This is a good book. A cornerstone Sci Fi classic. However the first 2/3ds are reaaaaly stretched out and borderline boring. Yes, I get it. The CoDominium future history that Pournelle worked so hard to create had to be properly explained and put in context, however I got this book for the Moties! Get to the Moties already!
Niven is notorious for inventing interesting aliens (although they are not very science-based, apart from a few broad strokes) and the Moties do not disappoint. The physical caste adaptations are a bit much when looking from a perspective of a human culture, but not that out there when comparing them to ant culture. The 'secret' revealed by the Moties at the end of the book was obvious already in the first dozen pages after encountering Mote Prime, but it is still entertaining to read.
The Motie characters are very well presented (maybe because there's nothing to compare them with?), but the human characters are just paper figures. Except Sally/Sandra, who is the only female character in the entire book, and does not get that much screen time, all the other characters sound and talk like they are the same character. Very little differentiation. Everyone walks around speaking their thoughts, which in themselves are very similar.
There have been some complaints online that Pournelle made his CoDominium very sexist and misogynistic, but, ultimately, it is his prerogative. In a nutshell: human of the Second Empire in the early 3000s discover the first non-human intelligent species, bottled up in an isolated star system and organize an expedition to meet the Moties. And get more than they've bargained for. Better than 99% of the shows on SyFy.
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