Didn’t know there was a sequel! Time to drop some cash at the bookstore. I’ve been meaning to buy “Gravities Rainbow” for a friend. Now I don’t need an excuse to not go to Borders.
On One Hand: indicates it is a sequel
On the Other Hand: the title is perhaps too close, a casual glance in the store, you might mistake it for the original
The Gripping Hand: the phrase is lame, not awesome like The Mote in God's Eye or The Gripping Hand itself
If they asked me (they won't) I would cut the first two chapters where Bury and his pilot/keeper Kevin Renner go to Maxoy's Purchase, which while it details the OOH, OTOH, TGH thing, can be dropped without hurting the story ans is a bit slow for today's audiences who want violence.
Start with scenes of action on the Crazy Eddie Station blend that into the New Scotland background briefing on the Bolckade Fleet including the WTF about the Motie switch to token ships, segue into we have a bigger problem Buckman's Protostar is not so proto and the Moties may already have a wwhole new way into human Space.
Titles.
Exposition scense to introduce the audience to the characters
Go to the expedition to the theoretical new Jump point to the Motie system
More battle and the rest os the book follows.