***Disclaimer:*** I know my preferences are limiting – I am just trying here, maybe someone has a great tip 🙂
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Hi, as the title suggests, I am looking for a book with **truly alien aliens**, and a bit more god-like in the sense much more advanced yet not threatening (i.e. above war and harm, above us in the best sense of the word), like we witnessed in ***Arrival*** (film) which is based on the short story ***Story of Your Life*** by Ted Chiang.
* The conscious terroir/alien in *Solaris* is also a good out-of-the-box example (yet I disliked the book and the alien was not explored much) as well as Watts’ aliens in *Blindsight* (also did not enjoy this much) – what made Arrival special was how touching and humanly emotional it was behind the absolute mind-boggling physics and alienness beyond our grasp.
I am ***not looking*** for aliens that form societies with attributes that sure are different to ours, yet still are a **mix-and-match of concepts** that are already familiar to us as humans – this is **”not alien enough”** (e.g. matriarchal societes or three-gender/three-parent societes etc.).
* Such books often are sociological studies wherein human concepts we already know and are familiar with are just mixed/exaggerated/minimised/subverted in order to be explored – and the author just uses the vehicle of an alien race to achieve this conveniently and easily.
Most first contact alien books are clearly and understandably imagined **within the limits of our human minds**. Yet I just want more. Most often, we meet realistic-ish aliens that are a result of their planet’s geology and understandable evolution – these are not alien enough for me, they do not incite a sense of awe and wonder, such as:
* The aliens in *Damocles* who are product of a different planet’s climate, but still are pretty much humanoid, just a bit different
* The aliens in Tiptree’s *Up the Walls of the World* who have bodies that again are just a result of a different yet plausible geology, who just represent a subverted look on familiar societal roles and expectations of humans
* Also, Mieville’s *Embassytown* aliens lacked the awe component, they seemed very everyday/mundane despite their bizarre biology
* *Children of Time*’s aliens also formed very realistic societies, again, not advanced and “god-like-ish” enough.
* The genderless-ish aliens of Le Guin’s *The Left Hand of Darkness* – just no. This is a dated societal examination and commentary clothed in alien skin (and on top of this, the aliens were not explored much and the book was super boring, which was a big disappointment to me as I myself am agender and had expected to love the book… like agender aliens sounded so cool? But alas, here we are, one star out of five).
These are **not what I am looking for.** The story usually revolves around humans and aliens trying to understand each other, but I could easily be reading a “remote jungle tribe meeting westerners” – with aliens it’s just a bit more amped up. I need something more.
Any advice super welcome! 🙂
by fipah
4 Comments
See whether the Sector General series works for you
Specifically for that aspect of something beyond human comprehensibility or description, I think Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation might be a good fit. It’s a minor spoiler for the later books in the series to say that what’s going on in the book is caused by aliens, but I think it’s pretty clear from the start that there’s something otherworldly happening here. I don’t think it fits your other criteria of benevolence (?) though because the aliens in this book are a threat, even if it’s not clear whether this is conscious or intentional harm, and bad things happen to the characters.
For another very bizarre and non-humanoid concept of aliens I liked The Seep by Chana Porter. I don’t know if this is really what you’re looking for or not, but it’s a short book so it might be worth giving it a shot anyways.
The Tines in Vernor Vinge’s Fire Upon the Deep is right up your alley. You’ll be extremely confused for the first half of the book every time they come in, but eventually it will click. It was my first intro to truly alien aliens in fiction and it’s still one of my favorites. They’re not advanced but they are truly alien. That said, the rest of the book is pretty pedestrian but well written sci-fi. The sequels are not great.
You might also look into Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke and Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky. Neither deal with contact directly but both involve a far advanced alien species that we are hopeless to understand. Rendezvous especially gave me a similar sense of awe to what I experienced with Arrival.
Blood Music by Greg Bear does not deal with anything extra-terrestrial but it does deal with a truly alien intelligence that is more advanced than ours. It starts like cheap airport fiction but quickly turns onto a great exploration of other types of consciousness. Highly recommended if you can look past the strict ET requirement.
I discovered all of these while on a similar search to you, and also read Solaris (loved it), Blindside (trash), and the Children of Time series (loved it a little less with each one). If you find any other great ones please let me know.
You might also look at the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I DNFed the first book just because I wasn’t really in the mood for space opera, but the main antagonist is a far advanced and very alien species who largely ignores humans attempts at contact.