Although it routinely ends up on best-of-all-time lists, the 1974 science fiction novel The Mote in God’s Eye never seems to get read.
Written by Joshua Tyler
Although it routinely ends up on best-of-all-time lists, one way or another, the 1974 science fiction novel A speck in God’s eye It never seems to be readable. It deserves to be mentioned alongside the works of the great masters, and is in fact the magnum opus of two of these famous writers. It’s a collaboration between the greats Larry Niven and Jerry Purnell.
This is probably the title that keeps a lot of dedicated sci-fi fans away. A speck in God’s eye It seems like a joke or some kind of bad pun. Read the book and it will make sense, but sitting there and staring at the cover, it looks like someone’s poor attempt at a Terry Pratchett parody rather than a serious sci-fi story.
Serious is exactly what it is. In fact, it may be one of the best books ever written. At the very least, it does something no other work of science fiction has ever done: it gets aliens right.
Two types of aliens in science fiction
Typically, in any form of science fiction, life from other planets is depicted in one of two ways. The first type is the monster. Ridley Scott Alien It does this better than most, introducing a completely alien creature that lusts after human blood.
The second type is the intelligent alien. Intelligent aliens are always presented as if they are one step away from humanity. They may look different from us, but they are rarely very different. They may think differently than we do, but not completely different.
A writer who creates an alien is usually building on an aspect of human culture. For example, Avatar’s Na’vi may be blue, but we recognize their ideology and, to some extent, understand it as a variation on Native American culture. Klingons They may be violent and warlike, but they build their lives around concepts we understand, such as honor. Intelligent life from another planet is rarely portrayed any other way, and if we met an alien who seemed to think differently, we would almost certainly discover that we were wrong about everything.
The third type of alien beings, as depicted by the speck in God’s eye
mote It does something few other works of science fiction do right, by presenting a life form that is both completely alien and completely intelligent. Instead of basing these creatures on an existing aspect of human existence, Purnell and Niven created a completely alien creature with a completely alien life cycle and a completely alien way of life. From here the authors concluded how such a creature could think. As any true alien would, the Muti think in ways we can’t begin to understand.
Fear not potential reader, this is not a crude examination of an alien culture. Purnell and Niven have taken this wonderful structure and woven it into a well-told story.
In the distant future, humans have conquered the galaxy but failed to encounter any intelligent life. Thousands of years later, long after humanity had spread throughout the galaxy, we made first contact.
A speck in God’s eye First Contact graphs, and while this is happening, humanity is making the same mistake that James Cameron did Avatar By attributing human ways of thinking to creatures that are not human at all. This mistake puts the entire human race in danger and leads to one of the most exciting science fiction stories ever told.
There is a sequel too called holding hand, And it is Every bit as good mote. Most important of all, Purnell and Niven’s work is original. More than thirty years after it was written, even in an era full of recycled ideas, it has never been repeated. If you like science fiction or if you simply like originality, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy A speck in God’s eye.