The Gripping Hand

Set twenty-five years after the events of *The Mote in God's Eye*, this sequel returns to the universe of the mysterious alien race known as the Moties, who were quarantined within their own solar system due to their fatal evolutionary drive to breed or die, which dooms them to a cycle of overpopulation and war. The fragile wall separating them from the galaxy is beginning to crumble. The story revolves around returning characters Captain Sir Kevin Renner and Imperial Trader Magnate Horace Bury, who have spent a quarter century preventing rebellions to ensure the Imperial Navy can maintain the blockade. They discover, to their horror, that a protostar in the Coalsack Nebula is due to ignite sooner than anticipated, which will create a new exit point for the Moties, putting the entire human Empire in extreme danger. The second half of the novel involves diplomacy, space combat, shifting Motie alliances, and a final strategy to save the Empire which hinges on a genetically altered parasite developed to limit the Moties' excessive reproduction rate.

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