleship and a group of three Motie ambassadors who want to appeal to the ruling human body for the approval to set up colonies. Unbeknownst to the humans, is that the Moties actually have a secret agenda.

THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE is an excellent piece of sci-fi. It has just the right mixture of action and suspense (both psychological and political), character development, and good dialog. Nothing in the story seemed all that far fetched to me. Other than two inventions loosely based on known science at the time, the science is grounded. Also, the story has a deep historical background since the events of the novel take place within Jerry Pournelle's Co-Dominium universe. Of course, you don't have to know anything about the Co-Dominium world because what you need to know is explained in the book; the novel is a stand alone work. There's a space battle, a scene where three soldiers attempt to survive in a rural area of Mote Prime, political intrigue, a conniving merchant, a hot-headed admiral, lots of science jargon, a great big mystery, and sex (not graphic). It has something to appeal to all types of sci-fi fans and is all put together very well.

Like a previous reviewer, this is a book to re-read every 5 or 6 years. I've done that since the book was originally published. So it is a definite "must-read" of science-fiction. But I've got to admit that parts of the book are clumsily written, and the authors' Euro-centric vision of the future is badly dated. The "naive and trusting" scientist types were obsolete as fictional characters in 1974 and it is painful to encounter them in the book. So only 4 stars.

The creation of the Moties, however, is one of the greatest triumphs of the book. Most superior alien races in science-fiction are simply technologically more advanced than homo sapiens: they've been at it longer than we have. The Moties are not only more technologically advanced than us, but simply smarter and better than us as well. No computer virus is going to beat them! Given any problem to solve, a Motie would do it faster and better than a human.

Yet it is difficult to imagine a totally non-human lifeform, and despite the authors' best intentions, I now realize that they extrapolated a vision of human history without interstellar expansion and came up with the Mote civilization. The book even raises the question "imagine what would have happened to humanity had the Alderson Drive not been discovered". 37 years after publication, with the world population at 7 billion, I can't help but think that, in AD 300,000, we will look and act just like the Moties.

The Mote in God's Eye is one of the best collaboration pieces in science
fiction history. Using the Codominium world of Jerry Pournell, shaped by
the hard science fiction genius of Larry Niven, this book shines the whole
way through. And you will want to find the initial battle scene that was
cut from the book but is out in some other book by Niven somewhere. Great
story, great characters, and some of the best aliens ever invented, this
book is a gem for the serious fan of science fiction. One of the nice
touches is a description of space ship life sans artificial gravity. The
the ship is in boost the floor is perpendicular to the angle of thrust,
just like in the real universe. When the ship goes fast people sit in
acceleration couches, unable to move. When the ship is stopped it spins to
produce pseudo-gravity, and the ship is rearranged to make the outer walls
the floor. And it is all done in the book by a navy that is used to such
things, and it comes across as such. Lot's of mentions to Pournell's other
works (Sauron Supermen, the Codominium of America and Soviets). Really a
great book and deserving of all the rewards it garnered.

One of the dangers of success in a genre is that authors let it go to their heads and start to preach instead of telling a story or even making an interesting point. In general, this has been the problem with the collaborative works of Larry Niven (whose old work, like Ringworld, is classic, fantastic science fiction) and Jerry Pournelle (whose nonfiction, especially about engineering, is fascinating). They have a political axe to grind, it seems, and so they do, which is why most of their work together is of such poor quality; note Footfall.

But The Mote in God's Eye defies this trend. It's not a literary book, but it is a good, engaging read. In sharp contrast to the silly militarism that makes most of Pournelle's other work so dull, here his experience as a veteran shines through in the little details of military life, and it becomes part of the story without becoming the entire story; perhaps this is the influence of Niven, since the space travel ideas in this novel are really fascinating. The science is internally consistent, and it compliments the story; in fact the idea of the only jump-point from a star being in a star itself is a very clever one, and the story hinges on this interesting point. The politics and questions of alien contact are also engaging, and the characters fit the story well.

It is unlikely that The Mote in God's Eye will make you think, but it will entertain and keep the reader turning the pages. We sometimes assume that all good writing must be deep; how nice to find a book that shows this isn't so.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have devised an enjoyable and thoughtful science fiction tale of extraterrestrial first contact. "The Mote in God's Eye" is set shortly after a vast human space empire has reformed after years of war. Then from a star system comes an alien prode which sets in motion an expedition to meet the first truely intelligent alien life yet found (they are deemed moties after the nickname of the star). While intially laregly peaceful, both humans and their highly intelligent alien counterparts are hiding secrets which could lead to the destruction of either. Several of the book's strenghts include good characterizations of both humans and aliens. The authors could very easily have made the moties silly. However in general this was avoided and some of the motie characters are rather sympathetic even if their goals may not be in human interests. The confrontations between scientific, religious, and military views are also handled quite well. The battle scenes are well executed. While a little long at times, the book was quite captivating for the most part and the writing well handled. Overall while I can't say I liked every aspect of the novel I must say I enjoyed it greatly.

There is little question after reading The Mote In God's Eye why it is considered a Science Fiction classic. This is a book written in a fashion that you rarely see today. The characters are developed and believable, the aliens are truly alien but believable and the science has held up very well considering the time when this book was written.
The book takes place in a time long after Man has spread across the stars. Humans have not had an easy go of it and have had Galaxy wide governments rise and fall in the past. Earth has been nearly destroyed by the wars of the past. Entire planets have been wiped out in civil war. At the time of the telling the universe recovering from the last great collapse and has recovered most of there previous technology but not all. Rebellions persist but are beginning to be brought under control. Oddly enough in all the thousands of years no intelligent aliens have ever been encountered until now.
The book takes a group of people involved in a recently subdued rebellion, both villain and hero, and thrusts them into the forefront of first contact with Aliens. The action is rapid and the plot not predictable. What seems evil is often good, what seems good is often evil and much is somewhere in that gray in between area.
The vast majority of the book deals with the main human characters encounters with the aliens and their attempt at understanding them and there struggle on how to deal with them. I don't want to say much more as anything else would ruin some rather clever plot twists. A thinking mans Science Fiction novel that is a true delight to read.

I don't say that about every second book I read. It is the story of fascinating human society , a mixture of royalty and nobels with a military aristocratism , in a the year 3000+ ,that spans hundreads of planets , and it's first contact with an alien race.
Never before , and I have read MANY books , have I ever read about an alien race so ancient , well-planned , thought-of , original , remarkebly-diffrent-from-humans , and fascinating as the Moties. They are , without doubt , the best aliens I have ever read about.
Besides that , simply every charecter in the book was developed into a completly realistic human-being you could understand it's perfectly clear logic and expect it to act according to it's nature.
"The Mote In God's Eye" also features the most indepth look into an alien society , culture and way-of-thinking than I have ever encounterd else-where. The Motie's way-of-thought is truely different than human's and is wonderfully showed through the non-human charecters.
Don't worry , it's not all socieology ,there's Niven scientific writing and ideas coupeled with Pournle's militarism and action. It is the fullest book I've read - it leaves nothing out! action , drama , suspense , hard-technolegy , alien-secrets and schemes , human politics and power-struggels , love and trust , violence and suspicision , and all writen with the best hands in science-fiction , trancending everything writen before , and so-far , everything writen afterwards.
One thing I've not mentioned thus far is the phlilosofic side of the book and it's critecism on today's society , but for that you'll have to read it for your selves , not be told about it.
I've probably left something unsaid , so just know that this book is BETTER than what can be writen about it , and you must READ IT in order to really undestand it's greatness.
Not just very recommended but A MUST READ.

The best first contact book ever.

Human society is recovering from an interstellar war that knocked some planets back to the stone age and lost some technologies, from the First Empire.

Out of the ashes a new empire has arisen, based on a feudal system.

Interstellar transport is done via 'tramlines' between some stars. Ships must first take weeks traveling to the tram-line endpoint, then jump, taking more weeks at the other end to get to a planet or another tram-line point. (So interstellar travel still takes weeks or months but is possible).

A signal is detected at a remote point of the empire and ships sent to investigate. First contact occurs.

The aliens are very alien, but also very human, it's probably the best take on what aliens might be like I've come across.

Some reviews say the book is boring in places and is very dated. Remember the book was first published in 1974! (Two years after the last moon landing). There was no internet, PDA's etc. (And remember this is a society recovering from near extinction).

As to the boring bits. Yes some parts are slow, but they develop the background nicely and are worth paying attention to.
The action scenes are great.

The authors carefully considered the impact on society the type of drive technology and shield technology would have. It all falls together nicely.

Highly recommended.

There is little question after reading The Mote In God's Eye why it is considered a Science Fiction classic. This is a book written in a fashion that you rarely see today. The characters are developed and believable, the aliens are truly alien but believable and the science has held up very well considering the time when this book was written.
The book takes place in a time long after Man has spread across the stars. Humans have not had an easy go of it and have had Galaxy wide governments rise and fall in the past. Earth has been nearly destroyed by the wars of the past. Entire planets have been wiped out in civil war. At the time of the telling the universe recovering from the last great collapse and has recovered most of there previous technology but not all. Rebellions persist but are beginning to be brought under control. Oddly enough in all the thousands of years no intelligent aliens have ever been encountered until now.
The book takes a group of people involved in a recently subdued rebellion, both villain and hero, and thrusts them into the forefront of first contact with Aliens. The action is rapid and the plot not predictable. What seems evil is often good, what seems good is often evil and much is somewhere in that gray in between area.
The vast majority of the book deals with the main human characters encounters with the aliens and their attempt at understanding them and there struggle on how to deal with them. I don't want to say much more as anything else would ruin some rather clever plot twists. A thinking mans Science Fiction novel that is a true delight to read.

Definitely not a usual experience. Very recommended if you're into first contact material. The characters are numerous - and the novel has an actual list of them so you don't lose track. The aliens may appear cartoonish at times, with an overall sense of almost comedy, I think, but that wouldn't spoil the book.

Widely considered a masterpiece of modern sci-fi, this is a story of the human race making first contact with aliens.
Set in the far future where humans have already spread out into the stars, and have colony worlds all over the place.

One day a mystery probe comes in to an imperial star system from a nearby system that is hard to access by ftl drive dues to its unusual setup. The probe is alien and starts of the humans going in to check out the Mote system.

There are friendly little aliens with dark enough secrets to matter, and the game is afoot, so to speak.

Not as fast paced as the Beowolf Schaffer stories, not as original as the Integral Trees / Smoke Ring set, not as change the face of XBOX forever (Halo comes from Ringworld if you didnt know)...

Still this is a well imagined scenario in a fairly well developed story. It gets a bit bogged down in places for my taste, but I am still glad I read it, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

A story of First Contact. No. The Story of First Contact. It is hard to imagine how first contact with a non-terrestrial species could unfold differently from this novel's projection, allowing for the inevitable differences in characteristics between Niven and Pournelle's imagined species and whatever true one(s) emerge. Neither side can afford to let the full truth be known; both sides hide certain secrets all the while attempting to pull out the other's; yet both sides really want (for differing reasons here) peace and the possibility of growing prosperity between species. The thought of the different castes/subspecies of the Moties was a wonderful touch; the secret they conceal, a history of continual and destructive Cycles, based on their biology, was inspired. Even without these two aspects of the non-Human intelligence, though, this is a wonderful book. Well written, with strong characters, some of whom are neither "good" nor "bad" ~ though one attributes them one way or the other at various times ~ but, like all people, a mixture of motives. The only quibble i have, the only thing which jarred slightly was the sudden and utter turnabout of the Trader Bury from a twisting weasel to a straightforward enemy of the Moties. I know why it happened, it just doesn't quite ring true. One small point, though, in a full-length novel isn't bad going!

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are known for their numerous collaborations, and this, I believe, is their masterpiece. These two writers seem to bring out the best in each other. Pournelle with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things military, and Niven with his alien-making craft and genetic obsession together craft a story that is meticilous in its detail and believable. The characters are well-thought out and rounded, even if they do have somewhat stereotypical roles. But the most amazing thing about the book is its presentation. The authors here have crafted one of the most conspiciously detailed alien races in science fiction, The Moties. They don't fit into the normal, subverted alien niche, and there is quite a bit of new ground covered here. Also, the problem of First Contact is examined here in every possible facet. The book shows how contact with a civilized alien race might affect our economy, military, government, trade, politics, religion, and more. It also raises ethical and moral questions that we might have in that situation (and suggests some events that might lead to this happening.) All in all, a very well-written book that captures a particular canon of science fiction almost perfectly. Highly reccommended.

The Mote in God's Eye.
First contact between humans and aliens is a recurring theme in science fiction. But it has never, in my opinion, been done as well as in this book. I've read lots of science fiction, and first contact novels are a favourite of mine, and this one stands head and shoulders above anything else in that line.
What sets this one out is the plausibility and originality of the contact, the extraordinary detail of the setting, the absorbing development of the plot, and, most of all, the aliens themselves. These are some of the best aliens you will ever read about.
You get to know them very well. At first, they are puzzling, as the humans meet a small ship with several aliens on it. Their behaviour makes no sense at first, but later on in the book, as you get to know their culture, you look back and it makes perfect sense. The alien culture is ancient, and absolutely fascinating. The aliens seem friendly, intelligent and reasonable, with a structured society based, among other things, on extreme specialisation. But the aliens have a secret, a bad secret. There's something about them that the humans cannot find out. If they did find out, the aliens fear that the human race would stop at nothing until they are destroyed. As I learned what it was, I must admit, I agreed - I would wipe them out! That might seem a bit bloodthirsty, but just wait'll you find out what the secret is!
This is a just fabulous book. It keeps you interested from page one, the humans characters are likeable and have depth, and the aliens are just incredible - likeable in themselves, and very useful - but there's that secret problem, isn't there? So, what happens? Do the humans find out? If they do, what do they do then? If they don't, just exactly what happens?
This is a fantastic read, and a book you'll treasure. After the first reading, ok, you'll know the secret, but just reacquainting yourself with the aliens and getting involved in the story again will bring you back to it time and again.

This book came highly recommended. Nevertheless, looking at the cover of the ... paperback gave me pause...a cheesy looking tableau, featuring a three armed gremlin/teddy bear floating in space. Fortunately, a bit of reading proved the old maxim true once again. This is a wonderful piece of speculative science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye presents a fully realized vision of first contact with an intelligent alien race. Cultural as well as military aspects of the encounter are considered, as is the alien perspective. It's interesting to speculate on just what "face" we would present to an alien race, i.e., what we would choose to reveal, and what to hide. And of course, this works both ways.
One aspect of the book that I feel is unrealistic, and this applies also to almost every other account of contact with aliens as well, is the relative lack of fear shown by the humans. I believe that were we to definitively discover that we shared the universe with beings of equal or greater intelligence, the first reaction would be general terror. This aspect of human nature seems rarely explored in science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye is not especially well written. The best word I can think of to describe the prose is "leaden." The dialogue is also laughable at times, as are bizarre anachronisms, such as characters who speak in a Scottish brogue. It isn't always easy to follow the characters' thoughts merely by what they say, and action sequences can be confusing. Surprisingly though, these flaws are more than compensated for by good characterization and great ideas. The characters, in particular, are very well developed, interesting, and complex. The plot moves along well, with plenty of twists to keep it spicy. I could hardly put this book down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
One more complaint if you'll indulge me. Where is it written that science fiction must be sold in cruddy little paperback books? The cheesy presentation of this book in particular (as well as many others I've seen) surely can't help sales much. In addition, such books are hard to read and handle, and the text smudged whenever I touched the pages. I'm used to buying fiction in a larger format, with nice paper, and satin finished covers. I'd be more than willing to pay a few more bucks for a book worthy of the material inside it, and I suspect others would as well.

There is little question after reading The Mote In God's Eye why it is considered a Science Fiction classic. This is a book written in a fashion that you rarely see today. The characters are developed and believable, the aliens are truly alien but believable and the science has held up very well considering the time when this book was written.
The book takes place in a time long after Man has spread across the stars. Humans have not had an easy go of it and have had Galaxy wide governments rise and fall in the past. Earth has been nearly destroyed by the wars of the past. Entire planets have been wiped out in civil war. At the time of the telling the universe recovering from the last great collapse and has recovered most of there previous technology but not all. Rebellions persist but are beginning to be brought under control. Oddly enough in all the thousands of years no intelligent aliens have ever been encountered until now.
The book takes a group of people involved in a recently subdued rebellion, both villain and hero, and thrusts them into the forefront of first contact with Aliens. The action is rapid and the plot not predictable. What seems evil is often good, what seems good is often evil and much is somewhere in that gray in between area.
The vast majority of the book deals with the main human characters encounters with the aliens and their attempt at understanding them and there struggle on how to deal with them. I don't want to say much more as anything else would ruin some rather clever plot twists. A thinking mans Science Fiction novel that is a true delight to read.

