Nor Crystal Tears is Alan Dean Foster's first contact novel between the Humans and Thranx. Apparently its a universe (called the Humanx Commonwealth) that other novels are set in but since I hadn't read any other novels in the universe, I'm not sure there's any context I should have had prior to this novel.
The novel starts from the perspective of a Thranx child, an insect-like race of sentient beings that start out as larva and then metamorphize through a cocoon phase and become full-fledged adults. There's not a lot of background about this we never get an exposition about how the race evolved or how the physiology overcomes the limits that diffusion-based life on Earth from growing to becoming huge. The plot revolves around a spaceship for the Thranx encountering the disabled ship of the humans who had just been attacked by the Aan, enemies of the Thranx.
They capture the human, but despite the presence of experts seem unable to make headway in speaking the humans' language or understanding their culture and way of thinking. The protagonist of the novel (Ryo) shows up, and in a matter of weeks manages to learn the human's languages and also brank then tree and accompanies them home.
You can see plot holes all over. Why was the exploration ship unaccompanied by military vessels and why did the humans not send someone to investigate after the ship went missing?
Anyway, the rest f the novel depicts Ayo's attempts to convince the humans that an alliance is desirable despite instinctual mutual antagonism. Ryo then comes up with a harebrained scheme that works to tie the races together. I finished the novel but am pretty sure if this is the typical standard of an Alan Dean Foster book I will not read any more stories with his name as the author.
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