What is your favorite type of sci-fi? For me since Ive always been interested in life in the universe/space exploration, anything regarding that. I love golden age sci-fi and reading what they thought we would do in space back in the 40s and 50s
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I absolutely loath the "I will explain everything about the world in incredible detail" sci-fi. The kind where they have an unique name for every new thing, and explain how the starship works down to a tiny level, and basically exist just to jerk off how super smart they think they are. And then the rest of the universe is filled with humans but with ridges! and spiders with more spikes! and worms but huge! and "the desert/forest/frozen planet!"
Because that's what type I like, the kind where the universe is actually filled with unique things that have their own biology and life cycles that clearly evolved on a fucking foreign planet instead of just clearly Earth with parts stapled on. And then something is done with that fact, instead of it just being worldbuilding.
Sadly, it seems to only exist in sci-fi horror works. The kind where all the sci-fi isn't a thinly veiled metaphor for the author's politics.
Larry Niven writes great aliens.
Niven and Pournelle co-wrote "The Mote in God's Eye"; the best first contact book ever. The aliens are very alien.
In Larry Niven's Known Space universe there are the Man-Kizin Wars.
There are very good reasons for most aliens having a compatible biology (I'll tell you if you like) and the Kizin are pretty great as an alien species. They have a lot more in common with panthers than they do with humans.