I would also recommend David Brin's Uplift Series, set in a universe where the human race is just a very small (and barely tolerated) side-note. While sometime

I would also recommend David Brin's Uplift Series, set in a universe where the human race is just a very small (and barely tolerated) side-note. While sometimes being overly focused on the ecology angle - although not as much as his standalone book "Earth" - they're great reading.