Alan Dean Foster 
Nor Crystal Tears 

In the beginning, before Man and the insect Thranx became allies, in the days when the reptilian AAnn were just occasional raiders of the Thranx colony worlds, one young Thranx agricultural expert lived a life of quiet desperation. A dreamer in a world of sensible well adjusted socialised beings, Ryo buried himself in his work of reclaiming marshland until… Until he met the Aliens. Grotesque two legged creatures, unpleasingly soft skinned, gross in their appetites, alarming in their movements, all in all pretty revolting species, yet his curiosity overcame his queasiness and he befriended them. And discovered they were called Man.