Books like Decision at Doona by Anne McCaffrey
Humanity’s bleak history of interstellar contact ends with the mass suicide of the Siwannese, prompting a strict galactic law barring further engagement with sentient beings. When a survey mistakenly reports Doona as uninhabited, colonists arrive with a looming dilemma
The choice is stark: abandon the uncharted world and return to an overcrowded Earth, eliminate the cat‑like Hrruban aliens inhabiting the planet, or forge a path toward peaceful coexistence for the first time in human history.
Against a backdrop of political caution and survival instincts, the story unfolds as settlers confront the moral and practical challenges of sharing a world with an alien species, questioning whether true diplomacy can arise from survival pressures.
First publish date: March 12, 1975
Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera
Authors: Anne McCaffrey
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