This is 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 o [...]

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 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; an [...]

[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 f [...]

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)[to get rescued then fall in love with and have babies for the unlikeable leading man (hide 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 [...]

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 [...]

The Mote in God's Eye is probably the finest contemplation of a human-alien first contact that I have ever read. The story deals out a sizable cast of characters without seeming overwhelming. Mote explores every issue from multiple perspectives, leaving no room for good vs. evil simplifications despite that fact that some characters are not likable. The core theme of the book - that a superior alien intelligence is limited by its inability to tolerate ideas based in hope and imagination - evolve [...]

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? [...]

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 sinc [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

A political novel about first contact with extra-terrestrials27 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 fina [...]

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 [...]

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.

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)

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 aliens h [...]

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.

review to come later

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 immediatel [...]

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 [...]

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 was a fun, old-school first contact story. It's got a good, interesting plot, with interesting aliens and problems. Good use of both mystery and literary irony. I especially like the ambiguous way it ended.The characterization didn't fully work for me -- there were several characters that I never managed to differentiate. This might be an artifact of having read the audiobook version (which sounds like it's read by Zapp Brannigan, which is hilarious).

Every now and then I find an older book which slipped past me when it was first issued. Not being a herd animal, I have a tendency to avoid all the “popular stuff”. Which is to bad because sometimes I miss something important.The Mote In God’s Eye is a fine example of a “first contact” novel. It has everything: human galactic civilization, space battles, heroic spacemen, counter-plots, and very alien aliens. There are plenty of characters and much of the action is told through multiple [...]

(Sffaudio is recording a discussion of this book on 10/1 with Julie.)Got the audio. Hey, this could be exciting. :)13% - Sounds more 'vintage' and cool through the iPhone speaker. Very Star Trek, even with Scottish and Russian crewmen. But what is the fascination with royalty in sff?18% - Wow there's a lot of characters. Moties kind of sound like Immotiles (Peter Hamilton - Pandora's Star). Hmmst of charactersadherents/lit/bk_NivenCommander Jock (Sandy) Sinclair - Scottish engineer??Potter has a [...]

This book really flowed along for me--the beginning grabs you and the story doesn't let go. I found all the characters to be interesting, even some who were almost caricatures, but I especially liked Renner and Hardy. The Moties were painted quite sympathetically, but always with some doubt as to their intentions. Interesting how each race (human and Motie) had trouble really grasping how alien the other race was. I'm looking forward to the sequel.My rating is 3 1/2 stars. Why not more? The sexi [...]

Although I feel this is a classic read, there was a lot of this book that could have been trimmed off. It had a very slow start, things didn't really pickup until we started seeing some of the alien POV, and the characterization wasn't real deep.That being said, I am glad I stuck with it. A solid 3 stars

Wow, over 38,500 ratings. One of the first books I bought after becoming a library director, and one of the few SFF I've enjoyed rereading. Ah, Moties. Even recommended it to some library patrons who were not science fiction readers.

'La Paja en el Ojo de Dios', escrito a dúo por Larry Niven y Jerry Pournelle, es todo un clásico de la temática del Primer Contacto. Publicada en 1974, la verdad es que no se ha quedado casi nada obsoleta, como suele pasar en estos casos, en que el mundo ha cambiado tanto de un tiempo a esta parte, que la especulación sobre ciertos temas, sobre todo en política y tecnología, son abordados de manera equivocada.Año 3017 d.C. La Humanidad ha colonizado cientos de mundos, pero todavía no se [...]