Chess with a Dragon, David Gerrold
Chess with a Dragon, David Gerrold
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Chess with a Dragon

Author: David Gerrold

Narrator: Celina Saucedo

Unabridged: 4 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/25/2025


Synopsis

From the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of The Martian Child: "This playful, intricate game of survival . . . is one of Gerrold's best books." —Publishers Weekly   The human race has been played for a fool. Though welcomed into the galactic community and given access to the combined knowledge of thousands of intelligent species, humans are largely regarded as an evolutionary mistake. Reptilian, insectoid, and other unclassifiable species are the dominant forms of intelligence. If it hadn't been for that annoying comet, the dinosaurs would have continued their evolutionary journey to sentience. Instead the ridiculous mammalians survived. And they want to be treated as equals.   Now the humans find out that the Galactic Encyclopedia has a user fee—and they are overdrawn! If the debt can't be paid, humanity will be sold as slaves . . . or food. Asst. Liaison Officer Yake Singh Browne feels personally betrayed. He comes up with a strategy: If humanity can't win playing by the rules of the game, he'll just have to change the rules.   Game on!   "Taut and well-constructed, providing a convincing glimpse of alien biology and psychology . . . A good yarn." —Kirkus Reviews   "Gerrold has written a fine but demanding science-fiction novel . . . Those with perseverance will enjoy the story's campy humor and unexpected plot twists." —School Library Journal

About David Gerrold

David Gerrold has been writing professionally for half a century. He created the tribbles for Star Trek and the Sleestaks for Land of the Lost. His most famous novel is The Man Who Folded Himself. His semi-autobiographical tale of his son's adoption, The Martian Child, won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, and was the basis for the 2007 movie starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alan on June 13, 2015

David Gerrold is best known for two things. Being the writer of the ST:TOS episode The Trouble with Tribbles and his unfinished War against the Chtorr. What a lot of people don't know is that before his recent lack of production he completed the Voyages of the Star Wolf trilogy which is very good. So......more

Goodreads review by Brian on October 31, 2013

Not actually a fantasy book- Chess With a Dragon is a hard sci-fi book, space opera, spaceships, the whole deal. The closest thing I can compare the setting to would be David Brin's "Uplift" setting. Mankind has hit the galactic scene and discovered everyone is smarter than us. There is an immense "l......more

Goodreads review by Simon on December 15, 2025

I don't remember where I saw this novel mentioned but it sounded fun: A story about humanity having met the good ol' galactic community, including access to their limitless library. But TANSTAAFL: The galactic Wikipedia is not free, nor is it paid for by ads, so humanity is in quite a spot when the......more

Goodreads review by Emily on March 28, 2020

Future Earthlings are having a dilemma. They've entered a galactic society, but incurred quite a large debt in access fees to the Library. It may or may not be the case that they were tricked into incurring that debt by the alien species who had been their guides to navigation in this society. Eithe......more

Goodreads review by Brian on August 04, 2008

Mankind has ventured into the stars... and discovered that lots of other worlds have gotten there first. Sentient mammals are considered the laughable anomolies of genetics, and humans end up reinforcing that theory by committing a "blunder" that may well end up getting the species eaten. Our only h......more