"The Shrouded Planet" by Robert Silverberg

On the planet Nidor, a proud alien race has rebuilt its civilization since most of its continents were destroyed in an event known as the Cataclysm nearly 4,000 years ago. Nidorian society has since evolved around powerful family clans. Traditions are tightly held onto. Sons are expected to enter the professions of their fathers. Most government functions are overseen by a Council of Elders and a rigid hierarchy of priests. Technology has advanced to the point of the pre-Industrial Revolution; they invented telephones and steam engines, but most transportation still depends on horse-like animals called deests.

Everything changes the day a team of Earthmen arrive from the sky. They set up a school dedicated to teaching science and slowly eroding trust in the ancient laws and religious scriptures.

This is Robert Silverberg's fifth novel and his first co-written with Randall Garrett. It was an important step in his maturing as a writer because unlike his previous efforts, which were fast-paced adventures, this book focuses on detailed world building. It is a fix-up novel comprised of three novelettes previously published in Astounding magazine-- "The Chosen People", "The Promised Land", and "False Prophet"--plus some brief interstitial material that bridges them together. Each story is told from the point of view of a different generation of a single family, so that we experience the transformation of Nidorian society gradually through their individual experiences.

One reviewer noted the book was ahead of its time because "the aliens (not the humans) are the viewpoint characters, the alien religion is treated seriously and respectfully, and even characters in opposition to the protagonists are given sympathetic roles."

While this is no doubt true, it was hard for me to overlook the story's faults:

-It stretches credulity that a society that advanced to the point of creating steam-powered trains could be so ignorant of science. For example, in the story where Kiv convinces the elders to let him using scientific methods to cure a plague of insects, it is established most Nidorians are unaware that many insects are born as larvae, then hibernate in a cocoon before reaching adulthood.

-The efforts of the Earthmen smack of colonialism. They think they are wiser than the indigenous clans because they have better technology. They are benevolent manipulators who tempt the Nidorians away from what they see as a silly, superstitious religion.

- The third story, in which Norvis prevents the rich ruling class from driving small farmers out of business, ends on an abrupt and somewhat anticlimactic cliffhanger. Norvis has unintentionally wrecked the global economy but also gained nearly complete influence over the Council of Elders.

This is still clearly an early work, but I was nonetheless impressed with the authors' attempt to develop a nuanced alien society with economic, scientific, religious, and familial concerns (one of the stories dealt with the abolishment of arranged marriages and the ban on same-clan breeding.)

At its conclusion, Norvis plans to challenge the power of the Earthmen, which I assume will be the subject of the sequel, The Dawning Light.  (Chris Childs, GoodReads)