Conference noted::sf

Earl Wajenberg

    	I know, but I am hoping to have a "brief" list of SF aliens
    here.  More detailed discussions can be made in Topic 421.
    
    	Larry
    

    
    The Aliens from Aliens.  Not that I'd like to have 'em around as
    pets, but I think they're an interesting, plausible creation.
    
    "Though I walk through the valley of death, I shall not fear, for
    I am the toughest SOB in the valley."

                                                                 
    DFW

    I will list Dr. Prilicla, a Cinruskin.  Cinruskins are large, insectile
    creatures from a world with very low gravity and high air pressure.
    Thus, not only can they get by with just an exoskeleton, they can
    fly on gossamer wings.  Though they are large for insects, they
    are substantially smaller than humans.  If you are disposed to find
    insects pretty, then Cinruskins are pretty.  But their appearance
    gives some people the creepy-crawlies.
    
    This is unfortunate, because the Cinruskins know exactly how the
    others feel about them; they are all empaths.  They can't turn the
    faculty off, either, so they are the politest race in the known
    galaxy.  (If they hurt your feelings, they hurt THEIR feelings.)
    They are also timid, because they are one of the most fragile races
    in the galaxy.  Almost any other intelligent species could seriously
    hurt at Cinruskin without even meaning to.
    
    Dr. Prilicla works at Sector General, an enormous space-station
    hospital made up by James White.  There are several anthologies
    of Sector General stories out, including "Star Surgeon," "Major
    Operation," "Ambulance Ship," and "Secotr General."
    
    Dr. Prilicla makes excellent use of its empathic faculty in its
    medical work, though considering the emotional radiations prevalent
    in any hospital, the creature must be a certifiable saint.  (There
    has never been any indication that it is masochistic.  It avoids
    unpleasant emotions whenever feasible.)  Its empathy makes possible
    exchanges such as this one from "Ambulance Ship":
    
    	"Thank you, doctor, I feel much better now."
    
    	"Yes, I know."
    
    Earl Wajenberg

      One of my favorite aliens is one simply dubbed CARNIVORE,
    fro "Shakespeare"s Planet", by Clifford D. Simak. Carnivore,
    without revealing too much of the story, is a contrasting
    charactor. He is basically an innocent, but a true savag with
    fangs, hairy face, etc... 
    
     In the same book: POND - an intelligent pool of black, viscuous
    fluid. It speaks to Horton, the main charactor, by forming
    rudimentary pictures in his mind, stick men and the like, until
    Horton becomes "fluent" and can quickly grasp the thoughts.
                
                                           rick

Path: muscat!decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!ukc!its63b!hwcs!adrian
From: [email protected] (Adrian Hurt)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Favorite Aliens
Summary: More poorly characterised stereotypes
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 28 Mar 88 11:01:31 GMT
References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland
Lines: 40
 
    In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] writes:

> I guess my vote for favorite aliens has to go those wonderfully
> unique and inventive "humans" created by...oh, I forgot the
> author!
 
    I showed this to my friend Ych!tarbiak'ern, and this was his reply:
 
    "Humans?  A poor example of fiction.  Why, they are stereotyped
beyond belief; and such an unbelievable race, too!  They seem so -
ashamed, is that your word? - of everything they do.  Mating, disposal
of bodily waste - these are perfectly natural functions, indeed no
species of advanced life can survive without them.  Yet these humans
feel the need to hide when they do these things; and so many of them
are reluctant do defend their way of life in combat when such becomes
necessary.  They feel it wrong to kill others of their own species. 
Yet this species also kills members of other species quite freely. 
This is like saying that suicide is wrong, but murder of another is
acceptable; and they regard such killing as a challenge!  Now, my
species also enjoys "hunting"; but for us, it is a challenge.  We
don't take advanced weapons, or fast craft on such hunts.  We pursue
our quarry on foot; and only quarry which has a chance of defeating us
in single combat.  Otherwise, where is the sport? 
 
    These humans also seem to regard the gathering of wealth as
something to be ashamed of.  Yet this is as natural a function to a
healthy society as eating is to a healthy being; but of course, humans
are so ashamed of such natural functions.  They often hide, even to eat! 
 
    No, such a race is scientifically impossible!  If its members are
reluctant to eat, dispose of waste, or mate, it would die out within a
couple of millenia at most! 
 
    What?  You say this race exists?  And it produced this machine?  I
must study this peculiar species some time; but for my own curiosity
only.  My friends at home would never believe in such creatures, any
more than I did." 

 "Keyboard? Tis quaint!" - M. Scott
 
 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  [email protected]
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   [email protected]

    Aycharaych - from Poul Anderson's "Flandry" series.

    	For those of us who did not read Anderson's FLANDRY series,
    who/what are the Aycharaych?
    
    	Larry
    

    Aycharaych is a telepathic alien working for the Merseians - the
    empire opposed to the Terran Empire. (The series takes place in
    the thirty-first century) Of avian descent, he is the last of 
    his race, and uses his amazing knowledge of history, along
    with his mind-reading ability, to foil the efforts of Flandry
    and the Terran intelligence forces. The showdown between them
    takes place in "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows".
    
