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The Mote in God's Eye

(Moties #1)

Larry Niven,

Jerry Pournelle

4.07 · Rating details · 64,395 ratings · 1,754 reviews

In 3016, the 2nd Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to faster-than-light Alderson Drive. Intelligent beings are finally found from the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud. The bottled-up ancient civilization, at least one million years old, are welcoming, kind, yet evasive, with a dark problem they have not solved in over a million years.

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ebook, 596 pages

Published April 26th 2011 by Spectrum Literary Agency (first published October 1974)

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Mar 06, 2012 Lyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Very entertaining, interesting, intriguing, thought provoking, etc.

Good science fiction.

Robert A. Heinlein himself is quoted as saying something to the effect that this was the best science fiction novel he had ever read. I don’t know that I’d go that far, but this was very good.

David Allen Coe claimed to have sang the perfect country and western song, and in that same regard, Niven and Pournellle may have collaborated to create the perfect science fiction novel, it contains all of the import ...more

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May 25, 2012 James rated it did not like it

This book gave me a really bad vibe from the outset. Maybe it was the captain's use of the word "rape" as an epithet. Maybe it's the token female aristocrat whose sole job is so predictable from the very outset: (view spoiler). Maybe it's the incessant stupidity and naivety of the big players in the story throughout the course of its run. We'll get into all of that during the course of this revie ...more

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Mar 08, 2014 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf-top-20, top-20, favorites

For some reason I always find Larry Niven much better with Jerry Pournelle than without; Inferno, Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall are all winners (they have collaborated on quite a few other titles, but I have not read them yet). The Mote in God's Eyeis generally considered to be their partnership’s best book (have a look at Larry Niven’s Goodreads page).

I believe the blurb by Robert A. Heinlein that appears on many editions of the book’s cover* has been around since its first publication in 1974; ...more

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Aug 06, 2020 J.L. Sutton rated it liked it

“We play your part in order to understand you, but you each seem to play a thousand parts. It makes things difficult for an honest, hard-working bug-eyed monster.”

The Master of Hard Sci-Fi: A Larry Niven Primer | LitReactor

The Master of Hard Sci-Fi: A Larry Niven Primer | LitReactor

In a way, Larry Niven's The Mote in God's Eye is two books. On the one hand, we have a serious story of first contact with an alien race very different than us (with their own misconceptions and motivations). I enjoyed all that went into the mutual attempts at understanding. On the other hand, we have two-dimensional and often annoyin ...more

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Apr 17, 2008 Tripp rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote a number of science fiction novels which I fondly remember. The Legacy of Heorot tells the story of colonization and the perils of misunderstanding xenobiology. Footfall is an exciting update on the War of the Worlds. Lucifer's Hammer concerns the collapse of society in the face of a comet impact on Earth. My major issue with Lucifer's Hammer, bloat, is a much bigger issue in highly regarded Mote in God's Eye.

The bloat issue is gigantic here. The first 150 p Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote a number of science fiction novels which I fondly remember. The Legacy of Heorot tells the story of colonization and the perils of misunderstanding xenobiology. Footfall is an exciting update on the War of the Worlds. Lucifer's Hammer concerns the collapse of society in the face of a comet impact on Earth. My major issue with Lucifer's Hammer, bloat, is a much bigger issue in highly regarded Mote in God's Eye.

The bloat issue is gigantic here. The first 150 pages are boring exposition filled where we meet the stock characters (engineer with Scots accent, plucky female aristo along for the ride, young dashing military commander) and learn about the painfully uninteresting world of the future. Once we meet the aliens, known as Moties, it takes many more pages before we learn anything about the society. There are many portentous allusions to things the Moties don't want the humans to learn. It takes so long to get to the revelations, that I really didn't care once I read about them.

