Suggestions for stories featuring nonhuman main characters?
September 22, 2010 10:57 AM Subscribe
Anyone know good examples of stories with nonhuman points of view? Bonus points for having no human characters at all.
I'm currently looking for strong examples of fiction told from the point of view of a nonhuman. Animal main characters, mythical beasts, aliens, etc. Anything nonhuman works, and I want to steer away from stories that are primarily about the creature's relationship with humans. I'm hungry for foreign perspectives without a lot of comparisons.
Examples I've enjoyed so far:
A Whisper of Wings by Paul Kidd
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker
There's a lot to be found aimed at kids (that's how I found Silverwing), but I'd like to avoid children's stories. The reading understandably tends to be too light there. Still, if the point of view is well done, I'll give it a shot.
No need to keep it books. Short stories, poems, and any other written medium would be awesome. Thanks!
I'm currently looking for strong examples of fiction told from the point of view of a nonhuman. Animal main characters, mythical beasts, aliens, etc. Anything nonhuman works, and I want to steer away from stories that are primarily about the creature's relationship with humans. I'm hungry for foreign perspectives without a lot of comparisons.
Examples I've enjoyed so far:
A Whisper of Wings by Paul Kidd
Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker
There's a lot to be found aimed at kids (that's how I found Silverwing), but I'd like to avoid children's stories. The reading understandably tends to be too light there. Still, if the point of view is well done, I'll give it a shot.
No need to keep it books. Short stories, poems, and any other written medium would be awesome. Thanks!
"After I Was Thrown In the River and Before I Drowned" - Dave Eggers.
posted by julthumbscrew at 11:02 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by julthumbscrew at 11:02 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
Robert Sheckley's "Specialist" is a good one. Try to get a copy before reading the full wikipedia entry that I linked to, which contains spoilers.
posted by googly at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by googly at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
Victor Pelevin has a short story (translated in The Yellow Arrow, I think) called "The Life and Adventures of Shed Number XII," which is a kind of Buddhist Bildungsroman about, well, a shed.
posted by nasreddin at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nasreddin at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
Bambi, A Life in the Woods.
Are anthropomorphic animals also out? If not, there's the whole Redwall series.
Watership Down and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH may be too close to the line. And, heh, Animal Farm, but that doesn't really adhere to the spirit of your question at all.
posted by jedicus at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
Are anthropomorphic animals also out? If not, there's the whole Redwall series.
Watership Down and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH may be too close to the line. And, heh, Animal Farm, but that doesn't really adhere to the spirit of your question at all.
posted by jedicus at 11:03 AM on September 22, 2010
Skepticism, Inc. is told from the point of view of an artificially intelligent shopping cart. And it's a great book in the humanist tradition.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:05 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:05 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy is told from the point of view of African elephants.
posted by barney_sap at 11:11 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by barney_sap at 11:11 AM on September 22, 2010
More seriously, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.
posted by mazola at 11:13 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by mazola at 11:13 AM on September 22, 2010
"Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death" by Alice Sheldon / James Tiptree Jr.
"Detritus Affected" by David Brin, maybe, albeit it in a way that's somewhat orthogonal to your apparent intent. (See my AskMetaFilter question about it from way back.) Also one of my favorite SF novels, Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker, also orthogonal to your possible intent.
Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
The second third of Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves.
Larry Niven's Mote series.
Edwin Abbott's Flatland.
Lots of SF and fantasy stuff to choose from, really, if those genres appeal to you, especially if "humanoid alien" isn't too close to "human" for your tastes.
posted by gerryblog at 11:16 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
"Detritus Affected" by David Brin, maybe, albeit it in a way that's somewhat orthogonal to your apparent intent. (See my AskMetaFilter question about it from way back.) Also one of my favorite SF novels, Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker, also orthogonal to your possible intent.
Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
The second third of Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves.
Larry Niven's Mote series.
Edwin Abbott's Flatland.
