| Year |
Title |
Author |
Publication Type |
Context |
Translation Details |
Meta Tags |
Files & media
|
| 1898 |
"The War of the Worlds" |
H.G. Wells |
Novel |
Humanity's first contact with Martian invaders leads to a terrifying war. |
|
Alien war, First contact, Human survival, Martian invasion |
|
| 1951 |
"The Day of the Triffids" |
John Wyndham |
Novel |
Humanity struggles against sentient, hostile plant species after a meteor shower. |
|
First contact, Hostile plants, Human survival, Post-apocalyptic |
|
| 1953 |
"Childhood's End" |
Arthur C. Clarke |
Novel |
Peaceful alien invasion leads to humanity's evolution into a higher existence. |
|
Existential dread, Human evolution, Peaceful invasion, Utopia |
|
| 1959 |
"The Sirens of Titan" |
Kurt Vonnegut |
Novel |
Aliens manipulate humanity for their own ends, exploring existentialism and free will. |
|
Alien manipulation, Existentialism, Free will, Satire |
|
| 1961 |
"Solaris" |
Stanislaw Lem |
Novel |
Humans attempt to communicate with an alien intelligence manifesting as a living ocean. |
|
Alien intelligence, Communication, Living ocean, Mystery |
|
| 1969 |
"The Andromeda Strain" |
Michael Crichton |
Novel |
A deadly extraterrestrial microorganism threatens humanity's survival. |
|
Biological threat, Extraterrestrial microorganism, Scientific response, Thriller |
|
| 1969 |
"The Left Hand of Darkness" |
Ursula K. Le Guin |
Novel |
A human envoy interacts with an androgynous society on a distant planet. |
|
Androgyny, Cultural exchange, First contact, Gender |
|
| 1972 |
"The Gods Themselves" |
Isaac Asimov |
Novel |
Humanity contacts beings from a parallel universe, causing scientific and existential crises. |
|
Alien intelligence, Crisis, Parallel universe, Scientific discovery |
|
| 1973 |
"Rendezvous with Rama" |
Arthur C. Clarke |
Novel |
A giant alien spacecraft enters the solar system, and humans investigate. |
|
Alien spacecraft, Exploration, Mystery |
|
| 1974 |
"The Mote in God's Eye" |
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle |
Novel |
First contact with a highly intelligent, expansionist alien species. |
|
Adversarial aliens, Expansionism, Intelligence |
|
| 1974 |
"The Dispossessed" |
Ursula K. Le Guin |
Novel |
Physicist from an anarchist society explores the paradoxical complexities of architecting societies for the better. |
Originally in English for New York: HarperCollins; translations available in Spanish, French, German, and Japanese |
Anarchism, Existential Philosophy, Interplanetary Relations, Political, Utopia |
|
| 1980 |
"Dragon's Egg" |
Robert L. Forward |
Novel |
Humans contact intelligent life on a neutron star. |
|
Alien life, Contact, Neutron star |
|
| 1982 |
"The Minervan Experiment" |
James P. Hogan |
Novel |
Scientists discover evidence of an ancient alien civilization on Minerva. |
|
Ancient aliens, Archaeology, Discovery |
|
| 1985 |
"Footfall" |
Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle |
Novel |
Invasion of Earth by elephant-like aliens with advanced technology. |
|
Adversarial aliens, Human survival, Invasion |
|
| 1985 |
"Rocheworld" |
Robert L. Forward |
Novel |
Exploration of a double planet and first contact with an alien species. |
|
Double planet, Exploration, Friendly aliens |
|
| 1985 |
"Ender's Game" |
Orson Scott Card |
Novel |
A young genius is trained to combat an alien insectoid race. |
|
Adversarial aliens, Insectoid, Military training |
|
| 1986 |
"Stanislaw Lem's Fiasco" |
Stanislaw Lem |
Novel |
Establishment of contact and communication with a mysterious alien planet. |
|
Alien planet, Communication, Mysterious |
|
| 1986 |
"Eifelheim" |
Michael Flynn |
Novel |
Medieval villagers encounter stranded alien visitors and attempt communication. |
|
Communication, Friendly aliens, Medieval |
|
| 1987 |
"The Uplift Series" |
David Brin |
Novel |
Humans uplift animals to sentience and encounter ancient galactic civilizations. |
|
Friendly aliens, Galactic civilizations, Uplift |
|
| 1987 |
"The Visitors" |
Clifford D. Simak |
Novel |
