I've decided to start posting about books that have had some kind of influence on me. They might be novels, short story collections, non-fiction books on writing, politics, or books that have just had some kind of emotional impact on me. These will be posted at infrequent intervals...just pretty much whenever I feel like posting them...but it might be a nice break from all of the promotional posts.
This is a book that is an almost must-have for any science fiction authors that want to write about aliens, because let's face it, science fiction readers love to catch authors up in mistakes they might make. There are other books on this subject, but this one is written by Stanley Schmidt and edited by Ben Bova...and any science fiction author should know that they are giants in the field, and so the book deserves some respect just for their names being on it.
The book looks at developing aliens and their societies starting with evolution and moving on from there. The book is a bit science and math heavy, but most science fiction writers should be able to understand it, since let's face it, if you're writing SF, you need to know your science.
Throughout the book, Schmidt uses examples in fiction that demonstrate the concepts he's talking about, and the book features an extensive reference listing at the end that will allow writers to dive even deeper into some of the subjects. The book was written in 1995, so some of the science is a bit dated, but that doesn't take away from the great information that the book will give you.
As a curious aside, you all know that I'm an editor as well as an author, so it shouldn't be a surprise that when I read something, I also read it with my editor's hat on, and I did catch several typos in the book. It does nothing to take away from the book, but if these can get past the likes of Stanley Schmidt and Ben Bova, then it makes me feel better about some of the typos I've missed over the years.
To pick up a copy of the book, head to https://amzn.to/42OuYhP
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