The Mote in God’s Eye – Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (c.1974)

I would never even know of this books existence were it not for Doug Derry and Bill Pilon. Both are fellow consimers and both blog on consimworld.com. Mr. Derry has been influencing my book buying and reading for many years. It was because of his enlightened Blog that I started following Bill’s Blog. Bill recently re-read this book and it was his talking about it that peeked my interest. Bill’s enthusiasm for this book and the fact that he has read it many times moved this book up to the top of my pile. Also I had not read any SF for a long time and wanted to get one read in 2010. Thanks to both of them for many hours of reading enjoyment. 

In the books first act we meet most of the main characters. Our hero has recently been given command of a ship and is given an assignment that takes him back to the regional capital (planet), while en route mankind makes its first discovery of another sentient life form. The year is AD 3017. His ship is the closest and thus is assigned to go out and meet this alien vessel. 

In this act you get a lot of the history of mankind and a sense of how the science of the book works. This was pretty interesting stuff, especially the Alderson drive and interplanetary travel. Also of interest is the form of government currently in place (which smelled a lot like the British Empire in its prime). After the initial encounter with the alien craft, our hero and another ship are sent to the alien planet where the second act takes place.

Over the course of the books second act we meet our aliens and their system. These aliens are called “Moties” because they reside in the Mote system. I was enthralled with this act as I was so eager to learn more and more about Moties and their world. The authors very nicely introduce bits of information about them slowly over the course of the act and I was very eager to learn more. Also of note is that occasionally the book enters the minds of the Moties, giving us a fascinating glimpse of their impression of events taking place. Eventually we return to the regional capitol planet to start the third act. 

I was a bit worried about this act. My friend Rikk, who had in the meantime read the book once I suggested it to him had painted a somewhat let down in his opinion of the books conclusion. This perhaps is why I put the book down for nearly a month before finally (and thankfully) coming back to it. 

I was thoroughly engaged by the last act and very happy with it. It was certainly not action packed in the sense that we don’t have any climatic space battles or whatnot. However, the tension level was through the roof. The Moties have a secret. We are made aware of it at the end of the 2^nd act, but our hero’s are not. The fate of mankind is at stake. I finished the last 100 pages in a night, some serious speed reading for me. I was so very happy and satisfied with the ending. I immediately went the Wiki and read the overview, which I had purposely avoided until I finished the book. 

All in all this was a fantastic read. Certainly if I read only one SF book every few years, I am glad I selected this one. I’m glad Rikk enjoyed it too. I see from the Wiki that the authors penned a sequel some 20 years after the originals publication and that it is not well loved, I think that I’ll take a pass on it then.

In closing I’ll say that I certainly hope that that horse learns how to sign.

Rikk's "reads"

Pillars of Earth : - Ken Follett

Cindy recommended this book and I am glad she did.

The book spans roughly a 50 year period of time approximately 1125- 1175.  It reads quite well and kept me entertained the entire way through it.  As I picture the time line it is how I see the people living. thank goodness I didn't live back then.

 

The book has families, monks, bishops, knights, kings and whatever else you can think of and how they all interact in the time period.

 

If you were a peasant in those days where do you turn for justice ?

Where can you turn for help other than the church ?

There is a vast chasm between the nobility and the peasant class with little hope of just surviving for the later.

 

The book is hard to define as the time span encompasses so much

If I had to pick the main character of the book it would be Jack or Brother Phillip. The relationship between the two and of their struggle against corruption in the church and kingdom. Their dreams and aspirations and how they go about accomplishing them with everything stacked against them.

 

 

 

The Mote in God's eye : Larry Niven

 

Good book enjoyable read.

I am not as much a sci-fi fan as I am a fiction fantasy fan but the book was a lot of fun. The imagination of the writers just to create the Mote home world and their evolutionary path is quite astounding.

 

The ending which I will leave you to find out was not what I thought it was going to be. A little bit of a surprise from where my thoughts on the book were going up until the end.

 

I think my favorite character of the book  was Admiral Kutuzov. You don't see much of him but he appears to be a no nonsense type of person. There is not much grey in his way of thinking.

 

 

Trickle up Poverty : - Michael Savage

 

First I want to start off as I a not a big Michael Savage fan. I find him somewhat arrogant and pompous but what he says does make you stop and evaluate the current affairs going on in our country.

 

If you are a "Righty" / Republican I am sure you will love the book

If you are a "Lefty" / Democrat well...... i am sure you will have the complete opposite view.

 

I am neither but enjoyed the book as it does make you stop and think.

The book's general purpose is trying to "enlighten" the American people about our current president and his policies regarding the US. It takes terrorism, military, healthcare and many other numerous subjects into consideration.

 

I recommend the read whatever your political views as I can find no fault with a book making you stop and think.  I hear the term "sheeple" quite often now a days and I could agree with that term more than ever.  People don't find answers for themselves or at least try to. They read and parrot information back to the next person lucky enough to be within range.

 

 

These are a few of the books I have read in the last few weeks. I will try and post better descriptions the more I post.  I am currently not reading any books atm  but that will be resolved rather shortly.

Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell (c.1997)

When PBS started showing the BBC 2nd Season of Wallander, I decided it was time to try one of these books out. I wanted to start with the first one, so I dialed up Amazon and started right away. I had seen the first season of the BBC series and liked it. HC has also read this series and recommended it.


I was very pleased with the book. Fairly standard police story with an interesting lead character and the added bonus of being set in Sweden. The book kept my interest up until the last quarter, when it became a stay up all night and read book. I was very happy with the ending and immediately ordered the next book (The Dogs of Riga ).

Then, within minutes of finishing the book, I made the mistake of watching the BBC version. I was amazed at how poorly the BBC series held up after having read the novel. It was so bad that I couldn't even finish the episode and I promptly deleted the rest of season 2. For me, Wallander will stay in the book and not on the screen. If you haven't read the books and are interested, the BBC series is pretty good. It is shot in Sweden with British actors, however it takes liberties with the entire string of novels and mixes up story lines to conform to the small screen.