All this padding would be fine if Niven and Pournelle had provided a rich world to explore. No such luck. While the initial concept is interesting ( US and USSR unite, colonize space, have a civil war, new empire tries to pick up the pieces) it quickly devolves into cutting and pasting from 19th century Britain. The navy is straight from Horatio Hornblower, with officers named sailing master and teenage midshipman running crew sections.

The Church (which is Catholic, a bit odd given the leading space powers were largely Protestant and Orthodox) is clearly more powerful, without serving any narrative purpose. Has the Church followed its social justice wing or become a rival power center to create challenges for the elite? Has the theology created cultural restraints on the development of technology or society? No and No. All the more galling the Church apparently hasn't changed much at all in a millennium.

There is a decent story about alien contact amongst all its problems, but it is such a short part of the book, it is probably not worth working your way through to find it. As the humans encounter the Moties, they learn that the society could threaten human society. The debate concerns the means by which they must deal with it. The viewpoints expressed nicely describe the classical realist view of politics. Alien first contact follows similar rules and problems as seen in foreign relations. What makes a country a threat? How do you manage threats? What is the purpose of interacting with other societies at all? The book has some interesting, if one-sided, things to say about this, but you have to wade through hundreds of pages of crap to get there. If you are looking for a classic to discover, beware this one. ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Algernon (Darth Anyan) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, past-times-in-good-company

[9/10]

Because of the Alderson Drive we need never consider the space between the stars. Because we can shunt between stellar systems in zero time, our ships and ships' drives need cover only interplanetary distances.

Any self-respecting space opera must start by postulating first a method for overcoming the vast emptiness of the space between stars. You can call it 'unobtainium' or 'equipotential thermonuclear flux' , but you need to overhaul known physics principles in order to move instantly [9/10]

Because of the Alderson Drive we need never consider the space between the stars. Because we can shunt between stellar systems in zero time, our ships and ships' drives need cover only interplanetary distances.

Any self-respecting space opera must start by postulating first a method for overcoming the vast emptiness of the space between stars. You can call it 'unobtainium' or 'equipotential thermonuclear flux' , but you need to overhaul known physics principles in order to move instantly from point A to point B, several light-years away.

The second thing the writers need to come up with is conflict: something to put meat on the bare bones of the plot. Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle gives as right from the prologue a couple of millenia of our space faring future, complete with technological breakthroughs, explosive colonisation followed by economic collapse, imperialism and rebellion, space fleets modelled after the British colonialism Navy, complete with its highly exclusivist social structure.

The detailed setup, and the lively introduction of the Hero, in the incarnation of a young and daring scion of a noble family who distinguishes himself as temporary ship captain in putting down an armed insurrection on a colony world, is merely the background for the most important event humanity has faced so far: first contact with an alien civilization.

They could be the greatest potential danger we have ever faced, or the greatest potential opportunity we've ever found.

Out of a tiny speck of light hardly visible in the corona of a red supergiant (the 'mote' and the 'God's eye'), an exploration ship using a hydrogen scoop light-sail is coming into the human known space at crawling Newtonian speeds. First contact is actually botched, so the Imperial court is sending the Hero on a half scientific, half millitary mission to the 'mote' to find out what kind of aliens we have stumbled upon.

—«»—«»—«»—

This a re-re-read for me, and the story flies just as fast off the pages as the first time I went to the outer limits of the galaxy to meet the 'moties' and their so different culture. The novel may look like a doorstopper but it reads like a blockbuster, at least for those readers who are more interested in speculative ideas and hard science than in well-fleshed out characters or stylistic flourishes. There's enough action and humor to satisfy also the more impatient popcorn style of reader, but for me Niven comes closer to the golden age of SF here, in the Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov mould.
I would say "The More in God's Eye" is a classic of a genre and should not be missed by SF afficionados.
...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Felicia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Well, this was a fascinating book. I can't imagine the thoroughness of invention in creating the Moties, and making sure the science of this book was as believable as could be with known science, especially at the time. It's truly astonishing.

