''Double Contact'' is a 1999 science fiction book by Irish writer James White, the last in the

Sector General ''Sector General'' is a series of twelve science fiction novels 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 hu ...

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 may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

is, he thought, as exciting and suspenseful as one could wish for. However Lawrence also noted that the level of characterisation was the minimum required to support the plot. This book has an unusual feature in

personal pronoun Personal pronouns are pronouns that are associated primarily with a particular grammatical person – first person (as ''I''), second person (as ''you''), or third person (as ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', ''they''). Personal pronouns may also take dif ...

usage: in most

stories, one human is " he" or "

she She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

" (or other grammatical case forms) and one alien is " it". But, in ''Double Contact'', often in the text the character

Prilicla ''Sector General'' is a series of twelve science fiction novels 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 hug ...

is "he" and a human or a member of any other species is "it".

References

1999 British novels 1999 science fiction novels Novels by James White (author) Sector General Tor Books books {{1990s-sf-novel-stub