The Mote in God’s Eye.

NIVEN, Larry & Jerry Pournelle.

Item Number: 140255

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.

First edition of “possibly the finest science fiction book I ever read” (Robert Heinlein). Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by Larry Niven and signed Jerry Pournelle on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Robert Anthony.

The Mote in God's Eyes is a novel by 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. The title of the novel is a reference to the Biblical "The Mote and the Beam" parable and is the nickname of a star. It was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards in 1975. Robert A. Heinlein, while giving the authors extensive advice on a draft manuscript, described it as "a very important novel, possibly the best contact-with-aliens story ever written". Theodore Sturgeon, writing in Galaxy, described it as "one of the most engrossing tales I have encountered in years."