Lots of SF and fantasy stuff to choose from, really, if those genres appeal to you, especially if "humanoid alien" isn't too close to "human" for your tastes.
posted by gerryblog at 11:16 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles by Kij Johnson
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2010
I was coming in to suggest Watership Down and the James Tiptree, Jr. story, but ericb and gerryblog respectively beat me to it, respectively, so I'll add Ursula K. Le Guin's Catwings series (sweet juvenile – but not children's – science fiction/fantasy about winged cats) and The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (a not at all sweet novel told from the perspective of two dogs that have escaped from an animal research laboratory in rural England).
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by infinitywaltz at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2010
Response by poster: Wow, you guys are fast.
@mazola: Haha, I guess I did ask for foreign perspectives.
Anthropomorphics definitely work for me. So would inanimate objects (and thus possibly robots) which I didn't even originally think of. Humanoid aliens also fit the bill, though I do warn I'm biased against most variations of elves. Awesome suggestions so far! Lots of good stuff to look into.
posted by vienaragis at 11:23 AM on September 22, 2010
@mazola: Haha, I guess I did ask for foreign perspectives.
Anthropomorphics definitely work for me. So would inanimate objects (and thus possibly robots) which I didn't even originally think of. Humanoid aliens also fit the bill, though I do warn I'm biased against most variations of elves. Awesome suggestions so far! Lots of good stuff to look into.
posted by vienaragis at 11:23 AM on September 22, 2010
George Orwell's Animal Farm comes to mind.
posted by Sculthorpe at 11:24 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Sculthorpe at 11:24 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Vampires? The Anne Rice books--Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned..there's a ton of them.
posted by AuntieRuth at 11:25 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by AuntieRuth at 11:25 AM on September 22, 2010
The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr by E.T.A. Hoffmann
posted by moxiequz at 11:28 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by moxiequz at 11:28 AM on September 22, 2010
Code of the Lifemaker by James P. Hogan.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 11:35 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Confess, Fletch at 11:35 AM on September 22, 2010
The Fox and the Hound was originally a novel, though it has more human involvement than the animated version. Unlike the animated movie, it is intensely depressing.
posted by jedicus at 11:40 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by jedicus at 11:40 AM on September 22, 2010
I would also have recommended Jonathan Livingston Seagull
posted by Biru at 11:40 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Biru at 11:40 AM on September 22, 2010
A comic book: We3
Seriously a masterpiece of taking on a totally alien perspective.
posted by cmoj at 11:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [4 favorites]
Seriously a masterpiece of taking on a totally alien perspective.
posted by cmoj at 11:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [4 favorites]
Fantastic Mr. Fox? It has human characters, but the POV is the foxes'.
posted by misterbrandt at 11:46 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by misterbrandt at 11:46 AM on September 22, 2010
A Canadian woman wrote the first best seller of this genre in 1873; it's interesting although much about the dog's view of life with humans, Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders.
posted by Anitanola at 11:51 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Anitanola at 11:51 AM on September 22, 2010
Gaspode, a dog, is one of the main characters in some of the Discworld books.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:52 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:52 AM on September 22, 2010
I recommend Martin Hocke's The Ancient Solitary Reign and The Lost Domain. They're not written for kids, they're written from the perspective of owls, and there's not much mention of humans if I recall correctly.
I can't help but recommend the following book too, although it IS a children's book - The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler. Very charming, and while the story's setup will feel like a familiar trope, it took a completely different turn than what I was expecting/what I'm used to reading in books for children of that age. I'm also a fan of Tor Seidler's first book, A Rat's Tale. Another charming children's book that I'd still recommend, although it does deal with animal-human interaction for a big part of the plot.
posted by Squee at 11:54 AM on September 22, 2010
I can't help but recommend the following book too, although it IS a children's book - The Wainscott Weasel by Tor Seidler. Very charming, and while the story's setup will feel like a familiar trope, it took a completely different turn than what I was expecting/what I'm used to reading in books for children of that age. I'm also a fan of Tor Seidler's first book, A Rat's Tale. Another charming children's book that I'd still recommend, although it does deal with animal-human interaction for a big part of the plot.