I had to own a hard cover edition of this to pass on to my children. It is one of the most creative sci-fi novels of all time. The aliens are not in any way like humans and they force us to consider what such an encounter might be like.

Definitely not a usual experience. Very recommended if you're into first contact material. The characters are numerous - and the novel has an actual list of them so you don't lose track. The aliens may appear cartoonish at times, with an overall sense of almost comedy, I think, but that wouldn't spoil the book.

Widely considered a masterpiece of modern sci-fi, this is a story of the human race making first contact with aliens.
Set in the far future where humans have already spread out into the stars, and have colony worlds all over the place.

One day a mystery probe comes in to an imperial star system from a nearby system that is hard to access by ftl drive dues to its unusual setup. The probe is alien and starts of the humans going in to check out the Mote system.

There are friendly little aliens with dark enough secrets to matter, and the game is afoot, so to speak.

Not as fast paced as the Beowolf Schaffer stories, not as original as the Integral Trees / Smoke Ring set, not as change the face of XBOX forever (Halo comes from Ringworld if you didnt know)...

Still this is a well imagined scenario in a fairly well developed story. It gets a bit bogged down in places for my taste, but I am still glad I read it, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

A story of First Contact. No. The Story of First Contact. It is hard to imagine how first contact with a non-terrestrial species could unfold differently from this novel's projection, allowing for the inevitable differences in characteristics between Niven and Pournelle's imagined species and whatever true one(s) emerge. Neither side can afford to let the full truth be known; both sides hide certain secrets all the while attempting to pull out the other's; yet both sides really want (for differing reasons here) peace and the possibility of growing prosperity between species. The thought of the different castes/subspecies of the Moties was a wonderful touch; the secret they conceal, a history of continual and destructive Cycles, based on their biology, was inspired. Even without these two aspects of the non-Human intelligence, though, this is a wonderful book. Well written, with strong characters, some of whom are neither "good" nor "bad" ~ though one attributes them one way or the other at various times ~ but, like all people, a mixture of motives. The only quibble i have, the only thing which jarred slightly was the sudden and utter turnabout of the Trader Bury from a twisting weasel to a straightforward enemy of the Moties. I know why it happened, it just doesn't quite ring true. One small point, though, in a full-length novel isn't bad going!

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are known for their numerous collaborations, and this, I believe, is their masterpiece. These two writers seem to bring out the best in each other. Pournelle with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things military, and Niven with his alien-making craft and genetic obsession together craft a story that is meticilous in its detail and believable. The characters are well-thought out and rounded, even if they do have somewhat stereotypical roles. But the most amazing thing about the book is its presentation. The authors here have crafted one of the most conspiciously detailed alien races in science fiction, The Moties. They don't fit into the normal, subverted alien niche, and there is quite a bit of new ground covered here. Also, the problem of First Contact is examined here in every possible facet. The book shows how contact with a civilized alien race might affect our economy, military, government, trade, politics, religion, and more. It also raises ethical and moral questions that we might have in that situation (and suggests some events that might lead to this happening.) All in all, a very well-written book that captures a particular canon of science fiction almost perfectly. Highly reccommended.

The Mote in God's Eye.
First contact between humans and aliens is a recurring theme in science fiction. But it has never, in my opinion, been done as well as in this book. I've read lots of science fiction, and first contact novels are a favourite of mine, and this one stands head and shoulders above anything else in that line.
What sets this one out is the plausibility and originality of the contact, the extraordinary detail of the setting, the absorbing development of the plot, and, most of all, the aliens themselves. These are some of the best aliens you will ever read about.
You get to know them very well. At first, they are puzzling, as the humans meet a small ship with several aliens on it. Their behaviour makes no sense at first, but later on in the book, as you get to know their culture, you look back and it makes perfect sense. The alien culture is ancient, and absolutely fascinating. The aliens seem friendly, intelligent and reasonable, with a structured society based, among other things, on extreme specialisation. But the aliens have a secret, a bad secret. There's something about them that the humans cannot find out. If they did find out, the aliens fear that the human race would stop at nothing until they are destroyed. As I learned what it was, I must admit, I agreed - I would wipe them out! That might seem a bit bloodthirsty, but just wait'll you find out what the secret is!
This is a just fabulous book. It keeps you interested from page one, the humans characters are likeable and have depth, and the aliens are just incredible - likeable in themselves, and very useful - but there's that secret problem, isn't there? So, what happens? Do the humans find out? If they do, what do they do then? If they don't, just exactly what happens?
This is a fantastic read, and a book you'll treasure. After the first reading, ok, you'll know the secret, but just reacquainting yourself with the aliens and getting involved in the story again will bring you back to it time and again.

This book came highly recommended. Nevertheless, looking at the cover of the ... paperback gave me pause...a cheesy looking tableau, featuring a three armed gremlin/teddy bear floating in space. Fortunately, a bit of reading proved the old maxim true once again. This is a wonderful piece of speculative science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye presents a fully realized vision of first contact with an intelligent alien race. Cultural as well as military aspects of the encounter are considered, as is the alien perspective. It's interesting to speculate on just what "face" we would present to an alien race, i.e., what we would choose to reveal, and what to hide. And of course, this works both ways.
One aspect of the book that I feel is unrealistic, and this applies also to almost every other account of contact with aliens as well, is the relative lack of fear shown by the humans. I believe that were we to definitively discover that we shared the universe with beings of equal or greater intelligence, the first reaction would be general terror. This aspect of human nature seems rarely explored in science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye is not especially well written. The best word I can think of to describe the prose is "leaden." The dialogue is also laughable at times, as are bizarre anachronisms, such as characters who speak in a Scottish brogue. It isn't always easy to follow the characters' thoughts merely by what they say, and action sequences can be confusing. Surprisingly though, these flaws are more than compensated for by good characterization and great ideas. The characters, in particular, are very well developed, interesting, and complex. The plot moves along well, with plenty of twists to keep it spicy. I could hardly put this book down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
One more complaint if you'll indulge me. Where is it written that science fiction must be sold in cruddy little paperback books? The cheesy presentation of this book in particular (as well as many others I've seen) surely can't help sales much. In addition, such books are hard to read and handle, and the text smudged whenever I touched the pages. I'm used to buying fiction in a larger format, with nice paper, and satin finished covers. I'd be more than willing to pay a few more bucks for a book worthy of the material inside it, and I suspect others would as well.

What a title! The Mote in God's Eye has to be the best title in the history of Science Fiction. Anyway, this novel of the far future when mankind is well on its way to colonizing the galaxy, is hard SF with the conventions thereof. There is the hard-charging battle-scarred captain with a sensitive side. There is the uber-Military admiral with the crusty exterior and the soft middle. There is the female xenobiologist who tries to explain alien psychology (and is often wrong). There are the requisite explanations of what far future human society has become. But the real stars of this book are the Moties, a race as alien and yet not alien as possible. I won't explain that duality here, as that could spoil one of the great joys of this book. The aliens may be the most ingenious ever imagined by man, and they present all sorts of problems, physical and philosophical, for the humans who come upon them. Is it kill or be killed? Or can we negotiate with them? In the end, the answer isn't the easy answer you would get from Star Trek. As far as the writing itself, don't expect literature here. This is about cool aliens, man!

Most of the details of this book have been hashed out in other reviews. I read the whole book relatively quickly, so I have to say I liked it.

Pro:
- Great alien civilization
- Good ideas regarding travel and the interstellar empire
- Great sections written through the aliens' internal dialog & language

Con:
- Writing, dialog, etc.. is only OK
- Too many throwaway characters
- Several arcs/events which could have been edited away completely without negatively affecting the story
- Very poorly written love story thrown in and strange/unbelievable relationships between human men/women - only one human female character in the entire book!
- Not enough written from the perspective of the Aliens
- The book had plenty of filler

One interesting thing about this book was it essentially had two climaxes. The first is a militaristic sort, the second is diplomatic. After reading the first, I felt the story was going downhill shortly. The second was surprisingly exciting. However there was too much filler between the two climaxes and at the very end of the book.

This book is a nice mix of hard science fiction (faster than light drives, spaceships) and soft science fiction (social psychology of alien species) which makes it particularly interesting. The strength of the book in fact lies in its invention and depiction of the Moties as a differently-developed society comprising individuals specialized for various tasks or roles: somewhat like skilled professionals but on a planetary scale. Thus they have classes or castes of masters, mediators, workmen and others, each specialized in that role and unable to perform any other. An interesting idea and the glimpses of Motie society in the book are fascinating.
That said however, the characterization is pretty flat with the human characters in particular being rather one dimensional and predictable. The other weakness of this book (which cannot be helped of course) is that having been written in the 1970s, its picture of human society reflects those times, with a bias towards systems that are quasi-feudal and women restricted to very ornamental roles at best. At the time it was published, this was probably the norm; it does get quite a bit jarring now and one almost gets the feeling that in some ways, the Motie society is more enlightened than human at times!
Not a great book but certainly a decent read. I gave it 3 stars for the Motie society idea, else it would rate just 2.

I read this book the first time over ten years ago. It was intriguing at the time, but also at the limit of my ability to enjoy.
Now I read this book in the last week again and I could not put it down. The entire concept from the timeline at the beginning of the book to the last chapter where two of the characters are discussing what will keep Man from being forced to extinct the Moties...... It was wonderful to re-acquaint myself with Rod Blaine and the crew of the MacArthur as they conducted the first survey of a non-human solar system. Rod the Captain, Sally, Kevin the Sailing Master, Horace Bury the enigmatic Trader/Traitor....... all these characters were fun to meet again.
The concept of this book that is fairly uncommon is that of first Contact between Man and Alien occurring after mankind has reached the stars and in fact has a thousand years of history in space before we meet the Motiess so named simply because of how their star looks from the planet of New Scotland, their star, another, larger star, and the nebula that makes the backdrop of how they look. The story hints at its own history, with just enough to make us want more of it. With a Biblical title, sections that have real and applicable quotes for each chapter, tributes to The Lord of the Rings, and the Shakespearean element of a list of characters as if the book were a play all add to the classic style that makes this a good book. But without a good story, these elements would be window dressing. The story is equal to the task. We meet the moties, finding a bipedal race that depends heavily upon theeir arms and in fact have shoulder muscles that grow up to the tops of their skulls...
From this point, Mr. Niven and Mr. Pournelle tell a very interesting and compelling tale that is realistic in its characters and their reactions, and that is original in its concept. It also is the basis of whole novels of short stories about the Sauron supermen and its sequel, The Gripping Hand.
This is definitely required reading for the for the fiction-science-fiction fanatic. It would be good for the fantasy-science-fiction fanatic as well.

In high school 35 years ago, I had not read much science fiction, but wanted to read more. A friend of mine was a complete SF buff. He virtually inhaled every SF book he could put his hands on. I talked with him about my interests so that I could avoid weak books and wasting my time. He recommended The Mote in God's Eye about mankind's first intelligent alien contact. He loaned me his copy (and later just gave me the book... Thanx Jim S.). Since then it ranks as one of the best SF books I have read. I liked the characters, the totally different aliens, the royalty spin on the lead character and the future history time line developed by authors. I have even read a couple of other books based on this same future history. If you like SF in general, chances are you will enjoy this book.

When I suggested that my "Interdisciplinary Studies" class
read this book as an example of a complex fictional society,
I was nearly lynched on the spot (this is a fairly long book.
I had, of course, selected the book idependent of its length,
beacuse, quite frankly, this is the best science fiction
story I have ever read (and I've read a lot).

When the class showed up the next week, they were all bleary
eyed from not being able to put the book down, they forgave me!

Larry Niven is a master of "hard" (scientifically plausible)
science fiction, and is at his best here (not to disparage Jerry Pournelle,
who is a respected author in his own right). If you like this
kind of science fiction, take a look at Niven's "Protector"
or, in fact, any of Niven's short story collections.

If it's well-written books about fictional societies, check
out J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", or Robert Jordan's "Eye
of the World".

This is another addition to the shelf of truly excellent "first contact" scifi. It has good characters, mysterious clues that add up in a later climax that is entirely unforeseeable, and aliens that are fascinating and brilliantly conceived.

This is very fun because layers are continually peeled away as the story of learning to communicate progresses. The alien culture is organized in an entirely different way than human culture, with recognizable patterns that reflect their biology and history. It is so well articulated - and so utterly strange yet believable - that it makes for great scifi. What appears at first to be a highly advanced though mysterious civilization is revealed to be far more than it appears and yet far less as well. The element of chance also plays a role in the outcome, which could have been very different had not uncontrolled "contamination" not occured. "If only the first one you met had not been a brown," one of its leaders laments at the end.

I do not want to play the spoiler here and explain things. The excitment of discovery as events unfold, leaving more questoins at the end than answers is truly great fun if the reader likes to have his/her mind soar with the ultimate concepts of scifi in racial/species destiny, free will, and inter-stellar diplomacy. As it ends, I felt such a sense of wonder and threat, mind-bending in the way that only great scifi can be.

Warmly recommended.

This is more-or-less a hard science fiction novel, chronicling the first meeting between mankind and an alien race. The titular Mote in God's eye is a reference to a nebula that looks like a brooding face with an eye (a red supergiant) with a spec of dust in it (a smaller star, and home to the aliens). Due to the nature of space in the region, the Moties are bottled up in their system, while human beings have built a large empire of multiple star systems. The humans eventually figure out how to get to the Mote system, and the interaction of the two cultures for the first time is the bulk of the novel.
As hard science fiction, the book works fairly well. The authors invent something called "Alderson Points," which are like Buck Rogers's Stargates - points in space where instantaneous travel between distant points is possible. Likewise, they invent energy shields and weapons for the human spaceships. These are standard sci fi technologies (although they would have been more inventive in 1974). The Moties are a more ingenious invention. However unlikely their physical appearance (they have 3 arms and one ear, for example), their society is well-constructed and logical, yet sufficiently alien. They are not simply a (non-western) human culture transported into space.
The strength of the novel lies in its story. It sucks you in and gets you involved. The characters are generally well-written and individual. The authors spring a couple of surprises on you that come from nowhere and completely change the tenor of the story. It's a book that is difficult to put down. To me, it's superior to Le Guin's "Dispossessed," which won the Hugo and Nebula that year.
There are some minor problems - like most U.S.A. sci fi written in the '70's, it uses an imperial (monarchy) system of government. The social system is prudish and misogynist - in many ways it seems very quaint and old-fashioned (and therefore unlikely). These are (very) minor problems, however, and do not detract from the wonder, excitement, and utter confusion caused by first contact.

First contact stories tend to fall into two tropes: either the benevolent aliens come to help to poor humans or Independence Day. Niven and Pournelle deftly side step these tropes and give us a first contact story both riveting and real. Moties, as they are named, are both benevolent and dangerous. And it falls to a diverse, flawed sortie of humans to determine the fate of both the Moties – and the human race.
A fast-paced plot, combined with complex characters and an intricate world of limiting technologies, create a story both mind-expanding and heart-wrenching. There are no good guys and bad guys, simple creatures, Motie and Human alike, working towards the survival of their species.
My only complaint is, once again, is the portrayal women. Only one female with speaking lines, but she is an integral part of the story, mostly. She could be replaced with a male and the story wouldn’t change much, despite her being presented as an educated woman with intelligence. She is often the “heart” of the discussion, favoring emotion-driven benevolence over logic. There are remarks to a male-centric society and she seems accepting, even supporting, of that institution. One of the few shallows characters, sadly, but better than most women in pre-1980s sci-fi/fantasy novels.
It will up to the individual to determine if this book lives up to the hype, but for my part, I think it does. Worth the time to read.

