Every so often people ask for science fiction novels with no humans at all. There are to my knowledge two: Cherryh’s Legacy of Chanur, in which there are no onstage humans, though a human is a significant character in the earlier books in the series, and John Brunner’s The Crucible of Time. You’d think there would be more than that—no doubt I’ve missed some.
There are no humans in The Crucible of Time. Not only that, but the aliens from whose point of view the story is presented are really alien aliens. They’re evolved from something kind of like jellyfish, they have a mantle and pith inside, they maintain pressure in their tubules, they have no rigid bones. They reproduce by sexual budding. Beyond that, they’re actually clusters of different organisms, and their natural instinct is to breed something biologically rather than to make it—their tools tend to be alive. Mentally, too, they’re unusual, their unconscious mind isn’t all that unconscious, and they can slip into madness—what they call “dreamness”—if they’re starved or overwhelmed. They communicate by speech, but also partly by pheremones—people having an argument will struggle to get the upwind position, where they’ll sound more convincing. They’re really alien aliens, but I called them people, and that’s because they are also people. It’s quite amazing that Brunner makes this work, but he does.
The other great thing about the book is that it covers a huge span of time, so the characters are constantly changing. It’s not that he makes one alien point of view work, it’s that he makes it work in the seven different sections—and some of the sections have more than one point of view. You’re constantly seeing the events of previous sections reimagined as history, or even legend.
The book is about a planet that is passing through a very active section of the galaxy that’s causing ice-ages and all kinds of planetary convulsions—the book is really about how the concept of science stays alive in culture despite natural disasters over a very long time. It’s really about how the aliens get off their planet, but you wouldn’t know that, except for the prologue, as most of it is set at very low tech levels, which seem even lower because of the biological tool-using. It’s not any one idea that’s preserved despite everything, it’s the concept of science and investigation.
Some of the individual stories are better than others, and some of the characters are more distinctive and memorable. (Some of the stories appeared first in magazines, so the book can be regarded as a fix-up, but it was always intended as one novel.) There’s an odd sentimentality about some of the stories, and considering that the book was published in 1984 you’d expect there to be a better ratio of male-to-female points of view. There are female scientists, but they’re a distinct minority.
I hadn’t re-read this for ages, and retained a really vague memory that it was all aliens and disasters (which it is…) but I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Brunner was always good at making his characters feel real, and these characters, so different from humans, really do come alive. Their plights are interesting too. None of the individual characters stood out for me, which is why I hadn’t re-read it in a while, but the book really does give a very good sense of what it’s like to be that kind of alien. He also does a lot very cleverly with language, using words like “sourgas” and “watergas” and avoiding words redolent of our history.
The amazing thing about The Crucible of Time isn’t that it does an alien point of view, or a point of view of such very alien aliens, or that it covers such a huge span of time as the alien planet suffers so many disasters—it’s that it does them all together and makes it work as a coherent story. It’s fun.
Working from memory, does Tiptree’s Up the Walls of the World also fall in the category?
Robert Asprin’s Bug Wars has no humans at all
Arkessian: I don’t remember, but “Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death” definitely does.
Yeah, but “Love is…”(*) is a short story. “Up the Walls…” is a novel, but there are plenty of humans in it, even though they never physically meet the aliens.
The only other no-humans-at-all novel I can think of is the Samuel Delany one where they all think they’re humans, and find out otherwise right at the end. Title omitted for those who haven’t read it.
(* Abbreviating the title that way made me imagine the story being illustrated by whoever did all those cutesy single-panel cartoons. Yikes.)
Greg Egan’s Incandescence has the same theme and very alien protagonists – ant-like creatures in a pre-industrial society who must deal with relativistic physics.
Half of the book is about two explorers who are remote descendants of “copies” – human minds uploaded in machines – but they’re so far removed from humans that the book should fit your requirement.
And it’s a good book too!
Every so often people ask for science fiction novels with no humans at all.
This is mentioned in the rec.arts.sf.written FAQ:
@Chrysostom & fasnachtday
I immediately thought of Silverberg’s NEW SPRINGTIME books due to having a similar idea to the Delany story — in this case, a bunch of evolved simians on a far future Earth who believe they’re humans but turn out not to be.
But Stapledon’s STAR MAKER definitely has a human in it — the viewpoint character is a man who starts off sitting on a hillside on Earth and then leaves his body to roam the stars and watch other civilisations.
There aren’t any humans in Charlie Stross’ SATURN’S CHILDREN – humanity went extinct a few centuries before the story. Admittedly all the AIs come from humanity’s creative efforts.
@BruceB
I’d argue that the characters in _Saturn’s Children_ are humans, they just happen to be clankie rather than squishie (to steal Stross’ own terms).
Paul Park’s _Starbridge Chronicles_ are ambiguous as to whether the characters are human or not.
And of course there’s a long tradition in SF of writing about humans who’ve been so changed by evolution (and other forces) that they bear little resemblance to modern humans: Greg Egan’s _Schild’s Ladder_ comes to mind.
Glen Cook’s _Doomstalker_ has no human characters. The meth (the alien race of the series) meets humans at the end of book two of the trilogy, _Warlock_.
I love Crucible (and also, very similar feeling, were Rob Sawyer’s Quintaglio books, about dinosaurs on another planet going through the industrial revolution). I just reread it not too long ago as well, still love it. I wondered if it was a patch-up novel on the reread, but it still is a fun read, and the unusual bio-nature of the SF-nal technologies was so alternate I was enchanted. A shame so few people I’ve talked to have ever read it, but even though it’s won no awards or cult status, it still remains a favorite of mine, and that very cover/issue is still on my bookshelf! Thanks for reviewing and bringing attention to it, I feel a little less alone in the world LOL.
But are books with non human characters as accessible to readers? Is it harder to relate to a non human character, or do these books characterize aliens in a way that still allows the reader to connect?
Disembodied Spirit: Certainly Crucible of Time does. I can’t speak for all the others. Brunner’s aliens are really alien, but they are definitely people you can care about, without being human.
And there really wouldn’t have been any other way to tell that story.
Matt Howarth, a cartoonist I am in permanent awe of*, has a pair of characters, Konny & Czu “a pair of extraterrestrial con artists”, whose universe contains nothing anthropomorphic.
(Konny & Czu are only one reason I think it’s embarrassing that he’s never had a Hugo nomination.
I am now keeping an eye out for all titles on the rec.arts.sf list, and have found two. Just read WEEPING MAY TARRY. There are technically no humans in it. However, a reader would have to be sympathetic to a particular human institution to really enjoy this book. The cover of the original gives you a clue.
Also found CRUCIBLE OF TIME, and looking forward to reading it. These discussions of older titles are a great source for recommendations.