posted by Squee at 11:54 AM on September 22, 2010
E. E. Knight's Age of Fire series is all written from the POV of dragons. The first three follow three hatchlings as their courses diverge in life. I really enjoyed how he captured the alienness of their consciousness.
posted by bookdragoness at 11:57 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by bookdragoness at 11:57 AM on September 22, 2010
Oh yeah, the graphic novel The Pride of Baghdad also fits the bill!
posted by Squee at 12:03 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Squee at 12:03 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Since you opened the door to robots, I have to recommend John Sladek's Roderick books, about a robot who desperately wants to be human even if that turns out not to be all it's cracked up to be.
posted by JaredSeth at 12:23 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by JaredSeth at 12:23 PM on September 22, 2010
This is a section in the rec.arts.sf.written FAQ (remember Usenet?):
posted by Chrysostom at 12:23 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Suggestions so far include:Sorry, some repeats there. I loved "The Crucible of Time" as a kid.
Robert Asprin's BUG WARS
John Brunner's CRUCIBLE OF TIME
Mary Caraker's WATERSONG
Arthur C. Clarke's "Second Dawn"
Samuel R. Delany's EINSTEIN INTERSECTION
Diane E. Gallagher's ALIEN DARK (mostly)
Raymond F. Jones & Lester del Rey's WEEPING MAY TARRY
Ross Rocklynne's SUN DESTROYERS
H. Beam Piper's FIRST CYCLE
Robert J. Sawyer's "Quintaglio" Trilogy: FAR-SEER, FOSSIL HUNTER,
and FOREIGNER
Robert Silverberg's AT WINTER'S END and THE NEW SPRINGTIME
Olaf Stapledon's STAR MAKER and NEBULA MAKER
James Tiptree's "Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death
posted by Chrysostom at 12:23 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, and I hesitate to suggest these since they are probably crap no matter how much I enjoyed them as a teen, but Jack L. Chalker's Well World series (that's the first book in the link) concerns itself with humans who are transformed into other kinds of creatures (which seems to be a bit of a fixation with Mr. Chalker).
posted by JaredSeth at 12:34 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by JaredSeth at 12:34 PM on September 22, 2010
Well, would you consider William Golding's The Inheritors? The main characters are Neanderthals.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:45 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:45 PM on September 22, 2010
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki. Early 20th C Japanese comedy of manners narrated by the house cat.
posted by clerestory at 12:56 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by clerestory at 12:56 PM on September 22, 2010
The grandfather of all stories with non-human characters is Needle by Hal Clement. I read it years ago and it's stuck in my mind ever since. The non-human characters are totally non-human, but they think and talk with modern human minds and vocabularies. Still, it's something you should start with.
Asimov's Let There Be Light is another great one, this time with a conscious computer.
posted by KRS at 1:04 PM on September 22, 2010
Asimov's Let There Be Light is another great one, this time with a conscious computer.
posted by KRS at 1:04 PM on September 22, 2010
Oops. The Asimov story title is The Last Question. The link is good.
posted by KRS at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by KRS at 1:05 PM on September 22, 2010
Beem, by Gavriil Troyepolsky (dog narrator)
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, by Steven Sherrill
posted by booth at 1:35 PM on September 22, 2010
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, by Steven Sherrill
posted by booth at 1:35 PM on September 22, 2010
Amberville - a detective story where all the characters are stuffed animals
The following all have human characters, but an animal as the main character:
A Dog About Town is a detective story told by a dog's point of view.
Traveller, A story told from the perspective of Robert E. Lee's horse.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, a story of a family told by a dog
posted by parakeetdog at 1:55 PM on September 22, 2010
The following all have human characters, but an animal as the main character:
A Dog About Town is a detective story told by a dog's point of view.
Traveller, A story told from the perspective of Robert E. Lee's horse.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, a story of a family told by a dog
posted by parakeetdog at 1:55 PM on September 22, 2010
The Uplift series by David Brin.
