# Favorite first contact story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533 "2023-09-02T22:55:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/1 "2023-09-02T22:55:26Z")
In IMHO there is currently a thread wondering if aliens are visiting Earth. What I’d like this thread to be about is the fictional tales of first contact between humans and non-humans. Mine is a short story titled “Custom Fitting” A tailor in London is asked to make clothing for the first alien ambassador to Earth. He definitely isn’t human but his league’s policy is to dress in the style, as much as possible, of those he visits. There is some humor but the tailor takes his work VERY seriously, especially when he finds out the ambassador is to be presented at court. What about the rest of you? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/2 "2023-09-02T22:58:42Z")
I’ve always had a soft spot for the final story in _The Martian Chronicles_ by Ray Bradbury. Maybe not exactly what you meant? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/3 "2023-09-02T23:17:13Z")
Not sure I can pick one, but a few good ones: “A Martian Odyssey”, by Stanley G. Weinbaum “Old Faithful”, by Ray Gallun Contact, by Carl Sagan Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir. Basically what I like is showing some of the actual effort involved in learning how to communicate with each other. You can’t fill the whole story with that, of course, and at some point you need to scene-skip through to “And so, over time, they learned more and more of each others’ languages”, but you should spend at least some time on it. It’s cheating if you just have hyperintelligent computers, or telepathy, or whatever doing it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/4 "2023-09-02T23:19:52Z")
It probably doesn’t count as my literal favorite, but I’ll toss in _The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean Everything_ by George Alec Effinger. And _All Seated in the Ground_ by Connie Willis. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/5 "2023-09-02T23:27:29Z")
In the movie category: it’s not really billed as a first contact story as such, but I think it should qualify: _Paul_. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/6 "2023-09-02T23:47:57Z")
Nor Crystal Tears, Alan Dean Foster, first contact from the “alien” point of view. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/7 "2023-09-02T23:55:07Z")
Also from the “alien” viewpoint(humans have landed on the narrator’s plane). _Goodbye, Ilha!_. Included in the anthology [Giants Unleashed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_Unleashed) edited by Groff Conklin ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/8 "2023-09-02T23:55:10Z")
I’ll submit the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok”. I always thought the universal translator was a cheat so it was satisfying to see first contact with a species they could not communicate with. And the idea that the aliens’ language consisted of metaphors was a unique take. It’s my favorite of the ST:TNG series. [Darmok (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Darmok_(episode)) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/9 "2023-09-02T23:57:05Z")
What about a first contact that never happens? _The Gentle Vultures_, by Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/10 "2023-09-03T00:05:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What about a first contact that never happens? _The Gentle Vultures_, by Asimon. - Damn. I had totally forgotten about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/11 "2023-09-03T00:06:25Z")
Andy Weir’s _Hail Mary_ is the best first contact novel I have read in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/12 "2023-09-03T00:14:20Z")
At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, excellent examples in the movie category are _Contact_, for which the plot outline was written by Carl Sagan and his wife based on his 1985 book; _Arrival_ (2016) whose focus is communication with aliens; and of course Spielberg’s cinematic spectacle, _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/13 "2023-09-03T00:16:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir Yeah, this is the first one I thought of, if only because of how recent it is. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/14 "2023-09-03T00:16:50Z")
There was a thread somewhere on Reddit in which aliens have invaded the Earth and found humans fairly easy to defeat, but get creamed by the fauna. I like that one. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/15 "2023-09-03T00:19:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “A Martian Odyssey”, by Stanley G. Weinbaum Oh, good one. When I read that final sentence I feel so happy. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/16 "2023-09-03T00:21:14Z")
This is the second time just today that someone has mentioned an Asimov short story that I hadn’t read yet. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/17 "2023-09-03T00:41:18Z")
What was the other one? ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/18 "2023-09-03T00:52:43Z")
The short story First Contact by Murray Leinster. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/19 "2023-09-03T00:55:19Z")
Is the Effinger story the one where humanity leaves Earth because the aliens are insufferable know-it-alls? I remember reading that story, and this title sounds like a fit for the tone. There’s a hilarious scene where the aliens reveal their motherships are the size of cities because they never invented the transistor - they used vacuum tubes. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533/20 "2023-09-03T00:58:30Z")
It’s been years since I read it, but Harlan Ellison’s story, _The Day After the Day the Martians Came_ just kinda speaks to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-first-contact-story/989533.md?page=2)