The best books with non-humanoid aliens

The aliens in Ringworld are amazing because they’re alien, not only in their physical appearance, but in how they act. Niven provides hints as to how each type of alien evolved to be the way they are. Fan favorites tend to be the sort-of-tigerish bipedal Kzinti, but my absolute favorite are the Puppeteers. They’re cowards. They have two heads, neither of which holds their brains. One of the most amazing moments in the book is when the human, Louis Wu, realizes just why Puppeteers turn away from danger. I won’t spoil that moment, but it’s terrific.

Ringworld tells a good story, too, full of action, adventure, and self-discovery. More of Niven’s cool aliens can be found in his various “Known Space” works.

Vernor Vinge is so associated with popularizing the concept of the singularity that it’s often overlooked that his novels contain some of the best aliens out there. The Tines, who are introduced in A Fire Upon the Deep, are marvelous. A single Tine has about the intelligence of a very smart dog. However, as a group, the Tines’ intelligence increases hugely. Lacking hands, they cooperatively use their mouths—and eyes, and other senses—to achieve tasks a similar-sized group of humans would find difficult, if not impossible.

But Vinge’s books are full of “heart” as well as cool ideas, especially the challenges of settling worlds that already have their own people. Vinge has a gift for taking a fresh look at our human preconceptions that makes for the best Science Fiction.

A human, a robot, and an alien who has proudly adopted the name “Carnivore,” find themselves stranded on a planet that may have its own agenda—certainly, something must be behind the phenomenon dubbed “The God Hour.” Add in the journal of a possibly insane man who is known only as “Shakespeare,” and you have not only a wonderful adventure story, you have the foundation for examining what makes a person a person.  

The crew of the spaceship Wayfarer mingles humans and aliens of various types. Several of the aliens are very creatively designed, not only physically, but culturally. My personal favorite is Dr. Chef, but there are other interesting ones, including Ohan, who handles navigation in a very interesting fashion. Although there is ostensibly a mission, this book is really all about “the long way”—that is, the characters and their interactions.

This was the first book published in the now very long Dragonriders of Pern series, and introduced the human/dragon pairings that remain key to the series. David Weber, who developed the treecats that are at the heart of our own series, lists the relationship between the dragons and humans as a key influence on the treecats. I read the early books in the series when I was still in my teens, and always wanted more about dragons and their culture. I’m glad that, in my novels with Weber, we can do this for the treecats.