hakanson@orstcs.UUCP (05/10/84)
<you can't eat just one>
And let's not forget David Brin's Sundiver -- the alien called (I think)
Fagan was something a tree-like, broccoli-like creature. And he was a
good guy, too. A great book, BTW.
Marion Hakanson CSnet: hakanson@oregon-state
UUCP : {hp-pcd,tektronix}!orstcs!hakansonamigo@iwpba.UUCP (amigo) (05/22/84)
Greg Skinner says: >> After thinking about it awhile (and getting flamed at), I have >> reconsidered and now say yes, Spock is a good example of an alien >> portrayed as such in SF. The thing that really makes him an >> alien, though, is the externals (ears, green blood, etc.). >> Otherwise, he's not so different than what I'd imagine some Hindu >> or Buddhist scholars would be. Problem is, in SF we have tended >> to take human ideas and give them to our aliens -- I guess you >> could say we've humanized our aliens a little too much. I'd >> personally like to see some SF that introduced aliens who are not >> so human-like. I suggest Frank Herbert's WHIPPING STAR. The plot of the novel revolves around the attempts of a human to communicate with a totally alien being. It is literally a matter of life and death for both of them that they do communicate, but the creature (which is fortunately semi-telepathic) is so alien that, for example, the only thing the human is sure about his perception of the alien is that it is wrong. E.E. (Doc) Smith, in his clumsy way, did try to create true aliens in his LENSMAN books. Nadrek of Palain is a good attempt at a true alien; and Worsel of Velentia is that great rarity of space opera, a true bug-eyed-monster who is a good guy. I'm sure that other people can suggest other aliens in sf. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL ihnp4!iwpba!amigo
res@ihuxn.UUCP (Rich Strebendt) (05/23/84)
An author who has done a good job in presenting aliens from the aliens' point of view is C. J. Cherryh. Her "Faded Sun" trilogy is quite good in this regard. "Pride of Chanur" is another such novel that comes to mind. I highly recommend her novels for good character development as well as interesting plots. Rich Strebendt ihuxn!res
jdb@qubix.UUCP (Jeff Bulf) (05/24/84)
Eric Frank Russell had a number of well-developed non-humans in his work. The
chess-enthusiast martians of the Jay Score stories were characters I enjoyed.
The martian poet who became the beloved elder of a devasted Earth village in
Dear Devil. It might also be fair to include the dogs from Into Your Tent
I'll Creep and the camels from Homo Saps.
"I wish to hell I could get him writing again" -- John Campbell re EFR
--
Dr Memory
...{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!qubix!jdbfriedman@uiucdcs.UUCP (05/24/84)
#R:iwpba:-16200:uiucdcs:12500083:000:915 uiucdcs!friedman May 24 09:14:00 1984 > An author who has done a good job in presenting aliens from the aliens' > point of view is C. J. Cherryh. Her "Faded Sun" trilogy is quite good > in this regard. "Pride of Chanur" is another such novel that comes to > mind. I highly recommend her novels for good character development as > well as interesting plots. I heartily agree, and would add her "Hunter of Worlds" to this list. Perhaps the most serious flaw in her aliens is that they are almost always humanoid (or, occasionally, modelled after some other Earth animal--moles for one of the species in "Hunter", lions in "Pride"). Personally, I am inclined to overlook that flaw and just enjoy. Few other authors even attempt to treat things from a non-human point of view. It has been said (I don't have the reference handy) that the best aliens ever were Asimov's in the second part of "The Gods Themselves". I tend to think that's true.
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/24/84)
Actually, an episode of Star Trek featured an intelligent alien which
was totally unlike humans. I forget the name of the episode, but the
creature was a Horta.
"Alien" was also a good example of a non-human alien who displayed a
certain amount of intelligence. Intelligent enough to make a ship of
human beings panic ...
--
[This space available
for rent.]
Greg Skinner (White Gold Wielder)
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
And he who wields white wild magic gold is a paradox ...ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (05/24/84)
A very non-human alien was the title character of "The Black Cloud", by Fred Hoyle. (I don't think much of Hoyle's SF generally, but I did like that one. He wrote that one with a collaborator.) Actually, I think aliens that are human-like in some behavior patterns but not in others are probably more interesting. And the first one of those that comes to mind is Larry Niven's "puppeteers". ["But so what if the two of us had remained in stasis for 50,000 years? Don't you see, we would not have had to leave the safety of the ship!" -- paraphrase from one of the two Ringworld books] Mark Brader
kenv@dartvax.UUCP (Ken Varnum) (05/25/84)
What about all of the non-human aliens in 'Doc" Smith's
Lensman series? They certainly looked nothing like us, but in
many cases were far superior to us. Smith even had an elaborate
way of describing an alien, from AAAAAAAAA, or completely human
to ZZZZZZZZZ, or not at all like a human.
Ken Varnum
{dartvax, cornell, astrovax}!decvax!kenvokie@ihuxs.UUCP (B.K. Cobb) (05/25/84)
For fascinating non-human aliens, you should read Larry Niven. He has a number of good ones, the most conspicuous being the 'Moties' from 'The Mote in God's Eye.' Constantly throughout the book, we are given the human point of view, and the characters treat them as human--but we find out differently in the last one-fourth of the book. Another good Niven alien is the puppeteer--a being to whom cowardice is honorable, a three-legged creature with two heads on stalks above the main body...well, in Niven's words, imagine "a three-legged Centaur without the human head, but with two Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent puppets on stalks instead." They pop up in many short stories, and figure prominently in the two 'Ringworld' novels. There are also the kzinti, a carniverous, war-like race of giant orange cat-like beings...the Grogs, a telepathic race that can't leave it's one planet, or even move around on it...the Slavers, the ancient race that once ruled the Galaxy (also by telepathy) but was too stupid to keep it... the bandersnatchi, large white intelligent slugs that make treaties with humans for mutual hunts... I almost include Phsstpok the Pak and the Pak race with these, but not quite. While humans are the mutated breeder stage of the Pak, humans and Pak are quite different in culture, drives, activities, thought, etc. The Pak race is the ultimate race of warriors, born and bred for fighting and protecting their families--fast, resourceful, incredibly tough, and frighteningly intelligent. I hope I've whetted your appetite for these interesting and bizarre characters. I may have missed a few, but these are (in my humble opinion) the best ones. A short list of 'where to find them' (albeit incomplete) follows: Moties The Mote in God's Eye (novel) Puppeteers Ringworld (novel) The Ringworld Engineers (novel) Tales of Known Space (collection) Neutron Star (collection) Kzinti Ringworld/Ringworld Engineers Tales of Known Space Neutron Star Slavers World of Ptaavs (novel) Bandersnatchi World of Ptaavs Pak Protector (novel) Ringworld Engineers B.K. Cobb ihnp4!ihuxs!okie