The Mote in God's Eye is, quite simply, one of the best science fiction novels you will ever read. It is easily one of my top five books of all time. In the cannon of sci-fi, I would place it on the shelf next to Dune, Foundation and Stranger in a Strange Land. What do these books have in common? Very little. That's the point. The Mote in God's Eye, like all great books, stands on its own. If it the first sci-fi book or the millionth, you will still love it.
Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (and quietly improved by the advice given them by Robert Heinlein) it is breathtaking in its depiction of mankind's first contact with an alien civilization. The story takes place in a human star empire that spans thousands of systems but has yet to contact alien intelligence. This changes suddenly when a spacecraft arrives at a human planet with a dead alien inside it. The craft was apparently launched from a nearby unexplored star system -- called the Mote in God's Eye (or Murcheson's Eye). The humans send out an expedition of two ships -- one Russian, one American -- to investigate. What they find is an ancient civilization of three-armed "Moties" who have a terrible secret.
As noted by other reviewers, this is the best first contact book out there. There are no Vulcans or Ewoks here. The book is one of the few that presents a truly alien civilization. The alien culture is, although similar to ours in some ways, fundamentally different from our own due to differences biology and circumstances. I won't elaborate as I don't want to ruin the surprises.
Although there is clearly some cannon of mythology at work in setting up the "Co-Dominion" of human society at that time, I was not confused at all. I had never read a title by these two authors before but found the human society and its history easy to follow.
What's amazing about the book is how logically it proceeds. To use the word "surprise" is misleading because after at every twist and turn, you find yourself saying, "Of course, that's exactly the way it would have to be. That makes sense." As the suspense and tension build toward a climactic clash between humans and Moties, you are swept up in the inevitability of the events. There are no trick deus-ex-machina moments or Tom Clancy tricks -- in which the characters talk about some secret without the dialogue being revealed. Everything is perceived through the lens of the human characters and their difficulty in understanding the alien civilization. So their fear, tension and surprise are ours.
All this comes through with a crisp narrative style, a group of vivid and identifiable characters (including Moties) and excellent pacing of the story. I highly recommend this book to any reader -- sci-fi fan or not.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are absolutely perfect together. Niven has great science fiction, poor characters. Pournelle has great characters and poor science fiction. Together they make one absolutley perfect combination that cannot be beaten, except by the true SF greats (Heinlei & Herbert mostly).
"The Mote in God's Eye" is by far their masterpiece. The Moties are an extremely interesting and complex alien society. No more details on it though, because that's what the novel is all about. The characters are absolutely amazing. Roderick is by far one of the best written. He's the captain of the MacArthur, and it's his ship chosen to go through Murchenson's Eye to the Motie homeworld. There's a myriad of different characters, all written well and portrayed as they should be. From the militant admiral to the Moties themselves, it's wonderful. The novel's suspense adds up till the climax at the end, very well done. A top-notch read.

After almost four decades of reading SF, I consider this the best SF novel ever written. The universe is interesting, the plot is creative and tight, the action is crisp, and the Motie aliens are perhaps the best "first contact" aliens ever imagined.
Watching the dreck that's often made into movies nowadays, it puzzles me that this book has never been used for a movie. It's a good thing it wasn't attempted before approximately 1999, because it would require modern CGI to do it justice. But I think the technology is there now. I think it could be a megahit on the scale of The Matrix.
It also holds up well. I recently read it to one of my kids, and even though it's over thirty years old, I didn't notice anything that seemed particularly incongruous. And they certainly got some things right - their description of wireless tablet computers is right on.
It's a true classic. No real fan of hard SF should bypass this one. It's right there with Stranger in a Strange Land, Ender's Game, the Foundation Trilogy, and similar works.

I’ve been wanting to read something like this for a long time. I’ve been wanting to find more sci-fi books that involve alien species. Those I’ve found never give the species much of an interesting back story and their usual role is that of an aggressive race out to destroy humans, which hasn’t been written in a way that interested me.
In this book humans have settled hundreds of colonies all over an area of space. There is one area that is hard to access but one day a spaceship stumbles upon a ship with an alien being on it. An embassy ship belonging to that species arrives soon after. Hundreds of pages are dedicated to humans and “moties” getting to know each other on their respective ships. They’re both pretty forthcoming yet still guarded. Both hide their weapons and war histories. They both want to come across as peaceful races. But they’re both hiding secrets to protect their own races. What unfolds is very interesting and profound.

Wanted to like the book after reading the many reviews saying how wonderful this book is. Well it has a good under story but gets lost with the major overtones of religion, military jargon and the every present 'women should be seen and not heard' from those days past - well maybe not if you reference our current political leaders. As i said, good under story so worth the read but it does slog through an early morality and cultural norm.

This was really my first book into the science fiction realm all those years ago. And what a beginning indeed. The writing was well done; I actually cared for the characters. The political set-up for the human universe is also interesting. As for the Moties, their whole social structure, physiological differentiation and make-up, the unique history of their civilization... It all makes for a very fascinating species.
All this AND an exciting story.
There are a couple points where the story drags a little. But most stories have that, and it happens in this book very infrequently. I would have liked a little more background (I'm really thinking of the supermen here), but the timeline in the beginning of the book is more than sufficient in giving a great historical account.
I have consistently gone back to reread this book when I want a good, well thought out story that is actually believable.

Amazing! Human first contact with truly ALIEN aliens. Not hokey little green men or those stupid walking fetuses that are so popular these days. No way! The Moties are a work of absolute genius on Niven's part. They have their own solar sytem, described in vivid detail, their own complex evolutionary history (based on asymetry, rapid reproduction and extreme specialization) and a culture which is a logical outgrowth of their environment and genetic traits. Oh, and their civilization is VERY, very old. Human beings have been in space for 1000 years when this novel opens, but have not yet discovered other intelligent life. This fact alone makes me respect Niven. He doesn't create a bustling Star Trek cosmos where you bump into a new super-advanced alien every time you turn around. As if survival and civilization building were easy. He has a feel for the vastness of the universe---how unfriendly to life and civilization it can be.

This story is a fascinating portrayal of man's discovering an alien species and the problems that this discovery poses. The Motie world richly unfolds as Niven and Pournelle gradually bring us to understand the problems that this race face. We slowly realize that the Motie are in trouble and need help, but they don't know how to ask for it. They believe that their flaw would be taken advantage of by humans and thus, they try to keep their plight secret. Humanity is forced to decide how to react to a people that poses a threat in the future, but not today. This dilemma causes great discussion between political, military, scientific and theological communities. The authors give us insight into the human psyche through a series of debates over the future of the Motie.
The authors are very good at dropping little hints as to what will happen in the future, which piques your curiosity. These little hooks maintain the flow of the book and keeping the reader's interest. The future human civilization is very well developed. The authors maintained current human cultures in the future, giving the characters more body and depth.
I would put this book as a peer to The Foundation Trilogy and Dune as one of the select classics in SciFi.

I bought this b/c this book was on several best of sci-fi lists. I was really dissapointed with it. This might be a good read for a teen-ager, but the silly, one dimensional, characters won't engage most adults.

The story is about the first human-alien contact and the challenges of assessing the potential threats or benefits.

I think this book fails on a few levels.

1. The background that they create of society in the future isn't very creative or engaging.
2. The characters themselves are all very one dimensional and have little interesting internal conflict. Some are so one dimensional that it is comic. For example there is a ship commander who is supposed to be Russian in some way and fits every silly sterotype including drinking tea on the bridge.
3. The aliens look a little different from humans and have different problems but they magically learn English overnight and can breath the same air and speak with humans. The aliens have a caste based society that isn't very interesting either.
4. The writing style itself is matter-of-fact and bland. I've seen finance text books that have more passion to them.

This just didn't do it for me. Try to get a sample few pages before buying this one.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle weave a memorable tale of first contact featuring an alien race with a Tribble-like problem and a nebulae so well imagined and richly described it qualifies as the most interesting character in the book.

The Moties are the aliens that can't stop multiplying and are smarter than man except for their inability to create their own stardrive. Consequently, they remain trapped in their own system and a deadend cycle of overpopulation, war, devastation and rebuilding.

The Coal Sack is the nebulae that serves as the backdrop of the story and Niven succeeds in making it so wonderous that I will remember it almost as a real celestial object, and regret that I'll never get to see it with my own eyes.

The moties spend most of the story trying to get the humans to give them the technology to go forth through the heavens without letting it slip that they will overrun the galaxy with their prodigious reproduction and supreme technological ability.

It's much more interesting than I'm making it sound. Read this book.

A Science Fiction novel set in the distant future, when humans have spread across the galaxy, is not a new premise, nor was it when Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote The Mote In God's Eye in the early 1970's. A similar novel, in terms of setting, was Frank Herbert's DUNE, published nearly a decade before The Mote In God's Eye. Having read both of the aforementioned books, I must agree with Robert A. Heinlein's description of The Mote In God's Eye as, "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read (The quote was on the front cover of the book.)."

The first of the book's four parts, "Meet Crazy Eddie", begins on the spaceship MacArthur, where a rebellion against The Second Empire of Man has been quelled. The ship's Commander, Roderick Blaine, is the protagonist of the story. He is instructed to take Horace Bury, a wealthy trader suspected of plotting the uprising, to the imperial capital of Sparta, after repairs are made in the New Caledonia system. Sally Fowler, the niece of a prominent senator, is along for the ride after being rescued from the rebels. Once the ship arrives at New Caledonia, which is when events begin to get interesting.

The title of the book is explained on New Caledonia. From there and only there, the Coalsack nebula looks like the outline of a hooded face, the star Murcheson's Eye always watching the people on the planet. A strange ship enters the system, having originated within the Coalsack, at a star called the Mote. With the line, "And something he couldn't see was coming at him out of the Mote In God's Eye (Mote, pp. 54)." The story truly begins. Needless to say, Blaine attempts to communicate with the probe. Failing that, the MacArthur sets out for the Mote, to find the probe's origin, and learn about the aliens who had built the probe.

I would recommend The Mote In God's Eye to anyone who likes Science Fiction books. The story is well written, the characters are interesting, and there are very few boring lulls in the story. Something is always happening somewhere. This was a welcome change from some of the books that I read. While some books are superbly written, there can still be parts that are essential to the plot, but as boring as C-SPAN. The writers took a unique approach to the idea of first contact with aliens, and made them truly that, alien. Their culture is completely different in many respects, and yet similar in just as many others. While some parts are a bit difficult to understand, the end result is a book which should be read by all Science Fiction fans.

. . .alien life-forms ever presented in a science fiction format.
Normally, sci-fi novels excel in one of a number of areas. Either the science is good, or the plot is exciting, or significant issues are discussed, or the characters are well-developed -- but rarely are more than one or two of these elements ever found within the pages of the same book.
"The Mote in God's Eye" is a spectacular exception to this trend. It is a believable "First Contact" story with a reasonable "history". The characters are deep and well-developed. Serious moral and ethical issues are fearlessly tackled. The plot is exciting -- and the science is plausible. However, perhaps the most noteworthy point of this book is that the "alien life" presented is both truly alien and believable.
This is a book not to be missed.

This book, as well as the rest of the series, I consider to be the best of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle efforts. The story paints a realistic galaxy, with believable characters, and a story that has non-stop action. This is Sci-Fi at it's best.

I bought the ebook version, as my paperback set was getting thumb worn, and having all of my library on a tablet is just too good to pass up.
I didn't notice the spelling and formatting errors found in some ebook conversions either.

This is a brilliant book, still thought provoking after 32 years (hardcover came out in 1974). Here are two things that struck me.

- The characters are constantly whipping out their "cheap" pocket computers, connecting to the local mainframe, and interacting with the computers in pen-based handwriting. Sounds like the Origmai just coming out now.

- The tragic Moti cycle is population pressure leads to resource drainage leads to war leads to barbarism leads to uplift etc. I just finished reading Jared Diamond's collapse, where he details that same cycle as being behind the collapse of past civilizations. Unfortunately, Diamond does not see the uplift part -- once his civilizations use up their resources and collapse, they stay collapsed.

This is my favorite science fiction book after Enders Game.

Niven and Pournelle have long been one of the more marketable sf writing teams and this is undoubtedly their most highly regarded effort. It's several thousand years in the future and a New Empire of Man has spread through most of our part of the galaxy (the Old Empire having imploded and been followed by a series of Secession Wars and accompanying dark ages). Science is catching us up to where we once were, a new aristocracy is managing things for the emperor on Sparta, and so on. Think of it as sort of a Victorian Age, but with spaceships and FTL. Then the first alien probe arrives from a very isolated star system in the Coalsack and the Imperial Navy has to go and investigate. The Mote (inhabited by "Moties") is a very alien world indeed in terms of psychology and anthropology, and the authors have a lot of fun constructing an internally consistent society around an entirely different set of cyclical biological imperatives. At the same time, however, the book suffers -- as do many sf novels written thirty years ago -- from social and technological shortsightedness. The empire's flag features the combined eagle and hammer-and-sickle of a Co-Dominium that subsumed Communism, personal computers seem to be about the size of cell phones (still?), the Imperial Viceroy talks like an upper class Brit circa 1930, and so on. The characterization is generally good, especially in depicting Sailing Master Renner and the three midshipmen. Lady Sally, on the other hand, is a bit much -- although Niven probably would say social attitudes are also cyclical. It's a good read.

Two of the masters of hard science fiction, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, begin their collaboration with this, the story of man's first contact with an alien species.

Set more than a millenium in the future, the human race has made significant technological advances, including a faster-than-light drive that has enabled humans to spread to other star systems. Interstellar wars have ravaged the old "Empire of Man", and a new Empire has risen in its place, keeping order by force if necessary. When an alien craft propelled by a light sail enters "human space", a warship is dispatched to intercept it. Automated weapons on the alien craft open fire on the human warship, but the warship is undamaged and the alien weapons systems are disable. Upon entering the craft the humans encounter a single dead occupant, with a biology and physiology entirely...well...alien. The course of the alien craft is reverse-plotted and a joint military/exploratory expedition is launched.

The humans encounter the "Moties", so named because the human term for their star system is the "Mote in God's Eye". Contact is made, and the two species struggle to understand each others' language and customs. The humans soon discover that the Moties are hiding something, and may be more sinister than the humans had realized. Decisions have to be made to ensure the safety of the human race, but is it too late?

Written in 1974, this book has strong Cold War overtones, but is generally recognized as one of the most important books of the genre written. A great read.

Niven and Pournelle really created an awesome epic with the Mote in God's Eye. It captured my interest and wonder. I think of all the times man has looked to the sky at night and marveled at it's vast expanse and depth, and this novel opens the door of possibility. The tale these two authors spin together in this one is one of pure genius and imagination. It can be pretty tricky to follow at times, but if you are determined, you will mark this book as one of your favorites upon completion. When I think of modern Science Fiction I think of this novel as a true gem. The milestone of a good book is whether it is entertaining and interesting, and the Mote is all that and more. Simply wonderful. If you like good books you will truly enjoy this one.

I didn't think that the beginning was all that great. Though, oddly enough, once I finished the book I actually liked the beginning. The middle of this book is where you begin to see how amazing it is. The aliens are extremely cool and I loved the whole multi-species and "intelligence through instinct" ideas. I gave Mote four stars because of the ending; it was a bit of a let down, though I don't know how they could have ended it better.
In general, the characters were great. I thought that the authors did a really good job of portraying people in power. I often find that authors seem to think that merely telling the reader that a character is in a position of power is enough to BELIEVE the character in that position. Niven and Pournell really make you understand why the characters are where they are.
I would recommend Mote for the characters and the kick *ss aliens.

Note: I rate books on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is terrible, 5 is an average book that may still be worth a read, and 10 is a book that breaks on you like a religious experience. Very few books, in my opinion, would warrant a "9" or "10".

Writing Quality: 6/10.
There's nothing particularly stand-out about the writing in this novel. It's adequate for its purpose, but you don't read a Niven or Pournelle novel for the prose. It's not frustrating or awkward, and it doesn't usually call attention to itself, except for some cliches sprinkled here and there. It does a fine job with action scenes, and the dialogue is enjoyable if not particularly artful. Roughly comparable to the prose of C. J. Cherryh in Heavy Time and Hellburner, Terry Pratchett in Night Watch, Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game, or George R. R. Martin in A Game of Thrones.

Depth of Concept: 6/10.
There's probably no single moment in the novel that is particularly brilliant or epiphany inducing, but Niven and Pournelle do a really excellent job of crafting a thoughtful first contact story, one that goes out of its way to be better than many other stories in a similar vein. I was tempted to score this a little higher, but ended up deciding that while the situations and dilemmas were really well-realized, the characters simply didn't interact in ways that suggested particularly nuanced or ambiguous readings, thus as a reader I rarely struggled to form my own interpretation of the concepts presented to me. C. J. Cherryh, in novels like Cyteen and Downbelow Station, scores higher here, as does Kim Stanley Robinson in Red Mars or Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land. I could go on. Still, a 6 is above average.

