Does it say in these chapters, or a later one, that the skinnies were supporting the bugs? I didn't recall that from my first reading. In fact I had thought that the book made a point of the bugs being so different from humans in how they thought (perfect communists: a hivemind not afraid to sacrifice 'individuals' for the benefit of the whole) that it would be impossible for them to have peaceful diplomatic relations with a hominid race (though I will confess this might very well be a misconception based on the massive number of 'bug' races that exist in sci-fi.)
Yeah, it gets brought up somewhere later in the book. It's been a while since I first read it and I do remember the part about the bug race being "perfect communists" but I don't remember if they were a true hivemind. I think it was more like certain castes of bugs didn't have any value beyond the collective so they just sacrifice themselves.
The book does point out that the bugs are intelligent, enough to use organized maneuvers and to even build spaceships. So it stands to reason that they could form some kind of alliance with the skinnies.
Does it say in these chapters, or a later one, that the skinnies were supporting the bugs? I didn't recall that from my first reading. In fact I had thought that the book made a point of the bugs being so different from humans in how they thought (perfect communists: a hivemind not afraid to sacrifice 'individuals' for the benefit of the whole) that it would be impossible for them to have peaceful diplomatic relations with a hominid race (though I will confess this might very well be a misconception based on the massive number of 'bug' races that exist in sci-fi.)
Yeah, it gets brought up somewhere later in the book. It's been a while since I first read it and I do remember the part about the bug race being "perfect communists" but I don't remember if they were a true hivemind. I think it was more like certain castes of bugs didn't have any value beyond the collective so they just sacrifice themselves.
The book does point out that the bugs are intelligent, enough to use organized maneuvers and to even build spaceships. So it stands to reason that they could form some kind of alliance with the skinnies.