The Mote in God's Eye (Moties, #1) in The Alternative Worlds

Sep 20, 2011 Daniel Roy rated it it was ok

Shelves: sf

"The Mote in God's Eye" is a SF classic which shows its biases and age in some embarrassing ways. It's great in parts, and painful in others; coupled with uneven pacing, this novel is too flawed to stand the test of time.

The premise is sound and fascinating in many parts: in the future, humanity encounters its first alien species. What follows is a series of careful exchange with the aliens, as each species gingerly tries to learn about the other without revealing its own secrets.

Although the st "The Mote in God's Eye" is a SF classic which shows its biases and age in some embarrassing ways. It's great in parts, and painful in others; coupled with uneven pacing, this novel is too flawed to stand the test of time.

The premise is sound and fascinating in many parts: in the future, humanity encounters its first alien species. What follows is a series of careful exchange with the aliens, as each species gingerly tries to learn about the other without revealing its own secrets.

Although the story lags in the middle, with humans fawning over every insignificant detail of the alien civilization, it does pick up later and ratchets up the tension. But tension is one thing the novel has a problem with: it lags and returns, and the tone goes from tense political drama to scientists marveling at some aspect of alien geology.

But overall, the Moties are fine. They're interesting, and surprisingly complex and unpredictable. I was pleased with their overall civilization when all was revealed.

It was quite a shock, then, to realize how shallow and lacking in nuance the human civilization portrayed here turned out to be. The CoDominium is a militaristic hegemony obsessed by the forced re-conquest of its lost colonies. (Heck, their capital system is Sparta, and their Emperor is called Leonidas. Real subtle.) Military actions such as genocide are disccussed openly and without shame, and at least one character known for having slaughtered millions of innocents is ultimately shown as a gruff good guy, who did what was necessary for the 'survival' of the Empire.

Now, this would be fine if it was treated with irony, but I don't think it was. Even the characters who oppose the fascism of the CoDominion ultimately agree with its arguments for genocide.

Furthermore, the characters are sketchy and flat. The soldiers have fantastically macho names such as "Cargill", "Rod" and "Jock", and they are all from Western, White planets, including a few who are from "New Scotland" and speak in annoying brogue.

The novel features one, ONE female, and she's the typical 1950's 'strong but demure female character' who secretly desires but to marry off to a powerful man, and then express her independence in her marriage. Some of the writing for Sally is embarrassing: notably, the moment where she defends the notion that females are often 'overprotected' because they're totally useless when pregnant.

Another major annoyance was Horace Bury, a trader. Perhaps as a way to give him some color, Bury is an Arab, from the "Levant system". That somehow excuses his total obsession with profit, and his expressions of "by the beard of the Prophet!" and Allah name-throwing throughout the book. Bury turned out more interesting than I thought, but he is always treated as a bad guy by the simple reality of his existence as a beard-stroking, carpet-vending, anger-prone Arab.

All things considered, I liked exploring Motie society, especially when the secrets started to come out. But the CoDominium's ultimate actions, and their thought process, was morally disgusting. The novel plays as a cautionary tale against foreigners, and argues that the ends justify the means if you are facing a demographics war you cannot win by numbers alone. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2009 Taueret rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audiobook

I heard Jerry on TWIT (podcast) and he was just delightful so I downloaded the unabridged audio for 'Mote' from Audible.com. The story is ok so far (not my favourite but ok) but the reader sounds exactly like Zap Branigan and I keep laughing out loud.

Ok, I have persevered with this through my kitchen painting adventures, and now am genuinely hooked. The story is engaging enough that even the readers' bizarre accents and Branigan-esque cadence only makes me smirk occasionally. As a bit of a fan o ...more

Like · see review

Nov 24, 2008 H. R. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: military, science-fiction, fiction, authors_larry_niven

Holds up 45 years after publication. Took a popular apoplectic theme of the 70s, population explosion, and expanded the concept a 1000 years from now, with an alien species that had biologically couldn't control high birth rates, and competed them against mankind. ...more

Like · see review