Rounded Characters: 5/10.
This is the low point of the novel, I think. The characters tend to be a bit cartoony . . . there's even a man in the engine room with a Scottish accent, though that's probably a deliberate homage. There's a metaphorically myopic astrophysicist who forgets to eat because he's so busy with experiments, and his character offers mild humor every time he considers routine astological data to be of more interest than discovering new intelligent life forms. He only belatedly realizes ancillary consequences to the destruction of his data collecting devices:

"Buckman looked puzzled. Then, 'Ah, I see what you mean. It would kill us too, wouldn't it? I hadn't thought of that.'"

Characters go from outrage to grins fairly blithely, and there is a certain levity to each character's thoughts that seems a little too casual given the ramifications of encountering new intelligent life. The captain spends a lot more of his time imagining petty punishments for his peers and subordinates than in any sort of sober contemplation of what "intelligent life" means. The novel starts with a bloody revolution, and while different characters offer pithy statements about war and tragedy, this is not a novel that treats those subjects with any real depth. There is no real growth or progression for any of the characters, with the possible exception of the aliens themselves (I'd considered scoring this category higher simply for the sake of the aliens). Still, the depth of the characters here is superior to those in Niven's Ringworld, which shocked me in its unoriginality in character development. I haven't read a lot of either author, but I'm assuming the improvement is due to Pournelle's contribution. Kim Stanley Robinson and C. J. Cherryh and even Orson Scott Card treat character psychology much more seriously.

Well-Developed World: 8/10.
This is where the novel really shines. Pournelle and Niven construct a future human civilization that is on par with many of the better classic science fiction novels (Dune, Foundation, etc.), and then add on top of that a really intricate alien civilization. C. J. Cherryh works at first contact novels in a few of her series, both in the Chanur and Foreigner universes, as well as her award-winning Downbelow Station. But in terms of a really well-developed and engaging first-contact thought experiment, The Mote in God's Eye as a standalone novel is superior to hers and any others I have read simply due to its great detail and careful inclusion of the sociological, biological, political, and commercial ramifications of a first contact with a significantly different life form (that was a bit of a mouthful, sorry). It's not art, but it is really well-developed.

Page Turner: 8/10.
Not as addictive as Ender's Game or The Hunger Games, this is still a page-turner once you get through the first hundred pages or so. There's a fair amount of lead-up to the "first contact," but once it occurs, the novel gets hard to put down. If the characters or concepts had been a little more nuanced (I was never really invested in them), I probably would have scored it higher, but an 8/10 is still pretty dang good.

Kept Me Thinking: 7/10.
It didn't have me pondering as much as did Robinson's Red Mars, mostly because many of the questions raised in this novel are the sort answered later in the novel, almost like a mystery novel. It's enough to keep you thinking, but the thinking is not the sort of existential and philosophical material that really made Red Mars stand out. And it didn't get very insightful about human psychology the way C.J. Cherryh does, or even as much as Heinlein in his Stranger in a Strange Land. Still, the science in this novel was engaging (to me at least), and the alien species was particularly enjoyable to try to wrap my mind around. A 7 puts this novel far above average.
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Overall Recommendation: 7/10.
If only the characters and concepts were a little bit richer, this could have been one of the truly great science fiction novels of all time. As it is, it's one of the best in a narrower category: first contact. If that's a field you're interested in broaching, this is a really excellent place to start. It has a "hard" sci-fi tone to it, if that's your thing, and you can tell the authors spent A LOT of time hashing out the new alien civilization so that it would really fit together. It might seem a little dated in some social aspects, but you'd want to read it in the context of when it was written, and try to see how it has shaped first contact novels since. It is a foundational novel in that sense. Also, while blurbs are notoriously unreliable, Robert Heinlein once said that it was "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read."

Check out my profile web page to read an expanded review and other thoughts

After 30 years, my memories of this novel were a few powerful scenes and general feeling of greatness. So, I decided to read it again. Can't go wrong with a sci-fi classic, can you?

In this case ... maybe. Overall, it's an interesting look at first contact. The alien species is fun and different and challenging. The plot whips along. And the characters ...

Well, this is where it falls short. The characters are a bit sexist, a bit thinly drawn, and frankly way too 1970s. Oh, the novel is still enjoyable. Just not as great as I once believed.

I put The Mote in God's Eye (TMIGE) on my wish list at the store because I read in a variety of places that it was one of the few books that "got aliens right." In other words, too many aliens suffer from the Star Trek syndrome of being just like humanity, only with different ears/eyes/noses. Often, a real world culture is pasted onto the alien world, as if alien worlds can only sustain one type of culture (in comparison to Earth, which has thousands of different cultures). So I had high hopes for TMIGE.

What's surprising for a civilization in 3016 is how similar it is to our modern culture. Humanity has spread out across the stars and already suffered its own Dark Ages of a sort. The modern age is not as great as the one before it, and various planets are slowly being brought back into Empire of Man, by force if necessary. This new Empire of Man has all the trappings of feudalism, complete with noble titles and land (planet?) holdings.

And yet, the ships run by Navy protocol. The captain calls his second "Number One." The ship has a force field to protect it from attacks (the Langston Field) and a warp drive (the Alderson Drive). It even has an engineer who talks with a Scottish accent. Wait a minute, this sounds familiar...

That's because I just described Star Trek, which debuted in 1966. TMIGE was published in 1975.

The similarities aside, TMIGE has a recurring question throughout the book: is it the nature of civilized societies to collapse into barbarism in a never-ending cycle? And in the rebuilding, is the society better for it?

The answer arrives in the form of aliens from the Mote (a distant red sun). These aliens have three arms (one large hand and two smaller ones connected at the elbow), no nose, slightly smiling lips, one big ear, and no neck. With three arms, you can imagine these aliens (called Moties) have a very different perspective from humans.

Once a probe with a Motie in it is discovered, the Empire of Man decides to pay the Motie home world a visit. Improbably, a treacherous rich merchant (Horace Hussein Bury) is on board, along with a noblewoman (Sally Fowler) who happens to like the captain (Roderick Blaine). Blaine's ship is the INSS MacArthur and it his responsibility to make first contact. Shadowing alongside the MacArthur is the INSS Lenin, piloted by Admiral Kutuzov. He has a different mission: to blow the MacArthur should it fall into alien hands.

This sets up an interesting, tense filled journey, as scientists attempt to befriend the Moties and soldiers watch them with hands on their pistols. The Moties themselves as perfect mimics, sounding and acting like the humans they're "assigned to." Which gets the authors off the hook, as they talk just like the other characters.

And if there's a weakness, it's in the characters. Very few of them have a description. And there are so many crewmembers, scientists, and royalty (some with similar names) that it's tough to keep track of who is who. Conversely, the characters that do have fleshed out personalities are larger-than-life parodies of cultures: Bury is a greedy Middle Eastern, Sally is all naïve nobility, Kutuzov is a dour Russian. Which is odd, because in all cases the characters seem transplanted right from our era into a thousand years in the future...almost like actors playing their usual bit parts in a science fiction play.

The book also suffers from prejudices of the 70s. The only woman on the ship is a bit of a dolt and, for all her griping about independence, gets in the way most of the time. The Russians drink too much, are very grim, and utterly ruthless. And the Scots...well, they're pretty much Scotty from Star Trek.

The Moties have their own problems. Probably the biggest is this: the Motie "threat" revolves around a specific aspect of their biology. And yet the Empire of Man has created genetic super soldiers and solved baldness (somewhere in the Star Trek universe, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is cursing himself right now). And yet humans see the Moties as a terrifying threat. It just doesn't hold up under inspection.

Still, despite occasionally straining credibility, The Mote in God's Eye is an excellent example of an alien culture. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle explore everything from the aliens' biology to their art, from their architecture to their social mores. It's a must read for anyone who likes their aliens alien.

I first read this book probably 35 years ago. In my opinion it's one of the top sci fi books I've ever read. What I really enjoyed about it is the way the humans had to piece together all the little pieces of info they had gathered to find out the Motie's secret.

This book is frequently recommended in science fiction circles, and with good reason: it's an excellent exploration of the implications of contact with an alien race. It thoroughly explores the political and cultural reactions on Earth, while providing a very deep and thought-provoking story for the alien race as well.
The quality of the writing is excellent; the imaginative plotting makes for a gripping read. I recommend this book highly due to its breadth of appeal: it is approachable and appealing.
It's in my personal collection, but I have to keep buying more copies-- I loan it out frequently to friends and never seem to get it back! I consider that to be a sign of a great book.

I grabbed this book off the shelf because I tend to like Larry Niven's work and have read a few of Pournelle's books as well. There was quite a bit of politics involved, which generally turns me off. However, the interactions of the scientific, military and political groups were very interesting.

The characters were interesting and likable: not many flat, disposable, "red shirt" characters.

Consider this a novel about first contact, but not in the way that you would expect it. There are so many considerations in here beyond the usual, "will they eat us" alien encounters.

I don't recall a lot of action, so if you like constant space battles or offworld exploration, this may not be a book for you. There is no shortage of thought-provoking questions and if you're a curious reader, I think this will keep you entertained.

I believe I read this as a teenager, but it didn't make much of an impression. I pushed through it again in the last few weeks and I just don't understand what all the fuss was/is about. Sure, the Motie physiology and civilization are somewhat interesting; I couldn't wait to plow through the Imperial/military stuff to get back to the aliens.

I find Heinlein from "Starship Troopers" onward to be offensive in his politics and troglodytic views on women, sexuality, power, the military and more. But Heinlein had pizazz; the man is famous - as Hemingway is famous to American lit, the Beatles are to rock and roll - because he changed the way SF was done.

So I'm frankly puzzled by his famous (though curiously hesitant) blurb, "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." No, Bob. Niven and Pournelle's characters are nowhere near as textured and real and complicated as yours. Their plot flows like cooling lava compared to your blasts of hot magma. And your books just ... snap. They are funny ... and serious. Your people were 3D in a cardboard-cutout world.

"The Mote in God's Eye" is perfectly fine reading. But in all honesty, I couldn't wait to be done with it so I could start reading William Manchester's "Goodbye, Darkness" and Kipling's "The Jungle Books."

I give Mote more of a 2.5 stars instead of 3. This is Niven's and Pournelle's first collaberation, and it shows. While the story itself is pretty interesting, the characterization is poor and flow of the book is rather rough. I've read other works by Niven/Pournelle and they are MUCH better than this. I couldn't really accept or care about any of the characters. Niven uses his knowledge of science and Pournelle his creativity for alien cultures to combine a story that didn't seem to mesh for me. The Motie culture is certainly very interesting, but it gets lost somewhere. When I finished this one and discovered there was a sequel (_The Gripping Hand_) I couldn't bring myself to read it and moved on to other works. Perhaps I'll revisit it someday, but _Mote_ was not enough to pique my interest in reading a sequel.

If you found this one from a random recommendation list, do not read it! Move on! Unless you are a hardcore sci-fi convention goer, in which case it's so bad its funny and you might like it anyway.

Supposedly classic, timeless sci-fi... I found it a dated Star Trek parody/homage plot, an uncreative background society, and inaccurate science. With the extreme lack of any good characterization, the entire novel rests upon the storyline. The storyline is an unimpressive first contact with aliens. Unimpressive, again, because of 35+ years of scientific advancement since the novel was written in 1974.

Cliched characters (even an engineer with a Scottish accent) on top of an unrealistic future society in a stereotypical first contact scenario. You've been warned.

This is one of the best science fiction novels ever written and that's not just my opinion but the dean of American science fiction writers, Robert Heinlein himself, thought so as well. This is THE story about man's first contact with an alien race. They're mammals, just like us, but the similarity ends there. They are so fundamentally different from us culturally, sexually, politically, you name it; they're really different. What makes this book so great is that the reader and the characters in the novel meet the aliens and marvel over them at the same time so we both learn about them equally. Then the reader gets a little bit more info as you learn the big secret the aliens are trying to hide from the humans. Then you watch the human characters try to figure it out so they can protect themselves and prevent the aliens from being wiped out by the humans. It's a great read and a work of incredible wonder and imagination. I bought this hard cover edition because my paperback edition was falling apart after only six or seven reads. It is so tightly written I often read it to see how it's constructed

One of the few examples of scifi that comes up with a creative method of star travel that doesn't seem to disagree with known science. Well written cultures and an excellent study of first contact. Every hard Scifi reader needs this book.

I've recently read Ian Douglas's "Star Carrier" and was struck by his use of nanobots to reconstruct the carrier based fighter craft to custom shapes depending on their mission (in atmosphere, high c acceleration, etc.). It's something that could very easily be incorporated into the Moteverse if it ever gets picked up for a movie or TV show. The Mote remains one of the classics of science fiction.

I picked this book up in an airport because it was the only SF book, and had noteable praise in the preceding pages. After forcing myself to finish the book, I wonder how they earned it. Overall, the main weakness of the book is that the pace too slow and emotionally bare.

Agreed, this book was written many years ago, but is a product of its times. I would assume that the authors had been influenced by the original Star Trek tv show, and borrowed a bit from it. The year of alien contact in the book is 3017, but central characters still have names and accents from Scotland and Russia. I see this as an anachronism. Another oddity noted in the store reviews is the limited female characters in the human spaceships (only one).

Technology-wise, there seems to be limited creativity. The Anderson drive and the Field seem a lot like warp drive and shields & cloaking technologies from Star Trek. Fortunately, there's no concept of beaming in this book. Are there any new techologies postulated by the year 3017? All that comes to mind is a "mass converter".

For some reason, the original Foundation series (Asimov) comes to mind as an example of a SF work that was creative, unrestricted, flowing, and has aged well.

The strength of The Mote in God's Eye is the concept of the "Moties" (including alien sub-species), their culture and physiology. The interrelationships of the members of the aliens' culture, and their way of relating to humans was well hashed out. This is a central point to how the story unfolds and finally resolves. While the aliens are interesting, the relevations weren't enough to keep my interest past mid-way in the book.

For those who have read the book: am I the only one who is reminded of Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles"?

This, along with their earlier collaboration ``Lucifer's Hammer'' and later ``Footfall,'' is among Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's finest work. Set in Pournelle's future history, is a tale that is richly woven with interesting and compelling characters. Those characters are put together in a collision course with history as humankind coming out of the shattered wreck of the First Empire of Man and centuries of the Secession Wars has its first encounter with an alien race. Mankind finds out that race's deep and dark secret after its expedition is overrun. Without giving too much away, I simply encourage readers to either buy or check out this book and if you give it some time, I promise you that you won't be disappointed at this science fiction classic and masterpiece.

What utter rubbish: this book is written in a naive style reminiscent of The Hardy Boys booked I read growing up, littered with inappropriate and sexist content. I sadly plowed through half the book before deciding to bin it. What a shame, the storyline held so much promise....

Of the Niven books I've read, I'd definitely put this in the top 3. That includes: Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, Lucifer's Hammer, N-Space.

One thing I really like about Niven's stories... There's not a lot of time wasted on Earth. You are up in space in short order. At most, there's a chapter or so where a crew is assembled for a mission, but then the rest of the story is up in the stars. This story doesn't even much mention Earth. It's set in a future time where humans have recovered from many civilization implosions and developed colonies on many planets. So many that there are distant human civilizations that have splintered off from the mainstream and have imploded without notifying the other humans.

But Niven's so clever he just hints at these goings on and lets the reader fill in those details while he keeps the focus on the issue at hand: first contact with aliens who have developed slightly better technologies than humans, with the exception of some essential space travel kit that the humans are highly protective of.

Anyway, it's a great book and I'd highly recommend it.

The Mote in God's Eye" is excellent. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are good to very good authors when they write their own stories separately. However, the team is better than the individual writers; it is excellent! And, I consider "The Mote in God's Eye" to be their best joint effort. After more than fifty years of reading a truly amazing amount of S-F, I consider this book to be among my top ten. I first read it more than thirty years ago, when it first appeared. Today, this book still holds up very well and I enjoyed it as much on my most recent reading, this past month, as I did on my first reading. This is a guaranteed classic in S-F.

This book is both entertaining and chilling
This is about societal destruction and rebuilding, overpopulation and justification for wars of attrition. It is a relevant in 2011 as when it was first written.
The concept of insatiable population explosion and environmental exploitation which becomes the norm is well crafted, even as the mystery of the Motie's planet is revealed
This is the kind of book that makes you really think about a society and its norms

We all know that this book is one of the greatest sf novels ever. Plenty of the "gut-wrenching excitement" you love, but its genius, of course, lies in the way it depicts an alien culture every detail of which is an essential, and logical, extrapolation from one simple premise. I never understood (does anyone?) why Moties don't just legislate breeding in such a fashion that most people's children are sterile mules, but I'm picking nits. This book is unsurpassed in its elegant planning. Unsurpassed, do you hear me, unsurpassed.