I WILL say that I wasn't caught up in the book in a way that I couldn't stop turning pages: I found it a bit hard to get through, the characters were not particularly engrossing PERSONALLY, but the plot and particularly world-building were so deep and fasci ...more

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Dec 24, 2013 Tom rated it did not like it

What could have been a decent fist-contact story is completely undercut by poor character writing, lazy sexism, lack of actual critical thinking about human society, and a science fiction plot twist that itself undercuts the book's lazy sexism.

The book has the pieces for what should be a decent science fiction story. First contact with a reasonably interesting alien civilization. Misunderstandings and realizations of the aliens along the way at a satisfying pace. Some decent humor. Some decent What could have been a decent fist-contact story is completely undercut by poor character writing, lazy sexism, lack of actual critical thinking about human society, and a science fiction plot twist that itself undercuts the book's lazy sexism.

The book has the pieces for what should be a decent science fiction story. First contact with a reasonably interesting alien civilization. Misunderstandings and realizations of the aliens along the way at a satisfying pace. Some decent humor. Some decent action. Unfortunately, the book's problems undermine its accomplishments and, in my opinion, prevent it from coming together very well.

Firstly, the character writing is pretty dismal. To call the characters cardboard cut-outs is an insult to cardboard cut-outs. The characters are tired tropes, and kind of racist and sexist tired tropes at that. Apparently, all the nations of earth colonize different star systems, and subsequently citizens of these star systems embody all of the lazy stereotypes of these nations. Let's go down the list: A dashing, bold, white western male captain. A slightly stuck-up, smart but somewhat naive noblewoman. A hard-to-understand, rough-around-the-edges Scottish engineer (har har, ok, humorous tribute to the genre, we get it), a ruthless, efficient, by-the-book Russian admiral (uh...), and a greedy, deceitful, cowardly Muslim trader (OK yea, this is just racist now), who is secretly cynically atheist (yeah... thanks). Even leaving aside the problematic aspect of the stereotypes, this is just lazy character design. One might hope that the characters start out as stereotypes in a tongue-in-cheek fashion and then transcend these stereotypes, become their own characters, and call into question the assumptions the authors relied on at the outset, but they never do anything of the sort. No, they remain pretty much as uninteresting, underdeveloped, and undistinguished as they started.

Next: the sexism. Look, I'm a feminist, so this might bother me more than some people, but really, the book is sexist in the laziest way possible. Basically: There is only one female character in the story, who is there mostly by mistake, and all the important military personnel and scientists and people of note are all men. This doesn't appear to be a fluke of this particular grouping of military personnel and scientists, but rather the expected norm for this civilization. The only significant female character in the book is told she "talks too much," and also at one point tells an alien that women who use birth control are Not Proper Ladies.

OK, so the civilization is sexist- this isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me, cause hey, a lot of civilizations have been sexist, so a futuristic one can be sexist as easily as a historical one. And heck, women are people shaped by their society too and often buy into the sexist assumptions of their society, so the sexist views of one of the female characters in a book isn't a deal-breaker either. The problem is that she is the ONLY female character in the book, and the sexist assumptions of the society are apparently never questioned by anyone, or at least, certainly none of the characters in the book. There is, however, a justification for the sexism in the book: There is a Horrible War in the recent past of humanity, during which so many people died and everyone decided that women needed to stay home and breed rather than doing dangerous things like space travel or academia. Yeah. Look, human extinction due to insufficient reproduction has been a problem for humanity exactly zero times since the invention of agriculture, but somehow it is not a problem in this futuristic society with 31st century medicine.

I won't go into this too much, though if you are interested, I wrote a longer piece about the issue on my blog here. The sexism is a bigger problem for this story in particular, however, because First Contact science fiction stories are supposed to make the characters and reader question the assumptions and beliefs of their own society, but introspection about the assumptions of one's own society seem to be entirely absent on the part of both the authors and the characters. The sexism latent in the society of the story is entirely unquestioned, as is the racist of the character stereotypes. I'd like to be able to chalk it up to the book just not aging well, but the book was written in 1974 and has a 1950s style of sexism. It's like the authors never even heard of the feminist movement, or at least are convinced that people in the 31st century won't have.

