Looking for "First Contact" books, not necessarily scifi :)

[haydnfan]

On a darker note The Forge of God by Bear or Revelation: Space by Reynolds.

One of my favorite contact novels is Speaker for the Dead by Card. I like the idea that an alien's custom would be so well... alien that we would completely misinterpret it.

[fjtorres]

James Blish: A CASE OF CONSCIENCE.
What does First Contact mean for the religious? Do aliens have souls?
Hal Clement: NEEDLE. Also, ICEWORLD.

[Teknikal]

I'm currently reading the Battle Earth series by Nick S thompson it's your typical Aliens invade Earth with a lot of focus on the military fighting back I wouldn't say it's brilliant but I have been flying through the books, another similar series of books I've read are Harry Turtledoves World War series again it's aliens invading earth but a lot more focus on characters effected and much deeper thought put into it.

[Shadowplay]

Hooboy, lots of responses since last night - thanks everyone! I'll do some research on what's been mentioned so far.

I've read almost everything from Alastair Reynolds. Good, fun space opera that's right up my alley. I've also read some of the work from C.J. Cherryh, Arthur C. Clarke, David Brin, Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, etc. Haven't read all the specifics recommended so far though so certainly worth my time to check them out!

"Contact" - sadly I never got around to reading Sagan's book, but did enjoy the movie well enough. I've always loved "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Both movies (and I'm sure the original book version of Contact) have that great sense of wonder and the overpowering need to know the "other", to know that we are not alone in this universe.

Thanks again!

[Apache]

Troy Rising Series
A Hymn Before Battle
Into the Looking Glass
Von Neumann's War
All by John Ringo and considered Military Science Fiction.
Apache

[fjtorres]

Ooohh... One more:
Not necessarily SF?
David Weber and Linda Evans' HELLS GATE series.
Two cross-dimensional Empires collide. First Contact goes poorly and things go downhill from there. And since one side relies on magical bio-engineering and the other on psionics and mechanical tech...

[Penforhire]

Look at Orson Scott Card's "Speaker for the Dead." I think that is one of his best works. His alien "piggies" are fascinating.

[SeaKing]

Was there a book for "Event Horizon" movie?
Were there books for the "Prophecy" movie series.

Many of the horror stories are actually 1st contact. Humans and them others.

Were the 2000 series mentioned?

[dreams]

The sticky thread in this forum, Recommendations for Your Favorite Book Genre, shows an older thread with a lot of suggestions - First Contact books.

I added this thread to that section also.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Look at Orson Scott Card's "Speaker for the Dead." I think that is one of his best works. His alien "piggies" are fascinating.

Absolutely. Was just about to recommend it. My favorite of his books! You'd preferably read Enders Game first though.. But it also has some "Hey, we just met you and already you want to kill us?"-alien interaction..

[artifact]

The Fresco
Sheri S. Tepper

Lifted from Amazon: Benita Alvarez-Shipton, an empty nester in her mid-30s, whose life is changed when two aliens ask her to carry their greetings to Washington, D.C. Chosen as intermediary because she is both ordinary and beyond political reproach....

[Bookpossum]

Something quite different from the above, and an important book particularly from the Australian point of view. However, its importance goes beyond Australia: most of us have benefitted from the dispossession of others.

The Secret River by Kate Grenville.

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize and Australian Book Industry Awards, Book of the Year.
After a childhood of poverty and petty crime in the slums of London, William Thornhill is transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and children in tow, he arrives in a harsh land that feels at first like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a whisper that freedom can be bought, an opportunity to start afresh. As Thornhill stakes his claim on a patch of ground by the Hawkesbury River, the battle lines between the old and new inhabitants are drawn.

Inspired by research into her own family history, Kate Grenville vividly creates the reality of settler life, its longings, dangers and dilemmas. The Secret River is a groundbreaking story about identity, belonging and ownership.

'There is no doubt Grenville is one of our greatest writers … A book everyone should read. It is evocative, gracefully written, terrible and confronting. And it has resonance for every Australian.' Sunday Mail