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contact with new species, and the author's description of man's first encounter with these strange creatures is worth the price of the book. Moreover, the subsequent "infestation" of the humans' space ship by a lower order of Moties known as "watch makers" (a smaller, pet-like subspecies of Moties, whose clever inventiveness nearly results in the destruction of the human expedition, has to be the single most astonishing and exciting struggle ever described in science fiction literature.)

What I shall not disclose is how or if the humans (other than the stranded midshipmen) discover the Moties' desperately guarded secret. (The Moties send ambassadors to negotiate the leasing of uninhabited planets that the Moties can "terraform." The humans, who have discovered the secret of space travel via "worm holes" can offer the Moties an escape from their home world system.) The humans, of course, must not discover the Moties' biological secret of "the cycles."

However, nothing in the outcome of the novel is so interesting and thought-provoking as its central philosophical conundrum: Is there such a thing as a problem that has no solution? Humans think not; Moties know better. We humans believe every problem has a solution. Humans might solve the Motie's cyclic problem through birth control or genetic engineering, except for the fact that birth control for Moties always results in their death. The Moties, on the other hand, believe they owe it to their species to kick their civilization into high gear through colonization. If there is a "problem," it only exists on their home world.

The conundrum is encapsulated in remark made by one of the Motie ambassadors to his (her?) assistant was something to the effect that humans just don't get it. There are some problems that humans might confront to which there are no solutions. The fact that we humans couldn't get it is at the basis of our alienation.

Learn more about this author, Jerry Curtis.
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