Explore the latest books of this year!
Bookbot

The Shardlands Series

This saga unfolds in the distant future, where humanity has colonized vast swathes of the galaxy. After the collapse of great empires and protracted conflicts, humans encounter their first alien civilization on their journey into the cosmic unknown. When a mysterious probe carrying an unknown being is discovered, a race against time begins. Can its intentions be deciphered and contact established before it's too late?

The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye

Recommended Reading Order

  1. The Mote in God's Eye

    • 560 pages
    • 20 hours of reading

    In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched. In the Mote the humans find an ancient civilization--at least one million years old--that has always been bottled up in their cloistered solar system for lack of a star drive. The Moties are welcoming and kind, yet rather evasive about certain aspects of their society. It seems the Moties have a dark problem, one they've been unable to solve in over a million years

    The Mote in God's Eye1
    4.0

  2. The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye

    • 480 pages
    • 17 hours of reading

    His excellency Horace Hussein Al-Shamian Bury, trader and magnate, had hoped never again to hear mention of the gripping hand, Moties, the only aliens mankind has ever encountered, have two delicate right arms with small, wonderfully dextrous hands - and one poweful left arm which weilds the gripping hand...While Bury is investigating an excess of cash on the Imperial planet Maxroy's Purchase, his long-time friend and pilot Kevin Renner first sounds the alarm: the dreaded Moties have escaped quarantine. And so begins for Bury and Renner an adventure unsuited to men of their age, which returns them to Mote Prime, launches them into battle in space...and reveals, once more, their unorthodox appreciation of Motie intelligence and ingenuity.

    The Moat Around Murcheson's Eye2
    3.9