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A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Greg Egan Talks Upcoming Books And The Potential Downsides Of Artificial Intelligence
The io9 Guide To November Science Fiction
The io9 Guide To October Science Fiction - Updated!
Artists' Portraits of Science Fiction's Greatest Writers
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Photos Reveal Where Your Favorite Scifi Books Are Made
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Bill-Lee
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Just because a character isn't human doesn't mean he wouldn't be alien. That's part of the reason we have museums, to better understand our ancestors by examining their material goods.

If you met a nobleman from Tenochtitlan, for example, he would still look human but his thoughts, opinions, and beliefs would be far removed from your own. The resident of Tenochtitlan would mock us for our drab clothing and our meek attitudes. He would use a metaphor like "field of flowers" for what we call war and he'd be ready to race off to battle to prove his courage and gain entry into one of the many warrior societies at the heart of his martial culture. He would marvel at the idea that the goal of our peace talks is actually to create peace and not to goad our enemies into war. His idea of religious services would be to stand at the base of a pyramid and watch a priest cut a man's heart out, and he would wonder if our Teotl were angry that we didn't offer our prisoners of war to them to feast on. He would be shocked at the idea that Christians view god as a loving father rather fearing the gods as harsh task masters. He would view his place in the world as part of a divine mission to help Huitzilopochtli on his divine journey across the sky, thus delaying the end of the 5th Sun. He would celebrate life and death in the same breath and constantly remind everyone of the dual nature of all things. #books
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blackoak
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Mike Resnick has written many tales from a non-human perspective ("The Dark Lady" comes to mind).

Are any of James White's 'Sector General' stories written from an alien perspective (it has been a really long time since I've read any of them)?
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@blackoak: Well, the humans get imprinted with personality tapes, so some are at least influenced. And Major O'Mara had a Kelgian tape for most of the series, although we didn't find out until near the end. #books
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jbq
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
What about The Hobbit? There's barely a human character in it at all (even Gandalf isn't human - a Maia of the Istari order). There's like... Bard and his chums at Lake Town, but otherwise more or less non-human humanoids. And it's soon to be a major motion picture or two, that's gotta count for something? #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@jbq: FANTASY! HERETIC!

Yeah, humans were in the minority, but all the other races were either on the decline, bugging out, or going into hiding. And they all acted human-ish. #books
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jbq
11/11/09

@AmishJohn: From the first line of the article: "Just because most science fiction and fantasy (...)" AhaHA! Justified!

They did indeed act mostly human-ish, and it's true that they [hobbits] have a more juxtaposed role vis á vis humans in LotR what with your decline and all, but still. The Hobbit is a major play at non-human main characters in a film - a horde of short, stocky, hairy bastards traipsing about the countryside like so many lawn ornaments migrating. #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@jbq: If it looks like a duck...
Point is, non-human should be non-human. Not short-hairy-only-their-parents-can-tell-the-difference-from-humans. That way lies the Star Trek Bumpy Forehead of the Week Alien. #books
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jbq
11/11/09

@AmishJohn: I don't know - eight-eyed, multi-tentacled gelatinous blobs might not offer much in terms of indentification for the audience. Which on film would spell instant FAIL. And in literature would only attract an extremely small and closed group of readers. It's not sellable. There has to be something for the reader to relate to. Remember, most people are pretty simple. #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@jbq: They already make plenty of books for simple people. All they need to do is find Waldo. Gimmie something that requires a little thought. #books
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jbq
11/11/09

@AmishJohn: If I ever write a book about eight-eyed, multi-tentacled gelatinous blobs and what it really means to be eight-eyed, multi-tentacled gelatinous blobs, you know, when you get right down to it, I'm totally dedicating it to you. #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@jbq: As long as they're hot eight-eyed, multi-tentacled gelatinous blobs. And the sex scene is tasteful, not gratuitous. #books
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jbq
11/11/09

@AmishJohn: Of course, it's only in there because it's necessary to explore the hum... uh, eight-eyed, multi-tentacled gelatinous blob nature and move the narrative forward. (Yeah, totally writing this now) #books
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Douglas Raymond
11/11/09

@jbq: um... that's like saying Star Wars isn't from a human perspective. It's semantics. The characters are humans, at half-size, like little people or real life dwarves. A story from the point of view of the trolls or Smaug would be more fitting to the spirit of this article. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/11/09

@jbq: The major characters all behave in predictably human ways. Bilbo would fit in perfectly with rural English life. He'd just be seen as a short eccentric. He was basically a stand-in for JRR Tolkien and shared all of his vices including smoking, drinking beer, and eating too much. #books
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m_faustus
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Old book now, but this makes me think of "Nor Crystal Tears" by Alan Dean Foster. Told from the point of view of a thranx, which is a big bug. I remember that at the beginning of the book the Thranx assumed the creatures without an exo-skeleton couldn't evolve, because how would they survive as infants? #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@m_faustus: I want this movie soo bad... especially if they follow the dang book, instead of the normal MO. #books
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Purple Dave
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Read "I, Alien", a book of sci-fi short stories involving human/alien interactions all written from the alien perspective. #books
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dg4510a
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Look to Pixar. Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, Cars, WALL-E, and even the non sci-fi Ratatouille and Finding Nemo are all amazing stories without a lead human.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
11/11/09

