Pre-Owned A Darkling Sea (Hardcover) by James L Cambias

from

A rating of 4.85. Excellent novel of first contact.

from jakecasella

Very fun contact novel that reminds me of Vernor Vinge's work. Tone of the novel is quite light and engaging, and the aliens are delightful.

from Ailinel

A Darkling Sea is a hard science-fiction novel that unfolds on a distant planet in the utter darkness of a sea covered by a kilometer thick sheet of ice. After a human scientist studying the local inhabitants gets too close and is killed, the Sholen, who insist on no contact with other species, a...

from bonnieclyde

A very enjoyable read that I quickly passed on to my daughter. The author successfully blended the story from different points of view without being confusing. The alien characters were very likable and easy to imagine, in spite of being so different from the humans. They live underwater in a com...

from ThePortPorts

I keep reading references to this book as "hard science fiction," which makes me think that I don't actually know what hard sci-fi is. I assumed it was sci-fi with a strong technology focus- but this book uses technology really only to support the social and moral questions that are the heart of ...