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The Gripping Hand (Moties #2)

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 4,875 ratings · 103 reviews

Robert Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The San Francisco Chronicle declared that "as science fiction, The Mote in God's Eye is one of the most important novels ever published." Now Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, award winning authors of such bestsellers as Footfall and The Legacy of Heorot, return us to the Mote, and to th...more

Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages

Published January 1st 1994 by Pocket Books (first published February 1993)

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Sep 28, 2007 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Long-awaited sequel to The Mote in God's Eye. It doesn't live up to its predecessor, but Mote is perhaps the best first contact s.f. novel ever, so it's understandable why Hand fails to hit the mark.

Roughly the first half of the novel, before Kevin Renner and company return to the Mote system, is slow-going, but I appreciated the opportunity to see a bit more of the Empire itself, especially the capital world of Sparta. The character of Horace Hussein Bury is also fleshed out much more here than...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Zach rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the sequel to The Mote in God's Eye, and everything that made the original book remarkable is missing, while everything that bothered me about it is back with a force. What made the original so compelling was the central mystery around the true nature of the aliens with whom the protagonists make first contact -- I can't talk about that without spoiling the first book to readers unfamiliar with it. There's very little of that sort of driving enigma present in The Gripping Hand. The novel...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Nathaniel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

When I read The Mote in God's Eye I was blown away. This long-delayed sequel doesn't live up to it's predecessor. Not even a little bit. There are some interesting ideas--and some amusing depictions of futuristic Mormonism--but the first extended sequence of the book (comprising several chapters) has almost literally nothing to do with the rest of the book. The whole novel is one long, slow attempt to sort of wrap up the tension left unresolved at the end of the first book. But the complete dear...more

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Nov 26, 2011 MattR rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: science fiction readers

Recommended to MattR by: my father

25 years have passed since the Moties were locked into their solar system by the human blockade.In the plot of The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven Horace Bury, the man given thje job of keeping the alien moties under control, and his assistant Renner find out that a new jump point to the motie system may open up allowing the moties to escape. Mean while a worm is invented to allow moties to live without reproducing.If moties don't reproduce they die. Burry and Renner discover the jump point just in...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Daniel Burton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, a-good-read-but-probably-overrated

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's always hard to follow up a great book with an equally enjoyable sequel. While I have speculated that this is because the best ideas tend to get used up in the first book, it goes without saying that so many sequels fail to live up to their predecessor. With "The Gripping Hand," Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle present their attempt to follow up the success of "The Mote in God's Eye," and while it is an admirable effort, I believe that it falls short, if only just.

The first book in this two b...more It's always hard to follow up a great book with an equally enjoyable sequel. While I have speculated that this is because the best ideas tend to get used up in the first book, it goes without saying that so many sequels fail to live up to their predecessor. With "The Gripping Hand," Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle present their attempt to follow up the success of "The Mote in God's Eye," and while it is an admirable effort, I believe that it falls short, if only just.

The first book in this two book series, "The Mote in God's Eye,"(and no, it has nothing to do with God, or with His eye) presented mankind's first encounter with alien sentient life. In Niven and Pournelle's universe, mankind has left earth and spread through the universe under the rule of an enlightened dictatorship. One day, an alien probe, of sorts, appears in one of mankind's remote systems. An expedition is quickly dispatched to the source of the probe, a distant solar system known as the Mote. When the danger to human-life in the alien civilization becomes apparent, mankind blockades the only access route out of the system, narrowly avoiding genocide, either for man or them.

"The Gripping Hand" opens up twenty-five years later. Suddenly, a new exit from the system is opening, and the Empire of Man is scrambling to prepare for what may be imminent war with the Motie civilization.

The book is enjoyable, and Niven and Pournelle do a wonderful job of presenting the Motie culture in contrast to human nature, creating space battles that span hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and developing characters that have changed over the decades between the books. They stick as close science as possible, or as much as one can without dipping into a fast and loose "Star Wars" type of universe (where the space ships make noise, fly like fighter jets under gravity and an atmosphere, and a mystical power called the Force allows just about anything...not that I'm knocking Star Wars...), which makes the books more credible and enjoyable and suspension of disbelief less difficult.

