Drowning World by Alan Dean Foster (American, 2003)

Summary:
We are in the planet Fluva, a planet that has drenching rains, which makes life very complicated; but it is also the perfect place to find rare botanical specimens. 
 The administrative chief on Fluva, Lauren Matthias, has a job: to keep the natives of Fluva, the Deyzara and the Sakuntala, at peace. The viissiiviissii is the wettest place on the planet and the least explored one; yet, it is one of the most interesting places for scientists. So, the bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga a.k.a Hassa decides to go visit this place. However, at one point during his trip, he gets lost. Lauren then decides to send a rescue team formed by Jemuno-jah (a Sakuntala) and Masurathoo (a Deyzara). 
 Together they find Hassa, but they get lost too and can’t find a way back to the central. At the same time, the AAnn empire is plotting to create a conflict between the Deyzara and the Sakuntala in order to rule the world. 
 Hassa and the others find their way home thanks to a thing that Hassa names Pannula, a kind of fungus that achieves communication through flashes of light. 
 Meanwhile, Lauren finds out that Seth Case, another bio-prospector and her lover, is the one behind the straying and sabotage of Hassa. He is also accused of treachery against Fluva because he is also involved with the AAnn empire. 
 With the discovery of the Pannula, Fluva has now become a planet of interest for the Commonwealth and they have more freedom concerning research; they also get some rights for certain political acts. Now the Deyzara and the Sakuntala cannot fight amongst themselves anymore.

Another summary:
Jemunu-jah, a native Sakuntala of the planet Fluva, has the task of going to the rescue of Shadrach Hasselemoga (Hasa), whose skimmer crashed in the Viisiiviisii, a rather dangerous place of Fluva. However, Kenkeru-jah tells him that it is a duty (mule) that they must fulfill even though Hasa is a human being and does not belong to the Sakuntala like them. So, along with the Deyzara Masurathoo as their pilot, and despite the discomfort caused by his presence, Jemunu-jah heads to the rescue of Hasa while he tries to survive in the Viisiiviisi. During the expedition, Naneci-tok has a meeting with other Hatas about the Deyzara and the relationship of the Sakuntala with them, taking into account all the differences between both natives of Fluva. As the days go by, Jemunu-jah realizes the multiple abilities that his partner possesses and they have the opportunity to talk about the relations between Sakuntala and Deyzara, as well as his relationship with humans. The natives finally find the human, who is detected by their controls, but the rescuers also crash and now all three are stranded. The situation with the natives of Fluva is not very good either: in addition to their born differences, the tension intensifies with the presence of the AAnn race. Some of the Sakuntala have a secret meeting with the AAnn and try to figure out how to attack the Deyzara and remove them from the planet without raising suspicions of the Commonwealth Authority. The Sakuntala are sent to Deyzara houses and encourage them to leave their own homes - a bloody war is coming to Nesawiti. The Deyzara ask the help of the authorities, who don't know what to do. Lauren Matthias, the Commonwealth administrator, Naneci-tok and their teams are in charge of the problem. The only thing they can think of at the moment to help the attacked is to give shelter to the Deyzara who need it, but the number of refugees exceeds the capacity of the shelters and the attacks do not cease. After hearing about the fall of the rescuers, Matthias begins to suspect that someone who does not want Hasa to reappear might be behind the accidents. Meanwhile, the crash survivors look for a way to stay safe until new rescuers can find them. During that time they have to do their utmost to deal with each other and endure everything they find repulsive in their partners of different races. Throughout their excursion they learn about the other races: their way of being and their lifestyle and, at the same time, they explore in depth the place where they are trapped and learn a lot of things about the flora and how it has adapted to live under such hostile conditions. Their survival is threatened not only by the dangerous creatures of the forest, but also by a constant feeling of being watched. The issue of war is not improving and the Deyzara begin to demand accounts from Matthias, who does not have much information about it; but, on the other hand, she begins an investigation on the crashed skimmers and discovers that the AAnn are involved, which leads her to think about the probabilities of them also being involved in the war between the natives of Fluva. The crash survivors encounter an organism called pannula, and they suspect that it is what has been following them and that it is leading them somewhere, although they are not sure if that means help or otherwise. The possibility that an organism that apparently has no conscience is able to develop in such a way is a rather impressive fact, which they plan to describe in their report on the excursion. Moreover, according to Masurathoo, the discovery of the pannula will alter the classification of species on the planet Fluva so much, that the socio-political situation of their planet could change too. Matthias meets a man named Clifford Kamis, who confirms her suspicions that the skimmers' wrecks were not accidental and informs her that he suspects bioprospector Sethwyn Case is involved in the sabotage. She confronts the latter and he accepts his crime and is transferred so that the corresponding authorities take care of him. Soon after that, Matthias is informed that, in a southern town, the lost bioprospector and his rescuers were found. She manages to make the members of the AAnn race that are in Fluva withdraw from the planet, which prevents, at least temporarily, that this race continues to cause more fights among the natives, and thus gradually manage to reintegrate the Deyzara into their homes and jobs and as members of society in Fluva and try to improve the relationship of both natives through the creation of social programs. Finally, Matthias meets with Hasa and he explains the discoveries he has made about the pannula, after which she takes special interest in protecting these defenseless sentients from the other natives of Fluva, which caused a stir among them, especially the Sakuntala. From this, Matthias and her team focus on regulations to maintain a peaceful relationship between the inhabitants of Fluva.

