Nor Crystal Tears

By Alan Dean Foster

Book Overview

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.

• Format: MP3 CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CW55W5DN
• ISBN13: 9798212945219
• Release Date: January 2024
• Publisher: Tantor Audio

Customer Reviews

One of the great books in the Humanx universe.

Like many of the other single book stories set in the Humanx universe, this is a great story from start to finish. I was very glad when the "founding of the commonwealth" series came out and knew that this book would really be the foundation of that series as it should be. Having just started the "foundation of the commonwealth" trilogy, I only went a few pages before realizing that I should read this book yet again (and like others here, I have read my first edition copy several times.)

A good first contact and a good place to start.

More than ten years after first reading it and having read many other first contact books this one is still my favorite. While doing first contact from an aliens view has been done more realisticly, such as the The Chanur Saga, none has done it quite as fun. Foster has an ability to capture both seriousness and fun in his writing and this book in no exception. This book is a good jumping off point for potential Fosterites and a great book for long time fans.

Alan Dean Foster's best work

I rate "Nor Crystal Tears" as Alan Dean Foster's best work, and as one of the best books I have ever read. It is a masterfully written story of first contact. With rarely a dull moment, it really is worth reading.If you haven't read anything by Alan Dean Foster, this is a good place to start.

First Alan Dean Foster I read... still a favorite

I read this when it first came out... ages ago. It was my first Alan Dean Foster novel and got me hooked. I still have the book, and while the cover is a bit tattered, I still read it every few years.The main character in this novel is an alien and we get to learn and experience his world through his eyes. It's only later in the book do we get to encounter the real aliens, humans, and what transpires when these two very different races meet and try to understand each other. A great read, with great perspective and characters.

BRILLIANT!

THIS BOOK WAS A BRILLIANT FIRST CONTACT NOVEL. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! TWO VERY DIFFERENT WORLDS MEET AND CROSS THE BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION. A GREAT BOOK ALL AROUND.