The weakness in their story telling is, for me, in the development of characters and culture. In "The Mote in God's Eye" we meet a culture that is closer in its morality to Edwardian or Victorian Great Britain than the looser morals of the twenty-first century. By the time the events of "The Gripping Hand" take place, however, just twenty-five years later (and mind that this is all over a thousand years in our future), sexual mores have digressed to the point where the marriage relationship means little. Whereas in the first book a couple would not even consider sexual contact outside of marriage, sexual pairing in the second appears at time to be almost recreational, bearing no connection to relationships.

Please do not mistake me--Niven and Pournelle keep their books PG or PG-13, and I do not recall any language, sexual descriptions, or even gratuitous violence. However, the characters act more like the Hollywood set than would be expected after a mere twenty-five years beyond the very careful and chaste Victorian modes of interaction. The reason behind this, I believe, is in large part because the first book was written nearly 20 years ago, and Niven and Pournelle are trying to make their book more palatable and readable to a far more sexually active culture (ours) than that in which they wrote. I think it does not serve the book, and in fact weakens the character development.

The second complaint I have is about the ending. While "The Gripping Hand" appropriately builds the tension and quickly ends after the resolution, the final resolution gives the impression that Niven and Pournelle just ran out of ideas and energy. And that was where they ended it.

Whatever the cause, these two complaints result in an almost five star book getting knocked down to three. It is worth reading if you want to know "the rest of the story" after "The Mote In God's Eye," but that's about it. It doesn't have the same energy, but is merely a sequel.(less)

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Sep 20, 2012 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 08, 2013 Zedsdead rated it 4 of 5 stars

A decent (but inferior) follow-up to The Mote in God's Eye. This time around I actually enjoyed the protagonists' standard intelligence work more than their interaction with the authors' fascinating alien race. This introduction to the main characters was the best part of the story.

Niven and Pournelle do a masterful job of crafting plausible (in scifi terms) conflicts and societies both alien and futuristic-human. The space battles, while clever, are written kind of choppily.

The radical notion o...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Ron Arden added it

I didn't even know there was a sequel to "The Mote in God's Eye", but here it is. The story picks up from its predecessor 25 years later. Rod Blaine is now a Lord and his wife Sally Fowler are big shots in the Empire. They have 2 children, Chris and Glenda Ruth, who among other things have been raised by the Motie ambassadors from the previous book.

Kevin Renner, who was the sailing master on MacArthur, the ship that visited the Mote in the first book, has been the pilot of Horace Bury these pas...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Doc Kinne rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Gripping Hand is not Mote, but is is a good bit better than I remember it when I first tried reading it years ago. Its advantages is that you get a far better taste of what Imperial life is like since the first half of the book concentrates on events in and around Sparta. In that same vein, you get a very good taste of what Mote civilization is like, and how it can quickly change, because the second half of the book concentrates on that.

I think my only solid criticism is that the description...more

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Dec 29, 2008 Steve rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: hardcore Niven/Pournelle fans

Shelves: fiction

Have you ever watched a sequel to a movie that you really liked, and partway into it realized that the whole purpose of the movie was for the stars to have a paid summer vacation? (Yes Ocean's Twelve, I'm looking at you.) The plot is thin, marginal characters from the original show up, there are a lot of exotic locales and gratuitous makeouts between characters (onscreen or off), and basically everyone in the production, if not the audience, is having fun.

The Gripping Hand is that concept applie...more

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May 23, 2011 Clint rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good science fiction book - but just that. After such a string of fantastic books from these authors, perhaps my expectations were too high. The Mote in God's Eye was a game-changer, something that was the definition of what the sci-fi genre can be when it's great. Intensely thought provoking, almost life changing. This sequel was simply adequate, and just didn't live up to it's predecessor. Nor did I find it as good as Footfall, or Lucifer's Hammer.

That said - it was still worth reading, and...more

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Apr 03, 2008 Joseph rated it 1 of 5 stars

Crap. 16 year wait after the original and this is what they came up with?

