Searching for recomendation: humans finding a new world.

N

Nightfolk

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Hi,

Since I read Titan by John Varley I fell in love about the idea of humans landing in an unknown planet.

I've search tons of titles but I could'nt find another book with this subject, it couldn't be so hard to find :(

Then im asking if you, enlightened minds have read or seen anything about books with this plot: Humans landing in a new different world.

I've already read: Ringworld and Voyage to Arcturus.

Thanks in advance, and also, sorry for my bad english.
 
I quite enjoyed Legacy of Heorot and its sequel by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes which is about colonizing a new planet.


I think Midworld by Alan Dean Foster is a little off target for what you are looking for but is about an alien world and humans first arriving there. The world itself is exceptionally well envisioned and I really enjoyed it.


I know there are more but these are the 2 that popped into my head.
 
Yes, first planetfall (and first contact) is a favourite theme in SF, whether planned (McCaffrey dragonsdawn), essentially shipwrecked (Marion Zimmer Bradley, Darkover landfall) or unintentional (C. S. Lewis, out of the silent planet and Perelandra) they continue a long sequence of exploratory works, including the Odessey and Gulliver's travels. Though I cannot promise processions of Sousa-playing centaurs in many of them.

I take it you require inhabitants; merely first footfall on scenery is not enough?
 
Some works include first landings as part of the story but not the whole point. A fairly obvious one is The Mote in God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle.

I think it's a good idea to distinguish between first landings on worlds with life but no intelligent life, and "first contact" stories. But in any case, as has already been said both are very common themes.
 
Warning: shameless self promotion

I just released a novella about a traveler summoned to an alien planet by a friend who finds herself trapped there. It's called Beautiful Zurt.
 
Anne McCaffrey - Decision at Doona - first contact novel.

Hellspark - Janet Kagan - expedition to a planet.


Quite a few Star Trek spin-off novels - are you into Star Trek?
 
Very thanks for all the recomendations, I ordered some of the books posted here and will continue monitoring this thread.

:D


The last books I've read and loved:

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (And all others from the Rama serie);
Aeon - Greg Bear;
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson.

Also, any other simmilar to those above will be very welcome.
 
You liked the Rama sequels? I don't think I can help you;) . Not that the first one isn't great.

But that's the inverse situation – ET come here. I can dig round my shelves and put up a list of those, too (I was expecting lots more people to put 'new planet' suggestions).

I trust you read the rest of the Varley trilogy?
 
Minorsage said:
Warning: shameless self promotion

I just released a novella about a traveler summoned to an alien planet by a friend who finds herself trapped there. It's called Beautiful Zurt.
Click to expand...

I had a look, the novella sounds great, Minorsage;)!
I did write a 'landing' novel in another world, but it is not published and it is in French.

By far, my favorite kind of stories, with space exploration, pure escapism!
 
Learning The World by Ken McLeod is about a generation ship's first contact and earned numerous nominations.


A recent favourite, Dark Eden by Chris Beckett deals with three people crash landing on a planet and the society that grows three generations later. It's gritty, with very imaginative world-building.
 
Would finding another universe do?:D

If so, Michael Moorcock's The Blood Red Game (a.k.a. The Sundered Worlds) might be of interest.

And, as many have pointed out, it is a long-standing theme in sf, both novels and shorter works. You may find the following a good place to start:

First contact (science fiction) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An odd but interesting one to look up is the anthology Medea: Harlan's World, edited by Harlan Ellison. It centers around a symposium of science fiction writers working together to devise a world and then exploring that world through their individual stories. Not only are the stories included, but massive amounts of the various conferences and the like are transcribed as well, so that the reader can see the creative process at work on this theme....
 
I'm currently reading Allen Steele's Coyote and it fits the bill perfectly; humans first journey to and exploration of a new (non solar system) planet. I'm enjoying it so far.
 
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