Many
authors and fans of science fiction love aliens. My aim is to inspire
writers with ideas from weird aliens in fiction and from the
perspective of a scientist with a life-long interest in the diversity
of life on our planet. Biology facts will be interspersed with
fictitious life forms.
Weird
biology fact: We have traces of viral DNA in our genomes.
First,
what are aliens? Aliens are intended to have inhuman characteristics.
I will use broad categories of humanoid, animal based and other.
In
Science Fiction Romance, human-like aliens are common, since a degree
of physical compatibility may be desirable, although not essential.
Humanoids predominate in video media, partly because they are easier
to represent. Consider Dr Who: even the exterminating
Daleks are mutated humans in a robotic shell.
Animal-like
aliens are also common, and many resemble people in fur. Felines are
popular, such as the lion-like Hani of C.J. Cherryh, Anne McCaffrey’s
Hrubbans, and the Kzinti of Larry Niven.
Dragons
are clearly related to reptiles and fall into the category of
animal-like aliens.
One
early example of non-humanoid aliens is described in the War of the
Worlds (1897) by WG Wells.
Piers
Anthony in his Cluster series created a variety of non-humanoid
sentient aliens. He used the unifying theme of aura as a means of
communication and exchange of minds into different bodies. In
Thousandstar (1980), a humanoid woman falls in love with an alien
resembling a giant amoeba (my description).
Adrian
Tchaikovsky has fun with insect characteristics in humans in the Apt
series.
Weird
biology fact: Insect metamorphosis means that delicate winged
butterflies with six legs are the adult forms of squiggly, voracious
caterpillars with many legs and prolegs.
Think
of the myriad varieties of animals living in the sea. Many are
spineless invertebrate animals such as jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and
squid.
Weird
biology fact: squid communicate by changing color.
Intelligent
plant-based aliens are less common. They include Tolkien’s Ents,
which are essentially walking, talking trees. Carnivorous plant-like
aliens are popular, such as the walking plants with lethal stings
from John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids (1951).
Weird
biology fact: carnivorous plants can move fast, but they cannot walk.
On the other hand, some seeds fly!
Can
you imagine intelligent bacteria? Bacteria, aka prokaryotes, can
survive in extremely hostile environments, in soil, ice, boiling
springs. They communicate via chemical messages and exchange pieces
of DNA, like the genes for antibiotic resistance. Different bacteria
can combine in a colony called a biofilm. What fascinating elements
for novel aliens! Maybe
I’ll use these aliens!
Weird
biology fact: the descendants of ancient bacteria live in your cells
as the energy producing mitochondria.
Aliens
can include entities of gas or pure energy. Sir Fred Hoyle, the
eminent English astronomer, disputed the Big Bang theory. His 1957
novel, The Black Cloud, explores the idea of an intelligent
interstellar cloud. Aliens can be entities of pure energy, although
they may be obvious of us.
I
hope some of these weird life forms will inspire you to create unique
and believable aliens in your stories.
Recent
Novel:
Blurb
Four
hundred years earlier the great spaceships had departed from Terra to
colonize distant planets. Few ships reached their destinations; their
sporadic signals waned and disappeared. No one knew whether the
colonists survived. Now, construction of a new generation of
hyperdrive ships was scheduled at one every five years. Planet Delta
was selected as the next target for survey because the arrival of a
brief signal suggested the descendants of the colonists were alive.
Tiger
Lily longs for freedom. In her fight to escape the subterranean slums
of Terra, Lily competes to join the scout team selected for the next
spaceship along with a new set of prospective colonists. Their
mission to discover the lost colony faces the challenges posed by the
voracious predators of the planet. In the mountains, they encounter
Conley, a grim warrior who longs to escape the confines of his
isolated valley. Has Tiger Lily met her match in this tortured
warrior? But, where is he leading them? Danger lies ahead, and
conflicts between humans and aliens. Can they ensure the safety of
the new human colonists, or must they retreat to Terra?
Author
Bio:
In
my "day job" I am a scientist, although I have composed
stories as long as I can remember. This year, I achieved my life-long
ambition to publish novels. My works include science fiction and
fantasy with romance and a sprinkle of humor. I was born in the UK
and live in Atlanta with my husband, a dog and two cats to interrupt
my typing.
Website:
http://AuroraSpringerNovels.blogspot.com
FaceBook:
Aurora Springer
Twitter @AuroraSpringer
Google+
Aurora Springer
Wattpad,
Goodreads: Aurora Springer
