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The Mote in God's Eye cover art

The Mote in God's Eye

Written by: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
Narrated by: L J Ganser
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Publisher's Summary

Writing separately, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are responsible for a number of science fiction classics, such as the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Ringworld, Debt of Honor, and The Integral Trees. Together they have written the critically acclaimed best-sellers Inferno, Footfall, and The Legacy of Heorot, among others.

The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".

©1991 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

  • All-Time Best Science Fiction Novels (Locus Magazine)

What listeners say about The Mote in God's Eye

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A bit of a page-turner...

This is pretty great traditional sci fi. It deals with classic themes, such as scarcity vs abundance, factional conflict, overpopulation, and post apocalyptic resurgence. You can't go wrong there. Even better with creepy asymmetrical aliens.

The technology predictions make it age very well. Niven and Pournelle were educated and erudite enough to be solid futurists. Niven was (is) a visionary. Pournelle was a notable polymath.

The Mote in God's Eye has an engaging storyline that compels the 'just one more page' effect.

No complaints about the narration.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • DGN
  • 2024-02-13

Top notch hard science fiction from two Masters of the genre

It has an intricate plot, compelling characters and is hard to put down. Highly recommended!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Let down by prose and explaining

Maybe your not like me and would really enjoy all of the physics that gets dropped here but I felt it really let down the prose and lead to real dry patches throughout the book. It was interesting but it wasn't gripping and I found myself just trying to get it over with. Additionally this book was written in 1997 and it feels like it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Must read classic

A book written in 1974 couldn’t have ages better. Pocket touch screen computers and radio Bluetooth are incredible predictions that make it seem it was written in the 21st century!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Loved hearing this story again. I read the book around 2000/2001. Complex and detailed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Classic science fiction story.

This is a classic science fiction story. A few minor details will seem a bit dated but that is only to be expected and they do not get in the way of the narrative.

The narrator has a strong male voice which was quite good for the main character. The narrator wasn’t bad with female characters and his Russian accent was pretty good for one prominent character.

However, several prominent characters had Scottish accents and the narrator’s Scottish accent was terrible. Not even close. This really got in the way of me enjoying the story. The story clearly calls for these characters to have a Scottish accent so they needed a narrator who could do these accents properly.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful

one of my favorite books brought to life. traffic jams have never been more tolerable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It's GREAT!

I got put on to this story from an old boss. I love it. If you love Enders Game, StarTrek, and thought provoking sci fi I recommend this story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

It okay…

I would’ve liked a be a bit more suspense, feels like a satire at times. Maybe the audiobook doesn’t do the book justice, I found it boring most of the time.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

a disappointment

what I liked least was the conceit about royalty, so inapprpriate for
a story about the future

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