Not feeling inspired tonight

[james_davis_nicoll]

From my inbox: A request for the names of (living) SF writers who regularly write about weird or exotic forms of alien life. Suggestions?

Comments

Well, obviously

[(Anonymous)]

Iain M. Banks

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

John Varley

[kjn]

Dave Freer.

[(Anonymous)]

Peter Watts

[michaelgr.livejournal.com]

"Regularly" is a stretch, but Rosemary Kirstein has the best damn realistically exotic aliens this side of the millennium.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Julie E Czerneda

Kristine K Rusch

Lee and Miller

China Mieville

Kay Kenyon

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Al Reynolds (at least in some of his work -- the Revelation Space universe is full of 'em).

Iain M. Banks (although they have a worrying tendency to be either Star Trek aliens (with latex face bumps) or talking squids in gas giants).

Karl Schroeder has some terrestrial-biota-derived but really alien stuff in the Virga books.

Are you looking for people who have tried to make their biology plausible, or just LOOK!!! ALIENS!!!1!!?

[krfsm.livejournal.com]

Peter Watts. (Blindsight, "The Island", "The Things"...)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

haikujaguar.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

You beat me to it. :)

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Octavia Butler.

Is this a request for aliens as bad guys? Or just aliens in general?

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Butler died six years ago.

[jazzfish]

Amy Thomson.

[(Anonymous)]

Cherryh, particularly in the Chanur books: stsho, knnn, t'ca, hani, kif etc. Plus the atevi, majat, calibans, nighthorses, ...

-- Paul Clarke

[(Anonymous)]

Niven. Whatever you might think of his aliens' psyches, he at least avoids the vertebrate chauvinism common in the field.

[bandersnatchi, outsiders, Puppeteers, kzinti, grogs, slavers, moties, ...]

[rachel-swirsky.livejournal.com]

Gwendolyn Clare seems to be doing short stories on the subject. And Mercurio D. Rivera.