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Jun 03, 2012 Doug Dandridge rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Pournell and Niven fans

I don't know who does most of the writing when Niven and Pournell team up, but the sum is greater that the pairs. The Gripping Hand is a sequel to the award winning The Mote In God's Eye, with several of the returning characters, and of course the Moties. While not as good as the original, Hand is still a good novel in it's own right, and shows what happens when a blockade meant to keep a ultimate horror in check fails. I feel this book would be of interest to anyone who has read Mote, as well a...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Stutley Constable rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, adventure

I would have liked to have given this book four and a half stars but that is not an option. The only reason I did not rate this as a five star book is that it does not quite stand alone as a novel. You really need to read Mote in God's Eye to follow the back stories of several characters.

Overall this is a great read with well developed characters and aliens that come across as alien even if they have similarities to humans. A very good book to keep your attention and satisfy the intelligent sci-...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Kathryn Flatt rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading The Mote in God's Eye (more than once), I was so excited when some friends told me there was a sequel out. While this was satisfying in that regard, I often found it confusing. There was a longish segment about some kind of hunting expedition which I never really saw the purpose for. The battle scenes were difficult to visualize which was definitely not a problem in "Mote." Read it if you want to know what happens next in the future realm created by the first book, but don't expect...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Marcelo rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Jerry Pournelle. Larry Niven fans should stick with the «Ringworld» series.

I waited a long time for this book, the sequel to The Mote in God's Eye, the best sci-fi I've ever read. Problem is... could I really expect that the authors would repeat their miracle? Well, part of me hoped so, but this book doesn't live up to its predecessor.

It's a good book, well-written, chock-full of witty dialogue and space action scenes laced with real science. But it isn't The Mote in God's Eye. I loved seeing those characters again, but big chunks of this book are a little boring (and...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Jack Wegason rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

For a sequel, the book starts off a little slow and gradually builds to become more interesting, more exciting, and more engaging. The developments in the Motie system after many years of blockade are the interesting points of note here and the focus on Horace Bury as the lead human representative was also a different approach to my expectations for the novel.

The novel almost entirely focuses on events in and around the Motie system, space battles are to a degree, shortened and lacking detail, w...more

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May 30, 2011 Jeff Miller rated it 3 of 5 stars

Really quite a good SF book with one major fault, being that it is a sequel to The Mote in God's Eye one of the best SF books ever written. This sequel has much to like as far a military sf and in-depth social-political plotting in regards to both the humans and the aliens the Moties. The understanding of the Motie civilization via the lens of Arah history was also quit interesting. Some of the characters from the first novel are there with a concentration on the former Navy navigator and the Ga...more

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Jun 17, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Eighteen years after publishing The Mote in Gods Eye, Niven and Pournelle have written a sequel that, while not as novel, is more thrilling than the first tale of alien savants.

I think that the opening mystery tale involving “New Utah,” and the possibility that the Moties have at last escaped into the Empire of Man is an unnecessary set up. Even so, it is more interesting than much of the slow build up that follows. But the patient reader is finally rewarded with another amazing look a Motie ci...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Patrick Jones rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Mote in God's Eye was much better. Niven explores (as is his way) some straight up hard core science and anthropological theories, but nothing he didn't already explore in the first novel. I know he wrote the Ringworld series because fans wanted him to follow up; that was successful. This was not. The characters are somewhat boring with very little and very predictable development. The story reads like a 1930's space opera, except less interesting. Frankly, a little disappointing.

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Sep 12, 2011 Andreas rated it 1 of 5 stars

While The Mote in God’s Eye is easily one of the best Science Fiction novels of all time, this sequel is barely worth slogging through. All the epic elements are lost, the few good ideas aren’t developed properly and it is just plain boring. Shame.

Note: In the United Kingdom it was released with the title “The Moat around Murcheson’s Eye”.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1123

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Apr 29, 2011 Kathi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I enjoyed this probably more than my 3 star rating would indicate. Non-planetary Moties, some returning characters from The Mote in God's Eye and some new, space battles and political strategy--all pluses. But the big minus for me was that most of the book seemed to be build-up and all the action was really crammed into the second half of the book.

