Space Opera Fans discussion

A lot of great space opera stories involve aliens, and some of them have aliens that are actual characters instead of nameless strange looking beings.

Right now I’m thinking about the rarer stories that at least sometimes use the point of view of a specific alien or multiple specific aliens.

One such is Pandora's Legions by Christopher Anvil. Roughly half the time the POV character is one of the aliens (several different ones) and the rest of the POV characters are human.

It’s been a long time since I’ve reread Footfall by Larry Niven but there were scenes in it that had a POV of an alien, though most of it was various humans.

Can you think of any more recent books?

Hmm, alien POV *and* Space Opera? I’m not sure I’ve read a lot of those. Maybe Legion of the Damned, but I don’t recall enjoying it all that much.

A more recent one is The Three-Body Problem, but I wouldn’t call it Space Opera. It’s certainly SO-adjacent, but the majority of it takes place on Earth.

Besides Footfall, Niven has quite a few, such as The World of Ptavvs and Protector.

David Brin’s Uplift books probably fill the bill, but it’s been so long since I’ve read them that I don’t recall which ones I’d slot into Space Opera. Some are more Planetary Romance, such as the one where a ship is marooned on a water world.

Some of my favorite alien POV books aren’t Space Opera, such as A Fire Upon the Deep and Dragon's Egg. But they’re close, so I’d recommend them to those who enjoy SO.

Iain M. Banks and Alan Dean Foster have some alien POV books, too. Banks is a better bet for Space Opera action. I want to say Consider Phlebas is the one that fits, but I might be thinking of Use of Weapons.

The Pride of Chanur - the entire series is told from the perspective of the felines. One of my favorites.

C.J. Cherryh has several books written from the point of view of aliens. In additiion to the Chanur series, there's the Hanan Rebellion series and the Faded Sun trilogy. Also, I haven't read it, but I would be surprised if the Foreigner series doesn't include at least occasional alien POV. I think there are also some stand alones that qualify. It was one of the things that I always found intriguing about Cherryh's work -- her ability to write from the viewpoint of the aliens.

I don’t recall if Foreigner had alien POV — you’re right in that it almost certainly did — but I will note that it is not Space Opera but rather a slightly sci-fi version of Japanese court intrigue. I was constantly reminded of Shōgun as I read it. If that’s one’s jam, have at it, but I was pretty bored by it.

I might be mistaken, but does Judas Unchained have bits of the story told from the viewpoint of the alien?

Back in the seventies someone wrote a series of books which focused on each of the three non-human lensmen who had reached the second stage. I haven't read any of them though so I am not sure if they are told from their points of view or not. I know that at least two of the old Perry Rhodan novels are told from the point of view of Atlan, who is an Arkonide.

Betsy wrote: "C.J. Cherryh I would be surprised if the Foreigner series doesn't include at least occasional alien POV."

The first few books are human-perspective only, then one alien character is introduced with a unique perspective.

The middle books might be considered Space Opera as there are spaceships, other stars, other aliens, and a small battle. However, Trike is correct that it is mostly set on one planet and the intrigue is largely political.

More books using Alien POV:
Nor Crystal Tears by Alan Dean Foster
Each book in the series Family Law by Mackey Chandler uses alien POV at least some of the time

Forget who it was but someone wrote three novels which featured the three main alien lensmen. I have one of the but haven’t read it yet so I can’t say for certain it is told from their point of view or not.

C. John wrote: "Forget who it was but someone wrote three novels which featured the three main alien lensmen. I have one of the but haven’t read it yet so I can’t say for certain it is told from their point of vie..."
I’d forgotten about those! Wikipedia says author is David Kyle. The Dragon Lensman by David A. Kyle, Lensman from Rigel, and Z-Lensman.

I believe Kyle wrote a couple of novels set in the pre-Lensman times. They were serialized in the Perry Rhodan paperback series. Unfortunately the Parry Rhodan books and Dragon Lensman are is storage.