Recommendations from our site
“This is my favourite example of a truly alien alien. In the book, they are not even sure if it is self-aware or intelligent. Basically, humans have discovered an alien planet called Solaris. Its surface is covered by an ocean. But over the course of the book, you realise that this is not a body of water. It is a planet-spanning liquid body of some kind, but it seems to be an alien entity as well.” Read more...
The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens
Jaime Green, Science Writer
“It’s a Polish science fiction novel from the post-war era, and it’s about the notion of a sentient planet—a version of the Gaia hypothesis. In our current era of the Anthropocene and climate change, there’s a sense that we need to rethink the boundaries between the human and inhuman. So in one way this book is more alive now than it has been at any time since 1961. It asks big questions. Can a sea be conscious? What happens if other planets abide by different laws of physics?” Read more...
Forgotten Classics: The Best B-Side Books
John Plotz, Literary Scholar
