# Do you prefer your SF with aliens or without? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903 "2014-07-12T01:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/41 "2014-07-20T02:39:12Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > Thanks, I’ll check them both out. > > I had some fun with the aliens examining earth’s culture for an assignment for a literature class recently. > > It’s a pretty cool concept because you can go so many ways with it, from the aliens getting things horribly wrong, but still coming up with profound insight about humanity. We did a short story about aliens deciding that humans paid parking meters as a offering to their god(s). ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/42 "2014-07-20T09:44:28Z")
The TV series Red Dwarf is set in a big universe with no sign of any aliens, and is all the better for it. I am deeply allergic to humanoid aliens, unless they are artificial constructs used to make contact with humanity; one example of this is the story _Farewell to the Master_ that was adapted as The Day The Earth Stood Still. A fictional universe where the aliens are completely different to humanity is difficult to do, but some writers have got close; the Brothers in _Anvil of Stars_ by Greg Bear are pretty weird, although in the book Bear says they are halfway along an arbitrary difference scale, if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/43 "2014-07-20T20:59:40Z")
Another example, I think, of aliens specifically engineered to make contact with humanity is the Na’vi from _Avatar_. Eywa is the actual intelligence of the planet, and she picked up on humans from our radio broadcasts, and made the Na’vi to meet us. At least, I think that’s the simplest explanation. We’ll probably find out in the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/44 "2014-07-21T02:00:17Z")
Some other nifty stories with aliens: “The Moon Moth” and “The Kokod Warriors,” both short stories by Jack Vance _Childhood’s End_ by Arthur C. Clarke _Have Space Suit Will Travel_ by Robert A. Heinlein _Camouflage_ by Joe Haldeman ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/45 "2014-07-21T18:13:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Another example, I think, of aliens specifically engineered to make contact with humanity is the Na’vi from _Avatar_. Eywa is the actual intelligence of the planet, and she picked up on humans from our radio broadcasts, and made the Na’vi to meet us. > > At least, I think that’s the simplest explanation. We’ll probably find out in the sequel. I would expect the Na’vi to resemble Lucille Ball, in that case (ulp!) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/46 "2014-07-21T20:04:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yeah, me, too. I’ve read great sf with aliens, and I’ve read great sf without. I don’t particularly care one way or another. Good writing is good writing. > > My favorite sf with aliens: > > _Tuf Voyaging_ by George R.R. Martin > _The Martian Chronicles_ by Ray Bradbury > _Icerigger_ by Alan Dean Foster > _The Left Hand of Darkness_ by Ursula K. Le Guin > _The Mote in God’s Eye_ by Niven and Pournelle > _Footfall_, ditto > _Doctor’s Orders_ by Diane Duane I was going to question the first item on this list, but then I remembered “Guardians.” The Tran are one of my favorite alien races. I’d like to see Foster re-visit Tran-Ky-Ky someday. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903/47 "2014-07-21T23:52:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I was going to question the first item on this list, but then I remembered “Guardians.” The first story had all sorts of alien life as well, though depicted an non-sentient animals. The walking web still creeps me out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-your-sf-with-aliens-or-without/692903.md?page=2)