I first read this one at 15 and have been dying to review it ever since! This is an epic space opera played out on a grand scale, with an engaging cast of characters and bursting with ideas. It's theme of first contact with aliens is handled better than any other example I can think of in SF.
Set a thousand years in the future, the novel takes place in a fragmented space empire reeling from a series of civil wars. Against this background an ailing warship is sent to investigate an enormous unidentified vessel approaching the sun. This turns out to be powered by a "light sail", a sheet of gossamer fabric thousands of miles across which the ship must navigate against: this is one of the earliest and most dramatic uses of the "sunjammer" thesis first postulated by Robert Forward in the (1950s?) The discovery of dead aliens aboard and the subsesquent expedition to the alien homeworlds reveal a fantastically advanced culture locked into a tragic cycle of overpopulation and war, and with the meeting of technologies, threatens human survival as they begin to learn the secret of faster than light travel which would enable them to swarm through the galaxy.
There are passages of great potency and swashbuckling in the book: the encounter with the alien ship, the destruction of one of the human ships and the voyage across the foreign planet by fugitive survivors are unforgettable, as is the genuine sense of wonder evoked by the description of the alien civilisation.
Unfortunately the book does have its faults: it is immensely long and lacks real descriptive power robbing it of its visual potential unless you are empowered with a superb visual imagination. It also adopts the language of sailing to an unwarranted extent giving it the feel of a seafaring tale, and the future described is peppered with terms associated with the British Empire, with minor characters who sound as if they served at Waterloo. Also, the lack of real drama in some important passages weakens the whole and gives it at at times a wearily trudging pace. The last hundred pages are taken up in political wrangling which further interfere with but do not spoil the tremendous power of the whole.
Despite these weaknesses, THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE is an unforgettable read: its feeling of exploration and adventure are rarely matched in SF: plus its basis in hard science renders it a must for every fan of technological science-fiction.

The description of the Motie (aliens) civilization, their castes, how they thought and the unraveling of their 'big problem' made for really enjoyable reading. That part was really well written.

This book's problem was its description of humans. They didn't act like any humans I know of. Through most of the story Rod and Sally seem to only have a friendship and then suddenly they decide to get married?

And there were huge leaps in logic at the very end to figure out the Motie's secret... it just felt so contrived.

This book had two different authors and it showed.

The edition of "The Mote in God's Eye" which I read in 1994 had a blurb on the cover with a quote from SF guru Robert Heinlein stating "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read...". This seemed to be too good a claim to be true and I fully expected to be disappointed. But almost from the first page I was hooked and among the hundreds of SF books I have read, TMIGE remains one of my all time favourites.

The plot is very simple; in the 31st century, mankind has established an empire across the galaxy, patrolled by a high tech navy, but has still not come across any alien civilization. Unexpectedly, they come across evidence of a civilization in an isolated star system and send out a ship to investigate. What follows is the story of First Contact and the complications that follow.

The book contains some of the most popular themes of modern day SF, namely Space Opera, First Contact and Intergalactic Empire. However, it is very much a product of the Cold War, and some of the political and social references may now appear a bit dated. What makes the book enjoyable is that Niven and Pournelle focus on our primal fear of what might happen to the human civilization if we ever come across aliens whose motives and technological capabilities are unknown.

Niven and Pournelle have had quite a few collaborations together, but this is by far the best one. Other good books by the duo are "Footfall", "The Legacy of Heorot" and its sequel "Beowulf's Children"; the latter 2 books had a third collaborater in Steven Barnes.

For those of you who have heard a lot about the legendary Larry Niven (particularly his Ringworld and Known Space stories), but have never read any of his books, TMIGE is a good place to start. The other great book to get started on is his short story collection "Tales of Known Space".

Just finished reading this book for an anthropology class. The alien society as described is fascinating, and is one of the most original ideas I have ever seen in Science Fiction. It is played out very well in the book. However, the human society as it is described is a conglomerate of every "Lost in Space, Battlestar Galactica" stereotypical space opera you've ever seen. A society 1000 years into the future is still plagued with the social problems of the 20th century; they're all Christians, very religious and prudish, the "Empire's" space based navy is a parallel of the United States navy of the 20th century. Planets are divided the ethnicity of a particular region from earth that settled the ENTIRE planet and maintained their cultural practices over 1000 years on their own planet. For example, there's NEW SCOTLAND, where they all speak with a scottish accent and produce an inordinate amount of engineers (not sure if this is before Star Trek and Scotty or not) and there's St. Enkaterina which is full of only Russian descendents complete with choppy English accent. It's like they put all of their time into coming up with this, admittedly magnificent, alien race and just extended the state of the world of the 1970s into space ONE THOUSAND YEARS into the future. Likewise, the relations of the humans with the aliens is also sketchy on some points. In order not to have to deal with the invention of an alien language or dialect in the book. They only create ONE alien word in the whole book, instead the aliens pick up on english at such a startling rate that in a very short time almost every alien we come in contact with is COMPLETELY fluent in English, enough so to speak with idiomatic phrases and use christian swear words in the course of normal conversation. Very unbelievable. I don't want to describe the alien race too much as it would ruin the book for the people who haven't read it yet, but it was so cool it negated all of these things and made this book totally worth reading. It was explained to me by my anthro professor that the alien race was a product of Niven and that Pournelle was responsible for the creation of the human society. If this is true, I'm going to be looking for a lot more Niven and skip out on these co-authored books.

The human race has a lot against it. We pollute, we exterminate other races on Earth, we kill eachother, we fill the planet with our own offspring. We are cruel and suppressing. On the other hand: we are concerned too, loving and caring, curious, protecting, we like to clean things and we realise the problems at hand.
We are Moties ourselves, in a lot of ways. And in the end, we have just been a bit luckier than them.
I like the book. The story is well told. It is quite funny. It contains some nice plot twists. It contains scientifically rather possible goodies and almost no technobabble. The charactes develop nicely, even though most of them are clearly very tong-in-cheek. There are lessons to be learned from this book for now and for the future.
So: read it! And I would certainly go to see it in cinema if a movie will be made of this.

In my opinion, the only worthwhile fiction -- sci-fi or otherwise -- is that which says something relevant about human nature. This book does that admirably, even if the observation made is not one which we would prefer to acknowledge.

***Spoiler follows!***

Motie (the aliens') civilization has a fatal flaw: it runs in circles. Barbarism. Rise. Struggle. Collapse. Start over. Nothing changes, there is nothing truly new under the sun, and they seem locked into this destructive pattern forever.

The subtle point to this book is that we are not so different! We make amazing technological advances, dream the most utopian social ideals, but at the end of the day we are the same old human race with the same old flawed human natures. At the end of the day we are still our own worst enemies. We haven't banished selfishness and war and competition, and probably never will.
(editorial: fortunately, unlike the Moties in the book, we have a Hope that is higher than mankind.)

In this book, the Empire of Man is still recovering from a *second* catastrophic civil war and resultant Dark Age, we're back to a neo-feudal system, pugnacious militarism is still in existence (and still necessary, it seems), people are still behaving with the old mixture of goodness and greed. All of this is depressingly plausible, given our history, and all of it is eerily similar to the Motie civilization which the human characters find so alarming. I don't reckon this to be coincidence.

Thus, it seems the archaic social structure the authors chose to resurrect for this story (commented on by other reviewers) has a subtle point.

-Bagram AFB, 2008

The Mote in God's Eye has to rank as one of the top ten SF novels of all time. Set in Pournelle's "Empire of Man" future, it takes Larry Niven's gift for creating truely alien aliens to the limit. Time and again you reach a point where you think all the threads are tied ant the logical conclusion at hand, and then the authors pull out another rabbit, although the data for the change was laid out earlier, and there are no arbitrary or unfounded surprises. Not to be missed.

As a fan of the Ringworld novels, I had high expectations for this one, especially given the quote on the cover from Robert Heinlein: "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The plot was standard issue first contact stuff. Not awful but certainly not great. A bigger issue for me was how poorly this book has aged. The book is set in 3017 however depictions of women, religion, and culture feel straight out of 1950s middle America.

This is, possibly, one of the best SF books I ever read. It sits on my bookshelf next to The Ender's Game and The Lord of the Rings (however unsimilar these books are).

Many of the ideas described in the book are startling and thought-provoking. Especially astounding is the very introduction, although one can't really measure its importance well until he's half through the book. Known space - is just a collection of tiny bubles floating within a ghlass of water. And there's nothing we know (and possibly never will) of the waters...

Being trapped within one tiny buble of air called 'Earth', having absolutely no way of escaping it. Is it not scarry? What would humanity do, say, 200 years from now if we don't find a way to travel between the palnets of the Solar system at a decent speed and a reasonable cost? And then again a question of terraforming: are you ready to spend your whole life in an air-tight sute? Inside a bunker? Somewhere on Mars, or better yet Io without a way to get to your long-forgotten Earth-planet any time before next year, when all the freshest news you get are not quite THAT fresh anyway...

And what if those aliens come to us and we try to get out of our tiny buble and we consider us dangerous and would NOT let us out?

This is a must read, take my word.

Some science fiction books are driven more by technology and plot situations, and other are driven more by characters and dialog. The great Isaac Asimov's stories usually were the latter; for example, in his great Foundation series, there's surprisingly little gee-whiz gadgetry.

Niven's stories have always been very strong on brilliant futuristic gizmos and clever alien creations, but weak in terms of fleshed-out characters interacting in a deep way that you'll find in other genres of fiction.

So I can understand some of the negative reviews; it could be that those folks are just not fans of Niven-style sci fi.

If you're new to Niven, I strongly suggest you read his "Known Space" series before this book. In fact, start with his short story collections before you move on to the classic Ringworld. The stories get higher- and higher-tech. He even admits it, in the preface to his short story "Safe at Any Speed." For a writer, it's basically a tough challenge to create an interesting plot when he has pretty much painted himself into a corner with so much incredible technology, not to mention a human race that has been successfully bred for luck!

That's what makes this book such a kick. I love that, in contrast to his Known Space books, this book is pretty low tech. It's retro, in the way that Star Trek: Enterprise is to its TV predecessors. I also really dig the Moties. I love that the central dilemma they're facing, the thing that regularly imperils their entire civilization and makes them such a threat to us, is something that we dealt with almost trivially years ago. To me, the concept that it never even occurred to them to deal with it as we had, reinforces their alien-ness.

So I give this book 5 very enthusiastic stars, but with two caveats: first, a big part of my enjoyment of this book wasn't so much because of its own merits, but due to what a marvelous and fun contrast its (relatively) low tech was in comparison to Niven's Known Space books. Second, in my opinion, the sequel to this book (The Gripping Hand) is not nearly as good an effort.

Niven and Pournelle are masters of the sci-fi craft, and their skills shine through in "The Mote in God's Eye". It's a beast of a book, mixing historical allegory with a thoughtful take on man's first encounter with an intelligent alien species. The strongest aspect of the story is the description of the Moties and their interactions with humans. It's clear that the Moties are open and helpful, but that they hide secrets from their human counterparts.

I'm a fan of the book and its authors, but I don't think the collaboration worked as well as it could have. The characters seem like they were teleported out of the 1960s. And there are several meandering and aimless chapters which add little to the novel's development. I think either one of these authors, working solo, could have produced a more fluid and readable story.

That said, "The Mote in God's Eye" is a must-read for hard-core fans of sci-fi. The authors take on a big topic, and handle it with plenty of nuance and imagination in this classic first-encounter story.

The good things about this book are the fascinating alien species we encounter and the realistic first contact scenario, but the book has many flaws. The human characters are all flat and interchangeable. Indistinguishable from each other in manner of speech or personality. They are one-dimensional. In addition, the authors dont give a a complete sense of the worlds or ships they inhabit. What does the inside of a ship FEEL like, the authors give little attention to the way things feel or sound or smell. This makes their universe feel like a place of cardboard walls. I wish they'd brought the human element to life the way they did the alien.

Bought this based on its perpetually high listing in the scifi arena of the Kindle store. It didn't disappoint. I found the structure of the story very quick. The back story itself was interesting and I found Pournelle and Niven consistently applied that story throughout. The storyline behind the aliens very thoughtful and had a bit of orignality. A good read.

Once this book gets going, it is a gripping read. It took me a little while to orient myself in the far-future universe but that was eased with likeable characters and witty dialogue. The alien race is probably the most fascinating and plausible race I've encountered in sci fi, and when the protagonists descend onto the Moties' planet, I have seldom had such vivid pictures painted in my mind by words. It is very easy to imagine that such civilizations exist.

The intrigue and politics is what makes this book work; it is building and building to a climax all the way through. The suspense is tantalizing and constant, brilliantly paced. I don't know how it is two writers go about composing such a long complex work as this, but don't change the formula, whatever it is. We need six stars for books like this.

"The Mote in God's Eye" is an excellent first contact novel in which star traveling humans encounter an intelligent race which has space travel but not interstellar travel. Communication between the humans and the Moties, as the humans call them, is easily established, but understanding the Moties, their culture, and the danger they represent to humankind is not so easy. This is a well written book, set in a very realistic and interesting world.

What Niven does best, coming up with truly alien aliens, not Star Trek humanoids with funny head bumps. Pournelle and Niven make a good duo because they fill the gaps in each other's weaknesses. One of my top ten SF novels.

Reviewer: Jon from United States Thought full of clichés, (the Human Empire is basically the British Empire circa 1880, the chief mechanic has a Scottish accent, most of the upper class is WASP-ish, and very proper, etc.) the basic super-realistic take on the far future of space travel, and space-going naval combat, as well as the nature of the aliens humanity encounters, are what make this book work. The narrative really flows, and the believability is helped be smooth shifts in narrative perception. This really shows with the aliens, which brings me to one of the real selling point. The story is basically a humanity meets aliens space-opera, though arguably one of the deepest and most thorough I've ever encountered. On that one, at least, it kicks the life juices out of Ender's Game, no joke. Unfortunately, the book does tend to wander in focus a bit, but the depth with which it does so redeems it 100%. The sun never sets on the British Empire, no matter what sun that happens to be.

As I read I began to see where Niven and Pournelle have influenced more modern authors in so many ways. Cannot believe I've overlooked this series over the years, thanks to my wife for pointing me in this direction.

For all who read The Mote in God's Eye and found themselves asking questions and wanting more, The Moat around Murcheson's Eye, by critically acclaimed authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is a must read. This sequel provides a stunning close to the conflicts left unresolved at the end of The Mote in God's Eye and introduces new twists and characters to the already extensive futuristic universe created by these authors.

This book picks up the plot twenty-five years after the end of The Mote in God's Eye. His Excellency Horace Bury and his personal pilot Kevin Renner are conducting intelligence work for the Imperial Government in the distant system of Maxroy's Purchase. However, things soon become murky as many inhabitants of the planet express body language patterns belonging to the dreaded Moties, the first and only intelligent aliens ever to be encountered by humanity. This, in turn, leads Bury and Renner to believe that the aliens have escaped quarantine and are now loose upon the galaxy. They immediately leave Maxroy's Purchase and head for the Imperial Capital of Sparta, where they hope to gain leave from the Emperor to pay a visit to the Blockade Fleet at Murcheson's Eye, the battle group responsible for denying the Moties entrance to the galaxy beyond their own system, where tales of corruption and negligence have seeped through to the Empire. This quest will pit them against political barriers, space battles and Bury's own failing health in a race against time to stop the Moties from escaping into open space.

If you think that this synopsis sounds complicated and convoluted, you're right! But the fast-paced story and lucid writing of these talented authors keep this book a page-turner right until the explosive climax. The engaging characters of the first book reappear in the sequel and allow the reader to see where life took them after The Mote in God's Eye's end, while new faces keep things interesting and offer fresh view points and personalities. The intense emotional conflicts and tensions between old and new characters enrich the story beyond the action, making for a dramatic storyline, and as always, the immense cultural differences between humans and Moties is all the more evident as the story approaches conclusion.

The Moat around Murcheson's Eye provides a rapid fire, exciting read that'll keep you on your toes and leave you satisfied yet wanting more. For those of you who have read the first book then this continuation will answer questions and provide a thrilling ending to the series. However, it will prove confusing to those who have not read The Mote in God's Eye as there is little explanation about the original characters, and information is not revisited from the first book. Nonetheless, it will prove exciting to all and presents everything that a sequel is meant to be.

