The Mote in God's Eye

The Mote in God's Eye: The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species.

Authors: Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Series: CoDominium
Genre: Science fiction novel

With the reference to a bible phrase in its title, I didn't have high hopes going into it. The early chapters, sort of, confirmed my preconceptions that the religion would be used quite heavily. Then there were the characteristics attributed to the aliens that I didn't think were feasible or well-thought-out. Reading more into the novel, I came around both of those concerns and saw how the authors used them. This is actually a very well thought out, hard science fiction novel. A lot of attention to the details of science is given. At the end everything sort of fits together to form a cohesive story that is in the realm of "quite possible" and yet it is based on imagined scientific inventions. One of the best sci-fi novels I've read and I'm a big fan of Clarke and Asimov.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who's yearning for pure, hard sci-fi over fantasy novels. (BTW, the above linked Wikipedia article and most other reports about the book contain many spoilers. You've been warned.)