# What science fiction series have FTL travel but no intelligent alien life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074 "2011-11-25T19:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/41 "2011-11-26T17:52:59Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Were the robots, including Daneel Olivai, tied into the Foundation universe in Asimov’s first three books, or did that happen only in the sequels? Foundation and Earth - 1986 by Asimov himself ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/42 "2011-11-26T17:53:39Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Were the robots, including Daneel Olivai, tied into the Foundation universe in Asimov’s first three books, or did that happen only in the sequels? Not until Asimov’s very last book in the series, IIRC. R Daneel showed up, in the moon, when the heroes finally found Earth, and explained how the robots had eliminated the aliens (from all of history, so it makes for an interesting fit into this thread) to make way for human expansion. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/43 "2011-11-26T17:57:09Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Not until Asimov’s very last book in the series, IIRC. R Daneel showed up, in the moon, when the heroes finally found Earth, and explained how the robots had eliminated the aliens (from all of history, so it makes for an interesting fit into this thread) to make way for human expansion. Wasn’t **The End of Eternity** somehow linked in to all this? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/44 "2011-11-26T18:24:28Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Not until Asimov’s very last book in the series, IIRC. R Daneel showed up, in the moon, when the heroes finally found Earth, and explained how the robots had eliminated the aliens (from all of history, so it makes for an interesting fit into this thread) to make way for human expansion. I’m pretty sure I read this, but couldn’t recall if it was Asimov, or one of the “Three B’s”. (I had thought that was by Brin. But maybe he reiterated the same thing in his book.) I had read the first three Foundations so long ago, and when I was in High School, so I couldn’t be sure I hadn’t missed some subtle things in those books. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/45 "2011-11-26T19:03:04Z")
I believe Crest of the Stars doesn’t have any actual aliens, just humans from various colonies, and an genetically enhances set of humans that everyone treats like aliens. It was originally a science fiction book in Japanese, but there is anime and manga of the entire series, and at least some of the sequels. That said, I’ve only seen the first 12 episodes when they were first translated and shown on TechTV (now G4), so I don’t know for sure about aliens after that. Their FTL travel is neat in that it requires using 3D bubbles in a sort of 2D space. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/46 "2011-11-26T19:05:20Z")
Daneel was also in Prelude to Foundation, remember. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/47 "2011-11-26T20:34:41Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The anime series _Cowboy Bebop_ has FTL Gates but no aliens. In an unusual twist, they have FTL but are also confined to the Solar System. Are you sure? I seem to remember they used warp technology for space travel (on the other hand I was heavily playing the RPG Fading Suns at the same time, and I tend to confuse the two a lot). Great series btw (really liked the whole "confined to the solar system/ bits of Earth reconstructed on other planets). That said, there was that critter in the Toys in the attic episode, I wont spoil its possible point of origin, but we’re not sure it isnt some kind of alien lifeform. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/48 "2011-11-26T20:45:15Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Jack Vance rarely has intelligent aliens, so I’ll nominate “The Demon Princes” series. Demon Princes? You don’t even get past _Star King_ - the eponymous villain certainly _looks_ human and is capable of passing as such for a long time, but comes of radically different ancestry, and of a unisexual species that reproduces in a completely different manner to humanity. There are infrequent references to “autochthons” in other parts of the Oikumene too, and indeed the long-lost ancient race that brought humans to Gnarumen in antiquity and caused the Star Kings to become human-like before the true men were finally exterminated. Creatures such as the hyrcan major may not qualify as “intelligent” aliens, true, and I think that Krokinole Imps are stated somewhere to be an offshoot of humanity, ditto the Tadusko-Oi of Thamber, while the dryads of Teehalt’s World may or may not be intelligent (Lugo Teehalt himself considers them “wise” even if not, and they are aware enough to react with seeming dismay to the death of a tree-wasp which may be larval form of their own species). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/49 "2011-11-26T21:52:11Z")
The Honor Harrington series comes close. Treecats are revealed to be more intelligent than originally thought, and there are the natives in the 1st book. But there are no Spacefaring aliens (ok, a check here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_alien\_species\_in\_the\_Honorverse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alien_species_in_the_Honorverse) says the Alphanes were spacefaring) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/50 "2011-11-26T22:02:23Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Wasn’t **The End of Eternity** somehow linked in to all this? I happened to discuss this issue (and the very brief mention of a real alien species in the Foundation universe) on another thread this week [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14499681&postcount=16](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14499681&postcount=16) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/51 "2011-11-26T23:06:50Z")
