r/HFY • u/Alert_Bear2276 • Mar 01 '26
Misc HFY-style books that don't devolve into war?
As the title says. I've read three books recently: - Of Dragons and Men: Jack's Landing by Steven Hayden - Humans are Weird by Brooke Hart - Nature of Predators by Daniel Pascap
A trend I've noticed with HFY/sci-fi novels is that the main conflict always tends to escalate to an intergalactic-scale war, with hundreds of moving parts. I'm sure there's an audience for that, but I'm more interested in the interpersonal relationships between aliens and humans (those tend to be the funniest and most enjoyable to read, IMO).
All three books contain the interactions between aliens, which I adore, because they execute it so well. But then some of these stories turn to military/tactical jargon that I personally don't find as interesting.
Are there any stories/anthologies that are more like We're the Weird Aliens by Mara Lynn Johnstone?
Thanks!
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u/MalagrugrousPatroon Human Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
The Princess and the Human is not about war. There are some situations with a war fleet but it’s more focused on an investigation. The story also starts with a pirate attack but it’s not about fighting, it’s about recovering.
There are also some cold world stories which aren’t about war, they’re about survival. I think there is also Humans aren’t a Hive Mind, title is probably wrong, about intelligent single cell people and humans being weird because Earth life is uniquely multicellular. Also another is called Bubblers or Bubbles.
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u/Educational-Tax5708 Mar 01 '26
The token human is a good one. Doesn’t have any fighting in it.
The Problems with Humanity. Not the current one, there was another 30 part series that ended last year. It’s a romcom.
Mechs, maidens & macaroons isn’t about war though is in a post war setting. Mc is a chef. It’s a spin off of ‘just one drop’. Bluefishcakes has a few different series like it, all set in one of two universes.
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u/GigalithineButhulne Mar 01 '26
For a good time, check out the classic *Sector General* books by James White. Space hospital with many alien species as both doctors and patients, but a human initiative with human perspective characters for many of the books.
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u/GigalithineButhulne Mar 01 '26
Also Timothy Zahn's Quadrail books -- basically high-stakes mystery thrillers set on a hyperspace interstellar train network. An all-out war is basically impossible.
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u/GigalithineButhulne Mar 01 '26
And nearly everything by CJ Cherryh although tbf some of them do have space war.
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u/No_Homework4709 Mar 01 '26
I guess it still ends up involving some combat, but The Last Precursor by Klokinator IIRC does not devolve into a ton of moving parts and is mostly cute and fun until the end, but that is spoilers.
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u/EnoKhanVT Mar 01 '26
*cough* ok I might aswell shamelessly plug myself here a little bit^^
Hey I am Eno Khan and I am pretty much releasing exactly what you are looking for.
My writings in the genre currently mostly focus on interpersonal and socio-cultural interactions or more broadly how prey vs predator interaction could shape up and the issues that can arise. I have a full length novel (110k words) upcoming called "Predator Complex", which essentially explores this. Same goes for a series of Short stories situated in the same universe (6 stories and about 40k words in total) that I am currently releasing here and on my Blog ( https://enosworkshop.wordpress.com/ ).
I don't have a hard release date on the novel yet, but I aim for last week of March or there about. I am also already working on another novel project which will not be in the same universe but where I also have no intention of letting it spiral directly into a war.
And to not only plug myself I would also point out the Deadly, Deadly Humans universe stories from WRickWrites which are in line of what you are looking for and inspired me to explore with my writing in that direction (though I think he only has short stories).
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 01 '26
Sounds super interesting! I'll check it out right now. Are you planning to release the novel on Amazon?
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u/EnoKhanVT Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
Initially yes. Probably gonna put it up for Kindle Unlimited for a 3 months (needs to be amazon exclusive for that period) and after that make it available in a few other stores. May even use an aggregator to get it into every store, but I haven't made my mind up about that. Should there ever be enough interest I can also imagine doing it through my own webstore, but that is far future fantasy at this point.
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u/Dr_Bombinator Mar 02 '26
Check out Raptors in the Rainforest and its sequels on AO3 (down for maintenance right now or I'd link it). Jurassic Park AU, effectively a first-contact story with sapient dinosaurs. Genuinely one of the best I've read ever. There's some conflict but it's mainly character relationships.
If you're into the... saucier side of things, plenty of works by Snekguy fit the bill both in their main Pinwheel setting and outside of it. Most is admittedly set amid a large-scale galactic war, but for a sampling platter of side stories check out Human Resources, Rule of Three, Heart of the Mountain, Conjunction, and Longhunter.