The story is wonderfully well-paced, with three distinct "action"
sections, and a final court-room style showdown. Each action section
grips you to the climax, and then you take a breather and start
building up to the next. I'd love to see a film based on this! The
science fiction elements are good, but it'd still make a decent story
without it. However, the romance is rather poorly done. - Rujith.

Not what I expected from a first contact novel. I thought it was very well done. The Moties are very well imagined. And I liked the fact that not everything was black and white (I'm looking at you James Cameron), but that there were difficult decisions to be made even when both sides had the best intentions.

I first purchased this novel in 1975, when I was 12 years old. I made a few stabs at reading it then but never got beyond the first chapters. Thirty-four years later, in 2009, I picked it up again and found that it is everything it's cracked up to be. Part space opera, part anthropological mystery, part horror story, part political thriller, part romance and unquestionably among the most engrossing and thought-provoking novels of any kind that I've read. You'll find yourself pondering the ideas put forth in this book, and the implications of those ideas for both Man and Motie, long after you've read the last page.

Old school but I love it. I love Niven & Pournelle, and I love them even more together. And I would give the rest of the series a solid four stars or 4.5. And on a different note, a different scent, quite a few of the Kzinverse stories really shine.

What Niven does best, coming up with truly alien aliens, not Star Trek humanoids with funny head bumps. Pournelle and Niven make a good duo because they fill the gaps in each other's weaknesses. One of my top ten SF novels.

Reviewer: Jon from United States Thought full of clichés, (the Human Empire is basically the British Empire circa 1880, the chief mechanic has a Scottish accent, most of the upper class is WASP-ish, and very proper, etc.) the basic super-realistic take on the far future of space travel, and space-going naval combat, as well as the nature of the aliens humanity encounters, are what make this book work. The narrative really flows, and the believability is helped be smooth shifts in narrative perception. This really shows with the aliens, which brings me to one of the real selling point. The story is basically a humanity meets aliens space-opera, though arguably one of the deepest and most thorough I've ever encountered. On that one, at least, it kicks the life juices out of Ender's Game, no joke. Unfortunately, the book does tend to wander in focus a bit, but the depth with which it does so redeems it 100%. The sun never sets on the British Empire, no matter what sun that happens to be.

As I read I began to see where Niven and Pournelle have influenced more modern authors in so many ways. Cannot believe I've overlooked this series over the years, thanks to my wife for pointing me in this direction.

For all who read The Mote in God's Eye and found themselves asking questions and wanting more, The Moat around Murcheson's Eye, by critically acclaimed authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is a must read. This sequel provides a stunning close to the conflicts left unresolved at the end of The Mote in God's Eye and introduces new twists and characters to the already extensive futuristic universe created by these authors.

This book picks up the plot twenty-five years after the end of The Mote in God's Eye. His Excellency Horace Bury and his personal pilot Kevin Renner are conducting intelligence work for the Imperial Government in the distant system of Maxroy's Purchase. However, things soon become murky as many inhabitants of the planet express body language patterns belonging to the dreaded Moties, the first and only intelligent aliens ever to be encountered by humanity. This, in turn, leads Bury and Renner to believe that the aliens have escaped quarantine and are now loose upon the galaxy. They immediately leave Maxroy's Purchase and head for the Imperial Capital of Sparta, where they hope to gain leave from the Emperor to pay a visit to the Blockade Fleet at Murcheson's Eye, the battle group responsible for denying the Moties entrance to the galaxy beyond their own system, where tales of corruption and negligence have seeped through to the Empire. This quest will pit them against political barriers, space battles and Bury's own failing health in a race against time to stop the Moties from escaping into open space.

If you think that this synopsis sounds complicated and convoluted, you're right! But the fast-paced story and lucid writing of these talented authors keep this book a page-turner right until the explosive climax. The engaging characters of the first book reappear in the sequel and allow the reader to see where life took them after The Mote in God's Eye's end, while new faces keep things interesting and offer fresh view points and personalities. The intense emotional conflicts and tensions between old and new characters enrich the story beyond the action, making for a dramatic storyline, and as always, the immense cultural differences between humans and Moties is all the more evident as the story approaches conclusion.

The Moat around Murcheson's Eye provides a rapid fire, exciting read that'll keep you on your toes and leave you satisfied yet wanting more. For those of you who have read the first book then this continuation will answer questions and provide a thrilling ending to the series. However, it will prove confusing to those who have not read The Mote in God's Eye as there is little explanation about the original characters, and information is not revisited from the first book. Nonetheless, it will prove exciting to all and presents everything that a sequel is meant to be.

The story is wonderfully well-paced, with three distinct "action"
sections, and a final court-room style showdown. Each action section
grips you to the climax, and then you take a breather and start
building up to the next. I'd love to see a film based on this! The
science fiction elements are good, but it'd still make a decent story
without it. However, the romance is rather poorly done. - Rujith.

Not what I expected from a first contact novel. I thought it was very well done. The Moties are very well imagined. And I liked the fact that not everything was black and white (I'm looking at you James Cameron), but that there were difficult decisions to be made even when both sides had the best intentions.

I first purchased this novel in 1975, when I was 12 years old. I made a few stabs at reading it then but never got beyond the first chapters. Thirty-four years later, in 2009, I picked it up again and found that it is everything it's cracked up to be. Part space opera, part anthropological mystery, part horror story, part political thriller, part romance and unquestionably among the most engrossing and thought-provoking novels of any kind that I've read. You'll find yourself pondering the ideas put forth in this book, and the implications of those ideas for both Man and Motie, long after you've read the last page.

Old school but I love it. I love Niven & Pournelle, and I love them even more together. And I would give the rest of the series a solid four stars or 4.5. And on a different note, a different scent, quite a few of the Kzinverse stories really shine.

Many of the story ideas are great. The moties are a surprising first race to encounter, and I really loved their different sociology and biology. The human character descriptions and developments were very disappointing.

Set out to be the Epitome of Alien Contact stories and succeeded. This is SF as it should be and anyone who isn't enthralled must be suffering from a seriously deficient imagination and sense of wonder. This book is very different to "The Lord of the Rings" but they have three things in common: (1) they restore faith in the survival of the story-teller's craft, (2) they are both long books, and, (3) the reader finishes them wishing they were a lot longer.

I love both of these writers, but I think Niven often becomes a "'big ideas" guy and loses focus on telling a rousing story. As much as I enjoy "Ringworld" it doesn't exactly have a great deal of emotional resonance. However, when these two collaborate you get both a tremendous sense of awe at the sheer boldness of the premise, plus a characterful and elaborate action narrative. I have never been as horrified and page-flipping as when that one thing happens on the ship with those little things. I'd rather not say more. But there's stuff with helmets and spacesuits that flipped my old-timey wig upside down on my head.

If you like hard science fiction, buy this book. I bought it years ago, read it until it was about to fall apart, then bought another copy. There is drama, humor, tragedy, hard science, hard social science, its never slow, and you want it to never end.

The premise of this novel is that intelligent life is rare, and second, that Faster than Light travel has its limitations. Written before the existence of Wormholes as a scientific theory, its Alderson drive concept hints at this phenomenon.
I did not like the idea that a technological type 3 civilization can be achieved in a mere millenium nor that it is compatible with a pseudo feudal imperial form of government. Starships and Medievalism has been attempted a lot in Sci fi.
The Moties are a biological nightmare. Once a stable bilaterally oriented species, it has become a myriad of mutated strains, castes, and classes created by wars and a million years of assigned work roles.
You have to really bend your imagination a lot with this one, but it is fun reading.

Jerry Pournelle's "universe" consists primarily of military fiction in support of a monarchy. Larry Niven's stories tend to be puzzle-solving stories involving aliens. Combine the two, and you have a good idea of how The Mote in God's Eye functions.
Set in Pournelle's universe, Mote shows how the Second Empire of Man would deal with a "first contact" with aliens, from the political and military levels. Niven's touch shows in the descriptions of the aliens and how they interact with "regular people," like NCO Kevin Renner or the trader Horace Bury. If you find something funny in the book, it's Niven's. Much of the military hardware and procedural stuff is Pournelle's. The two authors complement each other's work, though Niven is the stronger of the two writers (for me) when writing on his own.
The "Moties" in this story are asymmetrical aliens with a very, very ancient civilization. They, too, have had their rises and falls of civilization, and even spend a great deal of time planning for the next fall. The primary impetus of these falls is uncontrolled population growth, which presents some interesting challenges for their species. The authors do a fine job of describing the aliens and their challenges when confronted with the Empire of Man.
The characters themselves are mostly military men, and humorless; save for Sally Fowler, a Senator's niece who happens to be an anthropologist; and Horace Bury, a trader being held prisoner for purposes of sedition and treason. The most admirable character is Rod Blaine, commander of the cruiser MacArthur; the most fun character is Navigator Kevin Renner. Each of these folks has their own "take" on the Moties and their potential relation to the Empire.
This is not the best story of first contact I've ever read, but it's a good one. It was probably made better by some judicious editing by Robert A. Heinlein, a mentor to Pournelle and Niven. Once you get past all the pomp and circumstance, it's a pretty good story. These two authors have written better together, though (Footfall, for example), and this is their first outing as co-writers. This book can still give you the heebie-jeebies, if you let it.
And by the way, Jerry Pournelle's secret weapon for success is to cowrite with Larry Niven. His sales--and writing--improve one whole heck of a lot. If you've got the urge to read Jerry, Larry is a nice counterbalance.

I chose to read this book to appease all my friends who kept raving about it. I didn't make it the first time due to boredom - too much dragging, no flow. I finished it the second time, and I'm still not impressed. The characters are completely flat, serving as a pitiful frame for fleshing out an alien race. It reads like an episode of the original Star Trek with an overdose of social and technical jargon. I'll give it 2 stars only because the cover looked nice.

The strength in this book is the Motie civilization itself. The authors create a very believable society of aliens who have a severe problem of their own. The book is solid and my only complaint is that it probably could have been leaned out a bit in the number of pages. If you are new to Niven I would start with some of his Known Space books instead but never the less this is a great piece of hard SF.

Like a lot of Niven/Pournelle's work, the characters in these two stories are not miles deep; despite the fact that they can get INCREDIBLY talky at times.
Nonetheless, the imaginative firepower required to create the beings, the culture and the civilization of the Moties is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
If you buy "The Mote," go ahead and order "The Gripping Hand" at the same time. You will not want to leave this fascinating universe any sooner than you have to.

This book kept me very well distracted from beginning to the end, and beyond that as well. In the moment, the action and story was already an impressive display on Niven and Pournelle's parts, but it was the thought that must have been put into the details which made the story live after I'd long closed the book and put it back on the shelf. If you enjoy true science-fiction novels, this is an absolute must. It will not disappoint.

I read this book in 1987 so it's probably one of the first science fiction books I read. My house had just burned down yet this book not only held my attention but gave me a philosophical concept to ponder. The questions presented have stayed with me all these years. I'm still not sure what the correct answer is.

I don't normally pay attention to the names or authors of the 4-5 books I read every week. After decades I remember the name of this one. I consider it a must read.

This book is definitely one of the best sci-fi books ever written. As said, Niven and Pournelle came up with a completely believable alien society. As usual, there are great characterization and hard sci-fi involved. The reality of it all is strengthened by the very accurate and succintly described physics. This sure ain't Star Trek

I reread Mote after several years - and reconfirmed my opinion that it is a tour de force. Incredibly detailed...with a lot of details that presage many modern developments (your Blackberry/iPhone/etc. being one of them). The action is nonstop, with a surprising twist at the end. Strongly recommended.

This is seriously one of the greatest sci fi novels of all time (even Heinlein says so). Beware the first fifty or so pages though--it starts a little slow, but if you power through those, it's non-stop awesome.

This book is bad on the level of daytime TV or, well, bad sci-fi. You know how within literature there's sort of a cliché that sci-fi is incredibly badly written? OK ..... so this is the ultimate example of that. This is the single book were everyone started saying "sci-fi is badly written." This is the book that associates sci-fi with "opera" in the strict sense of "Soap Opera".

This is probably the worst "very famous" book, in any genre, whatsoever. By all means purchase and read (or skim through .. whatever you can manage) for historic reasons.

if you're some sort of literature or English student looking for examples of "incredibly bad writing" in sci-fi - or indeed anywhere - I can point you to which particular sentences you should be looking for: that would be any sentence from the first one to the last.

I'd rank this book right up with-but-after James Clavell's Shogun as the best First Contact novel we've ever had -- and Clavell had the advantage of being able to research the details that brought his Japan alive.
Whether or not you agree with the politics that inform the novel -- that noblesse oblige really can work, most of the time -- you're liable to find it seductive in the way that the best of Heinlein was.
With the exception of one line about Ensign Whitbread, I can't think of a thing I'd change. Terrific, terrific book.

What's cool:
All the thought that's gone into the scenario of mankind meeting an alien civilization for the first time. Creative and interesting. If that's your thing you'll want to read this.

What not so cool:
The characters are just dull, at least in my perception of them. The author failed at making them memorable and there were times when I had difficulty differentiating between some of the lesser albeit significant characters, most notably the middies. Also, what attempts there are at humor remind me of dad-jokes. Then again this book is rather old.

I recommend it to:
People who like science fiction and think humans are boring and should stay that way - even in books.

I'm the 41st review so really most of what I might say has already been said above. The only thing I'd like to add is that this particular storyline invoked some really drawn out ideas in my head. The concept of the Moties could easily be applied to the humans in our own potential future. The potential is boggling. :)

Excellent book, interesting all the way thru. Interesting characters of several different cultures. Title says it all - I can't think of any other novel that even comes close.

I have read ALL sci-fi by Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and a really massive amount of books by 'other' Sci-Fi writers, so I have a good sized 'database' to base my conclusion on!

The Mote in God's Eye has a cool title and contains spaceships with laser blasters that travel beyond light speed and furry 3 armed aliens, but also questions the supposed advantages of a technological society and practically asserts that such societies are inevitably cyclical. Come again?

Don't worry, it all works, and it's brilliant. Complaints of sexism miss the point entirely.

Humans discover the Moties, a very different race of aliens. Neither side is particularly honest with the other, and they are both quite martial.

The Moties prove to be rather a handful, being genius savant types with technology, and gremlin or tribble like as far as being annoying goes.

Interdiction seems the only option.

When I first started to read this one I thought to myself, what an outright ripoff of Star Trek! Even the engineering guy has an accent. Sheesh.
If you like starship and Star Trek type books this one is for you. I'd prefer just to watch a Star Trek episode myself. It is a pretty good read and the alien race the 'Moties' were interesting.
I tend to read the occasional Sci-Fi book and this was one of them. Nothing spectacular but okay.

The Mote in God's Eye (1974) is the first SF collaboration by these authors and is considered a classic by many fans. This story is set within the CoDominium Universe in the Trans-Coalsack Sector. As seen from the New Caledonia system, Murcheson's Star, a red giant, appears to be the Eye within the Face of God in the Coal Sack nebula. The Mote is a G2 star offset before God's Eye.

In this novel, the HMS MacArthur is an Imperial battle cruiser that has been badly damaged in action against a rebel ship near New Chicago. She is still capable of maneuvering, but is not ready for battle. The Executive Officer, Commander Roderick Harold, has just returned from offship duties and has conducted a thorough inspection of the ship.

Responding to an order to report to the Admiral, he finds that his commanding officer will remain on New Chicago. Rod is given a brevet commission as Captain and commanding officer of the MacArthur. He will be taking her back to Sparta for further repairs, although Rod is unlikely to keep her after reaching the Imperial Capital.

Rod is pleased to have Lady Sandra Fowler aboard as a passenger as she returns to the Capital. Sally was interned within a rebel prison camp after the insurrection began. There most Imperial citizens were brutally treated and murdered, but she was protected by the other inmates.

Sally was rescued when Rod led a raid on the facility. She has not yet recovered from her ordeal, especially from the total disappearance of her friend and classmate Dorothy. She seems to be coasting on autopilot.

Rod is less pleased over his other passenger, Horace Hussein Bury, a bigwig in the Imperial Traders Association. Accompanying Bury is his servant (and assassin) Nabil, who is even smaller than his master. Naval Intelligence suspects that Bury created the rebellion on New Chicago.

