Story ID: Science Fiction on Forced Birth & Reproductive Strategies

January 8, 2025 8:08 AM

A human, out in space, encounters an alien engineer. These aliens have no means of birth control and don’t menstruate, so they regularly pump out litters comprising four archetypes: scientists, scholars, engineers, and soldiers. They must reproduce/give birth in order to continue living. They may reproduce asexually. The aliens must live within tight resource constraints (limited food, space, fuel). Since their frequent (monthly?) reproduction reliably generates possible successors, they feel no compunction pushing unneeded offspring out the airlock. They are surprised at the possibility of birth control and how that affects human choices.
posted by Jesse the K to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Mod note: Although there isn't an explicit question being asked here, the OP seems to looking for the story name and possibly author that matches this description. So consider the question as this: Can you name this story?
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]

Best answer: It's been a long time since I read it, but this sounds a bit like The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven.
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 8:25 AM on January 8 [7 favorites]

Best answer: I remember reading this book, but don’t recall the name, so I’ll be following this thread to see if anyone has an answer. I think I remember that the aliens had a cyclical society with frequent societal collapses returning them to the Stone Age?
posted by yaj at 8:25 AM on January 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is this The Mote in God's Eye? The archetypes/subspecies do not match your list perfectly, but there's definitely similarities there. The tight resource constraints are right on, and the birth control + inability to stop breeding is also a key feature.

The frequent societal collapses that yaj mentions also match TMiGE.
posted by Bryant at 8:31 AM on January 8 [3 favorites]

Best answer: It's iocaine TMiGE. I'd stake my life on it.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:44 AM on January 8 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Another vote for a bit of misremembering of The Mote in God's Eye.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:45 AM on January 8 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'll post a 6th agreement that it's The Mote in God's Eye. Long-time MetaFilter readers will recognize that "on the gripping hand" is a somewhat common saying here.
posted by Phssthpok at 9:53 AM on January 8 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Gotta also hit the Niven/Pournelle button.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:55 AM on January 8

Response by poster: Thanks! You folks are the best of the web. And I’m so pleased to know the source of “on the gripping hand”
posted by Jesse the K at 10:07 AM on January 8 [1 favorite]

"The Gripping Hand" is also the name of the sequel.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:23 PM on January 8