# I'm looking for books where reptiles are good guys **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253 "2010-01-17T00:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/21 "2010-01-17T06:35:44Z")
[Chinger’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill,_the_Galactic_Hero) -Not good exactly but not as bad as the (mostly awful) Earthmen [Were the Gorns good or bad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorn)? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/22 "2010-01-17T06:56:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One of the major characters in Alan Dean Foster’s _Spellsinger_ books is Clothahump the Wizard, an anthropomorphic turtle. Strangely, turtles are the only sentient reptiles in that world; most reptiles are mere animals, neither good nor evil. The villainous race, referred to as “Plated Ones”, are insectile. And, of course, in Terry Pratchett’s _Small Gods_, the Great God Om has found himself, due to a lack of true believers, incarnated as a small turtle. While Om is, admittedly, arrogant, lazy, selfish, and obnoxious, he’s not really a villain, and ends up saving our hero. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/23 "2010-01-17T08:05:32Z")
_Tooth and Claw_ by Jo Walton is a pastiche of a Victorian romance, except all the characters are dragons. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/24 "2010-01-17T08:21:48Z")
The Biggest Secret by David Icke. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/25 "2010-01-17T14:47:53Z")
Not entirely relevant, since there’s only one reptile, a triceratops – but let me plug one of my all-time favorite kids’ books, _[The Enormous Egg](http://www.amazon.com/Enormous-Egg-Oliver-Butterworth/dp/0316119202)_. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/26 "2010-01-17T15:56:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One of the major characters in Alan Dean Foster’s _Spellsinger_ books is Clothahump the Wizard, an anthropomorphic turtle. Well, now I know where one Doper got his name. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/27 "2010-01-17T15:59:36Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > If you like detective / noir, how about Eric Garcia’s trilogy, _Anonymous Rex_, _Casual Rex_, and _Hot and Sweaty Rex_. I recommend them. Good detective stories with a touch of the weird. > > ETA: Most of the main characters are dinosaurs, though it’s set in the modern world and many of the minor characters are human. Ya beat me to it. Pah! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/28 "2010-01-17T16:03:17Z")
If you don’t mind Children’s books, there’s [Verdi](http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/product/isbn/9780152010287/bkm/true/) by Janell Cannon > [@](#): > > Young Verdi doesn’t want to grow up to be big and green. He likes bright yellow skin and sporty stripes. Besides, all the green snakes he meets are lazy, boring, and rude. Despite his efforts, Verdi turns as green as the leaves on the trees, but to his delight, he discovers that being green doesn’t mean he has to stop being himself. Full color. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/29 "2010-01-17T16:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > And, of course, in Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods, the Great God Om has found himself, due to a lack of true believers, incarnated as a small turtle. Nitpick: Tortoise. The turtle was what all the theological controversy was about, as to the nature of the world. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/30 "2010-01-17T16:17:40Z")
I was going to say Silverberg’s Majipoor, but the species I thought was reptilian is actually monotreme mammalian with scales. I assume this doesn’t count for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/31 "2010-01-17T19:19:10Z")
David Bischoff’s Dragonstar trilogy has sentient dinosaurs ( evolved from a dinosaur-era ecology left in a very large and ancient space habitat, apparently put there by preservationist minded aliens ). They are neither particularly good nor bad as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/32 "2010-01-17T19:51:17Z")
I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned James Blish’s classic _[A Case of Conscience](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Case_of_Conscience)_, about a society of reptilian humanoids who have achieved an atheistic utopia. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/33 "2010-01-17T21:27:17Z")
There’s Robert Sawyer’s [Quintaglio trilogy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintaglio_Ascension_Trilogy) (_Far-Seer_, _Fossil Hunter_ and _Foreigner_) which is about a race of intelligent T-Rex like dinosaurs. (And I can’t go too much further into it than that without spoiling something, so…) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/34 "2010-01-17T21:32:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nitpick: Tortoise. The turtle was what all the theological controversy was about, as to the nature of the world. In Britain, he’s a tortoise. I’m an American, so he’s a turtle…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/35 "2010-01-17T21:36:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > In Britain, he’s a tortoise. I’m an American, so he’s a turtle…🙂 Do not tortoises live exclusively on land, while turtles spend much of their time in the water? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/36 "2010-01-17T21:41:23Z")
Doc Smith’s **Lensmen** books feature the Velantians, who produced a second-stage lensman, Worsel. They fought against the evil Eddorians and their puppets. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/37 "2010-01-17T21:57:48Z")
Another kid’s book: _The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek_ by Evelyn Sibley Lampman and Hubert Buel. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/38 "2010-01-17T21:59:02Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Not entirely relevant, since there’s only one reptile, a triceratops – but let me plug one of my all-time favorite kids’ books, _[The Enormous Egg](http://www.amazon.com/Enormous-Egg-Oliver-Butterworth/dp/0316119202)_. Which reminds me of… “though apparently out of print (used copies available on the Web), Evelyn Sibley Lampman’s “The Shy _Stegosaurus_ of Cricket Creek” is a charming children’s book about twins who find a talking Stegosaurus on their ranch.” (From Wikipedia) ---
**Author:** ![tsukaesugi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@tsukaesugi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsukaesugi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/39 "2010-01-17T22:51:19Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > It’s for kids, but _Lizard Music_ by Daniel Pinkwater is so good it makes me want to run away from home and go live with the lizards. I came into this thread specifically to mention this book. “Lizard Music” (and Daniel Pinkwater) is fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253/40 "2010-01-18T00:21:02Z")
Alan Dean Foster’s The Damned trilogy (_A Call To Arms_, _The False Mirror_, _The Spoils of War_) includes among its poly-species alliance the reptilian Hivistahm, who are a bit fussbudgety but highly intelligent and benign. If you count dragons as reptiles, there’s a bunch of stuff–Walton’s \*Tooth and Claw \*has already been mentioned. There’s also Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series (starting with _Her Majesty’s Dragon_) and of course Anne McCaffrey’s famous Pern series. Oh, and I loved the _Dinosaurs_ sitcom too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-books-where-reptiles-are-good-guys/525253.md?page=3)