Margaret Wander Bonanno (1950–2021)

SF.2 cultures & species clash on same planet. Fair read, but hard to follow language used.

As a continuation of "WHAAAAALES IN SPAAAAACE" this was GREAT. It dealt with linguistics, with actual problems of first contact (do you even recognize the things you're trying to contact), with Federation diplomacy...everything I want from a Star Trek story. Highly recommended.

I really like that this book tried to tackle the th'y'la relationship, but I don't think it totally succeeded. I respect the attempt, but there's just so much rape and attempted rape, so much struggling with sexuality, and so little recognition that WOMEN SOMETIMES BANG WOMEN, for lord's sake, that it was really undermined for me. I'm not saying that the th'y'la bond is sexual, but only that the possibility of sexuality today would need to be addressed at least from the human side, y'know?

Really enjoyed this one! It totally contradicts tons of stuff in the TNG movies about first contact, but I don't care—it was a fun ride. I particularly liked how it tied in some specific TOS episodes with much later events of the films.