CJ Cherryh

[Laz]

In the interest of including authors who are still alive, I offer C.J. Cherryh.

From the Chanur series to the Foreigner series, no one creates alternate species with different philosophies like CJ. Plus, her Union-Alliance universe (Downbelow Station, 40000 in Gehenna, etc) allowed her to explore different political structures as well as inter-species relationships.

[mark, personal space invader]

i read The Faded Sun: Kesrith last month and quite enjoyed it. dry but well-written and very interesting overall.

however i hated Foreigner so much that i gave up a third of the way in.

her Sunfall was one of my favorite books when i was much younger.