About this title: Aliens - Moties - were first contacted in AD3017 in the region of space known as the Coalsack. The eponymous mote in his eye, which has winked out, much to the distress of pious Himmists, just might have been Motie laser light. It might even indicate the position of their home planet.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1974
ISBN-13:9780671660543ISBN:0671660543
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. 1974 Pocket Books paperback. NOT EX LIB! Clean pages with some page creases, spine is very creased, tilted & rolled, moderate edgewear with some spots, covers scuffed & chipped. Not pretty, but readable. 560 p. Glued binding. read more
Description: Pocket Books 66054 (1974) 22nd printing paperback, cover art by David Egge, CONDITION: VERY GOOD, slightest spine back curl & covers just a little dull o/w an excellent copy of an older paperback, near fine condition. read more
Description: Very Good. 0671741926 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1976
ISBN-13:9780671801076ISBN:0671801074
Description: Poor. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. The book is very solid with lightly browned pages. The cover is aging with moderate shelf wear & heavy edge wear. The back is soiled with two moisture marks near the spine. The front corners have creases. The back corners are damaged. All four corners of the spine have tears. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books
Date Published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780671801076ISBN:0671801074
Description: Good. No Jacket. Light wear to corners and edges, sticker on back cover, spine creased, slightly curled. text appears unmarked, binding is tight. overall nice copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pocket
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780671415976ISBN:0671415972
Description: Good. -14th Printing--560 pgs. Interior-Nice overall condition. The paperback cover has light signs of aging. -Publish Place: New York-Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pocket
Date Published: 1975
ISBN-13:9780671801076ISBN:0671801074
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Mass Market PaperBack, Very Good / read more
It started out very well, setting up the first contact between two species. The aliens were less bizarre than I hoped, but good plot points and twists and I was intrigued. It was interesting to see the event from both species perspective, though they should have spent more time on the "aliens", particularly in the second half of the book. Honestly, though, I think I would have preferred the book from just one perspective to keep the "secrets" and motivations from being concretely revealed so early.
Then... the book kinds of dies off, and ends anti-climatically. Because there was a sequel, I guess. It was alright, in all.
I will not even get into how the sole (human) woman character's entire purpose was to be rescued by the Dashing Hero and become his love interest, or how the sole Arab/Muslim was the most "evil" person in the book, being a greedy, treasonous merchant who orders the execution of people who oppose him. You kind of have to expect those things in older sci-fi novels, which is why this brand of sci-fi only tends to appeal to white males..."
"I think every work of fiction bears the stamp of the time it was written, but science fiction books seem particularly afflicted in this regard. Take this novel, written in 1974 long regarded as one of the classics of "hard" science-fiction. In many ways, it lives up to its reputation-- the science behind its story of first contact with aliens is admirably well imagined in its details, from from the size and design of the spaceships to the caste-structure of the alien civilization. But the story definitely feels like it was imagined in the 70s, especially in its preoccupation with seminal 70s ideas like birth control and overpopulation. And the distinctly pulpy voice of much of the story, with all the classic tropes (gallant space captain, plucky girl space anthropologist, etc)-- that doesn't make you feel like you're reading a classic.
Still, worth reading, especially if you're interested in first contact stories-- I'd say this ranks up there with Sagan's Contact and Clark's Rendezvous with Rama in that regard."
"I love sci-fi and recently printed out a list of the best sci-fi books of all time. This one was in the top 10 and got a strong recommendation from Karl. Plus, he lent me his copy.
The book did not disappoint. Niven and Pournelle make an excellent team - I'd love to hear more about how their collaboration works (do they write in tandem and take the best ideas, do they take each take a chapter and just provide feedback...).
The idea of finding an alien world is not new, but I love how they handled the Motie civilization. It's so complex and fascinating and the authors do a good job of revealing it to us a little at a time. They also do a really good job with the characters - both human and motie. There's no black and white here - no clear distinction between good and evil. I really appreciate that in stories. There's also some nice commentary and politics and "human" nature."
"Just-in-time refactoring as a model for all engineering, the instinct of one of several highly specialized subspecies of tragically overpopulating aliens.
Also contains a nicely imperfect model for FTL space travel."
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