The MacArthur is traveling to Sparta via the New Caledonia system. She will be refueled at the Navy base on Briget, a moon of Dagda, then proceed on to the Capital. However, the MacArthur receives an official message shortly after her emergence from the Alderson point that orders the ship to intercept an alien vessel heading in toward Cal, the local sun.

It seems that the alien ship has traveled thirty-five lightyears in normal space from the Mote in God's Eye. When the MacArthur reaches the alien ship, she is attacked by focused light off the lightsail. Rod takes her through the sail and blows away the shrouds holding the passenger capsule.

Rod has the capsule bow taken into the hangar deck and closes the hangar doors on it. The boats and other equipment in the hangar are mostly destroyed, yet the alien vessel is firmly enough anchored. The MacArthur then takes it into orbit around New Scotland.

In this story, the Imperial Viceroy and his advisors decide to send the MacArthur and the battleship Lenin to the Mote to investigate the aliens. The expedition will be commanded by Admiral Lavrenti Kutuzov, the Butcher of Istvan. The Lenin will ensure that the aliens do not take control of the MacArthur, destroying her if necessary.

The MacArthur will house a cadre of scientists, who will conduct all contacts with the aliens. Luckily, the MacArthur was lightly manned for the run back to the yards, for the crew and scientists are tightly packed into the living spaces. It doesn't help that the scientists have brought every available type of equipment that could be moved into the ship.

The Lenin and the MacArthur take the tramline to the Eye of God. There the Lenin leads the MacArthur as they search for the Alderson point leading to the Mote. From Murcheson's Star, they instantly travel to a point in the outer system of the Mote.

As soon as they emerge into the system, a Motie Engineer takes her ship out to meet them. Within an hour of emergence, another ship is launched from Motie Prime, the home planet. However, the Moties are definitely not confined to the planet, for the Motie Engineer had been investigating modified asteroids at the Trojan point.

Gradually the humans learn that various breeds of Moties occupy the system. The ship from Motie Prime contains Mediators and two Engineers. Moreover, unknown to the humans, it also contains a Master.

The Motie civilization is very old. They first reached orbit thousands of years before the humans came. Their space vehicles are truly refined and efficient and they have long ago built space habitats. But they lack access to the stars.

It turns out that the Moties have long since invented the Alderson drive, but the only known access point terminates inside Murcheson's Star. Spaceships have been equipped with this device and vanished into the tramline. Without the Langston Field, however, vital external components were melted in the photosphere and the ships were destroyed before they could return.

This novel and its sequel, The Gripping Hand, are set in the same universe as A Spaceship for the King, the Legion series, and other stories by Pournelle. Only these two works were set in this universe; other collaborative works were set in totally independent milieus.

Niven had published several earlier works, including Ringworld, prior to this novel. Pournelle, however, had only published one other SF novel, yet the team used his universe for the background of this story. Some reviewers have speculated about who wrote what; any fan of Pournelle's works would probably suggest that he wrote the Naval scenes. Yet this work also has some characteristics of a Niven novel. Overall, this seems to have been a true team effort, with significant contributions from both authors.

Highly recommended for Niven & Pournelle fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of first contact with alien societies.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Its been afew years since I have read the mote in gods eye, but i can still clearly remember the sequences where the tale literaly took my breath away, to stop reading a book, so that you can savour the anticipation or delight is not a common thing for me as a reader. Truely memorable is how i would define the book.
Now dont get me wrong, this book as many others in the scifi genre are severly lacking in good charachters, the "hero and heroine" are slightly smarter than lab rats and much much more gullible.
But thats the trade off one makes when venturing into hard scifi, you teleport into a literary universe filled with wonders and amazements and cardboard cutouts of people.
One last note, to venture into alien scicology like the book allowes one to do, alone is definetly worth the time to read it.

THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE presents an utterly believable vision of the future, certainly more credible than the one offered in the United Federation of Planets. The characters of Renner, Blaine, and the three middies had a dimension of humaness that made the situation they were in, while unbelievable, credible through their actions and reactions. I must disagree with the assessment in a later review in this column and note that THE GRIPPING HAND takes the reader on the next logical step of this voyage, with the very characters in the lead, being Renner and Bury. The Empire of Man must deal with the future and a changing future it is now.

I first read this book about 12 years ago. At the time it was a breathtaking and refreshing experience as to what our first encounter with an alien specices might hold in store for both them and us. I recommend it highly and would rank it with books like Dune, and Stranger in a strange land.

There is part of me that really liked this book just based on the plot device. The whole idea of a truly alien race "stuck in a bottle" was very appealing and original -- even now, thirty some years after it was written.

But I still came out of this book feeling a bit let down overall. I won't rehash all the points made by the other reviewers who gave it four stars or less. For the most part, I agree with a good majority of their more erudite observations of inconsistencies, lack of character depth and datedness of prose.

But I do feel it necessary to add a couple of comments to the bucket just for the personal cathartic experience of doing so.

First, for a novel this long that has quite a bit of realistic detail, why did the authors decide to go so flat on the first contact with aliens?

*** (Don't read on if you don't want a spoiler.) ***

When the two human warships enter the Motie system and make first contact with the first living, sentient species in the history of mankind... it's all very humdrum and commonplace. There's no fireworks written into this momentous occasion, the biggest moment in mankind's history. Nobody on the ship is terribly excited. Nobody is particularly fearful. Very little criteria for first contact is put in place or carried out with an eye toward proper communication, safety, quarantine, or just good sense (Other than one warship standing by to destroy the other in case of trouble -- which was a good and believable scenario, but it didn't go far enough with the reality of the situation). In fact, a lone midshipmen is sent with no fanfare to blindly go aboard an alien ship where he then proceeds to take off his mask and breathe the air as if this kind of thing happens every day. No fear of germs. No fear of contamination to either side. No concern about breathing poison and dying instantly. And, most of all, no concern about the sociological, psychological, physical aspects of meeting an alien race for the first time. It was just so silly and flat. Especially since this book was written in the era of Apollo, and those of us who are old enough can remember all the rigamarole that NASA and the astronauts went through to avoid any kind of contamination or disease. Pournelle and Niven treated this first contact like a humdrum walk down a long vanilla corridor in a dreary office building. No pomp and circumstance. No reality. This poorly planned inconsistency took me way, way out the prerequisite sense of disbelief that is required when reading fiction such as this. And I had a hard time getting it back.

I didn't care for the fact that the Moties could pick up our languages and mannerisms in twenty-seven seconds of listening to a few people chat (I exaggerate, but not by much). And suddenly, apparently every Motie in the Mote solar system can speak perfect English. And yet, no human will ever be able to learn or mimic the Motie speech. This was an unnecessary device that stretched my patience.

Why was the Bury character in the story at all? He did relatively nothing to advance the plot. Further, his character seemed to have been flip flopped between the two authors as the persona from the first part of the book bore little resemblance to the persona in the second part of the book. And I don't mean just because he got scared by some aliens in the big evacuation. His personality just didn't flow properly from page first to page last. Not to mention, he was an entirely unnecessary character who had no reason to be in the story or on a warship. It felt like he was supposed to be a bigger cog in the narrative at some early stage in the planning of the novel. And then, at some point, his entire plot device was thrown away. And what could the writer's do? This was in the era before Word Processors. They couldn't just go edit him out in any simple fashion. So he stayed in the story. And he was completely and utterly unnecessary (and unbelievable).

I second and third a somewhat minor complaint that is mentioned by others in these reviews. I got confused with all the characters. Few of them stood out enough to make their names have resonance with me. So I was continually trying to figure out just who was who. There were two scientists whose names started with "H". I still don't know which was which. And one of them was just completely a throw away character who did not deserve all the print that was devoted to him. Then, there were a whole slew of midshipmen who were integral to one or two pages of plot here and there. I still don't know which was which, just who died, who made it back, who was even necessary at all. And, quite frankly, by the middle of the book I just didn't care anymore. I just kept reading and let my attention to detail reduce by a few decibels.

And lastly, my favorite phrase in the whole novel (and it is so good it is repeated twice in the book) is, "Good girls don't use the pill". Oh, I got a fantastic belly laugh out of that one. It's especially great because a similar line and sentiment was also used in another book by these same authors, Lucifer's Hammer. These poor guys were so lacking in real world knowledge, even back then! Yes, I was there. I was riding along through the seventies while they were writing this book. And I guarantee you, nobody that I knew would have ever uttered or endorsed that line. These authors were... well... science fiction authors. That kinda says it all, I guess. Didn't get out of their lonely dark writing rooms very much. I know, that's a disparaging and probably unfair and even slanderous judgement. But hey, they wrote that line in earnestness. How can I not make fun?

Yes, my review tends to the negative on these few points. But don't get me wrong, I did not despise the book. From the middle to the end, despite the difficulties, I was pretty engrossed. The authors went a long way in describing pretty believable empires, both in the human galaxy and in the Motie system. They did a good job with their hardware and their space travel concepts. The characters, although lacking, are at least enjoyable for the most part. And I did like the ending. It was not a "last page letdown after devoting such a healthy portion of my reading lifetime to it" book, like so many other long books out there (Lucifer's Hammer, for one).

But be forewarned that the book is a product of its era (and of its sexually reclusive authors). If you can approach it from that viewpoint and you like medium hard science fiction, it's probably worth a read. You'll have to slog through a lot of tedious page turning to start. But once it gets going, it is not half bad. It's no more than a three out of five star read, though.

Disappointing - I did a lot of research trying to find another sci-fi series author that would allow me the luxury of having a series of meaty sequels to hold my interest. From what I gathered from my research this book was a prequel to Larry Niven's Ringworld and a host of sequels based on the premises established supposedly in Ringworld but foreshadowed herein. This story turned me off to wanting to read Ringworld. There are enough other science fiction stories to explore that won't be as hokey as this author's idiom. There were certainly enough reviewers that liked this book that I have to give it 2 stars, if only because it would be unfair to pan it outright, just because I found it poorly contrived. But for me, too many mechanical literary devices and needless filler material that should have been culled by about 200 pages and perhaps made it a more solid read. The filler was just too obvious and the attempt to use the Dune-esque model of Aristocracy and Military Command was just flat out trite. There is not one character I cared about and I found them all quite dull. I never like it when I start glossing over paragraphs for pages on end because the writing becomes just too pedantic or the incongruities whereby smart people on a mission of communication are artificially given bad excuses for not trying to communicate. In fact, one of those moments of non-communcication, forms the basis for for the entire action of the storyline. They do that same, no premise or bad premise jump to storyline, in lousy movies all the time. Was Heinlein having a senior moment when he lauded this work? I don't know that answer, but this is not a worthwhile read.

A fairly arresting tale of Mankind's first contact with an intellegent species. Unfortunately it suffers from vauge personalities.. card-board characters in fantastic settings, usual Niven Fare.
I found the most profound portion of this novel isnt in its main body, but rather in its short prologue, the "tiny bubbles" speech. Too bad the novel dosent deliver on the prologue's promise of dark discovery.

When a light-sail vessel is witnessed leaving an isolated section of space - a vessel is dispatched to contact the alien civilisation.
What they find is a society so alien to humans that the tragic truth behind their civilisation is only stumbled on at the very end of the novel.
One of the best first contact novels I have ever read - and I can still read over and over again.

In Thirty years of reading Science Fiction,when someone asks me to recommend a book,I recommend The Mote in Gods Eye.It's gripping enough for someone who has never read science fiction and get them started and sophisticated enough for those who have read science fiction all their lives,not to put it down until they are finished. I am not very good at writing what I think,but if you are looking an excellent book,no matter what you read,The Mote in Gods Eye is the book you're looking for.

Much has been written about first contact novels - this is the most thought provoking of the genre.

Forget the interesting aliens, forget the main characters - there is something more here.

You'll have to be pulled along by the story/plot line and then it will come to you as an epiphany OOOOHHH!

And when you get it - you will realize the story was just a tool to get you to seeeee!

Great stuff.

Caslo

Unexpectedly one of the best books I have read, Larry Niven creates a world with a mystery. A world where common humanoid biology has been turned on it's ear. Followed by the equally compelling "The Gripping Hand"

This was a well written and entertaining book, but it didn't grasp me like some others I have read. I am a tad concerned about reading the sequel since other commentors have said it was not nearly as good as the original.

Most of the books I read, I first get in the library. If then a book is outstanding good I buy it, and I will read it several times in a one to two year time span to discovering new details.
This is necessary as a good (catching) book of this quality will be read by any reader much too fast the first time.
As you might have guessed by now this is one of the books I own.

I won't lie to you. "The Mote in Gods Eye" is very well written and thought through. It deals with the first contact between human beings and an alien intelligence. The authors were very thorough in presenting the physical and psychological barriers that may come about with alien contact. Despite the hard work, the book just isn't that exciting.

The aliens were interesting, the idea of their history is probably their most inspired part of the story.

The characters were flat at best, sexist at their worst. To the point that the way the one female in the entire book was treated and portrayed was distracting from the emjoyable parts of the story.

At to many points in the story, we the reader are told of the act's secret twist before the majority of the main characters, so we are forced to slog through the rest waiting for them to figure it out and catch up to us. The conclusion being the most disappointing because of how obvious of an option it is from the very beginning of conflict and we are forced to believe these specialists wouldn't do this as standard practice...

I thought this was an incredible book. It had an unusual perspective on what it will be like to meet an new group of aliens. They wen't melevolent, they wern't primitive, they were just beings trying to survive in the universe, alot like us.

Here is another of the so called "brilliant classics" of science fiction that everyone raves about. The book started out very well and was fairly gripping, then (as usual) it fizzled out. I think that the authors had to produce a book of a certain length to appease their publishers, but couldn't run with the original good ideas to the end. Heinlein rated it as the best SF book he has ever read - one wonders what he has been reading!

I am a fan of Larry Niven's work, but I did not like this book or it's sequel. I found the idea of a human future with a feudal system of hereditary royalty an annoying distraction. The characters felt flat and I did not get involved in the plot at all. It does have interesting concepts, which are the hallmark of Niven's writing, but I found the story line uninteresting. Niven's other collaborations, such as Lucifer's Hammer and Oath of Fealty, had more compelling characters and drama.

Some reviewers say this starts slow. I would add it stays slow ~ all the way to the end. The only exciting scenes leave the main characters out. Too obviously setting up sequels and not enough meat here to bother with.

And what is it with the choppy POV switching every paragraph? This is strictly amateur writing. The humans are all walking cliches spouting officious nonsense.

Okay, now I know what bestselling SF is like, I'll return to reading the classics. Had enough filler? Want to try the real thing? Try Schmitz, Scheckley, Triptree and Vance.

My suspicion is that Pournelle did most of the writing for this book, and Niven mostly only consulted. Niven has his own weaknesses, but none so glaring as those seen here...the novel completely fails to inspire the sort of wonder you get from the elaborately constructed universe in the Ringworld books. The Moties, and the circumstance of their existance, are interesting, but not very convincingly alien. They seem like left-over brainstorms compared to Kzin or Pierson's Puppeteers. The clues about what they are hiding from humans were are too obvious, and less than halfway into the book its pretty clear where things are going. Not much suspense. Sadly, even the Moties have more character depth than most of the humans in the story. The author's notion of female psychology is utterly unconvincing, and the male characters spend a lot of time droning on about just how gosh darn swell it is to be a soldier, in a way thats sort of sickeningly reminiscent of old Ronald Reagan movies. On one page a character seems almost transcendentally insightful, and on the next unbearably petty or dimwitted... we have caricatures, not characters. All the care Niven normally takes to make fictional technology seem plausible is missing, and frequently it just feels sort of ridiculous. You have to force yourself to play along even when things don't make much sense. The book has its moments, but I say its pretty over-rated.

This book was at times quite interesting to read and there are some intriguing ideas, but somehow it can't really convince. As for being called a hard science book - how can an author describe a ferret as a catsized RODENT?? Jeeeeeez, that's like saying that an elefant is a primate. Another blunder is the space suit - it's described as being very thin and using body heat for thermoregulation and the best - it is permeable for perspiration!!! Helloooo? Doesn't anybody find that stupid? It should be called "crazy loonies certain death suit" ;-) was this a lousy attempt to "copy" Frank Herberts stillsuit? I don't know but, I know that it's not hard science.

I read this book a very long time ago, and can't even remember what it was about, other than the fact that I loved the book, and it got me started on following the author. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you are a preacher or sinner, it will open your eyes. So, what do you think for a first review?

