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You Are Here: Home > History Books > Black Plague > Item 43
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The Mote in God's Eye
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by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Sales Rank: 17000
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List Price: $7.99
$7.99
At Amazon
on 6-20-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 592 pages
Published by: Pocket March 1, 1991
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0671741926
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0671741921
Book Dimensions:
6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
Weighs: 8 ounces
Product Review
In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.
In the Mote the humans find an ancient civilization--at least one million years old--that has always been bottled up in their cloistered solar system for lack of a star drive. The Moties are welcoming and kind, yet rather evasive about certain aspects of their society. It seems the Moties have a dark problem, one they've been unable to solve in over a million years.
This is the first collaboration between Niven and Pournelle, two masters of hard science fiction, and it combines Pournelle's interest in the military and sociology with Niven's talent for creating interesting, believable aliens. The novel meticulously looks at every aspect of First Contact, from the Moties' biology, society, and art, to the effects of the meeting on humanity's economics, politics, and religions. And all the while suspense builds as we watch the humans struggle toward the truth. --Brooks Peck
Product Review
Robert Heinlein
Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read.
San Francisco Chronicle
As science fiction, one of the most important novels ever published.
Columbus Dispatch
A superlatively fine novelno writer has ever come up with a more appealing, intriguing, and workable concept of aliens.
Frank Herbert
A spellbinder, a swashbucklerAnd, best of all, it has a brilliant new approach to that fascinating problem -- first contact with aliens.
Theodore Sturgeon
One of the most engrossing tales I've read in yearsfascinating.
Minneapolis Tribune
Intriguing and suspensefulthe scenes in which the humans and aliens examine one another are unforgettable.
Reader Reviews
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.
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The Mote in God's Eye
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Price: $7.99
Updated on 6-20-2008.
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