# Looking for an alien viewpoint **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578 "2002-06-06T01:14:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/1 "2002-06-06T01:14:15Z")
So I stopped by my local used bookstore, which finally has some sf books that I didn’t sell them in the first place, and picked up a new stack of old books. Among them was _Nor Crystal Tears_, by Alan Dean Foster. It’s a first contact novel from the POV of the aliens, who in this case are peaceful, mantis-like insects. Now, Foster is an okay writer, but he’s no great shakes. However, he has whet my appetite for more of the same: novels written from the viewpoint of a non-human, and I’m looking for suggestions. I’ve been trying to think of some similar stuff I’ve read, but can’t come up with anything except some C.J. Cherryh (_The Chanur Saga_ and _The Faded Sun_ were both particularly good) and an awful Robert Aspirin novel whose title escapes me. While I’m at it, this is the only book I can think of that has had sentient insects who weren’t just Bug-Eyed Monsters. Anyone know some good books where our multilegged friends aren’t primarily interested in carrying off our women-folk and eating our children? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/2 "2002-06-06T01:19:42Z")
_The Gods Themselves_ by Isaac Asimov has an interestingly alien POV in one of its three sections. > [@](#): > > While I’m at it, this is the only book I can think of that has had sentient insects who weren’t just Bug-Eyed Monsters. Well, Foster’s written a bunch of books in his universe with the “thranx” (the insectoids from _Nor Crystal Tears_), but that’s probably not what you meant. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/3 "2002-06-06T01:27:13Z")
Yeah, that wasn’t entirely accurate. I’ve read some of Foster’s Flinx novels, so I have read other books with peaceful bugs. I meant by other authors (specifically, better authors. All of my Flinx novels are currently on the shelves of the aforementioned used book store) ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/4 "2002-06-06T02:01:15Z")
Turtledove’s Worldwar and Colonization series have sections written from the aliens view (the Race) plus they are cool novels to boot! Run to your local library today! Run!! Run!!! RRRUUUUNNNNN!!! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/5 "2002-06-06T03:34:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > …and an awful Robert Aspirin novel whose title escapes me. That would be _Bug Wars_, I suspect. It _was_ awful, but I kinda liked it anyway. Weird–probably just nostalgia. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/6 "2002-06-06T05:49:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\* > While I’m at it, this is the only book I can think of that has had sentient insects who weren’t just Bug-Eyed Monsters. Anyone know some good books where our multilegged friends aren’t primarily interested in carrying off our women-folk and eating our children? \*\* It’s more fantasy than science fiction, but Raymond Feist’s Empire series (Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire) has, as one of the species on the planet, the Cho’ja, who are a race of intelligent ant-like creatures. Ender’s Game has the Buggers, who are the bad guys, but they’re sort of ambiguously bad, and it turns out the war is due to a different concept of what “sentience” is. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/7 "2002-06-06T12:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*While I’m at it, this is the only book I can think of that has had sentient insects who weren’t just Bug-Eyed Monsters. Anyone know some good books where our multilegged friends aren’t primarily interested in carrying off our women-folk and eating our children? \*\* How about Michael Bishop’s “The Gospel According to Gamaliel Crucis,” in which the mantis-like alien is actually the second coming of Christ? ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/8 "2002-06-06T12:48:24Z")
John Brunner has some good novels about aliens written entirely from their POV. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alien-viewpoint/112578/9 "2002-06-06T13:08:59Z")
Ursula Le Guin is a pretty good bet for this sort of thing. Offhand, “The word for world is forest”, and probably some of “The left hand of darkness” (IIRC), are from an alien POV. I’m sure there are others.