Aliens

A place for anything *not* Donaldson.

Moderator: I'm Murrin

User avatar
Loredoctor
Lord
Posts: 18609
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2002 11:35 pm
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Contact:

Aliens

Post by Loredoctor »

Similar to Avatar's thread. What is your favourite alien race?

Hard for me to say, but some of my very favourites are:

The Zygons from Dr Who
Image

The Amnion

The Cardassians from Star Trek
Image

My own ;)
Waddley wrote:your Highness Sir Dr. Loredoctor, PhD, Esq, the Magnificent, First of his name, Second Cousin of Dragons, White-Gold-Plate Wielder!
Ainulindale
Giantfriend
Posts: 405
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:29 pm
Contact:

Post by Ainulindale »

The best I have ever seen portrayed in a book is the Weaver from China Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station'

I'm not sure if it can be rendered better than that.
Latest Interview: George R.R. Martin

The Bodhisattva
Fantasybookspot.com

Check out the first issue of Heliotrope - featuring articles by R. Scott Bakker, Jeff VanderMeer and more!

"I think it's undignified to read for the purposes of escape. After you grow up, you should start reading for other purposes" - M. John Harrison
User avatar
Warmark
Lord
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:27 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by Warmark »

'Alien' from the Alien franchise is pretty cool, as is the Predator.
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.


Full of the heavens and time.
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 25493
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 57 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

Q

:LOLS:
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon

Image
User avatar
aTOMiC
Lord
Posts: 24974
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2003 6:48 am
Location: Tampa, Florida
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 13 times
Contact:

Post by aTOMiC »

Warmark wrote:'Alien' from the Alien franchise is pretty cool, as is the Predator.
I have to agree with Warmark. The Alien defines the impact a single alien life form can have on your perceptions. After seeing Alien at the theater in 1979 I never thought of them as little green men again. :-)

My first real encounter with an alien in dramatic terms was of course SPOCK, but he was far too human to really register with me as a child.
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
Image

"There is tic and toc in atomic" - Neil Peart
User avatar
Roland of Gilead
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 745
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:31 pm
Location: Kansas City

Post by Roland of Gilead »

David Gerrold's Chtorr. I always felt it was a brillant concept, that an alien species, bent on invasion, would have to completely alter the ecology of Earth to make it worthwhile.

Too bad Gerrold will be hard put to finish this series in fifty years.

Let's see - four volumes of a projected seven in 27 years - not acceptable!!!! :evil:
"I am, in short, a man on the edge of everything." - Dark Tower II, The Drawing of the Three
User avatar
Worm of Despite
Lord
Posts: 9546
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2002 7:46 pm
Location: Rome, GA
Contact:

Post by Worm of Despite »

HR Giger's designs for Alien and Aliens take the cake for me. He's an evil bastard and he knows it!
"I support the destruction of the Think-Tank." - Avatar, August 2008
User avatar
[Syl]
Unfettered One
Posts: 13021
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2002 12:36 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by [Syl] »

Image
Image
Image
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner
User avatar
danlo
Lord
Posts: 20838
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2002 8:29 pm
Location: Albuquerque NM
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Post by danlo »

David Brin's aliens are so well detailed--hard to choose just one but the Quechens, G'kek and Timbrini in the Uplift series are very cool. David Zindell's Fravashi and Friends of Man are excellent as are, of course, the Amnion--the Amnion simply rock!

(I also liked the "green perti-dish blob" alien on the first episode of the old Outer Limits)
Last edited by danlo on Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
fall far and well Pilots!
User avatar
The Laughing Man
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:56 pm
Location: LMAO

Post by The Laughing Man »

Image

for some strange reason I am also very attracted to Klingon women.....


and lets not forget our good future friends: :borg:
(the Borg Queen made me feel so.......so......diiiirty! :twisted: )
User avatar
Cheval
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 8915
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:27 am
Location: Back in Florida

Post by Cheval »

Aliens that are not humanoid:
The Blob
Dean Kootz's alien in "Phantoms"
and of course...
the two green aliens on the "Simpsons" :D
Have you hugged your arghule today?
________________________________________
"For millions of years
mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened
that unleashed the power of our imagination -
we learned to talk."
________________________________________
If PRO and CON are opposites,
then the opposite of PROgress must be...
_______________________________________

It's 4:19...
gotta minute?
User avatar
High Lord Tolkien
Excommunicated Member of THOOLAH
Posts: 7393
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 2:40 am
Location: Cape Cod, Mass
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

Post by High Lord Tolkien »

Roland of Gilead wrote:David Gerrold's Chtorr. I always felt it was a brillant concept, that an alien species, bent on invasion, would have to completely alter the ecology of Earth to make it worthwhile.

Too bad Gerrold will be hard put to finish this series in fifty years.