You can jump in at either 'Startide Rising' (includes intelligent Dolphins as main point-of-view characters), or my recomendation, 'The Uplift War' (rotates between intelligent Chimpanzee, several alien species & human points of view). It's neat how the 'cultural' differences between each species are used to such good effect - family structures, arts, philosophy, etc.
For an odd little short story from Ursula Le Guin, see The Author of the Acacia Seeds.
Going a bit further than your original mandate, for an alien perspective, Octavia Butlers Xenogenesis series is great. Mostly from a human point of view, but the struggle of the humans to understand a genuinely alien point of view makes it interesting.
posted by Elysum at 3:50 PM on September 22, 2010
You can jump in at either 'Startide Rising' (includes intelligent Dolphins as main point-of-view characters), or my recomendation, 'The Uplift War' (rotates between intelligent Chimpanzee, several alien species & human points of view). It's neat how the 'cultural' differences between each species are used to such good effect - family structures, arts, philosophy, etc.
For an odd little short story from Ursula Le Guin, see The Author of the Acacia Seeds.
Going a bit further than your original mandate, for an alien perspective, Octavia Butlers Xenogenesis series is great. Mostly from a human point of view, but the struggle of the humans to understand a genuinely alien point of view makes it interesting.
posted by Elysum at 3:50 PM on September 22, 2010
Nthing "Love Is The Plan, The Plan Is Death" - there's actually a Tiptree thread open here if you're interested.
posted by Artw at 4:05 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Artw at 4:05 PM on September 22, 2010
Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.
posted by anansi at 4:08 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by anansi at 4:08 PM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was absolutely enthralled by the Redwall books as a kid. I also loved the Whalesong trilogy.
posted by hegemone at 4:45 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by hegemone at 4:45 PM on September 22, 2010
Jennie, by Paul Gallico. I read it as a child, so don't remember the details very clearly. It's possible it's too much about cats' relationships with humans for your liking.
posted by lollusc at 5:45 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by lollusc at 5:45 PM on September 22, 2010
The cat from outer space
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:17 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:17 PM on September 22, 2010
Does 'stories' mean only books, I would argue that it doesn't?
Alf
Mork and Mindy
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:19 PM on September 22, 2010
Alf
Mork and Mindy
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:19 PM on September 22, 2010
I can't believe no one's mentioned Kafka's "A Report to an Academy" yet. It's the first thing I thought of, and it is fricking amazing. As adult as a story told by an ape could possibly be, I think.
posted by felix grundy at 8:02 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by felix grundy at 8:02 PM on September 22, 2010
How about 'Abel's Island' by Wm Steig, the 'Catwings' series by Ursula K Le Guin, and 'The Cricket in Times Square' series by George Sheldon. All great read-out-loud to your kids books. And I second (third? forth?) Watership Down - excellent book.
posted by jsslz at 12:21 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jsslz at 12:21 AM on September 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Akif Pirinçci's Felidae (English subtitle: a novel of cats and murder) is a detective story where the main characters are cats. Humans are involved, but are not central characters - the cats refer to them as 'tin openers.'
Slightly more tenuously, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk has a chapter written from the perspective of a coin. However, the book is entirely about humans.
posted by smcg at 5:24 AM on September 23, 2010
Slightly more tenuously, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk has a chapter written from the perspective of a coin. However, the book is entirely about humans.
posted by smcg at 5:24 AM on September 23, 2010
Alan Dean Foster's "Nor Crystal Tears" is told from the viewpoint of an insectoid race of aliens. Opening sentence: "It's hard to be a larva."
posted by Chrysostom at 6:32 AM on September 23, 2010
posted by Chrysostom at 6:32 AM on September 23, 2010
I came in to recommend The Author of the Acacia Seeds, so, seconding Elysum.
posted by kristi at 10:11 PM on September 23, 2010
posted by kristi at 10:11 PM on September 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
White Fang by Jack London. Lots and lots of wolf in the forest, with some human interaction mixed in.
posted by chatongriffes at 11:01 AM on September 22, 2010 [3 favorites]