Avatar before Avatar came out. The main male protagonist is whiny and unlikeable - but he's supposed to be that way. He does grow and change throughout the story, but I wish he'd done so a little more and sooner. I wish there'd be a some more politics or lifestyle sorts of things for both the human and alien sides, but that would be like saying an action movie should have been a mini series. Fun and sturdy writing.

It also avoids a lot of the racial issues the Avatar movie had by having aliens that are, well, alien enough to justify their being unable to do certain things humans are capable of. Who knew lacking prehensile thumbs, and well, HANDS, would have such a profound effect on a race's ability to create industry and tech? *laugh*