Read about another entry on the list.A Darkling Sea, by James L. Cambias
Set on the planet of Ilmatar, which is surrounded by a layer of ice a kilometer thick, this story follows a crew of human scientists as they attempt to study a sentient race of aliens that live on and around the ocean’s dark floor. A primary directive for the mission is noninterference (hello, Star Trek), but when a member of the crew inadvertently makes contact with a group of the hard-shelled aliens (who resemble beluga whales in armor) and is killed, a chain of events is set off that could spark an interstellar war with another alien race that has been monitoring humankind’s missteps on the planet. I was enamored with Cambias’s straightforward narrative, richly descriptive writing style, and the overall tone of the novel, which was reminiscent of classic Silverberg. That sense of wonder associated with most of Silverberg’s science fictional works is shared by this memorable debut.
My Book, The Movie: A Darkling Sea.
--Marshal Zeringue
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