The Gismo

The Gismo trilogy "begins when a young lad discovers the eponymous Communications device that links them to outer space and an Alien race whose leader Monaal is studying Earth's society. where, eventually, they travel. Book two takes up the tale in the Near Future as the first protagonist's young grandson Chris travels to an alien base on the Moon. In the third volume, the eponymous message supplies Chris with the conditions that humanity must honour to become members of a galactic federation." (underscore represents linked cross-reference) --SFE3, biographical entry by John Clute and David Langford