Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the greatest SF novel I've ever read...
Review: Starting on an unusual note; The Mote In God's Eye is the only SF book I have ever bought before reading. This may seem stupid, but I'm very glad I did it. Niven and Pournelle have succeeded in knocking Frank Herbert's Dune off my mental 'Best Books Ever!' list's top spot.It's a fascinating tale of mankind's first contact with an utterly alien race - and for once, these aliens aren't all-powerful conquerers of worlds with but one weakness. Indeed, in many respects the Moties have problems similar to human difficulties...although that's not to say the Moties are at all similar to human beings. Oh no. I won't go into depth about the alien society - that might spoil the book for you! The human society, however, is nearly as interesting as the alien. At this point, I think back to comments I've heard about the book - that the human society is still plagued with today's problems (but of course - human society will not change radically in 1000 years, merely adjust to accept technological changes. And, of course, as the authors mention, an advanced human society will not evolve as natural selection can no longer apply [civilised societies care for the weaker members]). Another comment that sticks in my mind is that planets which belong exclusively to one ancestral faction from Earth are absurd. I beg to differ - those with similar cultural heritages would stick together, and countries would, I believe, launch individual colonisation programs, meaning that all the colonists on one world might indeed share their cultural heritage. And as a final note on the subject, the worlds with a single 'nationality' are few and far between; more than 200 worlds are colonised by mankind. But back to the book. The expedition by the human science/military team is made up of a mixture of characters - an extremist admiral, who puts the safety of the Empire before his own beliefs, a captain belonging to the royalty, an exasperatingly narrow-minded science minister, and a reclusive astrologer are just a few of these. The novel contains just the right amount of mystery and revelation to keep you trapped and spellbound right the way through - even up to the very last few pages. In conclusion, the Moties and the novel they reside within are well worth a look. More than that, they deserve many hours of your undivided attention.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves its accolades
Review: Though I'm an inveterate Heinlein fan, in my personal list of best all time SF novels, this one is at the top. The story is gripping and the ideas are thought-provoking. I think a couple of the negative reviewers may have read over some parts too quickly and missed some of the details. I found the future human society quite believable. Everything old is new again, and their society is actually more akin to Victorian England than modern day America. The aliens' psychology and motivation are beautifully structured, and their society and history have depth. You'll first be sympathetic to them, then scared, and then... well, I'll let you judge yourself. The climax is intense, and caps the book well. It also sets up the sequel, which is a decent read, but not nearly up to the standards of this book. If someone from Hollywood is reading, this book would make a great movie. It would certainly be light years better than another goofy Aliens sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: the middle was awesome!
Review: I didn't think that the beginning was all that great. Though, oddly enough, once I finished the book I actually liked the beginning. The middle of this book is where you begin to see how amazing it is. The aliens are extremely cool and I loved the whole multi-species and "intelligence through instinct" ideas. I gave Mote four stars because of the ending; it was a bit of a let down, though I don't know how they could have ended it better. In general, the characters were great. I thought that the authors did a really good job of portraying people in power. I often find that authors seem to think that merely telling the reader that a character is in a position of power is enough to BELIEVE the character in that position. Niven and Pournell really make you understand why the characters are where they are. I would recommend Mote for the characters and the kick *ss aliens.
Rating:
Summary: Still a Standard and Now a Classic, with Old Friends
Review: I read this book the first time over ten years ago. It was intriguing at the time, but also at the limit of my ability to enjoy.
Now I read this book in the last week again and I could not put it down. The entire concept from the timeline at the beginning of the book to the last chapter where two of the characters are discussing what will keep Man from being forced to extinct the Moties...... It was wonderful to re-acquaint myself with Rod Blaine and the crew of the MacArthur as they conducted the first survey of a non-human solar system. Rod the Captain, Sally, Kevin the Sailing Master, Horace Bury the enigmatic Trader/Traitor....... all these characters were fun to meet again.
The concept of this book that is fairly uncommon is that of first Contact between Man and Alien occurring after mankind has reached the stars and in fact has a thousand years of history in space before we meet the Motiess so named simply because of how their star looks from the planet of New Scotland, their star, another, larger star, and the nebula that makes the backdrop of how they look. The story hints at its own history, with just enough to make us want more of it. With a Biblical title, sections that have real and applicable quotes for each chapter, tributes to The Lord of the Rings, and the Shakespearean element of a list of characters as if the book were a play all add to the classic style that makes this a good book. But without a good story, these elements would be window dressing. The story is equal to the task. We meet the moties, finding a bipedal race that depends heavily upon theeir arms and in fact have shoulder muscles that grow up to the tops of their skulls...
From this point, Mr. Niven and Mr. Pournelle tell a very interesting and compelling tale that is realistic in its characters and their reactions, and that is original in its concept. It also is the basis of whole novels of short stories about the Sauron supermen and its sequel, The Gripping Hand.
