deevulture t1_jdyuh1a wrote on March 28, 2023 at 4:42 AM

Alien (1979) goes here, but it's a film.

We need more rogue spaceship AI taking control over its human crew. Like the stuff in the soap operas mentioned in the Ancillary Justice books. Or aliens that simply do not value human life for whatever reason - either cause they're too non-human or have a different set of moral standards. People getting lost in space in a universe without any other life and having to contend with the horrific reality that they are well and truly alone.

Agree that we need more horror.

Autarch_Kade t1_je064yu wrote on March 28, 2023 at 1:53 PM

AI is so topical lately that I'm guessing we're about to be carried by an utter tidal wave of new sci-fi books with them at the forefront. Can't wait!

deevulture t1_je3bhp4 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 2:33 AM

Definitely. Expect a new wave of "evil or out-of-control" AI or "what does it mean to be human?" AI related discussion. And I don't mean that negatively. Can't wait to see what will be done.

vvarthog t1_je1211n wrote on March 28, 2023 at 5:20 PM

I love that Alien isn’t just space horror, but that the protags are trapped between that and corporate horror. “In middle management, no one can hear you scream.”

deevulture t1_je3b6ut wrote on March 29, 2023 at 2:31 AM

scariest of horrors cause it's applicable to real life!

gnatsaredancing t1_je8u7fr wrote on March 30, 2023 at 6:54 AM

It's one of the themes of the franchise really humanity and the xenomorph are both monsters.

[deleted] t1_je5fftr wrote on March 29, 2023 at 3:25 PM

There are plenty of Alien novels (though none as good as the movie). One even has a lost episode of Ripley waking up between going to sleep and being found by deep space salvagers. There's also a William Gibson treatment of a script for the 3rd movie that was re-published maybe last year. Other than that I would recommend the closest thing being cosmic horror (Annihilation, Lovecraft), and space opera (Iain M. Banks Culture series).