I really quite enjoyed this! Very good ensemble cast, with distinct personalities and specialisms, and the plot construction managed to combine political first contact, emergency survival on an alien world, and xenobiological-linguistic science in a satisfying way. The interpersonal relationships in the science crew also worked very well--especially Minnie and John. It would have been so sloppy and easy to make their tensions and disagreements revolve around the pre-existing romantic ties (Minnie is dating John's ex-wife), but instead the two of them approach their situation like goddamned professionals who nevertheless get on each other's nerves because Minnie's quite a jerk. And when events forced them to become closer, there was not a hint of tiresome romantic ties growing between them, but instead respect and support. The other characters, too, are a masterclass in how it's not bad to have people take on stereotypically gender-matched roles, as long as there are enough people to show that it's not the only option. So one woman is the nurturing mother, sure, but we've also got a wacked out weirdo with delusions of godhood, an abrasive alien wilderness-survival expert, and a timid shrinking flower who is also an innovative project manager. Likewise with the dudes: we've got the classic human ambassador on an alien world, all tall and bold and commanding, but we've also got the freaked out anxious tech expert, the competent medic, and the leader who struggles with feeling inferior to everyone else because he doesn't have enough expertise in anything: he's only the leader, he thinks at one point, because there's no other useful role for a generalist. 

I also loved the alien sociobiology. The deadly misconceptions about the Threck and the Hynka are the inevitable result of just observing the society and making assumptions about how they work developed the plot in very exciting sci-fi ways. And Siemsen really doesn't hold back in the gross bits! The scene where Minnie is looked after temporarily by a Hynka who finds her freezing in the wilderness was disgusting and delightful in the best possible way. 

This felt like very classic science fiction, but without a lot of the knee-jerk misogyny and white savior bits that make some of the classic stuff so disagreeable to the modern reader. I might not seek out other books by Siemsen, but if I saw them in the library I'd probably check them out.