[hybridvirus]

(brace for wall of text)

I haven't been much of a reader in my time, (I'm 23), but I have read a few things that have caught my interest or read things that caught me when I was in a certain phase.
I have, however, always been a huge fan of science fiction - movies mostly, games next, then books lastly.

Well, one of my hobbies is to work on my very own sci-fi universe. It is and has been slow going, but I only add onto it when I am inspired and/or ready enough to give it my 100% attention with all of the love and affection it deserves (so that I can avoid cliches, make sure it is original, and has a air-tight multilayer plot, with several species that have all come into contact with each other through believable means and who each have their own unique histories, quirks, behaviors, and technology, etc). I'm creating this universe in a way that all of the main species, planets, and ideas are almost fully hammered out so that when/if I decide to write or do anything with it, I will be fully ready, and will have races of aliens that will almost seem to write themselves. I have read that well constructed characters will tend to write themselves, and I agree with that style.

I like writing. I have some talent for it (I've always had a stutter so I became somewhat skilled with the manipulation and handling of the English language - except punctuation, haha), and I have recently began reading a lot more, and will be continuing to read.
I can tell after reading my first novel on my newly purchased Kindle3 that I have always been a reader at heart, but simply never had the drive or patience to read.
As I have grown older this has changed. I have come to want deeper story and more concrete plots and ideas that are explored in greater detail. I have come to realize that I need to read, and that I like to very much. Books can go places that movies and videogames can't even touch.

What I want right now are inspiration, guidelines, and a knowledge bank of what other alien species and plots other authors who created them have come up with. I need these things because I need ideas and guidelines for my universe. I want to absorb novels with the best, most thoughtful and believable fictionally-constructed alien races to have been placed onto paper. I don't necessarily need it to be scholarly writing. I am not picky, or very well read, I just really want to read some books where the creation and attention to details of the aliens within are admiral. I want to see how it's done. I want to start a mental knowledge bank so I know when what I create is cliche or not, or whether it has been done or not, and etc.
School is in session for me, and I am a sponge, ready and eager.
What should I read? I am intelligent enough for hard science fiction, so don't be worried about throwing something crazy at me.. As long as the attention to details of the aliens are worthy of note, or at least recommendation, anything will do.

The first book I picked up and finished was Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster. I read about his Thranx species briefly once and saw the picture of the cover, and it had always resonated something within me.. So I read it, (recently, 1-2 days ago). I really enjoyed his attention to details and all of the little things that made his Thranx come alive.
I am very excited to continue reading, and await anything you guys might recommend =).
Thanks in advance, I really do appreciate any help I can get. I am waiting to see what I should read next, although I have already started on Phylogenesis by ADF.

So there you have it. A bit of my background, and some small point of reference of what I have liked in the past.
Additionally: I do not prefer Star Wars to Star Trek, or Aliens, or Bladerunner. I like all of them equally. I loveeee all sci-fi.. although, Alien is my favorite sci-fi movie, closely followed by Mission To Mars, Contact, Bladerunner, etc etc.

I read HP Lovecraft and Chuck Palahniuk before Nor Crystal Tears. So that might help a little too. That is really the only outside of school reading I have done for myself, besides some New Age books about psychics, chakras, etc etc (haha... I just read it because I like to branch out and see things for myself)

[JustinfromTexas]

Larry Niven's Known Space books have a wide variety of well realized alien species. One of my other favorites are the neutron star dwelling cheela in Robert Forward's Dragon's Egg.

[KatG]

Okay, aliens. Well, Julie Czernada is a biologist specializing in microbes and bugs, so she has a lot of very interesting aliens in her Trade Pact Universe and her other series built on actual insect and such biology. Try A Thousand Words for Stranger or you can check out her new series Stratification.

C.J. Cherryh made a big impact with her Foreigner series which has various aliens and human alien interactions.

David Brin's Uplift novels are chockful of aliens plus enhanced dolphins and chimpanzees. The third book in the series, The Uplift Wars, would probably be the most helpful to you, but if you can, start with Sundiver or at least the most famous, #2 Startide Rising.

Iain M. Banks' Culture novels will give you all sorts of interesting aliens.

Peter Watts gets very trippy with aliens in Blindsight. Plus, evolutionary vampires!

Patricia Anthony's first contact novel Brother Termite I found to be very good, though that doesn't give you a lot of variety of aliens.

Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep will take you into some possibly useful alien territories.

David Gerrold's The War Against the Chorr is a series that deals with a complicated alien invasion of future Earth.

John Scalzi's Old Man's War is a military SF novel that has a variety of aliens, most of them deadly. A lot of the military SF will give you a selection of aliens.

Sarah Zettel's Playing God deals with a human ambassador dealing with fighting aliens on a planet.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's Footfall, which has elephant like aliens, is maybe one to check out.

I second Robert L. Forward's Dragon's Egg and its sequel -- an amazing book.

Barry Longyear's Enemy Mine is one of my favorite stories. You can also check out the movie of it, which was good, but the book is more extensive.

Robert J. Sawyer's Calculating God goes the spider route. Haven't read it yet, but it's supposed to be good.

John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids should always be read.

Robert Reed's Beyond the Veil of Stars has aliens utilizing multiple bodies.

Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population features an unusual protagonist for SF and some very interesting native planetary aliens.

Stannislaw Lem's Solaris has a self-aware planet. It has been made into a movie a few times.

That ought to get you started. Look for covers with aliens on them too. :)

[hybridvirus]

Thank you very much for the replies.. I'm gonna carefully look over and read about all these books, to see which I should try first =)
How exciting... ^_^
tytyty

[hybridvirus]

Blindsight sounds crazy awesome. I just happened to pick that out for the name, and read up about it a little.

[Flatlander]

As well as Footfall and Niven's Known Space universe, definitely take a look at The Mote In God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle. Larry Niven also wrote an essay on the process behind creating both the alien race and the novel itself - I know it can be found in his N-Space collection, so if it's the thoughts behind it that you're after then that may be worth a read.

The Pride of Chanur by C J Cherryh - I've only read that and the first sequel, and didn't think too much of the sequel but the first was good.

I'll second Brin's Uplift novels - The Uplift War and the second trilogy (Brightness Reef / Infinity's Shore / Heaven's Reach) probably contain the greatest variety of aliens, as well as sequences from the alien perspective.

Learning The World by Ken McLeod alternates between a human colony ship and an alien world.

[nealasher]

This guy seems to have produced a load of books packed with alien species -- usually of the nasty kind: http://theskinner.blogspot.com/

(snigger)

[ArtNJ]

Ok
I second Robert L. Forward's Dragon's Egg and its sequel -- an amazing book.



Great list! This one through me for a loop though, I dont recall any sequel! Off to check Amazon, maybe have something to read. I third the recommendation for the original book.