MOTE SHIPYARDS

Mote Shipyards
As you step into the premises of Mote Shipyards, an Engineer and a Watchmaker hurry to help you choose a new ship.

The Mote in God's Eye is a collaboration between two of the greats of Science Fiction, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

It tells the story of a human expedition to a new planet inhabited by an alien race that are bred to be highly specialized; Engineers and Watchmakers are just two of the different kinds of Moties. It's one of the best first-contact novels I have ever read. Niven and Pournelle are extremely good at drawing realistic characters, and making you care about what happens to them; the book is completely gripping.

The Mote in God's Eye

The authors have written a sequel which, for a wonder, is worth reading. It seems to have two different names: I have a copy of the book called The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye, but it is listed on Amazon.com as The Gripping Hand (no idea why!). Whatever name it's under, though, it's worth reading to find out what happened after the events in the first book.

The Gripping Hand

There are two other collaborations between Niven and Pournelle which are of the same standard as the Mote books:

Lucifer's Hammer
Forget the recent films Deep Impact and Armageddon: if you really want to know what would happen if a comet hit the Earth, read this book. It follows the story of several characters in the run-up to the comet striking, and then shows what happens afterwards, as civilization vanishes and humans descend to barbarism in a frighteningly short time.

Footfall
Another alien first-contact novel, but this time it's aliens visiting Earth. Will they be friendly or hostile? Well, read the book to find out... like the Mote books and Lucifer's Hammer, you really do sympathise with the main characters and want to know what is going to happen to them.

For details of books that Larry Niven has written solo, see the details for Ringworld Engineering.