Hi all. I am looking for first contact science fiction stories which have a focus on communication and language acquisition – the more alien the culture, the better.
I have already read Project Hail Mary, which I enjoyed, but I'd ideally I'd like something on the harder side. I have also read Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue series where I loved the nitty-gritty linguistic details (more so than the actual plot!), but it is more focused on conlangs than actual first contact.
I am already aware of Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (and have a library hold on it!) and The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance.
I don't necessarily need something firmly totally rooted in actual science (e.g. I'm open to books that based on a much stronger version of linguistic relativity than there is any real evidence for) but I am looking for books where there is an instant or primarily technological solution to the communication barrier.
by and-dandy
2 Comments
Check out Fluency by Jennifer Fohrner Wells.
Embassytown by China Mieville gets pretty dense into linguistics and is about ambassadors trained to speak the language of the host species to the titular embassy, and what happens when their language becomes corrupted.