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The Gripping Hand


Eighteen years in the making—here at last is the sequel to one of the most acclaimed science fiction novels of our time,
THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE.

Robert Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." The San Francisco Chronicle declared that "as science fiction, The Mole in God's Eye is one of the most important novels ever published." Now Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, award-winning authors of such bestsellers as Footfall and The Legacy of Heorot, return us to the Mote, and to the universe of Kevin Renner and Horace Bury, of Rod Blaine and Sally Fowler.

There, twenty-five years have passed since the second Empire of man quarantined the mysterious aliens known only as Moties within the confines of their own solar system. Humanity's finest minds have spent the past quarter century analyzing and agonizing over the deadly threat posed by the only aliens mankind has ever encountered—a race divided into distinct biological forms, each serving a different function. Master. Mediator. Engineer. Warrior. Each supremely adapted to its task, yet doomed by millions of years of evolution to an inescapable fate. For the Moties must breed—or die.

And the single wall standing between them and the galaxy beyond is beginning to crumble. . . .

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are the bestselling authors of The Mote in God's Eye, Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer, Oath of Fealty, and Inferno. Niven, a Hugo and Nebula Award winner, is also the author of the Ringworld series and many other novels. Dr. Pournelle is the Chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy and is the author of numerous science fact and fiction works.

Cover Art by Lee Macleod


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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, February 1993

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Niven, Larry.
The gripping hand / by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
p. cm.
ISBN: 0-671-79573-2 :
I. Pournelle, Jerry, 1933- . II. Title.
PS3564.I9G74 1993
813'.54—dc20 92-37539
CIP

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-671-79573-3
ISBN-10: 0-671-79573-2

Copyright© 1993 by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webscription.net


For Marilyn and Roberta, those most patient of ladies

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Mote in God's Eye*
Legacy of Heorot* (w/ Stephen Barnes)
Oath of Fealty*
Inferno*
Lucifer's Hammer
Fallen Angels (w/ Michael Flynn)
Footfall

Jerry Pournelle

A Step Farther Out
Janissaries
The Strategy of Technology (w/ Stefan Possony)
Falkenberg's Legion
Go Tell the Spartans (w/ S. Stirling)
Prince of Mercenaries
Pournelle's Communication Bible

Larry Niven

Ringworld
Integral Trees
N-Space
Dream Park (w/ Stephen Barnes)
Playgrounds of the Mind

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