This is definitely required reading for the for the fiction-science-fiction fanatic. It would be good for the fantasy-science-fiction fanatic as well.
Rating:
Summary: Meet the Moties
Review: In this classic first-contact novel, we meet the Moties. Inhabitants of a isolated star system, they are like nothing man has ever encountered before. The Moties are three armed and consist of very specialized sub-species. When the Second Empire sends and expedition to the Mote system, the expected confusion of meeting aliens turns into chaos. Niven and Pournelle provide an interesting view of potential military, polictial and scientific reactions to first contact with an alien species. The action scenes are gripping and the unravelling of the Motie secrets provides a nice amount of tension.
Rating:
Summary: Jerry's Secret Weapon
Review: Jerry Pournelle's "universe" consists primarily of military fiction in support of a monarchy. Larry Niven's stories tend to be puzzle-solving stories involving aliens. Combine the two, and you have a good idea of how The Mote in God's Eye functions. Set in Pournelle's universe, Mote shows how the Second Empire of Man would deal with a "first contact" with aliens, from the political and military levels. Niven's touch shows in the descriptions of the aliens and how they interact with "regular people," like NCO Kevin Renner or the trader Horace Bury. If you find something funny in the book, it's Niven's. Much of the military hardware and procedural stuff is Pournelle's. The two authors complement each other's work, though Niven is the stronger of the two writers (for me) when writing on his own. The "Moties" in this story are asymmetrical aliens with a very, very ancient civilization. They, too, have had their rises and falls of civilization, and even spend a great deal of time planning for the next fall. The primary impetus of these falls is uncontrolled population growth, which presents some interesting challenges for their species. The authors do a fine job of describing the aliens and their challenges when confronted with the Empire of Man. The characters themselves are mostly military men, and humorless; save for Sally Fowler, a Senator's niece who happens to be an anthropologist; and Horace Bury, a trader being held prisoner for purposes of sedition and treason. The most admirable character is Rod Blaine, commander of the cruiser MacArthur; the most fun character is Navigator Kevin Renner. Each of these folks has their own "take" on the Moties and their potential relation to the Empire. This is not the best story of first contact I've ever read, but it's a good one. It was probably made better by some judicious editing by Robert A. Heinlein, a mentor to Pournelle and Niven. Once you get past all the pomp and circumstance, it's a pretty good story. These two authors have written better together, though (Footfall, for example), and this is their first outing as co-writers. This book can still give you the heebie-jeebies, if you let it. And by the way, Jerry Pournelle's secret weapon for success is to cowrite with Larry Niven. His sales--and writing--improve one whole heck of a lot. If you've got the urge to read Jerry, Larry is a nice counterbalance.
Rating: 
Summary: not really convincing
Review: This book was at times quite interesting to read and there are some intriguing ideas, but somehow it can't really convince. As for being called a hard science book - how can an author describe a ferret as a catsized RODENT?? Jeeeeeez, that's like saying that an elefant is a primate. Another blunder is the space suit - it's described as being very thin and using body heat for thermoregulation and the best - it is permeable for perspiration!!! Helloooo? Doesn't anybody find that stupid? It should be called "crazy loonies certain death suit" ;-) was this a lousy attempt to "copy" Frank Herberts stillsuit? I don't know but, I know that it's not hard science.
Rating:
Summary: Niven and Pournelle's `Mote in God's Eye'
Review: This, along with their earlier collaboration ``Lucifer's Hammer'' and later ``Footfall,'' is among Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's finest work. Set in Pournelle's future history, is a tale that is richly woven with interesting and compelling characters. Those characters are put together in a collision course with history as humankind coming out of the shattered wreck of the First Empire of Man and centuries of the Secession Wars has its first encounter with an alien race. Mankind finds out that race's deep and dark secret after its expedition is overrun. Without giving too much away, I simply encourage readers to either buy or check out this book and if you give it some time, I promise you that you won't be disappointed at this science fiction classic and masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Too Paranoid - A Terrible Book
Review: This book had all the makings of an interesting first contact book. However, it simply kept to the dark side of human nature and all the evils that humans will do. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Moties are even worse!!!
Rating:
Summary: They need to make a movie out of this book
Review: After almost four decades of reading SF, I consider this the best SF novel ever written. The universe is interesting, the plot is creative and tight, the action is crisp, and the Motie aliens are perhaps the best "first contact" aliens ever imagined. Watching the dreck that's often made into movies nowadays, it puzzles me that this book has never been used for a movie. It's a good thing it wasn't attempted before approximately 1999, because it would require modern CGI to do it justice. But I think the technology is there now. I think it could be a megahit on the scale of The Matrix. It also holds up well. I recently read it to one of my kids, and even though it's over thirty years old, I didn't notice anything that seemed particularly incongruous. And they certainly got some things right - their description of wireless tablet computers is right on. It's a true classic. No real fan of hard SF should bypass this one. It's right there with Stranger in a Strange Land, Ender's Game, the Foundation Trilogy, and similar works.
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