I read
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
Set ~1,000 years in the future and humans have dominated space-travel through the use of the Alderson Drive that allows instant travel between locations, and have colonised many systems. But when a ship approaches from the coal sack area of space a contingent is dispatched to investigate, leading to a first contact story that is thorough and well-developed.
There's plenty of hard science and astronomical concepts, and interesting aliens with a lot of detail on their physiology, culture and communication methods. The author also does a good job of making their motivations ambiguous throughout; they seem to be calm and welcoming, but there are elements that allow the reader to question otherwise in the back of their mind. I especially liked the second half of the novel as humans visit the "Moties" home planet then things switch up a notch.
There is a big but however!
I found there was an overarching sense of arrogance and sexism that pervades a number of the characters (though the Captain especially). Passages of the novel refer to all the "men" on the ship who make all the decisions, with one token "girl". Admittedly it's probably just a product of it's time in the early 70's, but as a reader you can't get away from it. Also at least the female character is intelligent (an anthropologist) who stands up for herself, but a love interest that develops felt a bit implausible. Many of the characters aren't that likable either, presumptuously referring to an alien Motie in a number of instances as "stupid" and a "moron". The whole vibe just didn't feel great.
That said though, I found this much more prevalent in the early stages of the novel, and by halfway as the story shifts gear it's not as much of an issue. So overall an impressive and detailed first contact novel, weighed down by some unappealing characterisation, and lacklustre dialogue at times.
