Hi, I’m looking for a book that delves into an alien/eldritch horror’s mind. Unfortunately, so many alien books I’ve read don’t feel alien enough, they’re essentially humans wearing alien skin. As a metric of “alienness”, I’ll provide two w40k books with elements that make them alien enough to enjoyable imo:
1. The infinite and the divine: Two petty terminator death robots trolling each other.
Beyond the obvious fact that the protagonist are not humans but instead robots made out of living metal and with the memories of a dead species, there are other small details that give the “alien” vibe:
\-conversations take years (they’re nearly timeless, so…)
\-these death robots can essentially send each other emojis via “wifi”
\-shooting each other in the face is merely an annoyance
\-funny equivalents of the human middle finger “I hope you meet the worst ending possible across all dimensions and timelines”
2)Ghazghul Trakka: story of an ork
A little background, orks in w40k are funny genderless war-addict sentient schrooms. They grow underground, hatch and start fighting. The more they fight they bigger and smarter they get. Also, their knowledge of much of the world (including tech) is just hardwired into their brains.
They are other properties that make them fun to read about:
\-orks would do everything for a good fight
\-orks have no trouble believing two contradicting truths at the same time. Why can’t humies understand this?
\-pain is just a color, an extra way to perceive the world like eyesight or smell
\-painting equipment different colors gives it different properties (stealth, damage, …), obviously!
\-they have lungs but they technically don’t need to breathe.
\-humans make this funny noise when you crush them. haha
And more. Sorry if all the examples come from the warhammer 40k world. I haven’t read alien POV novels outside this fandom, yet.
TLDR: looking for a book with an alien’s POV. The aliens have to feel properly weird and alien, no humans in disguise. Props if no human POV at all. Props if there’s a bit of humor.
Thanks.
by sswblue