Double Contact
Encyclopedia
Double Contact is a 1999 science fiction
book by author James White
and is the last in the Sector General
series.
Clinton Lawrence described Double Contact as "in a very positive way, a throwback to an earlier era in science fiction" since it is optimistic and depicts several advanced species working harmoniously. The struggle to build trust and produce a successful first contact
is, he thought, as exciting and suspenseful as one could wish for. However Lawrence also noted that the level of characterization was the minimum required to support the plot.
This book has an unusual feature in personal pronoun
usage: in most Sector General
stories, one human is "he
" or "she
" (or other grammatical case forms) and one alien is "it
". But, in Double Contact, often in the text the character Prilicla is "he" and a human or a member of any other species is "it".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
book by author James White
James White (author)
James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending his early years in Canada. After a few years in the clothing industry, he worked at Short Brothers Ltd. from 1965 until taking early retirement in...
and is the last in the Sector General
Sector General
Sector General is a series of twelve science fiction books and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a huge hospital space station located in deep space, designed to...
series.
Clinton Lawrence described Double Contact as "in a very positive way, a throwback to an earlier era in science fiction" since it is optimistic and depicts several advanced species working harmoniously. The struggle to build trust and produce a successful first contact
First contact (science fiction)
First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient race's first encounter with another one....
is, he thought, as exciting and suspenseful as one could wish for. However Lawrence also noted that the level of characterization was the minimum required to support the plot.
This book has an unusual feature in personal pronoun
Personal pronoun
Personal pronouns are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. All known languages contain personal pronouns.- English personal pronouns :English in common use today has seven personal pronouns:*first-person singular...
usage: in most Sector General
Sector General
Sector General is a series of twelve science fiction books and various short stories by the Northern Irish author James White. The series derives its name from the setting of the majority of the books, the Sector 12 General Hospital, a huge hospital space station located in deep space, designed to...
stories, one human is "he
He
He is a third-person, singular personal pronoun in Modern English, as well as being a personal pronoun in Middle English.-Animals:...
" or "she
She
She is the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English.She can also may refer to:-Literature and film:* She: A History of Adventure, a novel by H...
" (or other grammatical case forms) and one alien is "it
It (pronoun)
"It" is a third-person, singular neuter pronoun in Modern English.-Usage:In English, words such as it and its genitive form its have been used to refer to human babies and pets, although with the passage of time this usage has come to be considered too impersonal in the case of babies, with many...
". But, in Double Contact, often in the text the character Prilicla is "he" and a human or a member of any other species is "it".