Another summary:
Fluva is far off world in which it rains 90% of the year. The Sakuntala are the local species that originally inhabited the planet. Their technology and social structure were quite rudimentary and their social interactions between tribes was always conflictive. Humans and the Commonwealth (a liberal democracy that spans many star systems) have brought a lot of technological advancements as well as a new idea of what civilization means. Apart from that, they have also introduced another sentient species to the planet, the Deyzara, who are a mainly business-oriented species. It has been 100 years since humans and Deyzara came to Fluva. The current Administrator of the Commonwealth in Fluva, Lauren Matthias, has to deal with a sudden onslaught of problems. The first of these is the disappearance of the bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga in the middle of the Fluvian jungle known as the Viisiiviisii. The Administrator sends two of the best people available on the rescue mission: the Sakuntala warrior Jemunu-ju and the Deyzara pilot Masurathoo. These two are not happy at all with the current work arrangement but deal with it for the sake of getting paid. They go after Hasselemoga and, after many days of searching, they finally find him but, upon doing so, their vehicle crashes down as well. While the three make their way through the dangerous Viisiiviisii, something is brewing among the Sakuntala. The local tribes are not happy with the immigration that came with the Commonwealth and want the Deyzara out of Fluva, even if most of the Deyzara are fifth-generation immigrants and have never known anything other than Fluva. Secret meetings have been called to decide on the best way to get the Deyzara out of the planet without losing the support of the Commonwealth. It has been decided that there will be a violent but non-lethal attack on the Deyzara to drag them out of their homes. The most extremist of the Sakuntala have dealings with the AAnn, a species that seems to be waiting for the right moment to take over the Commonwealth. The AAnn have been providing weapons and strategic advice in secret to these extremist tribes. This helps them to drag out the Deyzara from many villages until the administrator is dealing with a real refugee problem. To get to the bottom of this the administrator has to make some calls and interviews, including the two AAnn representatives that live in the planet. The AAnn are forcibly quarantined with some inexistent virus while the Administrator follows a trail of well veiled clues as to who might be supplying the Sakuntala with advanced weaponry and who sabotaged both the bio-prospector’s and the rescuer’s vehicles. Meanwhile in the middle of the Viisiiviisii, the three wanderers have had a tough time staying alive and getting along with each other. Not only that, but Hasselemoga also claims to have discovered a new sentient, if a little primitive, species of fungi. This fungus leads them to the closest village where they manage to make contact with the civilized world that eventually sends for them. Back in the city the Administrator has managed to discover the perpetrator of the sabotage on both vehicles, a rival bio-prospector that was paid by the extremists to get rid of Hasselemoga and the rescuers. She has also managed to create enough confusion among the extremist tribes that they ended up fighting and consequently killing each other without her having to get involved. With the return of the lost adventurers the fungi is declared a new sentient species which places Fluva as an official part of the Commonwealth, which means the planet will be getting more aid. It also manages to bring a sort of forced stalemate among the discontent Sakuntala and Deyzara since now, with a new sentient species that cannot defend itself, Administrator Matthias is allowed to control the populace with whatever force she deems necessary to protect the fungi.

World view: Describes in a variety of aspects and with some consistency an imaginary state or society which is regarded as better, in some respects at least, than the one in which its author lives.
Future projections: Sees the future as potential to reform a reality that once seemed unchangeable.
Ideology: Portrays the enforcement of justice in a positive manner and has faith in human capacity to build a better future.
Characters, plot and writing style: The story features a rebellion against the adverse circumstances (revolutionaries may exploit newer technologies for these ends).
Classification: Dystopia