Learning The World tells the far-future story of a human colony ship making first contact with a race of bat-like aliens. The chapters alternate between following a group of alien scientists as they try to deal with the imminent contact, and a variety of humans on board their ship, which has been underway for hundreds of years. Mankind (now stretched over thousands of worlds) has never encountered another intelligent species before, and bumping up against these aliens comes as a huge shock. Especially as there is a generation of colonists eager to get out and lay their claims on the real estate of the alien system.

I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why, but this seemed like an easier read than McLeod’s previous novels. It explores his favourite social and economic themes, and the alien society gives him an interesting new point of view to play with. At times the alien narrative can feel a bit like a lecture, as they (re)discover science that is familiar to the reader, but I think that the process of making the aliens seem human and familiar (after all, it’s not they who are the aliens), has given McLeod’s writing a much more human feel overall.