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The Mote In God's Eye Is The Best Sci-Fi Classic You've Never Read
Though it routinely ends up on best of all time lists, somehow the 1974 science fiction novel The Mote in God’s Eye never actually seems to get read.
By Joshua Tyler
Though it routinely ends up on best-of-all-time lists, somehow, the 1974 science fiction novel The Mote in God’s Eye never actually seems to get read. It deserves to be mentioned alongside the work of great masters, and it is, in fact, the greatest work of two such acclaimed writers. It’s a collaboration between greats Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Maybe it’s the title that keeps so many otherwise dedicated hard sci-fi aficionados away from it. The Mote in God’s Eye sounds like a joke or some sort of bad pun. Read the book and it makes sense, but sitting there and staring at the cover, it seems like someone’s bad attempt at a Terry Pratchet parody rather than a serious science fiction story.
Serious is exactly what it is. In fact, it may be one of the best books ever written. At the least, it does something no other work of science fiction has ever done: It gets aliens right.
The Two Types Of Aliens In Science Fiction
Normally, in any sci-fi format, life from other planets is depicted in one of two ways. The first type is the monster. Ridley Scott’s Alien does that better than most, presenting a completely alien creature that lusts for human blood.
The second type is the intelligent alien. Intelligent aliens are always presented as if they’re one step away from humanity. They may look different from us, but rarely are they too different. They may think differently from us, but not too different.
Usually, a writer creating an alien creature bases it on some facet of human culture. Avatar’s Na’vi, for instance, may be blue, but we recognize their ideology and, to some degree, understand it as a variation on Native American culture. Klingons may be violent and warlike, but they build their lives around concepts we understand, like honor. Rarely is intelligent life from another planet depicted in any other way, and if we meet an alien who seems to think differently, we’re sure to discover we had it all wrong.
The Third Kind of Alien As Depicted By The Mote In God’s Eye
Mote does something few other science fiction works do right, by presenting a completely alien, fully intelligent life form. Rather than basing these creatures on an existing facet of human existence, Pournelle and Niven create a completely alien creature with an utterly alien lifecycle and a totally foreign way of living. From that the two authors extrapolated how such a creature might think. As any real alien creature would, the Moties think in ways we can’t possibly begin to comprehend.
Fear not potential reader, this isn’t a boorish examination of an alien culture. Pournelle and Niven have taken this brilliant construct and injected it into a well-told story.
In a far-off future, man has conquered the galaxy but failed to encounter any intelligent life. Thousands of years later, long after mankind has spread out into the galaxy, we make first contact.
The Mote in God’s Eye charts that first contact, and while it happens, humanity makes the same mistake James Cameron made in Avatar by assigning human ways of thinking to creatures that are absolutely not human. That mistake puts the entire human race in jeopardy and results in one of the most gripping science fiction stories ever told.
There’s a sequel, too, called The Gripping Hand, and it’s every bit as good as the Mote. Most of all, Pournelle and Niven’s work is original. More than thirty years after its writing, even in an era littered with recycled ideas, it’s never been duplicated. If you love science fiction or if you simply love originality, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Mote in God’s Eye.
Entertainment
Get 56% off this 8-in-1 portable keyring
TL;DR: Charge On the go with 56% off this 8-in-1 keyring cable when you get the GoCable 8-in-1 EDC 100W Cable for just $21.99 (Reg. $49.99).
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Whether you’re an experienced adventurer or a newbie to the outdoors, there are certain tools you need, including (but not limited to) adequate hydration, proper gear, and backup power options for your phone. With the GoCable, 8 features are combined into one portable tool that might optimize your outdoor experiences.
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Entertainment
BookCon 2026: Authors Rachel Reid, Stephanie Archer talk hockey romance and how it could change the sport for the better
With the fervor of Heated Rivalry, there’s a fierce desire among book readers for even more hockey. On Sunday, April 19, at BookCon, the “You Had Me at Hockey: A Look at One of Sports Romance’s Hottest Genres”, authors Rachel Reid (Heated Rivalry, Game Changer), Emily Rath (Pucking Around), Ngozi Ukazu (Check Please), Stephanie Archer (The Wild Card), and Kate Cochrane (Wake Up, Nat & Darcy) were joined by moderator and fellow author Bal Khabra (Collide) to discuss the rise and continued success of hockey romance.
Khabra kicked off the panel, asking just how hockey became so popular. Ukazu joked that it was as if the genre “escaped containment,” like when the Omegaverse went mainstream, while Reid described the mystery around hockey, saying, “what [the players] are doing seems impossible.” Archer also added that the sport itself is exceptionally hard on the body, and the celebrity around players, especially in Canada, is fun to play with.
But there’s more to the genre’s success than the tropes. “It has to be said,” Rath argued, “that the cornerstone of why this is so popular in publishing is racism.” She went on to say that straight, white women’s voices dominated the romance genre for so long, pointing out that hockey is also the whitest sport. Among major league sports, the NHL is the most predominantly white. In 2022, ESPN reported that 83.6% of league players and staff were white, compared to the NFL, where 25-27% of players are white, or the NBA, where white players make up 17.5% of the league.
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Zooming into the genre, the authors also spoke about the writing process. They dove into the deeper aspects of their work, even the smut. Rath said, “I think the least sexy thing you can ever do is write a sex scene.” A similar sentiment came up during Reid’s Saturday panel, where she described using the sex scenes to further the emotional arc. When readers ask authors if they can skip the spice, Archer says of her own books, “No, you can’t skip the sex scenes. You’re missing so much character development if you don’t go on the journey with them.”
The panel turned to the future, too. Many of the authors write BIPOC and queer representation into their novels, in a genre that often centers on whiteness and homophobia. “We’re writing the world as we want it to be,” Rath said.
Reid has found that there is progress toward a future that these authors and their readers want to see, saying that the NHL is interested in working with them. “People on the inside, they really want to work toward change and want to make this happen.”
With the hockey fandom at an all-time high, there’s a whole team behind these authors ready to drive change.
Entertainment
Save on gas (and everything else) with a $15 BJ’s membership
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Credit: BJ’s Wholesale Club
The warmer weather tends to sneak up fast, and so do those grocery bills and gas receipts. A one-year membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club is one of those simple upgrades that can make everyday shopping feel a little more manageable.
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Let’s start with the obvious, though. Gas prices. Members already get everyday savings at BJ’s Gas, but during this promo window, you’ll get an extra 15¢ off per gallon stacked on top of the usual 5¢ discount — bringing your total to 20¢ off per gallon through April 30.
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