The soon-to-be mayor of the new colony on the planet Ramanujam writes highly personal reports that are sent back to Earth for public consumption. His primary contribution to the colony is mapping and exploration, in which his most important allies are a colony of crows, some of whom speak English to the one human who also understands Crow. All the colonists are scientists, but their most important task is to mate and make babies, so that the colony can create a self-sustaining population. The last to marry, our diarist becomes the first human to speak to a sentient race native to the planet. But the more he discovers, the more mysteries there are to unravel—including the true identity of his new wife, the mother of his sons.

This audiobook also features the short story “Rikki’s Piano: An Absquatulant Story.”