A short but interesting sf novel of First Contact, and dealing with intelligence's so far above our level, and so different, it's almost impossible to communicate with them. My rating would normally have been a bit lower due to characterizations that were a bit shy of being truly 3-D, but because the book was originally written in Japanese, I gave the author, and translator, the benefit of the doubt. I appreciated the concise writing style, taking a good idea and NOT turning it into grand space opera... very much appreciated!