Let's see - four volumes of a projected seven in 27 years - not acceptable!!!! :evil:
Wow!
You're the first person I've ever met that has read that series of Gerrold's.
I thought the first few books were great but then he started turning it into a mental exercise rather than an action story.

Where ever I left off (20 years ago?!) it didn't look too good for the Earth.

How great are giant worms? :lol:

Here's my favorite alien:

Image
https://thoolah.blogspot.com/

[Defeated by a gizmo from Batman's utility belt]
Joker: I swear by all that's funny never to be taken in by that unconstitutional device again!


Image Image Image Image
User avatar
danlo
Lord
Posts: 20838
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2002 8:29 pm
Location: Albuquerque NM
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Post by danlo »

Image

...gods e's ugly! 8O
fall far and well Pilots!
User avatar
lucimay
Lord
Posts: 15045
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:17 pm
Location: Mott Wood, Genebakis
Contact:

Post by lucimay »

lou gossett jr is also one of MY favorite aliens Syl...


Image


and i always liked the Narn from Babylon 5

Image
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies



i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio



a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
User avatar
Sorus
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 13887
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:45 pm
Location: the tiny calm before the storm
Been thanked: 1 time

Post by Sorus »

The Amnion, of course. Most of the Babylon 5 and Farscape aliens. For books, I'd have to give it more thought.


High Lord Tolkien wrote:
Roland of Gilead wrote:David Gerrold's Chtorr. I always felt it was a brillant concept, that an alien species, bent on invasion, would have to completely alter the ecology of Earth to make it worthwhile.

Too bad Gerrold will be hard put to finish this series in fifty years.

Let's see - four volumes of a projected seven in 27 years - not acceptable!!!! :evil:
Wow!
You're the first person I've ever met that has read that series of Gerrold's.
I thought the first few books were great but then he started turning it into a mental exercise rather than an action story.

Where ever I left off (20 years ago?!) it didn't look too good for the Earth.

How great are giant worms? :lol:
Did either of you ever see that story he wrote about being seated between Solomon Short and Harlan Ellison at some scifi convention? I think it was posted on his web site years ago. Don't know if it's still around, but it was hilarious.

Oh, a change is coming, feel these doors now closing
Is there no world for tomorrow, if we wait for today?


User avatar
Loredoctor
Lord
Posts: 18609
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2002 11:35 pm
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Contact:

Post by Loredoctor »

danlo wrote:David Brin's aliens are so well detailed--hard to choose just one but the Quechens, G'kek and Timbrini in the Uplift series are very cool.

Brin's best would have to be the Jophur.

I will also add the Hippae from Tepper's novel, Grass.

The Idirans from Consider Phlebas.

Oh, and H.G.Wells' Martians!
Waddley wrote:your Highness Sir Dr. Loredoctor, PhD, Esq, the Magnificent, First of his name, Second Cousin of Dragons, White-Gold-Plate Wielder!
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 62038
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 25 times
Been thanked: 32 times
Contact:

Post by Avatar »

Wow Syl! Enemy Mine! What an awesome movie that was...haven't even thought of it in years.

It's a tough call...The Cardassians, Klingons and Jem'Hadar from ST, for sure.

The Alien from Alien, pretty excellent, and I have to agree with Danlo about the Fraveshi.

Naturally, I've always like the Vulcans too, but as Tom points out, they're not all that alien. Physically anyway.

--A
User avatar
Warmark
Lord
Posts: 4206
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:27 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by Warmark »

cheval wrote: the two green aliens on the "Simpsons" :D
Kodos and Kang. :biggrin:

I love the aliens from Futurama especially Zoydberg (sp?)
But if you're all about the destination, then take a fucking flight.
We're going nowhere slowly, but we're seeing all the sights.
And we're definitely going to hell, but we'll have all the best stories to tell.


Full of the heavens and time.
Rincewind
Giantfriend
Posts: 379
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 3:03 pm
Location: Boston, Mass.

Post by Rincewind »

Image

Rebo owns all
User avatar
Roland of Gilead
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 745
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:31 pm
Location: Kansas City

Post by Roland of Gilead »

Sorus, I'll have to seek out that Gerrold anecdotal story. Sounds funny, although perhaps not to Ellison. Isn't he extremely sensitive about his height? (or lack thereof?) I also once read an article by Gerrold, entitled, "In Defense of Didactics." Which he proceeded to do, mainly using Heinlein as his shining example.

There is a lot of didactics in Gerrold's works, to be sure, which I think is what High Lord Tolkien is referring to. I thought A Rage for Revenge overdid this aspect, but A Season for Slaughter got back on the right track, with more action to drive the story.

But the time factor here between books is just absurd. I'm not sure if I will continue the series or not.
"I am, in short, a man on the edge of everything." - Dark Tower II, The Drawing of the Three
Post Reply

Return to “General Fantasy/Sci-Fi Discussion”