@dg4510a: Outwardly they're not human, but they behave exactly like humans. #books
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Allen
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
"They're made out of meat" is written from the perspective of two aliens discussing humans. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/11/09

@Allen: I loved that story. I read it Omni magazine when I was a kid. Man I'm old... #books
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BlueBeard
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
I agree with this statement completely. Every time I play a game where I can choose the race of my character, I rarely choose human. I'm already human, why would I want to play as one? #books
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Purple Dave
11/11/09

@BlueBeard:
That's ironic, since the original D&D rules gave elves and dwarves distinct advantages over human characters specifically to entice people to play characters of other races. #books
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BlueBeard
11/11/09

@Purple Dave: I'm pretty sure human is the most popular choice in D&D and WoW, but I'd rather be a dwarf or something blue with a tail. #books
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Bill-Lee
11/11/09

@Purple Dave: That's not ironic. It's coincidental. #books
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Purple Dave
11/12/09

@Bill-Lee:
It's ironic because it's pretty much opposite of the thought process going through most early D&D players' heads. They didn't want to play non-humans because they weren't familiar with what it meant to _be_ non-human. Human was the comfy-blanket of the RPG. #books
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Briareosdx
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
"Writing in the alien" (or robot, as you prefer) is made additionally complex because not only do you have to develop a very thorough and deep understanding of your non-human protagonist, you must then translate this into a point of view that a human reader can understand. There's all kinds of things, both large and small, that you have to take into account and "translate". If you're alien or robot protagonist doesn't have a heart, then you can't have it race or thunder in their chest or skip a beat. Instead of getting that instant understanding with your audience, you have to get across that when your alien protagonist's heat-sensing secondary eyes grey out, it's part of their fight-or-flight reaction. A good author can do it, but it's a lot of extra burden.

On top of that, you also better have your world-building and alien-crafting skills in good form, because when you decide to feature an alien protagonist, those creatures and their world are going to be in your reader's direct line of sight for a lot longer. All the seams on those rubber suits, be they from poor design, misunderstood biology, or even design choices that arose from the author's personal preconceptions, will be much more visible. Few reads are as painful as reading aliens designed to espouse the author's political principles.

AI/Robotic protagonists have an additional layer of difficulty, because we kind of have things which are like that now. That familiarity may cause some of the more highly technical readers to pick apart your machine protagonists based on what we know now. #books
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J_Frank_Parnell
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
I read a short story eons ago that was told from the POV of a robot who was being hunted by humans because he accidentally killed his creator. It was kindof a neat twist on Frankenstein, in fact in the story the robot discovers and reads Mary Shelley's book and realizes that he is pretty much doomed. #books
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AmishJohn
11/11/09

@J_Frank_Parnell: If it's the same one I'm thinking of, it's Eando Binder's Adam Link stories. Also made into an early Twilight Zone episode. Although Adam didn't really kill his creator, he just found the body.
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Edited by AmishJohn at 11/11/09 1:30 PM AmishJohn was starred AmishJohn was unstarred

J_Frank_Parnell
11/11/09

@AmishJohn: Yeah I think that may be it. I'm pretty sure I only read the first story. Is the whole series worth reading? I might have to find a copy. #books
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kosai
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
This is why the short run Penny Arcade did of Automata was so compelling for me.

[www.penny-arcade.com] #books
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korybing
11/11/09

@kosai: God, I wish they'd do more Automata. I really loved that. #books
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BlueBeard
11/11/09

@korybing: Automata was great, I do believe there are(or were) plans to continue the series. It got more votes than the other one, which was popular enough that they gave it to some other comic writers to expand on, as well. #books
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Zyg
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
This is why Martinez has a niche.

I get bored if I don't see the human perspective because that's what I am. Just my own personal preference. #books
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Srynerson
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
If you follow the rule of nines...

... you end up watching a very strange Ryan Reynolds movie. #books
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ctuley
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
I think that a whole book from a robot's perspective would be very tiring, although I could probably handle it in short-story form. I personally find it more interesting to see humans interact with aliens/robots/the Cloverfield monster/what have you than have to read 100+ pages of exposition in order to find out how the aliens/robot/Cloverfield monster see the world. #books
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peppermint
11/11/09

In reply to A Plea For More SF From A Non-Human Perspective
Human was getting boring. I am now writing from the perspective of a centuries old Shark Humanoid from a planet where death is a privilege who lives in a skewed 50s/Old West style frontier town on the edge of known space. He is also a bartender. Do not steal my idea please. But as I was saying. There is too much human in SpecFic and now I must read The Automatic Detective.... #books
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allium
11/11/09

@peppermint: Simpsons did it. #books
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