easyhey

The Mote in God's Eye is one of the best Science Fiction novels written. I'm reading it again (the fourth time) because it is one of the books SciFi and Fantasy Book Club is reading in May 2014. This novel is about Man's first contact with an Alien culture. 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 Larry 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 examines 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. The story takes place in a human star empire that spans thousands of systems but has yet to contact alien intelligence. This changes suddenly when a spacecraft arrives at a human planet with a dead alien inside it. The craft was apparently launched from a nearby unexplored star system - called the Mote in God's Eye (or Murcheson's Eye). The humans send out an expedition of two ships - one Russian, one American - to investigate. What they find is an ancient civilization of three-armed "Moties" who have a terrible secret. The novel is well paced and unfolds in a logical manner (what the humans do "feels" right for first contact situation). Suspense, tension and misunderstandings grows between the cultures; the Moties are very different from us. This story is worth reading whether you enjoy sci-fi fan or not.

2022-10-29 03:20