I was going through some boxes of my dad's old books, and was intrigued by the title of this one. It's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and one of the quotes on the back was from Robert Heinlein, who said, "Possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read." I'm about halfway through and am beginning to think Heinlein was right. It is a first-alien-contact story, but it's different in the sense that this first contact occurs in 3017, after the earth-based Empire of Man has already traveled to the stars and established a vast network of settled planets. The alien culture is completely different from most I've read about in other SF novels, but I won't go into that because I don't want to give anything away. Anyway, unless something changes drastically, I think this is going to end up being one of my favorite SF novels.

Thanks! I know one of Heinlein's books is touted as the best sometimes, so I'll definitely check this out. Stranger in a Strange Land was the one I was thinking of.

I've got an old paperback of this somewhere, and had forgotten all about it. I read it back in the '70s, I think, but now that you've reminded me, I'm going to dig it out and read it again. Thanks!