What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
► Suggest books for me
>
Books with non-human as main character. Scifi or Fantasy.
Cordwainer Smith has hybrids. The one that I think of first is a cat-hybrid in The Ballad of Lost C'mell.
I'm really not sure if this one would classify as I read it many many years ago: The Star BeastAs someone pointed out Octavia Butler the xenogenesys series.
Also the wess'har series, which I don't fail to advertise, include numerous alien characters and some that basically form and change with the storyline.
You might try The Book of Deacon series by Joseph R. Lallo. It isn't told from his point of view, but there is a half-man half-fox that is a main character.
stormhawk wrote: "Midnight at the Well of Souls - Jack ChalkerThere are humans, but plenty of other races to go around.
The Chanur books by C J Cherryh are good too. The first is The Pride of Chanur."
Most of Chalker's series involve humans being transformed. Well of Souls is a really good starting point. Soul Rider and Lords of the Middle Dark are good series too
Mod
If you don't mind Asian/Fantasy, then I'd suggest Sea of WindThe main character is a 'Kirin' (a mythical beast like unicorn) that shape-shifted into a human and raised as a human. Later he got transported back to his original world and eventually learning his true nature.
This is a series but the first book concerns a different protagonist and different country, so it doesn't matter.
Are you interested in non-human characters such as cyborgs, etc, or only ones with animals, human-animal hybrids, shapeshifters, and the like?
Sara wrote: "I loved The Cloud Roads!I think the closest I can get to that (in terms of non-human humanoids) is Empire in Black and Gold. It's been a while since I read it, but I think the characters all had..."
These are great recommendations!!! thank you :)
Mod
The Last Planet fits (plus there are non-humans in the story that play a fairly important part in it.)
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre is a great series! It is set in the far future, and the main character is Jax. She is a human with telepathic powers that allows her to be basically a warp drive unit for her space ship. It's a 6 book series with some pretty neat alien characters. There is also a spin off series called Perdition; that is set in a space-prison where the worst offenders are sent. Also pretty exciting.
Amber wrote: "Grimspace by Ann Aguirre is a great series!"I started the first book, but it was all too unbelievable, but not in the sci-fi sense of the word. One second they were surrounded, the next they were getting on the ship. I find it putting off when everything just works out well for no reason whatsoever.
I also think being telepathic qualifies the books as ESP, but that is my opinion :)
Most alien / non-human perspective books are hard serious SF, cloud roads is about the person and his personal journey (and by the way he's this cool life form in an interesting culture in an interesting world). I haven't found anything else with the same tone and I've been looking and looking !
John Crowley's *Beasts* is a classic adventure/quest that might suit...my vague recollection is of "leos", hybridized human/lions, who have become an underclass in the near-future; one tries to challenge the Order of Things, becoming a fugitive and a revolutionary figure. Probably there's a love interest? I can't recall the ending, some two decades after reading it, but it was a ripping yarn & didn't lean too much on scientific hand-waving. A journeyman piece, but a fine one.
Serendi wrote: "Cordwainer Smith has hybrids. The one that I think of first is a cat-hybrid in The Ballad of Lost C'mell."Cordwainer Smith is a mesmerizing writer, telling every story as though it were a myth handed down the millennia--the "ballad" is downright operatic--& his personal history as a diplomat & spy only adds to the mystery of his own moral attiudes.
I really enjoyed Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker. It's about a Velociraptor (sp?). No humans what so ever.
If I've got the title correct; _Monster_ Martinez, A. Lee_Demon of Undoing_ Alton, Andrea I
There are also the Griffin novels: _The Black Gryphon_ Lackey, Mercedes & Dixon, Larry
Mod
I've started Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, and I'm just at the beginning, but each chapter takes tern for the point of view [human and different aliens]. I've read 6 chapters and I think there are a lot more aliens and creatures coming up as well [there are hints], but I think it will also take some time to get into the book. It seems complicated and it will take time to set the world and the characters. I'm still figuring out some of the aliens that he has come up with.
I liked this series - The Bartimaeus Trilogy Boxed Set - the first one is The Amulet of SamarkandThe main character is a demon. YA Fantasy, set in a historical fantasy England.
Ellie [The Empress] wrote: "I've started Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, and I'm just at the beginning, but each chapter takes tern for the point of view [human and different aliens]. I've read 6 chapters an..."I've finished this book and I can confirm that more then half of the main characters are aliens.
Sara wrote: "I loved The Cloud Roads!I think the closest I can get to that (in terms of non-human humanoids) is Empire in Black and Gold. It's been a while since I read it, but I think the cha..."
I also recommend this series. All of the races are 'descendant' from insects. So you have humanoids with ant traits (living in colonies), wasps (warlike), etc. The 1st book in the series is a great representation of the series.
Mermaid's Song very hard to find now but I recommend it whenever I can. Most amazing, beautiful fantasy story about merpeople - romantic but not a romance. Author Alida Van Gores died young without writing any other novels and it's out of print, but if you ever see it, pick it up.
I am only 100 pages in of about 750, but "Battlefield Earth" by Ron Hubbard has an alien as main bad guy, and you often see things from his POV.
If I'm remembering correctly:_Wheelers_
_Code of the Lifemaker_ has robots who have evolved consciousness.
Also, why are some of these books linked? Just because a book is mentioned, I don't think it deserves a link. The list in 'Books Mentioned in Topic' makes a good list to investigate, as long as only books that fit the criteria are linked.
For example, I don't recall alien POV characters in _Starship Troopers_ (correct me if I'm wrong). _40K in (Ghenna?)_ has clones raised w/o human culture/in symbiosis with aliens, so I'd give that a pass (hmm, may also have included a few passages from alien POV as well). But _Crystal Singer_ only has a human who's been turned into a symbiont (by a virus), and that only impacts her behavior, doesn't really change her POV with alien thought (ie: I don't recall any passages written from the virus' POV).
Can we just lobby Martha Wells to write some more of her Cloud Roads books?
Fayley wrote: "Can we just lobby Martha Wells to write some more of her Cloud Roads books?"Yes please! She's got some novellas (I think four) coming out in the Cloud Roads world. But I'd love some more full length books.
Thanks Aerulan I didn't know that. I just checked and two are already available for pre-order in Kindle (Sept-14 release).
GenesisMILA 2.0
Tankborn
The Rules
Crier's War
The Diabolic
The Lost Girl
The Kingdom
Expiration Day
Hullmetal Girls
The Different Girl
Klara and the Sun
The House of the Scorpion
Apologies if this has already been suggested: the Becky Chambers Wayfarers series. The first book in the series The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet features a diverse starship crew of humans and other species. The protagonist of the second novel is an AI coming to terms with a human body. The accent is more on characters and worldbuilding than adventures, although things happen. It's a cozy sci-fi read, and has won a bunch of awards.
The Midnight Girls idk if it counts, two perspectives both are from these monsters disguised as human beings
Hi, OP! The genre you're talking about is called Xenofiction 😄 and I know there are a few Goodreads lists made about it.Alien list: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Sci-fi and fantasy: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
General xenofiction list (it does include animals, so you'll have to skip around): https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
Defy the Stars The MC is a AI robot who is conflicted about his humanity and it is set in space. I don't know if this is exactly what you were asking for, but it's a great book!
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
The Circus Infinite (other topics)Falling Free (other topics)
Legends & Lattes (other topics)
Sparrow Rising (other topics)
The Midnight Girls (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Becky Chambers (other topics)Charles Stross (other topics)
Cordwainer Smith (other topics)
John Crowley (other topics)
Cordwainer Smith (other topics)
More...
The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes.