false 23394 5 First, humanity establishes ties with intelligent, extraterrestrial bugs. Some 20 years later, humanity makes first contact with intelligent, extraterrestrial babes. Or so goes the chronology in Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth, as detailed in the second book of the Founding of the Commonwealth prequel trilogy. Following up on <I>Phylogenesis</I>, <I>Dirge</I> fleshes out the foundation for the universe that's home to the ever-popular Pip and Flinx, among other Foster favorites. And while it's not exactly Heinlein, <I>Dirge</I> provides essential background for fans of all the Humanx books in typical action-packed Foster style.<p> The space babes in question call themselves the Pitar, and after somewhat stunted relations with the insectoid Thranx (first contacted in <I>Nor Crystal Tears</I>), humanity falls all over itself fawning over this "drop-dead, overpoweringly, stunningly gorgeous"--if strangely reticent--new race. But everything isn't what it seems, of course, or there wouldn't be much of a story here. Not to give anything away, but even the most unobservant reader will soon realize that something's suspicious about these alluring aliens--especially when 600,000 colonists on the otherwise boring outpost of Treetrunk are swiftly, brutally, and mysteriously exterminated. <I>--Paul Hughes</I> 24365 2000 Dirge (Founding of the Commonwealth, #2) total:79|5:1|4:1|3:2|2:0|1:0| 79 280 105 4 4 0 false true Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 21:19:47 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 15:04:34 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 24 12:25:44 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 12:26:36 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 19 08:45:02 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 30 15:39:14 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Nov 26 06:39:29 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 26 06:39:56 -0800 2007 0 0 false false Sat Nov 07 09:21:35 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 09:21:35 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 22 20:18:22 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 20:18:22 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:58:42 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 00:58:42 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Oct 11 16:54:59 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 16:55:11 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Oct 09 18:10:40 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 18:10:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 04 16:58:24 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 16:58:24 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Oct 02 15:40:52 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 15:40:52 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Sep 23 12:27:13 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 12:27:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 11 22:18:05 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 22:18:05 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Sep 06 19:02:30 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 19:02:30 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Sep 06 06:50:25 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 06:50:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Aug 28 11:51:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 11:51:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 20 19:48:12 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 19:48:12 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:45:30 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 00:45:30 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Aug 04 13:57:01 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 13:57:01 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jul 28 20:51:45 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 20:51:45 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=23394