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Average rating3
A first-contact novel written from an alien perspective by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Trek Into Darkness. Ryo is one of the Thranx, a race of social arthropods. From his larval years to now, his life has been normal, though his love of learning and insatiable curiosity set him apart. He has settled into his work as an agriculture specialist and is premated to a lovely female. Yet Ryo still feels something is missing from his life, and when he heroically defends his colony from the Thranx’s reptilian nemesis, Ryo gets a taste of excitement that’s hard to forget. Then his premate shares a garbled message from her starship-captain cousin—one that hints at the discovery of a completely new, completely alien space-going intelligence. Even when the captain backtracks and denounces the experience as a deep-space nightmare, Ryo can’t let it go. He becomes obsessed, leaving his colony and family behind to chase rumors of a murderous alien race, horrible beyond imagining. And when he finally makes it to an isolated military outpost rumored to harbor the captured aliens, he comes face-to-face with . . . humanity. Praise for Alan Dean Foster “One of the most consistently inventive and fertile writers of science-fiction and fantasy.” —The Times (London) “Alan Dean Foster is a master of creating alien worlds.” —SFRevu.com “Foster knows how to spin a yarn.” —Starlog “Alan Dean Foster is the modern day Renaissance writer, as his abilities seem to have no genre boundaries.” —Bookbrowser
Series
17 primary booksHumanx Commonwealth is a 17-book series with 17 primary works first released in 1972 with contributions by Alan Dean Foster.
Series
17 primary booksHumanx Commonwealth Chronological is a 17-book series with 17 primary works first released in 1972 with contributions by Alan Dean Foster.
Reviews with the most likes.
The book is a first contact novel, told from the viewpoint of the aliens. We follow Ryo, who is a bit of an oddball that never quite felt like he fit in with normal Thranx society. Ryo hears rumors that a new intelligent species (which turn out to be humans) was discovered and the book relays his adventures attempting first to meet the aliens.I appreciate that the author didn't try to force another 200 pages into the book just to make it longer. I'm interested to read some more of the Humanx Commonwealth novels in the future and some more Alan Dean Foster in general.