The Moties

I just re-read The Mote in God's Eye after many years- have any of you read this? What did you think? For me the Moties were a little too familiar despite the authors' intent to make them as alien as possible. For instance they are mammals, despite being not quite vertebrates- the even feed their young with milk.

This sort of thing is very common in SF- using the most familiar types of life here on earth as models. Kinda lacking in imagination. Other than that glaring blunder I liked it.

Jess Tauber

It must be 10 years since I read that. Good book, Jess. Yes, a little--uh, 'earth-morphic' to coin a phrase.

It's a problem with science fiction. Too alien makes it hard to relate, or even hang a plot on. I read a short story once where the author hit one aspect right on the head. Explorers had found an intelligent, alien species. But, it was a rock. Kinda. And all it did was sit there. It was like intelligence without motivation at all. After all, it's a rock. It doesn't need to eat, almost nothing can hurt it, and it's not about to go for a stroll. It just sits there.

So, trying to communicate with it was an exercise in frustration, due to the lack of common reference.

It was more--difficult--than I'm making it out to be, though.

SL