Ramnagel Male, It's complicated. Cape Town, South Africa

This book requires a special sort of review. It is part of the Founding Of The Commonwealth trilogy, and I will review the entire trilogy as I finish it, and use the same ongoing review for each of the three books.

The first book, Phylogenesis, does move along slowly. But I regard this slow pace as a good thing. Let me explain why.

I would have preferred Alan Dean Foster to combine this trilogy into a single, epic work. This series represents one of the most meticulous examinations of alien contact and the forging of relations between two great civilizations that I have ever come across in the pulp science fiction genre. The story is ambitious and innovative. This first book relates the circumstances that eventually lead to the chance meeting and forced companionship of two members of alien species: the insectile Thranx, and the Humans.

The Thranx have decided (or some among them) to forge an alliance with the startlingly unpredictable, and sometimes violently backward Humans in a long-term bid to stave off the encroaching and ruthless, reptilian-like AAan. The extraordinary confluence of circumstances that result in a Human criminal and a Thranx poet becoming somewhat reluctant companions-on-the-run in a remote jungle, ends up accomplishing more for Thranx/Human relations than the best-laid efforts of the tentative politicians on both the Human and Thranx sides, who were planning on developing social and cultural and economic and military ties over several centuries. Sometimes great events happen quite by accident.

Foster is very good in the details of Thranx/Human interactions, and conveys a sense of "alien" very well. The first book in the trilogy is a wonderfully detailed examination of the meeting of two inter-stellar cultures, and a perspicacious examination of the misunderstandings and hard-won triumphs in the interaction between alien civilizations. The story at times transcends its rather humble genre pulp fiction origins, and should really be seen as the first part in a larger novel, as opposed to a novel of its own. The pay-off once you reach the faster-paced second book in the trilogy is very much worth the wait.

The role of Thranx poetry described in the first book is fascinating. Foster also examines the question of Human and Thranx religion, and the natural disgust most Humans seem to have of the "bug-like" Thranx, who look something like waist-high mantises. The exoskeleton Thranx find the fleshy Human appearance disturbing, too, but they are much less prone to judge by appearances.

I found the reading very easy going, and I did not become bored because of the fascinating details Foster managed to constantly surprise me with.

Book two, Dirge, benefits greatly from its slow-paced predecessor, and catapults the reader into a faster-paced, action-packed story of conflict and war. The Thranx and Humans forge ever-deepening relations between their two civilizations, as no doubt will continue to happen in the last book of the trilogy. There is also the introduction of one of the most interesting and fleshed-out alien races it has been my pleasure to meet: the Pitar. The Pitar are relentlessly alien, and Foster succeeds in piquing our sense of wonder every now and again, as we get to learn more about these fascinating aliens.

There are some small carry-overs from the preceding story to do with Thranx poetry and the new hybrid language that is developing between the Thranx and Humans over the decades. You get a very real sense of seeing these two civilizations slowly, and often reluctantly and unexpectedly, blend together in a vast movement of inevitable social and political evolution.

Foster, a childhood favourite sci-fi author of mine, does come up short on certain aspects of his story-telling. Generally, any stories of Human romance seem rather stilted, with one-dimensional women and men whose love is instant and absolute. The alien romances are fine (not that there are many) because who's to say what they should be like? Foster is best when describing the action and the political intrigue, and I easily forgive him his rather stodgy attempts at fleshing out Human romantic relationships. Romantic elements are thankfully far and few between in the first two books, so this is a very minor gripe.

The second book, Dirge, ends off with an exciting conclusion and leaves you eager to start the third installment, Diuturnity's Dawn.

This book requires a special sort of review. It is part of the Founding Of The Commonwealth trilogy, and I will review the entire trilogy as I finish it, and use the same ongoing review for each of the three books.

The first book, Phylogenesis, does move along slowly. But I regard this slow pace as a good thing. Let me explain why.

I would have preferred Alan Dean Foster to combine this trilogy into a single, epic work. This series represents one of the most meticulous examinations of alien contact and the forging of relations between two great civilizations that I have ever come across in the pulp science fiction genre. The story is ambitious and innovative. This first book relates the circumstances that eventually lead to the chance meeting and forced companionship of two members of alien species: the insectile Thranx, and the Humans.

The Thranx have decided (or some among them) to forge an alliance with the startlingly unpredictable, and sometimes violently backward Humans in a long-term bid to stave off the encroaching and ruthless, reptilian-like AAan. The extraordinary confluence of circumstances that result in a Human criminal and a Thranx poet becoming somewhat reluctant companions-on-the-run in a remote jungle, ends up accomplishing more for Thranx/Human relations than the best-laid efforts of the tentative politicians on both the Human and Thranx sides, who were planning on developing social and cultural and economic and military ties over several centuries. Sometimes great events happen quite by accident.

Foster is very good in the details of Thranx/Human interactions, and conveys a sense of "alien" very well. The first book in the trilogy is a wonderfully detailed examination of the meeting of two inter-stellar cultures, and a perspicacious examination of the misunderstandings and hard-won triumphs in the interaction between alien civilizations. The story at times transcends its rather humble genre pulp fiction origins, and should really be seen as the first part in a larger novel, as opposed to a novel of its own. The pay-off once you reach the faster-paced second book in the trilogy is very much worth the wait.

The role of Thranx poetry described in the first book is fascinating. Foster also examines the question of Human and Thranx religion, and the natural disgust most Humans seem to have of the "bug-like" Thranx, who look something like waist-high mantises. The exoskeleton Thranx find the fleshy Human appearance disturbing, too, but they are much less prone to judge by appearances.

I found the reading very easy going, and I did not become bored because of the fascinating details Foster managed to constantly surprise me with.

Book two, Dirge, benefits greatly from its slow-paced predecessor, and catapults the reader into a faster-paced, action-packed story of conflict and war. The Thranx and Humans forge ever-deepening relations between their two civilizations, as no doubt will continue to happen in the last book of the trilogy. There is also the introduction of one of the most interesting and fleshed-out alien races it has been my pleasure to meet: the Pitar. The Pitar are relentlessly alien, and Foster succeeds in piquing our sense of wonder every now and again, as we get to learn more about these fascinating aliens.

There are some small carry-overs from the preceding story to do with Thranx poetry and the new hybrid language that is developing between the Thranx and Humans over the decades. You get a very real sense of seeing these two civilizations slowly, and often reluctantly and unexpectedly, blend together in a vast movement of inevitable social and political evolution.

Foster, a childhood favourite sci-fi author of mine, does come up short on certain aspects of his story-telling. Generally, any stories of Human romance seem rather stilted, with one-dimensional women and men whose love is instant and absolute. The alien romances are fine (not that there are many) because who's to say what they should be like? Foster is best when describing the action and the political intrigue, and I easily forgive him his rather stodgy attempts at fleshing out Human romantic relationships. Romantic elements are thankfully far and few between in the first two books, so this is a very minor gripe.

The second book, Dirge, ends off with an exciting conclusion and leaves you eager to start the third installment, Diuturnity's Dawn.