@RUTGERS.ARPA:lionel%speedy.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (04/23/85)
From: lionel%speedy.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (Steve Lionel) > From: Catherine Cunningham <ccunning@BBNCCT.ARPA> > Subject: Book Request > > I just finished Brunner's "The Crucible of Time" and really enjoyed > the idea of a book totally about an "alien" society. Can anyone > give me pointers to any other novels/short stories in which there is > no human presence? > A few years ago, someone in this very digest recommended L. Neil Smith's "Their Majesties' Bucketeers", and I am more than happy to repeat the favor. It may be that this doesn't totally satisfy your requirements, as the prologue is an observation by a human, but the rest of the book is devoid of humans. It is essentially a Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson story with Holmes and Watson as aliens, and the culture is not all that much different from ours, but what the heck - it's fun. Smith is a well-known Libertarian, and his writings reflect this bent. TMB is, in some aspects, a light satire of our society, but this doesn't get in the way. The paperback is published by Ballantine/Del Rey. Steve Lionel