Mysterious visitors arrive on Earth, sparking curiosity and fear. |
|
Arrival, Curiosity, Mysterious aliens |
|
| 1987 |
"The Forge of God" |
Greg Bear |
Novel |
Humanity faces benevolent and malevolent aliens leading to Earth's destruction. |
|
Benevolent aliens, Earth destruction, Human survival, Malevolent aliens |
|
| 1987-89 |
"Xenogenesis" (Three books: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago. Published as Lilith's Brood in 2000.) |
Octavia Butler |
Novel Series |
Humans must adapt to life with an alien species that seeks to merge with them. |
|
Adaptation, Adversarial aliens, Genetic hybridization, Human survival |
|
| 1988 |
"Contact" |
Carl Sagan |
Novel |
Humanity receives a message from space and builds a machine to meet aliens. |
|
Communication, First contact, Message from space |
|
| 1991 |
"The White Queen" |
Gwyneth Jones |
Novel |
Alien invasion that leads to a complex political and cultural exchange. |
|
Alien invasion, Cultural exchange, Political |
|
| 1993 |
"Parable of the Sower" |
Octavia Butler |
Novel |
Dystopian future where a young woman leads a new religious movement. |
Originally in English and published by New York: Four Walls Eight Windows; translations available in Spanish, French, and German |
Collapse, Dystopian future, Human survival, Religion |
|
| 1996 |
"The Sparrow" |
Mary Doria Russell |
Novel |
A Jesuit missionary leads an expedition to an alien planet, with tragic results. |
|
Alien planet, Jesuit missionary, Tragedy |
|
| 2000 |
"A Hymn Before Battle" |
John Ringo |
Novel |
Invasion of Earth by the Posleen, a warlike alien species. |
|
Adversarial aliens, Invasion, Military |
|
| 2000 |
"Weyland's Principia" |
David Garfinkle |
Novel |
A mathematician encounters an alien intelligence through abstract mathematical concepts. |
|
Abstract, Alien intelligence, Mathematics |
|
| 2002-8 |
"Y: The Last Man" |
Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra |
Graphic Novel |
Post-apocalyptic world with last surviving man after a mysterious plague; includes first contact with extraterrestrial beings and their influence on Earth's population. |
Originally in English; translations in multiple languages, including Spanish and French |
Extraterrestrial influence, Gender, Human survival, Post-apocalyptic |
|
| 2005 |
"Agent to the Stars" |
John Scalzi |
Novel |
A Hollywood agent is hired to introduce a friendly alien species to humanity. |
|
Comic treatment, Friendly aliens, Introduction |
|
| 2006 |
"Blindsight" |
Peter Watts |
Novel |
A crew investigates an alien signal and encounters a non-sentient alien species. |
|
Alien signal, Investigation, Non-sentient aliens |
|
| 2010 |
"Gravity's Whispers" |
Gregory Benford |
Short Story |
Nature 466 (July): 406. https://doi.org/10.1038/466406a |
|
|
|
| 2011 |
"Anomaly" |
Peter Cawdron |
Novel |
First contact with an alien species hidden on Earth, exploring human-alien interactions. |
|
Alien interactions, Complexity, First contact |
|
| 2013 |
"Fire with Fire" |
Charles E. Gannon |
Novel |
First contact with an alien species leads to geopolitical intrigue and conflict. |
|
Conflict, First contact, Geopolitical |
|
| 2015 |
"Children of Time" |
Adrian Tchaikovsky |
Novel |
Humans encounter a civilization of uplifted spiders on a distant planet. |
|
Alien civilization, Distant planet, Uplifted species |
|
| 2018-2020 |
"The Semiosis Trilogy" |
Sue Burke |
Novel |
Multi-generational exploration of sentience, focusing on alien plant life. |
|
Alien plants, Generational, Sentience |
|
| 2017 |
"Luna" |
Ian McDonald |
Novel |
Moon colonisation narrative with elements of first contact within a futuristic, multicultural society. |
|
Lunar Colonisation, Multi-cultural Futures |
|
| 2021 |
"A Desolation Called Peace" |
Arkady Martine |
Novel |
Humans must negotiate with an incomprehensible alien species to avoid war. |
|
Avoid war, Incomprehensible aliens, Negotiation |
|
| 2021 |
"Project Hail Mary" |
Andy Weir |
Novel |
A lone astronaut must cooperate with an alien to save their planets. |
|
Astronaut, Cooperative aliens, Planetary crisis |
|