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john_of_oxshott 's review for:
The Mote in God's Eye
by Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven
I enjoyed this much more when I read it in 1987 than in 2024. My unreliable memory of it from 1987 was that it was suspenseful and exciting and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I was curious to find out what kind of life form the crew of the MacArthur would encounter and how this alien species would be described.
In 2024 I found it boring and trite. I had to force myself to finish it.
The book is quite good on the physics of travel between star systems and the world building required to shape an interplanetary imperial power. It’s also good on the moral, political and military dilemmas that are presented by a face to face confrontation with an alien civilisation.
There is a weak attempt at political intrigue to spice up the plot but this doesn’t really come to anything and is overshadowed by the major events in the novel.
Characterisation is barely there at all. Captain Blaine scratches his nose a lot. There are some grumpy and reckless scientists who don’t like following rules. There’s a scheming rebel trader from the Levant. There’s an engineer who speaks with a Scottish accent, which distinguishes him from his colleagues. There’s a ruthless Russian and an open-minded Christian priest. And there’s a lovely, wealthy and well-connected female anthropologist called Sally who has been rescued from a rebel planet. She has two servants called Adam and Annie who she is ready to abandon if it means she can go with Captain Blaine to meet the aliens. “I can take anything you can, Captain,” she declares valiantly (except her servants).
The aliens present the crew of the MacArthur with a few ticklish problems. There are some battle scenes. The aliens have some secrets and are resourceful enough to be a credible threat, in spite of the diplomatic overtures from both sides.
There are some dark moments in the book but the ending is a little smug. In the gap between 1987 and 2024 I’d forgotten the entire second half of the book. This may well apply to most of the books I’ve read but I think in this case it shows that my anticipation of what might happen was more compelling than what actually did happen.
I think there is another reason for this as well. All the characters are described in the first few chapters of the book. After that they stop being characters and are just agents of the plot. As I am more interested in character than in plot the second half of the novel made very little impression on me. The aliens are rather conveniently divided into functional types which means there is no need to characterise them at all.
I was glad when it was over any I won’t be re-reading any more books by these authors, which, if I recall correctly, disappointed me even when I read them in the 80s.
In 2024 I found it boring and trite. I had to force myself to finish it.
The book is quite good on the physics of travel between star systems and the world building required to shape an interplanetary imperial power. It’s also good on the moral, political and military dilemmas that are presented by a face to face confrontation with an alien civilisation.
There is a weak attempt at political intrigue to spice up the plot but this doesn’t really come to anything and is overshadowed by the major events in the novel.
Characterisation is barely there at all. Captain Blaine scratches his nose a lot. There are some grumpy and reckless scientists who don’t like following rules. There’s a scheming rebel trader from the Levant. There’s an engineer who speaks with a Scottish accent, which distinguishes him from his colleagues. There’s a ruthless Russian and an open-minded Christian priest. And there’s a lovely, wealthy and well-connected female anthropologist called Sally who has been rescued from a rebel planet. She has two servants called Adam and Annie who she is ready to abandon if it means she can go with Captain Blaine to meet the aliens. “I can take anything you can, Captain,” she declares valiantly (except her servants).
The aliens present the crew of the MacArthur with a few ticklish problems. There are some battle scenes. The aliens have some secrets and are resourceful enough to be a credible threat, in spite of the diplomatic overtures from both sides.
There are some dark moments in the book but the ending is a little smug. In the gap between 1987 and 2024 I’d forgotten the entire second half of the book. This may well apply to most of the books I’ve read but I think in this case it shows that my anticipation of what might happen was more compelling than what actually did happen.
I think there is another reason for this as well. All the characters are described in the first few chapters of the book. After that they stop being characters and are just agents of the plot. As I am more interested in character than in plot the second half of the novel made very little impression on me. The aliens are rather conveniently divided into functional types which means there is no need to characterise them at all.
I was glad when it was over any I won’t be re-reading any more books by these authors, which, if I recall correctly, disappointed me even when I read them in the 80s.