The society in the book is also unquestioningly classist: It is all noble, capable nobility and loyal, grateful commoners. No lie, one commoner in the book actually thanks a nobleman for the nobility's existence and defends the system as a way to help the commoner in question avoid the "hard decisions." None of these assumptions are questioned in the wake of contact with another alien civilization. You never see any dissidents or are exposed to challenging views. The book tries to get you to understand an alien culture while showing little interest in questioning its own culture or thinking too deeply about the human condition.

Also: The Alien Plot Twist is also really painfully bad, and bad in ways that are at crosscurrents with the sexism of the book (The rest is in spoilers to avoid spoiling). (view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Peter Tillman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, science-fiction, own-copy, reread-list

One of my 100 best books ever, and usually makes my Top Ten SF novels list. If you've missed it, well, you're in for a treat. Ol' Bob Heinlein, who knew something about the field, called it "possibly the best contact-with-aliens story ever written" (up to c. 1973). Plus, the source for the "On the gripping hand" silliness that gripped SF fandom back in the day. ✇ 😇

It is a book of its time (1974), and new readers (who may not have even been born then!) will have to cut the book some slack for the ...more

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Apr 15, 2008 Annago rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: fans of hard sci-fi; this is NOT for thrill-seekers

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

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Nov 29, 2012 Penny rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure, aliens, bookclub, classics, hugo-nominee, nebula-nominee, locus-nominee, scifi-and-fantasy-club-bookshelf, books-they-say-i-should-read, military-scifi

This is a fantastic first contact novel! I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Moties were fascinating and much like their fellow human cast, I found my opinion of each of them changing as the story progressed. There were many whom I loved at first and came to dislike, and vice versa. All in all a wonderful set of characters to journey through the difficulties of first contact with.

There are a lot of considerations when two intelligent species meet in space for the first time. How much do you keep back? ...more

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Jun 01, 2008 John rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Written in 1972, The Mote in God’s Eye is the premier work by award winning authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, who also collaborated on the science fiction classics Footfall and Lucifer’s Hammer. Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." It easily makes my Top 10 Sci/Fi Book List.

The story is set in the year 3017 A.D. The Second Interstellar Empire of man is in the process of forcefully reuniting many colonies long lost since th ...more

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Jun 07, 2019 Kevin Ansbro rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

"Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. You use them when you've got nothing else to try. If they work, they go in the Book. Otherwise, you follow the Book, which is largely a collection of nitwit ideas that worked."
—Larry Niven ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Fairly interesting contact novel. A yellow star in front of a red giant star in the Coal Sack Nebula resembles a hooded man with one eye, the giant red star being the eye and a yellow star in front of it is what gives the suggestion of the mote in the eye of said hooded head suggests a "mote in god's eye" , thus the name.

The race of beings from this system, the "Moties" represent a kind of threat humans haven't faced before.

I read this some time (read some years) ago and still remember the idea ...more

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Apr 09, 2012 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Moties, Imperial noblewomen who would never, ever use birth control

Shelves: science-fiction, space-opera, aliens, war, audiobook

Larry and Paul... doesn't that sound like a sitcom couple? I've read a lot of Niven and Pournelle's collaborations over the years, and at the height of my Very White Space Opera phase (i.e., when I was a teenager with no taste and liked anything with spaceships and aliens in it) Niven was one of my favorite authors.

The Mote in God's Eye was their first collaboration, and never having read it before, I was expecting something like Footfall. It kind of is, but of course it was written over twenty Larry and Paul... doesn't that sound like a sitcom couple? I've read a lot of Niven and Pournelle's collaborations over the years, and at the height of my Very White Space Opera phase (i.e., when I was a teenager with no taste and liked anything with spaceships and aliens in it) Niven was one of my favorite authors.

