Reddit reviews Aliens and Alien Societies (Science Fiction Writing Series)
We found 6 Reddit comments about Aliens and Alien Societies (Science Fiction Writing Series). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
We found 6 Reddit comments about Aliens and Alien Societies (Science Fiction Writing Series). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Catherine here: I do a lot of world building. I love that process. It's one of my favorite parts of writing.
One of the classic books on world building is still the one written by long-time Analog editor Stan Schmidt on Aliens and Alien Societies. Here is a link:
https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Societies-Science-Fiction-Writing/dp/0898797063
It's a far future topic unfortunately. In the mean time pick up a copy of Aliens and Alien Societies. It's a good beginners guide to aliens.
If you can find a writing group that fits your needs, that is probably the best place to go. If you're talking about a specific person as a resource, I would suggest finding a set of books that provides that expertise, since a person who does that with the level of expertise you would need would probably charge a fee. Unless you are able to get references from other writers, there is no guarantee that a fee-based approach would get you advice that was really helpful to you in your chosen genre.
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Two books that I find are indispensable for your world-building efforts are World Building by Stephen Gillett (https://www.amazon.com/World-Building-Science-Fiction-Writing-Stephen/dp/158297134X) and Aliens and Alien Societies by Stanley Schmidt and Ben Bova (https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Societies-Science-Fiction-Writing/dp/0898797063/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542787506&sr=1-1&keywords=aliens+and+alien+societies).
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Best of luck!
http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Societies-Science-Fiction-Writing/dp/0898797063
> What was the name of the book?
Sorry just saw this. Not sure if you meant the alien or D&D book, but here's both.
AD&D World Builder's Guidebook (mine had a plain blue cover, when their different guidebooks/handbooks first came out in the early 90s, like The Complete Book of Villains, Complete Book of Necromancers, Sages & Specialists, Complete Ninja Handbook, etc). The Villains one was great since it was all about creating a memorable villain for campaigns, e.g. the joker to the players' batman, batmen, batpeople, whatever. The WBG was all about how to develop a world that is consistent and believable in terms of weather patterns, climate, geography, etc to aid suspension of disbelief.
The other was Aliens & Alien Societies, it was very good, how to make a hard sci fi alien race.
Combine the two and its a killer combination IMO.
This is a pretty good book on that sort of thing: https://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Societies-Science-Fiction-Writing/dp/0898797063/