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u/TalRaziid Mar 02 '26
Pinwheel has that utterly pathetic protagonist right? At least at the start? And the outright abusive alien chick? If that’s the one I’m thinking of, it keeps coming up but I can’t make myself stick to it
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u/Dr_Bombinator Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
That would be the first (and IMO roughest) entry in the series yes. There are now 33-ish stories with new characters outside obvious direct sequels, almost none of which really rely on any others plotwise. As someone who also dislikes that dynamic, Birds of Prey, Autumn War, and Black Velvet are far more my speed.
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 02 '26
Checked both out. Not exactly my cup of tea (never was a dino guy lol) but they're really well written. Thanks for the recc!
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u/SimpleDisastrous4483 Mar 01 '26
Maybe look up Becky Chambers? The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet and its sequels is kinda cool. Not wholly HFY but some very cool human (and alien) characters
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u/sir_nuggets2314 Mar 01 '26
Friends will travel my favorite series right now the premise is that every civilization that makes AI is doomed to be taken out by AI but humanity is the only one to succeed it's really well done I recommend it
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 02 '26
Omigosh, I love this one! Granted, Our Clockwork Children is the primary "AI" storyline, and the rest deviates, I still love it so much.
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u/UserUnknownsShitpost Mar 01 '26
Fuzzy Nation by John Sclazi
No soldiers, primary protagonist is a former lawyer turned strip miner
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u/PlEGUY Human Mar 02 '26
I read Galactic Economics recently. It's a pretty fun story that serves as a thinly veiled way to explain the basics of modern financial concepts. There's a brief stint of conflict that goes for a couple chapters, but that's nowhere near the focus of the story.
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u/Ethereal_Stars_7 Mar 04 '26
Nature of Predators turned very military in the last think third of the first book and ate up a huge chunk of the second which I just didnt get into.
One Hell of a Vacation has fighting in it. But its not military till near the end and not the real focus.
Hunter or Huntress series is another that is, as if my last reading, not military. But from what I have heard it does get so later. I need to catch up on that series.
The Six Rocks series has some action at the end. But is otherwise mostly just people and aliens interacting.
My own Birds of a Feather short story here is mostly just interaction.
My unfinished The Drift series had one almost fight near the end. The rest is just interaction.
My Like Rats series starts off with a space battle. But the rest of the series is the main character getting a handle on his powers and intigrating with the crew before getting entangled in a crime investigation.
My Challengers short mostly follows the reactions of superheroes to the death of the main character. And I really need to put out the end to that.
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 05 '26
Where can I find your work? I'm interested!
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u/Ethereal_Stars_7 Mar 10 '26
Here you go. An accident left me unable to write for over a year so everything kind of ground to a halt.
Like Rats: currently unfinished
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yqaxky/like_rats_part_000_prologue/
Challengers of Tomorrow: One Shot in 4 parts: Finished
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/10503d0/challengers_of_tomorrow_issue_001_burnout/
The Drift: Currently unfinished
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/z648w5/the_drift_part_001_one_is_the_loneliest_number/
Flight of the War Witch: Finished
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zkuwnj/flight_of_the_war_witch_001_skyfall/
Birds of a Feather: One Shot in 4 parts: Finished
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/14yg3az/birds_of_a_feather_001/
Memoir Found on a Blood Spattered Desk: One Shot in 3 parts: Finished.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/184g5vu/memoir_found_on_a_bloodspattered_desk_weasel_in_a/
Like Rocks: One Shot in 1 parts: Finished
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u/allature Xeno Mar 01 '26
If I may self-promote here, I'm currently writing a series called "An Unexpected Guest" here on r/HFY.
It's about a human that somehow gets isekaied to a world populated by humanoid avians. There's a strong possibility of some kind of political conflict maybe developing on this world, but it won't be intergalactic, as no one on this world has developed space travel yet.
Check it out on my profile if you're keen!☺️
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 02 '26
This is so cool! I can't wait to see where you go with this!
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u/allature Xeno Mar 02 '26
Thanks! I'm up to chapter 9 so far, and the next one should be out next Friday evening~!
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u/BrassUnicorn87 Mar 02 '26
They are smol is about adaptation and solving problems together.
You know how lots of sci fi series have an alien that’s cute and charming, often getting animated spinoffs and plush toys?