The Mote in God's Eye was their first collaboration, and never having read it before, I was expecting something like Footfall. It kind of is, but of course it was written over twenty years earlier. This shows mostly in the fact that like most 70s science fiction, computers are still big clunky shipboard installations, and interstellar communications are formatted like telegrams and decrypted on tape machines. Other than that, though, the SF holds up pretty well; Niven and Pournelle have always written relatively hard sci-fi (yes, I use "SF" and "sci-fi" interchangeably - get over it!), and their close attention to astrophysical, engineering, and biological detail makes this a book that, aforementioned computer/communications issues notwithstanding, reads like a fairly contemporary work.

Sci-fi-wise, that is. Character-wise... oh boy, that's another matter.

So, let's start with the setting. It's the Empire of Man, some millennia after humans left Earth and began colonizing the stars. There have been collapses and previous empires before now, and the current Empire actually has technology inferior to what bygone space empires had. But in all these centuries, no sentient alien race has ever been discovered. Then an Imperial warship encounters a probe launched from a star system that is a "mote" in a stellar nebula; the probe contains a dead alien pilot, and results in a ship being sent to investigate the system it came from. The crew discovers a race which the humans call "Moties," who appear to be friendly and peaceful and highly civilized. They are actually superior to humans, mentally and technologically, their only disadvantage being that they haven't yet figured out how to build working faster-than-light starships, so they are still trapped in their home star system.

The rest of the book is mostly told from the human point of view, but sometimes switches to the Motie one. We learn that the Moties, well, aren't so peaceful (surprise!) and they have a few secrets they are trying to keep secret from the humans.

As a First Contact novel, this is a very good one. The aliens are alien, and don't fall into any easy roles. They're not malevolent, per se, and individual Moties can be friendly (and refreshingly, they are individuals — Moties, like humans, don't all think alike or subscribe to the same philosophies and racial strategies), but they are definitely a threat. When the humans finally figure out the truth, they face a real moral dilemma.

Where The Mote in God's Eye fails, though, is characterization of the non-aliens. The humans are all straight, and I mean straight, out of 70s Central Casting. You have heroic square-jawed aristocratic naval officer Roderick Blaine, ruthless planet-killing Admiral Kutuzov, the sleazy bad guy Horace Bury who of course is a Muslim Arab, and Lady Sally Fowler, a noblewoman, anthropologist, designated love interest, and the only woman in the book, who at one point informs the Moties that humans have birth control technology but "decent women don't use it." We're supposed to admire the generally lawful and benevolent Empire of Man, even though it's about as socially progressive as Victorian England, and like Victorian England is in the middle of colonizing other human worlds by force. The stereotypes would have been less grating if the characters weren't also so flat; they did little but play their roles.

So, this is good science fiction, but hardly great literature. If you want interesting aliens and an examination of civilizational ethics, with a decent amount of spaceship action thrown in, enjoy, but there isn't a lot of depth, nor characters you're really going to care about. ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it

Solid science fiction about first contact, set in a universe where humanity reached the stars, fractured, and has slowly knit itself back together under imperial/aristocratic power. This doesn't actually come through that much for much of the book, other than mentioning that one of the main characters will have a title one day. And then at the end, we're thrust into imperial politics with little preparation - it's interesting, but a bit jarring.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn du ...more

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May 01, 2014 David Sarkies rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who love classic science-fiction

Recommended to David by: I've been wanting to read this for a while

Shelves: sci-fi

A political novel about first contact with extra-terrestrials
27 November 2014

To me there seems to be something about these pre-1980's science fiction novels that I am drawn towards reading. Maybe it has something to do with being influenced by my Dad to read the Isaac Asimov novels, or more likely it has something to do with my life long passion for science-fiction. However, the books written in my father's generation seem to have a lot more character, and a lot more insight, than much of the r ...more

