The Cloud Roads, by Martha Wells

[rachelmanija]

A science fiction novel in an unusual subgenre: the main characters aren't human, and don't have human bodies. There are only a handful of these, mostly written by C. J. Cherryh, but I almost always enjoy them. It's surprising how rare it is to write solely or primarily from the POV of an alien

Comments

[sovay]

The effect of those books is quite different from those in which all the characters are giant cats.

I recomend Phyllis Gotlieb if that's what you're looking for.

[rachelmanija]

Oh? Tell me more!

[sovay]

Oh? Tell me more!

The protagonists of A Judgment of Dragons (1980), Emperor, Swords, Pentacles (1982), and The Kingdom of the Cats (1985) are three different generations of a family of telepathic alien big cats whose species may be descended from Earth leopards with a little genetic engineering thrown in or that may just be what the troublemaking energy being told them that one time they got marooned in a shtetl in the late nineteenth century. The first novel is my favorite, mostly because of how much I love the novella "Son of the Morning"-the one with the shtetl and the troublemaking energy being; Khreng and Prandra know they have been caught in a time vortex by an unscrupulous Qumedni, Reb' Elya thinks he's losing his mind and the demon-king Ashmedai has taken over his town-but there are very good things about all of them, like the plot of the second novel being based around a Tarot configuration and the third being a classic trickster myth. Gotlieb was one of my earliest formative science fiction writers and seems criminally

[chomiji]

I enjoyed these a lot, myself. I find the prose serviceable, if not elegant, and for me, the flashes of mordant humor (reminds me a bit of P.C. Hodgell) help make up for it.

[hamsterwoman]

I've only read this first one so far (thanks to egelantier's very enticing rec), but really enjoyed the characters and themes. The prose didn't bother me -- whatever detachment was there felt like a part of Moon's POV to me, and actually kind of worked -- but I'm very much with you on being annoyed by the Always Chaotic Evil nature of the Fell. Given how interesting and nuanced and not-just-humans-with-accessories the Raksura society is, it was really disappointing to encounter a race whose sole schtick seems to be pillaging, killing, and cannibalism...

[elsmi]

The later books do complexify the Fell a bit, but they remain pretty Evil-with-a-capital-E.

Though I do wonder what the herbivores think of the Raksura.

[rurounitriv]

Ever tried Alan Dean Foster's Nor Crystal Tears? Totally from the POV of a Thranx, a member of an insectoid race encountering humans for the first time. (Spoiler: they think we look hideous, lol.) It's been a few years since I read it, but I remember liking it.

[lorata]

Did you ever read Animorphs? I only ask because the Ellimist book has some of the least-human xenobiology worldbuilding stuff I've seen in YA sci-fi.