    Dana
    

	My favourite aliens are the races of the galactic Milieu by Julian
	May. They are *not* overpoweringly superior, or even extremely odd.
	They have human qualities, without being human. Compare the Krondaku
	or Lylmik with something from E.E.Smith, or even Asimov, and see the
	difference. The only even remotely comparable aliens are Larry Niven's.
	I love 'em all.
				HRM

    Could you elaborate a little more on May's aliens?  What do they look
    like?  What are their human and inhuman qualities that you mention?
    Thanks.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

	Re .-1:

>   What do they look like?

	Good question. May does not describe them in exact anatomical detail,
	but leaves just enough clues to release your imagination. The Lylmik
	are invisible (e.g. they hide their true bodies metapsychically).
	The only "detailed" description is of the Simbiari- they're green,
	but the colour comes from the subcutaneous layer of symbiotic 
	photosynthetic algae they use to produce food. Under stress, they find
	it difficult to stop leaking green slime.

	The Krondaku give the impression of being like E.E.Smiths Rigellians,
	but with eyes- very precise in manner, but even a Krondak will
	let its hypothetical hair down once in a while, in an alien, but
	recognisable way.
				HRM

    Other interesting alien aliens are the Builders, who can be found
    in Orson Scott Card's novel of THE ABYSS. The film hardly does
    anything with them, but Card does a lot of point-of-view stuff
    with them in the novel that I liked a lot.
    
    --- jerry

    There were two good aliens that I liked. One was in a short story
    I read a number of years ago. I don't remember their name. They
    were amphibian-like and acted only from self-interest. They intereacted
    with a human who was acting out of empathy. The two characters did
    many of the same things but from completely different motivations.
    
    I also like several of David Brin's aliens in The Uplift War. Before
    that I didn't find his aliens believable. The only flaw in Brin's
    aliens is their motivations are a little too human.
    
    popkes
    

    The aliens in Orson Scott Card's "Enders Game" were pretty appealing.
    I'm not going to spoil the book for you by telling you anything
    other than that they were insect - like:-)
    
    Kate

    And the aliens in Card's sequel to "Ender's Game", "Speaker for the
    Dead" were even MORE interesting.  Little piggie-like creatures with
    the strangest concepts of life and death.
    
    This novel could be used as a case study in "valuing differences" ...
    
    ... Bob
    

    From Larry Niven's 'Ringworld' - the Kzinti - tigerlike humanoids,
    and Piersons Puppeteers - three-legged two-headed critters with
    an exagerated sense of self-preservation.
    
    From 'Footfall' by Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the 'snouts'. An
    interesting answer to the question of alien invasion. (The
    question is "why? in view of the expense".

    Andorians and Vulcans from Star Trek.
    
    Kzinti from Larry Niven's "Known Space" series.
    
    David Brin's aliens in "Sundiver,Startide Rising,Uplift War".
    
    Alien creature in "Alien & Aliens" movies.
    
    Alien from "E.T." movie.
    
    - ktl -

    Another interesting race are the aliens in Gregory Benford's 
    "Great Sky River": tank-size creatures that are half-spider, 
    half-machine.   As they advance in rank they acquire steadily 
    more limbs, so the lowest are quadrupods, next are pentapods and 
    so on up to "myriapods".  What's interesting about them is their 
    religion; they believe that evolution destines them to achieve 
    Class III level civilization, where their race can marshal the 
    energies of a whole galaxy.  They take apart planets using cosmic 
    strings as minor construction projects.  They're already Class II
    (energies of stars) and regard Class Is as nuisances.  People are 
    considered Class 0's and are referred to as Noughts.
    
    /jlr

    A short story in Joe Haldeman's "Dealing in Futures" was called the
    !tang.  (Punctuation marks and asterisks were used to indicate sounds
    which supposedly could not be represented with Latin script.

    Theirs was a commercial civilization, and they had interesting customs
    for which you must read the story.  (Very well-written, though he only
    developed their customs and peripheral mores related to commerce.  It's
    just a short story; you don't get evolution and general social outlook.)

    One physical difference is that they had a sonar sense.  They could tell
    if you were hungry by the emptiness of your digestive tract.  It would
    be grossly impolite for them not to feed you, or you not to eat.  Their
    native foods contained high concentrations of valium or some such.  You
    always had to eat well before negotiating sessions.

    -- mikeK

    re: .19
    
    Sorry, I got the book wrong.  The tank aliens appear in "Tides of 
    Light", not "Great Sky River".  ToL is the sequel to GSR.
    
    Benford had another interesting alien in "Across the Sea of 
    Suns", the EM beast.  This was a genetically engineered creature 
    that had a large natural radar antenna in its head.  It could use 
    the antenna for communication (even across interstellar space, if 
    enough them broadcast together), for vision (as regular radar), 
    and for hunting (as a high-power microwave beam).  Voices, eyes and 
    claws all in one organ!  
    
    /jlr

    re .20
    
    !Tang bread contained an analogue of mescaline (a hallucinogen) not
    of valium (a trademark for a sedative).
    
    			-John Bishop

!Tang apologies start with the embarassed party dying from shame which 
ultimately results in the collapse of all civilization.  An example might
go along the following lines:

"I'm so embarassed.  In shame I hide my head in the sand.  I die of suffocation.
My dead body breeds a pestilence that is fatal to all life.  It is spread to
everyone by the winds which waft the putrid odors of my decaying body around the
planet. Everyone becomes sick and dies.  All die."

I seem to recall that the !Tang had a taste for bourbon.  Very enjoyable story.

Wook