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Jul 09, 2008 Jake rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-titles, science-fiction

Like so many books I’ve read, The Mote in G-d’s Eye was recommended to me by father, many years ago. And, like many books I’ve read, it’s actually taken me years to read it. I don’t really know why; I know I tried to read it once when I was younger, and it somehow didn’t grab me. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood. In any case, I’ve been on more of a sci-fi kick lately, and Starladustess had equally good things to say about this one, so I finally knuckled under Like so many books I’ve read, The Mote in G-d’s Eye was recommended to me by father, many years ago. And, like many books I’ve read, it’s actually taken me years to read it. I don’t really know why; I know I tried to read it once when I was younger, and it somehow didn’t grab me. Maybe I wasn’t ready for it, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood. In any case, I’ve been on more of a sci-fi kick lately, and Starladustess had equally good things to say about this one, so I finally knuckled under and read it.

The Mote in G-d’s eye is a story about first contact, set in the year 3016. Mankind has seeded the stars, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive, and has also reverted to living under an Imperial Monarchy, thanks to the clichés of science fiction (to be fair, this book probably helped establish those clichés, so I can’t take it to task too much). In the aftermath of an uprising on some outer rim worlds, Commander Roderick Blaine discovers an alien probe approaching the system that his ship is in. While the pilot of the ship is deceased, it still proves the basic point: humanity is not alone in the universe.

Blaine and his ship are quickly drafted as part of the mission that sets out to find the alien home world and make first contact between the human empire and the Moties (nicknamed such because their home planet is located in a star system referred to as the Mote in G-d’s Eye). As one would expect, the first contact is fraught with a variety of questions and problems, which quickly result in everything from complicated political intrigue to outright violence.

First contact stories are always tricky, for one simple reason. Creating a believably alien race is tough enough (witness Star Trek for a number of failures, among others), but anticipating the assorted problems that might occur from that first contact is even harder. Niven and Pournelle do a bang-up job, however. The Moties seem very plausible, yet totally alien; indeed, in a clever twist, the Moties bodies are not symmetrical (they have a single large arm on one side, and two smaller arms on the other), which helps to remind the reader just how inhuman these creatures are.

Unlike some science fiction novels, however, this book contains more than an interesting idea. The story itself is well-executed and interesting to follow, as various factions on both sides try to make sense out of their new situation, and figure out how to exploit it to their own advantage. The pace is just slow enough to maintain a feeling of mystery, without being so slow as to be completely boring. And, in a wonderful twist, most of the mysteries are answered by the end of the book. There’s certainly further that the story COULD go, but there’s no reason that it needs to go any further. It’s fine the way it is.

Robert Heinlein apparently said that this was “possibly the finest science fiction novel [he had] ever read.” There might be points I’d argue with Heinlein on, but this isn’t one of them. This is a damn fine book. ...more

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Nov 10, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: award-nominee-nebula, audiobook, to-re-read, sf-explore-colonize-1st-contact, easton-press, award-nominee-hugo, multiple-award-nominee, on-deck-next, award-nominee-locus

4.0 to 4.5 stars. One of the best first contact SF novels ever and certainly among the best from the duo of Niven and Pournelle. Epic in scope and including one of the best descriptions of an alien society ever put to paper. A true classic. Highly recommended!!

Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1975)
Nominee: Nebula Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1975)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1975)

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Dec 19, 2007 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, 1paper, 2fiction

An excellent read & raises a lot of interesting thoughts for me. It's about contact with an alien civilization in a more interesting setting than most. Makes me think a lot about some of our civilizations. Well worth reading & a classic of science fiction. ...more

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Aug 13, 2007 Ryan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: sci-fi geeks

I caught my friend Ryan reading some cheesy looking sci-fi and thought maybe I should give the genre a try. Outside of HG Wells, I haven't had much exposure since I was a teenager. This story is well written, but ungodly slow. Hell, I have the patience to read, but this one is mostly discussion and very little action. The story hits a climax two-thirds of the way through and then runs out of steam. I give it three stars for being thought provoking. ...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Jon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Jon by: Beyond Reality SF Selection Dec 2010

Shelves: fiction, read-in-my-40s, science-fiction, space-opera

I should read more space opera, especially when written by Niven and Pournelle. The human Empire (Russian in origin, which seemed odd considering in 1974 when first published, the USSR was Communist not Imperialist) has first contact with aliens from a system referred to as "The Mote." Communication is key, but as expected, truth is the first casualty in diplomacy and war. By the time I reached the end, having had bits of both sides of the story, I kept wishing and hoping ... 'if only' the alien ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Amanda Kratz rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2017-dead-and-unread-book-club

Book club read

Rating 2.5 - rounding down

Published in 1974 the Mote in God's eye was considered one of the best science fiction works of the time by Robert Heinlein (StarShip Troopers). The book was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locust awards for best sci-fi book.

I really struggled getting into the first part of this book. I kept falling asleep when trying to read it. It reads like a text book at points. When we finally get more of the aliens (Moties) it starts to pick up and was much more Book club read

Rating 2.5 - rounding down

Published in 1974 the Mote in God's eye was considered one of the best science fiction works of the time by Robert Heinlein (StarShip Troopers). The book was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locust awards for best sci-fi book.

I really struggled getting into the first part of this book. I kept falling asleep when trying to read it. It reads like a text book at points. When we finally get more of the aliens (Moties) it starts to pick up and was much more enjoyable. There is still tons of military gobbledygook and I honestly felt like I was being debriefed at points, but it was better than the opening.

I know that when this book was written the authors had spent a lot of time researching the space program and everything represented with ships was the most interesting and theoretical technology that could be realistically achieved. However with today's advancements some of the stuff conceived just sounds silly. This is supposed to be 1000 years in the future. Nothing seems that advanced other than the ability to travel in space itself and even then the author is constantly talking about the "gees" the ship is pulling. While that is realistic you would think there would be advancements that would help negate the effect on the human body. The authors go into such painstaking details of how the ships work and the technology but fails to answer some really basic points like where do they keep getting all these fresh cabbages? I had to laugh when they discussed the pocket computers. (They are more or less a tablet from today's current age)

As a female reader I really feel a sexist vibe from the author. Women aren't allowed in the Navy so the crew is all male. This is 1000 years in the future and they treat women as fragile flowers that might wilt. We have 1 female human character who tells us from the get go she talks too much for a lady. We are also told that she is unusual really she should be waiting at home to get married. 😒. The disgust of the humans when they realize the aliens allow their female to preform hazardous tasks. A woman is a spinster if she isn't married by 27. No proper woman uses/needs birth control. Pregnant human women are useless, etc etc. There are many things that annoyed me about this aspect of the book. I know it is likely a product of the era that the author grew up in, but come on you had Star Trek by then. (Also there is a Scottish engineer and huge trouble with tribbles vibe)

The moties are an interesting race and I. think once you actually get into the story the culture/world building is interesting. However I really really hated trudging through those opening 10 chapters to get to it. I feel like you could skip large parts of the book and not miss anything.

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Aug 01, 2017 Esme rated it really liked it

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Oct 25, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

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 ce 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.

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Aug 27, 2012 Harv Griffin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, own, science-fiction

This is my favorite Science Fiction novel. Number One. It starts with a bang. The level of writing is excellent. When I re-read it, I read almost everything. If God's Eye doesn't hook you in the first few pages, you may be unhookable. It has it all. Space battles. A central love story. A surprising depth to the characters. The prose is unusually nuanced for hard Science Fiction, and a joy to read.

