Rating: 
Summary: First collaberation
Review: I give Mote more of a 2.5 stars instead of 3. This is Niven's and Pournelle's first collaberation, and it shows. While the story itself is pretty interesting, the characterization is poor and flow of the book is rather rough. I've read other works by Niven/Pournelle and they are MUCH better than this. I couldn't really accept or care about any of the characters. Niven uses his knowledge of science and Pournelle his creativity for alien cultures to combine a story that didn't seem to mesh for me. The Motie culture is certainly very interesting, but it gets lost somewhere. When I finished this one and discovered there was a sequel (_The Gripping Hand_) I couldn't bring myself to read it and moved on to other works. Perhaps I'll revisit it someday, but _Mote_ was not enough to pique my interest in reading a sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Smote Me In My Eye
Review: I honestly tried to get into this story but in the end it never captured my imagination. Perhaps I'm more of a fantasy reader since technical justifications of the scientific aspects/theories introduced in the midst of a story is distracting to say the least. I don't care HOW the spaceship flies, I'm more interested in the voyage and how it affects the characters, making science another entity in the story causes my mind to wander. In the end I never finished the book and most likely never will.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointingly Average Sci-Fi
Review: Niven and Pournelle have an a-list reputation, so I read this book eagerly, hoping for a story that would grab me and refuse to let go.The story grabbed me- but sadly, it's grip was rather weak. "The Mote in God's Eye" is a tale of first contact between humans (part of a rather unlikely and unremarkable (as well as poorly detailed) empire) and a race referred to throughout the book as the "Moties", named for their home system- a star referred to as the "Mote" (in connection to a religious myth in the novel). The book presents some fascinating concepts- the idea of cyclic history, the problem of closed developmental systems, bizzare evolutionary adaptations, and does a great job of showing the "communications gap" between two extremely alien races (although I'd still say that Mary Doria Russell does a superior job in her Rakhat novels). It does an average job explaining the physics of hyperlight travel- and a downright poor job of creating a realistic political and memetic structure for a human civilization several centuries from now. My biggest problem with the novel, however, had nothing to do with the plot or the concepts (which were, for the most part, quite interesting). My problem with Niven and Pournelle's book is their terrible lack of proper characterization. None of the characters provoke any concern or interest in the reader. While sci-fi is somewhat known for this, I've been rather spoiled by the wonderful persona-construction abilities of authors like Stephenson and Russell. The characters in the book seem secondary to the plot and the ideas- which, in a novel that is intended to be a piece of literature and not a cleverly disguised piece of philosophy- is a damning critique. While I can care about characters like Emilio Sandoz or Hiro Protagonist, Captain Roderick Blaine left me somewhat... uninterested. There were no real internal struggles, no wickedly creative personalities, and no attempts at turning the "dramatis personae" into anything more than cardboard cutouts. Overall, I'd say that for a hardcore sci-fi enthusiast, The Mote in God's Eye is worth a read. But if you're a casual reader looking for a more engaging read, you'd be better off with Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow", a novel that tackles the "first contact" theme with much more charm and skill than Niven and Pournelle can deliver.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best...by the best combo
Review: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are absolutely perfect together. Niven has great science fiction, poor characters. Pournelle has great characters and poor science fiction. Together they make one absolutley perfect combination that cannot be beaten, except by the true SF greats (Heinlei & Herbert mostly). "The Mote in God's Eye" is by far their masterpiece. The Moties are an extremely interesting and complex alien society. No more details on it though, because that's what the novel is all about. The characters are absolutely amazing. Roderick is by far one of the best written. He's the captain of the MacArthur, and it's his ship chosen to go through Murchenson's Eye to the Motie homeworld. There's a myriad of different characters, all written well and portrayed as they should be. From the militant admiral to the Moties themselves, it's wonderful. The novel's suspense adds up till the climax at the end, very well done. A top-notch read.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant - But avoid the vastly inferior sequel
Review: One of the finest SF Novels ever written, shame about the sequel, which Amazon thankfully doesnt seem to list, and if memory serves was called The Mote Around Murchisons Eye. Niven was an excellent SF writer in his heyday, but his heyday is sadly long gone. Of course its not perfect, Niven deals in cunning speculation and has some wonderful, original ideas, but he cannot create atmosphere, beyond say simple dramatic tension, to save his life. Great Alien Culture though.
