Would you read a book about aliens?

[telracs]

Hi,

I've read sci fi since I was a kid, and I love aliens, so yes I'd happily read the book. My only real issue with the whole thing is that I don't think there have many convincing portrayals of aliens in writing. Mostly it seems to me, they're just funny looking people, possibly with a tentacle or two. What I'd really like to read would be a book that actually delved into the entire alien mindset.

Cheers Greg.

okay, this might be deleted later, but if you want to read alien mindset, read our own Mike Hicks In Her Name series.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Now that would definitely be interesting.

Footfall, that I'm reading now, delves quite deeply into their culture and mindset.

And I've read loads of SF books where the aliens were very well described, and their cultures/homeworlds too. They were a far cry from the BEMs (BUg Eyed Monsters) that were popular in Lost in Space and B movies.

Heck, Klingons & Vulcans have been very well described and have art, histories and dictionaries for their languages. Who do you think "Lursa" is? She and her entire familial line have a long Klingon history. (Not such a great end tho.... )

[psychotick]

Hi Lursa,

I'm a trekkie myself and proud of it. But if the shows had one weakness it was that their aliens, klingons and vulcans included, are all humans with a few twists. I think from memory the klingon culture was based loosely on the ancient Mongols with a nod to cold war Russia. Vulcans are essentially elves with science instead of magic, and a dream of logic. Ferengi, I think it was even mentioned in DS9, are laissez faire capitalists of the pre united states America, and so on.

True alien is something more and different.

Footfall, now yes they were an interesting alien race. Not only physically different, but their attitudes were quite strange, and all based on a herd mentality. That was an excellent read.

Cheers, Greg.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Hi Lursa,

I'm a trekkie myself and proud of it. But if the shows had one weakness it was that their aliens, klingons and vulcans included, are all humans with a few twists. I think from memory the klingon culture was based loosely on the ancient Mongols with a nod to cold war Russia. Vulcans are essentially elves with science instead of magic, and a dream of logic. Ferengi, I think it was even mentioned in DS9, are laissez faire capitalists of the pre united states America, and so on.

True alien is something more and different.

Footfall, now yes they were an interesting alien race. Not only physically different, but their attitudes were quite strange, and all based on a herd mentality. That was an excellent read.

Cheers, Greg.

I can agree with that somewhat, since the TV audience...for the series to survive and in the interests of conveying details (only so much was possible)...was pretty mainstream. There had to be some common elements for the mainstream audience to relate to. Especially since they were allies (esp. once the Federation made peace with the Klingons!)

I disagree about the Ferengi tho...just because we have a more muted 'parallel' here doesnt mean that such a commerce-focused civilization couldnt exist and expand on the vision.  Our capitalism may have been the initial idea, but not necessarily unique to Earth  and I think they ran with it well. I think the Ferengi were excellent aliens.

I know almost nothing about elves so I cant comment on their characteristics that except that pointed ears do not only an elf make. lol

[redshift1]

If so, what kind of book?

My personal opinion is that books with aliens feel contrived or gimmicked.

Are alien invasions interesting to read about? Do you suspend your belief or do you like it to feel realistic?

Stanislaw Lem often wrote about the probable impossibility of communication between mankind and aliens. His Masters Voice and Solaris offer a science based interpretation without the anthropomorphic silliness and the convenient notion that technological/evolutionary development are at about an even level between mankind and aliens.

Of course without the afore mentioned gimmicks alien invasions would be very one sided.

[Steverino]

Footfall, now yes they were an interesting alien race. Not only physically different, but their attitudes were quite strange, and all based on a herd mentality. That was an excellent read.

Larry Niven wrote that, and I'd say he's mastered the art of inventing non-human psychology for his extraterrestrials.  Check out his Ringworld series for more of the same -- the puppeteers are descended from herbivores and the kzinti are descended from carnivores... and they both think differently than we omnivorous humans.

For an extremely realistic, modern-day, highly technical novel of alien contact, look up the all-but-forgotten Contact, by Carl Sagan.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

Larry Niven wrote that, and I'd say he's mastered the art of inventing non-human psychology for his extraterrestrials.  Check out his Ringworld series for more of the same -- the puppeteers are descended from herbivores and the kzinti are descended from carnivores... and they both think differently than we omnivorous humans.

For an extremely realistic, modern-day, highly technical novel of alien contact, look up the all-but-forgotten Contact, by Carl Sagan.

Even in Footfall tho, he's describing aliens (& humans) in human terms: herds, prey, carnivores, surrender, etc. But it's still really well done and easy to believe that such societies could develop elsewhere.

And yes, Contact is very good too.

[jbcohen]

I tend to divide alien novels into three categories: alien masters, alien peers and alien's ruled.  In the first category aliens have concured the human race in some manner (I am reading one of these now called the course of Empire, where the Jao have conquered earth twenty years ago), alien peers (this is the most common category where humans and aliens interact as peers sometimes on the same team, the most famous in this category is the Star Trek series) and the third category (alien's ruled) are instances where humans have created an galatic empire and have conquered some alien peoples (I believe that David Weber has some of these tales in his March Upcountry books).  I typically like to read the second category although sometimes I read the first category.

The printed book that I am working on now called Planet Hate in the Deathlands series belongs to the first category where it postulates that the gods of the ancient human civilizations were actually alien overlords who create an Armageddon in order to reassert their control over the earth.

[haltenny]

Star Trek did have some very alien creatures, just not as main characters. (Like the Horta, The Companion and Tribbles!) Personally, I am more drawn to human like aliens. One particular book I read a long time ago, (from the sci-fi book club) had aliens saving humans on earth after it had experienced some end of life event. I apologize, I can't remember the details, author or title. But the deal was in order to save humans, they genetically altered them with the alien genes, so humans as we know them basically became extinct. It was a good read but sad for humans and I felt a disconnect from that.

[R. M. Reed]

One problem with alien invasions is that almost everything the aliens could want on Earth is available from uninhabited planets and asteroids, and they wouldn't have to bring it out of a gravity well. If they wanted to build vacation homes and resorts, however, I can see that. In that case they wouldn't kill all humans, they would need maids and other staff.

[patrickt]

Having lived through an alien invasion--beings from California--I would not want to read about another one. It's too terrible to consider. Creatures from Berkley or Los Angeles. Aaargh!