this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Science Fiction
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He was one of the first writers that imho was able to create truly alien species and really bring them to life. I've read and watched SF for decades and almost always the aliens were like humans in a humanoid body, with human emotions and desires. But the spiders and the octopus species were truly alien, while he was able to create them as wonderful species in their own right.
So far i've only read the first two 'Children of...'
You're exactly right - he's got a knack for creating really novel aliens, and for me that's one of the joys of SF. I was really thinking that while reading Shroud was well.