I recall no ETs in the Dorsai novels, but I haven’t read them all. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/52 "2011-11-26T23:31:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > “Methuselah’s Children” is part of the Future History series, and it has several alien races. But there’s no FTL involved. Remember the scene where Libby is explaining to Long how the drive works? He says something like “all I have to do is clamp this thing to a bulkhead or any part of the ship, and we will recede from the Sun at a speed just below the speed of light.” So they achieved manned interstellar spaceflight the real way—by traveling at 99.999999… percent of c. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/53 "2011-11-26T23:37:27Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Since I see no restriction in the OP excluding _television_ series, the reimagined _Battlestar Galactica_ has no aliens. > > Edward James Olmos told the producers that the first time they sent him a script with aliens in it, they’d have to rewrite it to explain why Adama died off-screen between episodes, because he’d be out the door. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > Though it’s an open question just what exactly Virtual-Six, Virtual-Baltar, and the entity which does not like to be called “God” really are. Also, if you want to get technical, the entire series was about aliens. They got to earth, found it already populated by primitive earthlings who didn’t originate from kobol. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/54 "2011-11-27T00:24:38Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > But there’s no FTL involved. Remember the scene where Libby is explaining to Long how the drive works? He says something like “all I have to do is clamp this thing to a bulkhead or any part of the ship, and we will recede from the Sun at a speed just below the speed of light.” So they achieved manned interstellar spaceflight the real way—by traveling at 99.999999… percent of c. But the method used to get them home is FTL (and maybe the method used to get them from the first alien planet to the second alien planet is too - don’t remember) - they are in a “space warp” of some kind for several months and when they arrive at the solar system, Libby has to figure out what year it is. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/55 "2011-11-27T00:29:46Z")
The username/post content combination can’t possibly be a coincidence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/56 "2011-11-27T00:42:51Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > The username/post content combination can’t possibly be a coincidence. 😃 I hadn’t noticed that. Pretty funny… ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/57 "2011-11-27T05:24:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Jack McDevitt’s books went on for years without meeting intelligent aliens, though there were signs of them. He eventually met up with them, though. I was going to mention this series because I couldn’t remember any aliens. Maybe I haven’t read them all - is there one book in particular where this happens? Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/58 "2011-11-27T06:48:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I recall no ETs in the Dorsai novels, but I haven’t read them all. I’ve read the last two long ones, and I don’t recall any aliens, so good catch. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/59 "2011-11-27T23:50:25Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > But there’s no FTL involved. Remember the scene where Libby is explaining to Long how the drive works? He says something like “all I have to do is clamp this thing to a bulkhead or any part of the ship, and we will recede from the Sun at a speed just below the speed of light.” So they achieved manned interstellar spaceflight the real way—by traveling at 99.999999… percent of c. That;s nitpicking – they cdertainly had the capability for FTL, if they still had the caution not to use it. Besides, _Number of the Beast_ and _The Cat Who Walked Through Walls_ (which definitely share characters with books squasrely in the Future History series) had space travel plus time travel, which adds up to FTL in any reasonable definition of same. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074/60 "2011-11-28T19:05:34Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > The Honor Harrington series comes close. > Treecats are revealed to be more intelligent than originally thought, and there are the natives in the 1st book. > > But there are no Spacefaring aliens (ok, a check here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_alien\_species\_in\_the\_Honorverse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alien_species_in_the_Honorverse) says the Alphanes were spacefaring) > > Brian The treecats are manipulating their human counterparts. They even got them to start a treecat colony on Grayson. Mark my words. Telepathic puppeteers, they are. We just happen to find them when we (humans) had a large technological and population advantage. A couple thousand years from now: The Treecat Galactic Empire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-series-have-ftl-travel-but-no-intelligent-alien-life/604074.md?page=4)