Chess with a Dragon

Humanity has been admitted to the galactic community and granted access to the combined knowledge of thousands of intelligent species, but is largely regarded as an evolutionary mistake. Reptilian, insectoid, and other unclassifiable species dominate galactic intelligence. Humans discover that the Galactic Encyclopedia carries a user fee—and humanity is overdrawn. If the debt cannot be paid, the human race will be sold as slaves or food. Asst. Liaison Officer Yake Singh Browne feels personally betrayed by this discovery. He develops a strategy: if humanity cannot win by playing by the existing rules, he will change the rules instead. The novel explores alien biology and psychology while following Browne's attempt to alter the terms of humanity's place in the galactic order.