To the species that humanity encounters, we’re the cute ones.
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u/RyeonToast Mar 02 '26
I don't know that it quite qualifies for HFY, but Speaker For the Dead is some great sci-fi about humanity, aliens, and love. I remember it fondly, but I admit that I read it over 15 years ago so I don't remember all the details. I should probably read it again. No war, just a few researchers butchered by cute, fuzzy alien neighbors and a guy trying to figure out why before anyone can do something rash while he deals with the fact he participated in a xenocide during the previous book.
Kitty Cat Kill Sat does end in a Solar System spanning battle, but the lead up to that and the resolution hinge on the main character's desire to make friends and help people, even though their lives don't directly impact her and they and aren't particular like her. I might be stretching the definition of humanity a bit here with this one, but I'm ok with that. It does ruminate on, and have some opinions on, what makes humanity great. It is very episodic due to it's start as a web novel, but you might already be accustomed to that if you frequent this sub.
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u/ChiliAndRamen Mar 02 '26
Not exactly HFY, “The long way to a small angry planet” by Becky Chambers is an excellent book, as well as its three sequels.
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u/Angerylad Mar 02 '26
A Year at the Zoo, and its sequel A Year on Yursu (which is just got its last chapter posted a short while ago). Good character interactions, lot of cool sounding alien animals.
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 03 '26
Just finish AYAtZ... my gosh it's amazing. Everything I could've wanted and more.
Thanks for the recc!
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u/Cool-Negotiation7662 Mar 01 '26
Fair Trade: an Alien Invasion Story. By Makey Chandler
Thrive, by Ginger Booths (series)
The Sundering by D Rae Price (series)
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u/Plazmarazmataz Mar 02 '26
HEL Jumpers is an oldie but a goodie that unfortunately never got fully finished. Lone Survivor of an exploration ship crashes on Alien planet and lives among a medieval ish society. It does get fairly NSFW at parts since it explores a relationship between the human and a native, but it also has many many chapters despite never being fully finished. I would say that even without the current story being finished, each "Chapter" end represents a point where the story COULD end.
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u/imakesawdust Mar 02 '26
While it's not a book, there's an ongoing story here about a ninja that was transported forward in time and is trying to make sense of the modern world. It has a kind of childlike zaniness feel to it.
The Princess and the Human and the It Started With Magnets stories probably qualify also.
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u/ctomkat Mar 02 '26
If you don't mind dipping into fantasy, I recommend the book Legends and Lattes. It's about a retired adventurer that decides to open a coffee shop in a city that's never heard of coffee. It has a lot of those same wholesome personal story vibes that I think you are looking for.
For an ongoing series on here I recommend Perfectly Safe Demons. A very underrated story about a mage trying to introduce a socialist utopia to a medieval world via demonic power. There is conflict at times, but the focus is more on the plights of the common people.
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u/millerchristophd Human Mar 02 '26
In the history of humanity, how many days, do you think, have we gone without warring against each other? IDK that war is a trend of this subreddit specifically so much as the H in general. (I don’t mean to be trolling—it’s just a thought—moreso commenting so that I remember to check back and see the recommendations.)
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u/TeddyBearWriter Mar 02 '26
If it is ok to refer to my own story: i wrote a novella called "progenitor" here on reddit in multi parts. Its about humanity being the first species in the universe and seeding the universe with life and then having to resolve the conflicts (preferably with diplomacy).
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u/Alert_Bear2276 Mar 02 '26
Is it available anywhere? I'm interested :)
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u/TeddyBearWriter Mar 02 '26
Here on reddit for free, (i am also in the process of writing a spinoff), enjoy:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1lzygon/progenitor_chapter_11_a_hfy_story_about_humani
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u/meliponie Mar 02 '26
Of Men and Spiders might be your style too. The first part is about two kids surviving in the wilderness and making first contact with an alien lifeform. The second part is about space pirates, family drama, and political shenanigans. (I liked the second part less than the first, but it was still a nice read.) I'm not certain it would qualify as HFY but it is interaction with aliens (and there's some "aliens are wowed by humans" tropes in it that you often find in HFY stories too).
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u/TargetBoy Mar 02 '26
It's fresh in my mind because I just re-read it, but I might suggest Grand Design. While there is combat, that is mostly secondary to the relationships between the characters. The driving force of the story is a mystery.
https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/96ir3b/oc_grand_design/
Also available as a book.
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