I like quite a bit of Pournelle's and Niven's other work, and this has an interesting concept, but it definitely drags. In addition, it has some irritating peculiarities with point of view, switching from character to character with little or no warning. The "big reveal" of the mystery is uninteresting, and the ending is unsatisfying. Heinlein's famous comment that this might be the best science fiction book he'd ever read is baffling; in my opinion, it's not even the best book that these two authors have written. Disappointing.

I never write reviews, but after reading this book I was mad. It was supposed to be good!

Perhaps this book was great in its day, but it is certainly not "one of the best of all time." The writting style was bad, the dialogue was bad. The content was good enough in the beginning, but the novel falls into that all too common category of books: It keeps you reading until halfway thru the book, then it falls flat on its face. You have 250 pages to go, and you struggle thru them because you don't want to admit defeat and call it quits.

There are too many main characters, and they all seem the same. Even the Moties seem the same. The future galactic political scene was unrealistic. This book being written in the seventies, you find American and Russian types as the two main political powers. Even though this takes place a thousand years in the future, and is right after a dark age had occured. This book favors white-male-americans (I am white-male-american). It is racist and sexist in parts.

Also, the pro-military theme throughout the book didn't appeal to me. (Spoiler) Near the beginning, an alien spaceship is hurtling towards a human star system. There is no obvious threat detected. But right away the government sends a warship out to intercept it, gets in the alien ship's path!, pretty much destroys the ship, and kills the alien. Which of the two ships seems the threat to you? Nevertheless, the authors justify the action, and the captain is rewarded for the decisions he made. That part of the book shows certain overtones that pervade the whole novel. Pigheaded militaristic arrogance is not my idea of entertainment.

There are certain military colloquial annoyances in the book. It seems unlikely to me, that 1000 years in the future, a space-faring Navy (after a dark age) will still be saying things such as "Aye aye, sir," "Atten-SHUT," or "NOW HEAR THIS. NOW HEAR THIS. . ." Phrases such as these occured enough times to be distracting to me.

And of course, Scotty from Star Trek made a cameo apearance as the ship's engineer, thick Scottish accent and all. Ridiculous.

Frankly, after waiting for several years for the sequel, I was severely disappointed. Mote was undoubtedly a great book, one of the best first contact novels ever written and I am a HUGE Pournelle and Niven fan, but this book was clearly written to get the publishers and the fans off their backs.
The basic plot line was decent enough but the Blaine children, especially the daughter, were just too much! Pournelle and Niven are clearly old men of our parent's generation that really do not understand too much about young women. Frankly, although indispensable the way the plot has been worked out, the Blaine children should have been written out and their tasks performed by some bio-medical researcher from the Institute.
And, while I am at it, Pournelle and Niven should move into the 1980s, if not the 1990s or later, as far as the role of women is concerned. While I am far from PC--I like military SciFi don't I?--their view of future societies is far too patriarchal.
All in all, Kevin and Horace were the only mildly interesting characters in the book. A great disappointment. You should probably still buy the book to see how the story ends, although the end is slightly predictable, but its far from their best effort.
NB: If you haven't read Mote, save your money.

Lucifer's HammerI enjoyed the book about a comet hitting the earth and the struggle to survive in the aftermath. The story starts out a little slow, but as the story develops you become very involved with the characters.

The most unique idea behind The Mote in God's Eye is that biological differences will likely drive interactions if man ever discovers another intelligent species in the universe. The novel uses the idea of Malthusian collapse to create the ultimate incompatibility between Moties (the new species discovered in a region of space known as "The Mote") and Humans that forces the conflict rather than moralistic notions of "good" and "evil".

Also, Niven and Pournelle create one of the most biologically imaginative alien species I have ever seen. The Moties are composed of "subtypes"---individuals biologically specialized to fill specific tasks within a civilized society---suggesting Moties have been subject to evolutionary pressures within an advanced society much longer than human beings.

The Mote in God's Eye shows how the divided segments of human society struggle to handle the discovery of another intelligent species. These internal conflicts almost lead to disaster until the unlikely discovery of the Moties true biological nature and species history leads to the novel's unexpected climax.

You've got to look hard these days to find what use to be called science fiction. Even the Hugo and Nebula Awards seem to have turned their collective noses up at it. Their target demographic seems to have changed. But if you like some science in your fiction, if you prefer ideas over fantasy romance, if politically-correct tween twaddle is just not your thing, try one of the great classics like Mote. It stands the test of time.

I rarely rate books here, but I have to leave my two cents on this one. Don't waste your time, this is a horrible book. For every good stretch that is interesting - which are few - there are long vast complicated stretches of either confusion or boredom.

The complexity of the Motie species doesn't work well for the story. I love hard science fiction, but this is hard sci fi done wrong. Plus you have the stereotypical characters as many have mentioned. It is in many ways like reading a bad Star Trek episode.

Worst is the self-approval stamp Heinlen put on this work. As one reviewer mentioned, he only allowed it if he could edit and fix the final manuscript himself, thus saying how great his own work is - shameless.

When I finished this book, it went straight to the trash. For so much potential, it fails so miserably.

There's a bunch of reviews already that explain why this is a so-so read... I'll just add my rating to knock down these 5-star, "Greatest-book-ever" reviews which are patently absurd. Maybe if you didn't read much of anything, you might think this book was wonderful, but even then I have a hard time believing it. Not sorry I read it- picked up for $1 at used store- but definately just a placeholder between the next good book...

Although I found the Moties and their civilization interesting, I have to say it: Time has not been kind to this novel. I mean seriously, it takes place how many years in the future? Yet we have no women in the military, only one female scientist, and ships named after cold-war era leaders. This is supposed to be like a 1000 years from now. Seriously? This book was out of date even in the 70's.

This is a slow moving book that will test your resolve to keep reading it. Any action was few and far in between the tedious reading. Humans meeting a new species, the Moties, for the first time has a lot of exciting potential. However with the exception of those critters that could reengineer practically anything, kind of reminded me of replicators from SG1, the story line bogged down. The ending was also totally uninspiring. I know this is a classic just not sure why.

2000 years in the future mankind has discovered faster-than-light travel and they've inhabited many different planets. All of mankind is ruled by the Empire. A discovery of an alien race causes the Empire to send two battleships as ambassadors to meet with and perhaps study these aliens. The contact was successful. Many things were learned and many things were hidden.

This is the second alien book I've read with the first being the Ender's Game series. There were a lot of parallels between this book and the Ender's Game books. I don't know if Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) borrowed some ideas from Niven and Pournelle or if all three borrowed from an author before them. Both books/series I considered OK.

I was prompted to read The Mote in God's Eye because I read another book by Niven and Pournelle titled: Lucifer's Hammer. What I've noticed from the two reads is that they love to heavily pour on technical and scientific jargon. That would be perfect if I were a reader that worked in those fields, but I'm not a scientist, nor an astronomer, nor was I in the military; all careers that would have aided in understanding some things in the book. That's not to say that I couldn't gather the overall gist of the story and the direction, but the book needed to be dumbed down. When I say dumbed down, I mean that the book would have been greatly enhanced with illustrations. Niven and Pournelle described things I could not hope to draw a mental picture of such as the space-age battleships, the "Coalsack", the various aliens and other things. All the things they were introducing were foreign and even some of the adjectives to describe them were nebulous. I don't know what a toroid is or a Trojan point or a sloop or an aft/aft part of a ship. I just think that having a clearer picture of what was being described would have improved my reading experience.

But, even with some of the technical and military jargon the book held my attention; sometimes more than others. I don't think Niven/Pournelle wrote the book eying a sequel but it seemed to set up that way. There was some conflict and drama but it was relatively mild. In fact, it was hard for me to pinpoint what was the climax of the book. I'd say that it took 400 pages to get to any real drama. 400 pages is fine if the book is 1000 pages, but this was a 555 page book. The book was just interesting enough to hold my attention. I would have still read it even if it was a bore simply because I paid for it, but at the end of the day I plodded through the book instead of voraciously tearing through the book as I would an excellent read.

He's no Asimov and this is definitely not a classic of the genre. This book has dated badly. I don't imagine there will be any "Special 30th Anniversary Edition" coming out.

I had the misfortune to be stuck with it on a trip through California after I stole it from the Turtle Hill Youth Hostel in SF so I'd have something to read. Boy did I ever get the punishment I deserved. Corny characters, bad science inventions, and a really unenlightened cold-war, paranoid ethic.

One problem is that I've been reading Iain Banks' Sci-Fi lately and that has set the bar pretty high for what's good or not.

Jerry Pournelle's "universe" consists primarily of military fiction in support of a monarchy. Larry Niven's stories tend to be puzzle-solving stories involving aliens. Combine the two, and you have a good idea of how The Mote in God's Eye functions.
Set in Pournelle's universe, Mote shows how the Second Empire of Man would deal with a "first contact" with aliens, from the political and military levels. Niven's touch shows in the descriptions of the aliens and how they interact with "regular people," like NCO Kevin Renner or the trader Horace Bury. If you find something funny in the book, it's Niven's. Much of the military hardware and procedural stuff is Pournelle's. The two authors complement each other's work, though Niven is the stronger of the two writers (for me) when writing on his own.
The "Moties" in this story are asymmetrical aliens with a very, very ancient civilization. They, too, have had their rises and falls of civilization, and even spend a great deal of time planning for the next fall. The primary impetus of these falls is uncontrolled population growth, which presents some interesting challenges for their species. The authors do a fine job of describing the aliens and their challenges when confronted with the Empire of Man.
The characters themselves are mostly military men, and humorless; save for Sally Fowler, a Senator's niece who happens to be an anthropologist; and Horace Bury, a trader being held prisoner for purposes of sedition and treason. The most admirable character is Rod Blaine, commander of the cruiser MacArthur; the most fun character is Navigator Kevin Renner. Each of these folks has their own "take" on the Moties and their potential relation to the Empire.
This is not the best story of first contact I've ever read, but it's a good one. It was probably made better by some judicious editing by Robert A. Heinlein, a mentor to Pournelle and Niven. Once you get past all the pomp and circumstance, it's a pretty good story. These two authors have written better together, though (Footfall, for example), and this is their first outing as co-writers. This book can still give you the heebie-jeebies, if you let it.
And by the way, Jerry Pournelle's secret weapon for success is to cowrite with Larry Niven. His sales--and writing--improve one whole heck of a lot. If you've got the urge to read Jerry, Larry is a nice counterbalance.

The book's contrast between human and Motie society is little more than an excuse in sexism (Motie society is female dominated - and so doomed to fail) and racism (the whites rule Motie society and the brownies are slaves). Oh, but of course that's just white and brown fur, and so has nothing to do with our lives. Please, the book's racism and sexism are the only things to distract from pitifully wooden characterization and insipidly limp plotting. I've read Choose Your Own Adventure stories that were more engaging and intelligent. Do yourself a favor and read something by Philip K Dick instead of this pathetic drivel.

Where do I begin? This book had real potential...alas, it falls utterly flat. Lack of any character development WHATSOEVER along with a truly dated feel (the "pocket computers" that everyone carries around with them use circuit boards...this is a thousand years in the future, everyone should be walking around with quantum computers implanted in their teeth or something). My favorite character (Renner) is supposed to come off as some pompous arse, but is instead interpreted to be a knowledgeable patriot. Dr. Horvath is totally unrealistic...a scientist that is totally unwilling to change his beliefs even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. And the big Motie secret? BORING.
I felt obligated rather than compelled to read this book, it was almost a chore.

I first read this book when I was a kid, back in the 70s. It cemented me as a fan of SF forever after. I recently re-read it, after an interval of almost 20 years, and found whole new layers of depth and excitement. Very cinematically written. A true classic.

I recently bought this book solely because of the rave reviews it received, and was taken aback at just how bad it is. Packed full of clichéd characters (reading Dr. Horvath's dialogue made me cringe, no scientist is THAT naive and stupid). The moties themselves are a bit meh as well, I was expecting to be blown away by the revelations about their social structure (as one reviewer assured me I would be). I was not.

I enjoyed Niven's Ringworld much more, as at least the Ringworld itself was hugely impressive when described in the book. None of the elements here impressed me at all. I will not be recommending this book to anybody, and am contributing this review in the hope that I save someone's time.

I used to read Jerry Pournelle's computer column (in Byte magazine I think). That was a great column 15 years ago, he showed a very human side you didn't get from many other computer pieces. The column was long and winding, intermixing life and whatever computer toy he was playing with.

So, recognizing his name I picked up this book. What a mistake. I'm sure there's a market for this branch of sci-fi, but it isn't me. This is space opera at it's worst, pure silliness. What Heinlein saw in this to give the endorsement on the cover of the edition I read, I'll never know.

This book had all the makings of an interesting first contact book. However, it simply kept to the dark side of human nature and all the evils that humans will do. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Moties are even worse!!!

Very Dated. Very stupid. Kinda like Buck Rodgers meets the Ewoks. After 5 years of Premium membership this is only the 2nd book I could not finish. If you are looking for Lucifer's Hammer, move along. This is not the book you are looking for.

Earlier in the book, a scientist states that evolution from sentient beings would stop because they would start caring for the weak. Authors' circular logic about evolution is justified by the characters' stereotypes, 1000 years in the future, cold and heartless Russian, scheming Arabs with lots of money etc.... I found all these stereotypes quite distasteful because the book plows forward as if these were just "given facts" of evolution. Toward the end, the casual attitude the main characters have in controlling alien population was smacking of "Final Solution" which was the actual title of a chapter. Because the main characters had so much money they were discussing things like Planned Parenthood for aliens. Throw in an idiotic love story (as if George Lucas wrote them), I felt like I was reading a high school version of the Nazi's manifesto about World Order and how it must be maintained. Skip this book if you are looking for an insightful look into the future or something resembling reality.

Novels published 35 years ago have aged poorly and reading them is like watching TV shows from that era. They all seem so dated and tired and hackneyed. Ready to retire the "classics" and read something by an undiscovered genius? Try Jack Vance or Sisters of Glass.

I read this book many years ago when I lived in Australia and now I am rereading the trilogy again. It still stands up as a very good narrative of the genre. In fact back in the 80's I built a garage workshop or man cave and had a plaque made with "The Crazy Eddie Joint" over the door. I took the sign back to the UK and had it over my workshop door there. I now live in Florida and I have that same sign over my workshop here.

Love the book.

Edd

The Bad:

Shifts in perspective and time could have been handled more smoothly. Since the story is told from several perspectives, there are times where the POV must switch. Generally, this is handled with some kind of break (new chapter, different font, etc) to help the reader better understand that there has been a transition of perspective. That is not the case in "The Mote In God's Eye." For example, during a discussion between Rod and Ben where Kelly is mentioned but not present, the very next paragraph contains events from Kelly's POV, as well as a brief portion of Kelly's internal monologue. In regards to a similar shift in the passage of time in the story, when Rod and Sally return from the expedition, the reader is following what seems to be a single conversation the day after their return. In the course of the discussion, however, it is revealed that days (weeks?) are passing (have passed?) during the conversation. This notation of the passage of time is important, but the manner in which it is presented is confusing. These shifts are infrequent but nevertheless disorienting when they occur.

The Good:

This is a fantastic story, well told and very accessible, regardless of the reader's tech savvy or understanding of physics. It's a terrific genre piece, examining things like: over population; moral imperative for addressing issues that affect the species; the role technology plays in evolution, both social and biological.

The Takeaway:

"The Mote In God's Eye" is very, very good. It is an engrossing allegory for the unchecked expansion of humanity, in terms of both gross population growth and continued social stratification. While highly entertaining, it never sacrifices the power or relevance of its message to retain the reader's interest. Two thumbs up.

Recommended for: readers of science fiction; fans of first contact stories; those who enjoy Niven-style storytelling; followers of Pournelle's CoDominion universe.

"I am afraid. I will taste fear until I die."

"It hardly mattered now; it was, in fact, a fine and enviable madness, this delusion that all questions have answers, and nothing is beyond the reach of a strong left arm."

"They met on the bridge: to the best of Rod's knowledge, no one but the Admiral and his steward had ever seen the inside of Kutuzov's cabin. Possibly not even the Admiral, as he seemed always to be on the bridge, watching the screens like any scope dope, perpetually looking for Motie treachery."

"I am qualified to judge my species dispassionately. I am not a traitor." There was a plea in the alien voice. "I am a judge."

"Doctor, you keep asking me to see your point of view, which is based on ethics. You never see mine, which isn't. I never claimed the human race was superior to Moties- in ethics, or intelligence, or anything else. I only claim it's my race, and I'm charged with protecting human interest."