i’m looking for a sci-fi book that really focuses on communication with an alien civilization, but specifically with an emphasis on linguistics and how such contact could actually work. i recently read project hail mary and while i liked it, i felt like the whole communication aspect was too simplified and not really what i was hoping for
thanks in advance
by dfroog_
5 Comments
I’ve not actually read it but it may feature in Story Of Your Life which Arrival was based off? I know the movie version was very interesting vis a vis linguistics.
I mean there’s this post, if it’s helpful: https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/s/Jg4frAiqTk
Haven’t read it yet but blindsight and echopraxia by watts seems very intriguing.
Ted Chiang’s 1998 novella, “Story of Your Life” was later adapted into the 2016 film Arrival.
* The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. There’s a translator in my book club who generally doesn’t like fictional depictions of linguistics, but he said this one did a great job.
* Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany. The emphasis isn’t on communication, though.
* I second the recommendation of Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. It’s available in the anthology Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang.