I'll throw in Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky for consideration. A significant element in both is a first encounter between a grou

I'll throw in Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky for consideration. A significant element in both is a first encounter between a group of (mostly) human characters and something distinctly nonhuman. The two novels are conceptually part of a series, but each can stand alone.