Rating:
Summary: A Unique Universe for Exploration
Review: One of the few examples of scifi that comes up with a creative method of star travel that doesn't disagree with know science. Well written cultures and an excellent study of first contact. Every hard Scifi reader needs this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Science Fiction
Review: This book came highly recommended. Nevertheless, looking at the cover of the ... paperback gave me pause...a cheesy looking tableau, featuring a three armed gremlin/teddy bear floating in space. Fortunately, a bit of reading proved the old maxim true once again. This is a wonderful piece of speculative science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye presents a fully realized vision of first contact with an intelligent alien race. Cultural as well as military aspects of the encounter are considered, as is the alien perspective. It's interesting to speculate on just what "face" we would present to an alien race, i.e., what we would choose to reveal, and what to hide. And of course, this works both ways.
One aspect of the book that I feel is unrealistic, and this applies also to almost every other account of contact with aliens as well, is the relative lack of fear shown by the humans. I believe that were we to definitively discover that we shared the universe with beings of equal or greater intelligence, the first reaction would be general terror. This aspect of human nature seems rarely explored in science fiction.
A Mote in God's Eye is not especially well written. The best word I can think of to describe the prose is "leaden." The dialogue is also laughable at times, as are bizarre anachronisms, such as characters who speak in a Scottish brogue. It isn't always easy to follow the characters' thoughts merely by what they say, and action sequences can be confusing. Surprisingly though, these flaws are more than compensated for by good characterization and great ideas. The characters, in particular, are very well developed, interesting, and complex. The plot moves along well, with plenty of twists to keep it spicy. I could hardly put this book down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
One more complaint if you'll indulge me. Where is it written that science fiction must be sold in cruddy little paperback books? The cheesy presentation of this book in particular (as well as many others I've seen) surely can't help sales much. In addition, such books are hard to read and handle, and the text smudged whenever I touched the pages. I'm used to buying fiction in a larger format, with nice paper, and satin finished covers. I'd be more than willing to pay a few more bucks for a book worthy of the material inside it, and I suspect others would as well.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: The Mote in God's Eye is, quite simply, one of the best science fiction novels you will ever read. It is easily one of my top five books of all time. In the cannon of sci-fi, I would place it on the shelf next to Dune, Foundation and Stranger in a Strange Land. What do these books have in common? Very little. That's the point. The Mote in God's Eye, like all great books, stands on its own. If it the first sci-fi book or the millionth, you will still love it. Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (and quietly improved by the advice given them by Robert Heinlein) it is breathtaking in its depiction of mankind's first contact with an alien civilization. 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. As noted by other reviewers, this is the best first contact book out there. There are no Vulcans or Ewoks here. The book is one of the few that presents a truly alien civilization. The alien culture is, although similar to ours in some ways, fundamentally different from our own due to differences biology and circumstances. I won't elaborate as I don't want to ruin the surprises. Although there is clearly some cannon of mythology at work in setting up the "Co-Dominion" of human society at that time, I was not confused at all. I had never read a title by these two authors before but found the human society and its history easy to follow. What's amazing about the book is how logically it proceeds. To use the word "surprise" is misleading because after at every twist and turn, you find yourself saying, "Of course, that's exactly the way it would have to be. That makes sense." As the suspense and tension build toward a climactic clash between humans and Moties, you are swept up in the inevitability of the events. There are no trick deus-ex-machina moments or Tom Clancy tricks -- in which the characters talk about some secret without the dialogue being revealed. Everything is perceived through the lens of the human characters and their difficulty in understanding the alien civilization. So their fear, tension and surprise are ours. All this comes through with a crisp narrative style, a group of vivid and identifiable characters (including Moties) and excellent pacing of the story. I highly recommend this book to any reader -- sci-fi fan or not.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Niven
Review: I wasn't real impressed with this book. Half-way through it, I would have rated it 2 of 5 stars, but it picked up at the end and I felt compelled to grant 3 of 5. It was difficult to feel for any of the characters. The plot seemed to be a bit jumpy, spending either too little or too much time on any one event. There were many lost opportunities for the authors to make the book more interesting, and to develop sub-plots. Finally, this book was disappointing due to the lack of sufficient mystery.
Rating:
Summary: First Contact 101
Review: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are known for their numerous collaborations, and this, I believe, is their masterpiece. These two writers seem to bring out the best in each other. Pournelle with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things military, and Niven with his alien-making craft and genetic obsession together craft a story that is meticilous in its detail and believable. The characters are well-thought out and rounded, even if they do have somewhat stereotypical roles. But the most amazing thing about the book is its presentation. The authors here have crafted one of the most conspiciously detailed alien races in science fiction, The Moties. They don't fit into the normal, subverted alien niche, and there is quite a bit of new ground covered here. Also, the problem of First Contact is examined here in every possible facet. The book shows how contact with a civilized alien race might affect our economy, military, government, trade, politics, religion, and more. It also raises ethical and moral questions that we might have in that situation (and suggests some events that might lead to this happening.) All in all, a very well-written book that captures a particular canon of science fiction almost perfectly. Highly reccommended.
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