 Larry Niven and Jerry Cornell are considered one of the great science fiction team-ups. This book is often considered to be their most interesting and innovative. The title refers to a distant star that appears to sit in the middle of a large ring-shaped nebula like a fleck of dust in a gigantic eye. The plot is about the human race having their first encounter with intelligent alien life, the Modes, as they come to be called, are at first a familiar bipedal mammal type creature, but they have a large insect-like caste system, each type of which is physically different and many of them are bilaterally asymmetrical, having two arms on one side or one enlarged ear or one specialized eye. The Modes are also much more socially and technologically sophisticated than they first let on. Like Ringworld, I think this book's reputation is a little bit better than it deserves, but again, I can't dispute its status as a highly respected classic, and I recommend it. You can support 30-Second Sci-Fi and my other projects by becoming a patron. There's a link in the description below. And visit the 30-Second Sci-Fi Tumblr, that's my headquarters. In addition to my videos, I publish links and updates there every day.