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May 19, 2013 Ron Albury rated it 3 of 5 stars

Uninspired.

I generally enjoy Niven/Pournelle books (Niven more so), and I loved the first Motie book. But this one was rather uninspired. Nothing new was introduced, the characters weren't so interesting, there was no internal conflicts ... just recycled stuff to get the page count up so they could get paid.''

2.5 stars

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Apr 22, 2013 nooker rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was very excited to discover that there was a new Moties book. Somewhat typical info dump of Niven, but over all very good. Interesting take on what happens when you try to contain nature and how it is inevitable that that will fail. I was bummed that it took so long to get back to seeing the Moties, but once they were on the scene it really ramped up and made it very worth wile.

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Aug 09, 2011 Matthew rated it 2 of 5 stars

Something of a letdown after the spectacular "Mote"; this sequel takes place 20 years later, the solution of the first novel is starting to fade, and the perpetual Motie curse of the Cycles has, suddenly, a human-made solution that could reconcile the great human-motie divide.

Strong and plausible, just not quite the same adventure as the first.

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Feb 15, 2009 Chad rated it 3 of 5 stars

Not as compelling as the first, which had the tension of new discovery. This was well written, but just built upon the first book-- without the sense of anything really important happening. Worth a read to complete the story, but not an urgent read.

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Aug 01, 2012 Silvio Curtis rated it 3 of 5 stars

The sequel to The Mote in God's Eye. I don't remember much about it, but I didn't like it nearly as well as the first book. I think it was a lot of racing around in spaceships without a whole lot of interesting information about the Moties.

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Apr 03, 2012 James rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This followup to A Mote in God's Eye is all a bit of a slog. There are some good parts here, but really it is just hard work. I could have read a Mote in God's Eye and just stopped there. There is not much value in this follow-up in my opinion.

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Jul 19, 2012 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars

This sequel is not quite as good as the Mote in God's Eye, but is still one of the better SF books I have ever read. Some fascinating characters, and it contains one of the most well-thought-out space battles that I have ever encountered.

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Feb 18, 2013 Brent Knorr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I certainly didn't enjoy this book as much as "Mote in Gods Eye". It started out well enough but after the mid point it settled into political maneuvering and a running space battle which was just a bit to complex to really follow properly and still enjoy.
It wasn't a bad book, but just didn't live up to my expectations.

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About Larry Niven

Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths...more Laurence van Cott Niven's best known work is Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) (1970), which received the Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics. The creation of thoroughly worked-out alien species, which are very different from humans both physically and mentally, is recognized as one of Niven's main strengths.

Niven also often includes elements of detective fiction and adventure stories. His fantasy includes The Magic Goes Away series, which utilizes an exhaustible resource, called Mana, to make the magic a non-renewable resource.

Niven created an alien species, the Kzin, which were featured in a series of twelve collection books, the Man-Kzin Wars. He co-authored a number of novels with Jerry Pournelle. In fact, much of his writing since the 1970s has been in collaboration, particularly with Pournelle, Steven Barnes, Brenda Cooper, or Edward M. Lerner.

He briefly attended the California Institute of Technology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics (with a minor in psychology) from Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, in 1962. He did a year of graduate work in mathematics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has since lived in Los Angeles suburbs, including Chatsworth and Tarzana, as a full-time writer. He married Marilyn Joyce "Fuzzy Pink" Wisowaty, herself a well-known science fiction and Regency literature fan, on September 6, 1969.

In addition to his awards for Ringworld, Niven won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story for "Neutron Star" in 1967. He won the same award in 1972, for "Inconstant Moon", and in 1975 for "The Hole Man". In 1976, he won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette for "The Borderland of Sol".

Niven has written scripts for various science fiction television shows, including the original Land of the Lost series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, for which he adapted his early story "The Soft Weapon". He adapted his story "Inconstant Moon" for an episode of the television series The Outer Limits in 1996.

He has also written for the DC Comics character Green Lantern including in his stories hard science fiction concepts such as universal entropy and the redshift effect, which are unusual in comic books.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/larryn...

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The Gripping Hand (Moties #2)

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