On the one hand, there is similarity in that both "The Mote in God's Eye" and "Blindsight" are first-contact-with-aliens scenarios. On another hand, Niven & Pou

On the one hand, there is similarity in that both "The Mote in God's Eye" and "Blindsight" are first-contact-with-aliens scenarios. On another hand, Niven & Pournelle's story is painted atop the background of interstellar human civilization, with colonies and wars and FTL drives and shields, while humanity in Watts' universe is firmly stuck on Earth with sublight travel in our local solar system -- with the quirk that humanity evolved alongside a near-human predator species, although one that can be harnessed toward corporate or organisational goals using modern science. On the gripping-hand, the two books have rather different perspectives on how first-contact might go: Niven & Pournelle's alien species and society is alien, but somewhat recognisable and relatable from a human perspective. Both species figure out how to communicate. The threat posed to humanity by the aliens is perhaps not so dissimilar to the threat humanity might pose to other species (c.f. Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar). Watts' book explores intelligence, communication, sentience. Earth's first-contact team aren't all human. Many of the human specialists are far from neurotypical -- there's already considerable difficulty in them even being able to understand or emphasise with each other, even before introducing aliens. Blindsight takes a bunch of familiar assumptions underpinning how first-contact could play out, and challenges them, and asks what might happen if those assumptions were not true.