I thought this book was going to be more of an existential dread kind of book. You know, nothing matters, we are in significant; in space. It was not that, that is for sure. It has a good plot, and the topics worked through are important, I just took the title a little more metaphorical than what it was. I did not particularly like the narrator. His narration style kept me in an anxious state, it was tough to sink into the story. I didn't like a few aspects of the book, and although 2 separate view points are explored it felt like one side was being described in the terms of the other and not on their own terms. That was frustrating. When the moties call themselves moties instead of some other name they gave themselves the narritave seemed a little hollow.

Somewhat tedious .Characters are two dimensional. I never developed any caring or feeling for them. Very provincial medieval 18th century kingdom society with 24th century technology. Though I listened to the whole production over numerous listenings I never felt the anticipation of picking up the story at each session. The reader did a nice job. I know this is aclassic and said to be one of the best SF novels ever. Not so in my opinion. The Rama series is much better.

A great story of contact with an alien race. Tries to put things into a long term perspective.

story was captivating and an interesting dialogue on human behaviour/society.
performance was very well done, voicing very consistent for different characters, not over the top but still distinctive.
would recommend

My dad showed me this book when I was younger but I never got around to reading it. It was one of his favorite books and now I can see why. This is science fiction at its best. The imagination and detail that are in this book is mind blowing. This should be required reading.

Of the several books I read years ago by this duo , this one holds up the best. The story grabs you early and keeps you fascinated as the secrets of the Moties are revealed. I found the future human Empire boring, like something out of a sat movie series. Some complain about character development. I don't read sci-fi for this,and enjoyed the characters as portrayed. The narration is good. The sample sounded bad but I took a chance .So glad I did.

Boys who are not well read in this genre aged fifteen to eighteen.

Stop writing by the numbers Learn to show, not tell.

Drop the APPALLING,FAKE SCOTTISH ACCENT

The concept was promising but this book was written by a committee - and it certainly shows.

Don't buy it!

I enjoyed the overall plot and how there were bits that appeared earlier in the book that I almost forgot about but then were used as supporting details to make the world seem more real

the reader uses diction so precise as to be harsh at times. His attempts at different voices come of as angry when that emotion is not appropriate to the lines.

Some of the terminology gives away the age of the novel (70s), but still an imaginitive story, and a well-developed alien civilization and alien view point .