Larry and Jerry raised the bar for the "First Contact" SciFi novel, and as far as I can tell, no oth This is my favorite Science Fiction novel. Number One. It starts with a bang. The level of writing is excellent. When I re-read it, I read almost everything. If God's Eye doesn't hook you in the first few pages, you may be unhookable. It has it all. Space battles. A central love story. A surprising depth to the characters. The prose is unusually nuanced for hard Science Fiction, and a joy to read.

Larry and Jerry raised the bar for the "First Contact" SciFi novel, and as far as I can tell, no other novel has come close. (I am eager to read any suggestions in the "First Contact" category which may approach this puppy.) Just as a great romance novel succeeds because of the misunderstandings between the protagonists; here God's Eye really shines due to the misunderstandings between the humans and the Moties.

It's actually hard to find anything wrong with God's Eye. Yes, with a copyright of 1974, the slant on women is a bit dated--one woman on a ship with hundreds of men may confuse today's female readers as much as the alien Moties were confused by this. One female SciFi fan posted on an Amazon thread that the first three quarters of God's Eye is the finest Science Fiction she has ever read. I see her point. The ending takes on a different emotional character, when our political leaders have to actually decide what to do about the alien Moties. But the ending works for me, and I don't skip it on re-reads.

Confess most of Niven's and Pournelle's other novels don't really work for me. I did enjoy The Legacy of Heorot. I am a difficult reader to please. Many Science Fiction novels fail for me, I think, because the author had to pop the book out quickly to make a living at all in the genre. Somewhere in the dusty shelves of my library I have an interview (I couldn't find it, and so am relying on untrustworthy memory) that claims that the first submission of The Mote in God's Eye was rejected by their editor, who returned the manuscript with copious notes on how the novel should be structured, and many other additional suggestions. I believe God's Eye is a masterpiece because of this forced rewrite & reorganization, which gave them more time to take the story to the next level.

And so the next time my editor marks up my sacred text, I'm going to think long and hard before telling her what she can do with her red pencil. @hg47 . ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Manuel Antão rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2019

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Toilet Testing: "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

“When the room was empty he poured a large glass of wine. It was poor quality stuff brought in after the blockade, but he hardly noticed. Wine was officially forbidden on Levant, which meant that the hordes of wine sellers foisted off anything alcoholic on their customers, even wealthy ones like the Bury family.”

“There was the usual hatred of the Navy for Imperial T ...more

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Jan 21, 2008 James rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of SF, military fiction, and the differences between cultures

Shelves: science-fiction, military, culture-and-politics, action, suspense-and-mystery

A brilliant and gripping book. One of the best jobs of creating a truly alien life form, culture and civilization, rather than the usual "aliens" who act just like human beings who happen to look different - and then going on to let the human reader see events through those alien eyes, from their perspective. The human characters are also well developed and the plot serves as a gripping mystery as well as an adventure story, and left me with a strong sense of empathy for the individuals of both ...more

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Sep 26, 2020 Sammy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, re-reads, sci-fi, restaurant-challenge

Last time I read this was around 20 years ago, and as I recently re-read Lucifer's Hammer by the same authors, which remains one of my all-time favourite books, I figured it was time to re-read this too.
It was maybe not as good as I remembered (when I rated when I first joined GR about 6 years ago, I gave it 5 stars. I've now revised that to 4), but it's still an excellent story. It is however also very much a product of its time, so if you're hyper sensitive on things like feminism and general ...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2011, sff-audio, sci-fi-fantasy

I read this to talk about it on the SFF Audio podcast, link forthcoming when it is posted.

Here's the thing. I'm a bad science fiction fan. I don't like aliens and spaceships. I don't like space wars. I don't like ships and military strategy. Except I've had little tastes of books that people have recommended, and ended up enjoying Ender's Game, The Sparrow, and Anathem despite the aliens and space.

I think what it really is - my knee-jerk reaction hasn't yet caught up to my head, where I think s ...more

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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

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