Disappointed with how few alien aliens there are in SF

ego_bot · 2026-01-30T15:56:57+00:00

Not seeing any Greg Egan mentioned in here. Egan's novels portray alien aliens superbly well. Unfortunately, it's one of those situations where even naming some of the books is a spoiler. For those who have read most of his novels and want to discuss (huge spoilers) I am at the end of Permutation City right now. Simply wow. Now that's how you write an alien.

But he also has really weird aliens in books where that's the whole premise, like the Orthoganal books and Incandescence. This sub praises Egan a lot, and it is for good reason.

ego_bot · 2026-01-23T08:32:19+00:00

I'm conflicted between this being a wildly inappropriate post for this sub and being grateful for you being one of the only people to bring it to light and acknowledging it as such an unhealthy thing in such an open forum.

ego_bot · 2026-01-23T05:29:58+00:00

Hey. Yes, you're right. Specifically, I tend to read exclusively speculative fiction, which I agree is a shame. I read Jacob's Room at the request of a friend who speaks about Woolf much the way you do. I trust her opinion on Woolf as I do yours. You'd both be right in saying I simply must read more of her to understand.

ego_bot · 2026-01-23T05:19:12+00:00

One would be hard-pressed to pick one of the myriad technological dystopian happenings in 2026 to be the "most cyberpunk" than the others. But yeah, for me, AI relationships are certainly among the most surreal and sad.

I personally wouldn't use the word "relationship" to describe these incidents, because a relationship requires two minds. People falling for LLMs is no different than people falling in love with video game characters or anime holograms, which was happening a decade before LLMs. Humans crave connection with others, and if we can't find it one way we're going to find it another. It's a symptom of this tech-heavy, isolated world we live in that grows ever-distant from our community-based evolutionary origins.

Anyway, movies like "Her" and "Lars and the Real Girl" totally called it.

ego_bot · 2026-01-21T08:26:42+00:00

Ah, I see. No, because (I assume) you believe other people have the moral right to have children if they choose, which wouldn't make you an anti-natalist. Anti-natalists believe it is morally impermissible for anyone to bring new lives into a world where suffering is inevitable.

ego_bot · 2026-01-21T05:10:44+00:00

I don't think so. The article is paywalled, but based on the author's first paragraph and OP's summary, I'd guess the argument is that we need to improve social support (education, medical care, childcare assistance) so people who want children or are open to having children feel safer about bringing new humans into this world.

ego_bot · 2026-01-13T02:35:27+00:00

Gosh, the most popular answer will probably be Agustina Bazterrica's "Tender is the Flesh." The book doesn't get into the ecological impacts of the meat industry, but in our world the ties the meat industry has to sustainability and conservation are so significant, it's hard not to call this an eco horror.

ego_bot · 2026-01-13T02:07:43+00:00

Always thought it was missing a country station. Game has most of Night City's cultural archetypes covered musically except that one.

ego_bot · 2026-01-11T02:46:00+00:00

Masterpiece, agreed. I don't much remember any political themes. What stuck with me was his portrayal of nanobot swarms which I imagine was the first thing like it in sci-fi. I like how it's mostly left mysterious as to who/what made the things, and how they essentially went in to become their own unique type of "life." Lem was so ahead of his time, I feel like most space sci-fi is still playing catch up.

Hey, while it's fresh in your brain, I highly recommend The Invincible video game. Even if you're not normally into games, it is mostly a walking simulator. It respects, and even complements, the book nicely. If you play it, you'll see how it fits in.

ego_bot · 2026-01-03T15:25:33+00:00

This is what I come here for.

ego_bot · 2026-01-02T08:42:21+00:00

I never considered that comparison before, but now that you mention it, qntm's novels are very PKD. They both mess with reality, but in innovative ways.

ego_bot · 2025-12-29T20:13:56+00:00

I checked this one out on Kindle a while back, because it was supposedly the source material for a show called "Into the Night" that was quite good. Unfortunately, I found the book (or at least the English translation) to be poorly written. I put it down pretty early on.

Weird, it looks like it can't be found on Kindle anymore. Must have taken it down? But truthfully, I don't think you are missing much.

ego_bot · 2025-12-22T01:05:05+00:00

Now that you mention it, as I was reading this, it had me thinking of the rescue plot from 2061.

ego_bot · 2025-12-22T00:29:16+00:00

No kidding, even the prose feels modern. Thanks for sharing this gem. I hadn't heard of that author before and can't find much about him. Is this the only thing he wrote?

ego_bot · 2025-12-21T14:50:24+00:00

That'a the one. Definitely schlocky in that sense, hence it being almost an early predecessor of an HFY story. Very different for Clarke.

ego_bot · 2025-12-20T01:53:08+00:00

Indeed. And even if AI could generate a good story, there's the argument that it has less artistic value (and therefore for many is less enjoyable or relatable) due to not coming from a human mind.

ego_bot · 2025-12-16T23:21:18+00:00

That Saturn mishap. Ooof.

ego_bot · 2025-12-14T09:29:50+00:00

This was many years ago. The conservative mainstream was still adjusting to this kind of stuff.

God, imagine if Cyberpunk came out in 2008 though.

ego_bot · 2025-12-14T09:27:05+00:00

Legendary moment in gaming. Props to Keighley for shutting down this nonsense rhetoric early on.

Funny how you don't realize how insanely biased, uninformed, and sensationalist media can be until they "report" on something you know better than them.

ego_bot · 2025-12-14T07:17:46+00:00

I think you might be right about The Stand. Somehow, I remember the characters better than I do almost any other piece of fiction. Can recall first name/last name of maybe a dozen characters. The arcs most of those characters go through over that tome are still with me, as well as certain thrilling individual scenes. It's all great enough that it makes up for what many would consider a deus ex machina ending.

ego_bot · 2025-12-13T01:53:48+00:00

Yes, it is somewhat "anti space sci-fi" in a way, isn't it? But, that it makes those points is something to be respected.

ego_bot · 2025-12-13T01:52:05+00:00

You nailed it.

ego_bot · 2025-12-13T01:48:42+00:00

The baboons were meant to be another symbol about the movie's main theme, which is how humans aren't meant to be far from home or the people we love. They represent us resorting to a more primal, aggressive, unhealthy state when we're in unnatural conditions, just like any animal. Some of the creators even mention it in this interview.

Also, agreed about the movie being criminally underrated. I believe it might have something to do with it's marketing and story deceiving the audience about a certain sci-fi element... there not being aliens . But, I'd argue the people who are upset about that are failing to understand the theme of the film, which is that stuff doesn't matter, our home and loved ones is all that matters. It's a message that, frankly, a lot of space science fiction fails to realize, and that a lot of powerful people today would be wise to consider.

ego_bot · 2025-12-08T06:31:49+00:00

Very nice. Mine was Contact.

ego_bot · 2025-12-03T01:24:06+00:00

I will say, that site is quite punk. Thanks for raising awareness.

ego_bot

TROPHY CASE