Reddit mentions of The Mote in God's Eye (Mote Series Book 1)

Well, Distress by Greg Egan shows society in the near future evolved to cope with significant changes in biotechnology. Although it does connect to the current society structure, it does cope with the changes that will occur because of technology.

On the other hand, the mote in God's eye by Larry Niven is a far-future story trying to describe an alien society, and how it will be different from our society because of the difference in biology and "geography" (space geography).

I HIGHLY recommend both.

First contact is a whole subgenre of scifi, and it is one of my favorites!

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In regards to your request. I have, but haven't read Artemis because it doesn't look that interesting. Rendezvous with Rama, is good, albeit kinda boring. If you like it, but wish it had more action, read Ringworld by Larry Niven.

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Here are some of my favorite first contact books (with oversimplified plot summaries):

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The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Humans discover an alien spaceship and set out to find the source.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu - Chinese centric first book in a trilogy of aliens invading. One of the best I have read in recent years. Don't want to give away too much. Features alien aliens, like in The Gods Themselves!

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A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge - Humans discover an alien race and race to be the first to make contact with them.

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Damocles by S.G. Redling - Humans discover alien life and launch an expedition to make first contact. Follows the story from the point of the humans and the aliens. Very good hard scifi, but easy to read. The language barrier is a major plot piece.

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Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Humans are looking for a new home and stumble across a planet with alien life. Trouble ensues. No spoilers here. The sequel comes out in only a couple of weeks!

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have the same problem as mentioned in the article. But! It has a very alien, alien species in the book and it's the book I point to whenever I'm asked (I have never been asked this yet) for an alien species that are truly different from humans.

Anyone else have other books that involve alien aliens? Or alien humans?

I don't think that really fits. Crazy Eddie had good ideas, they were just impractical at the time and socially disruptive.

Killing a predatory bird without considering the effect on its prey is just plain stupid.

For those who aren't getting the reference, read A Mote in God's Eye.

I'm going to suggest The Mote in God's Eye too. It has a truly imaginative and extremely inhuman take on an alien culture. Unfortunately mixed up in that is some of the most terribly drawn human characters I've ever encountered in a book.

But it is worth reading through those parts because the aliens are brilliant.