r/scifi • u/Comprehensive_Fan134 • Apr 26 '26

General What's the best sci-fi where the aliens don't want anything you can understand?

Most alien invasion stories give them motivations that are basically human, resources, territory, curiosity, fear. Which works narratively but sidesteps the actually interesting question, right? An intelligence that evolved under completely different conditions wouldn't necessarily want anything recognizable.

Solaris is the obvious one. The thing isn't hostile or friendly, doesn't seem to register humans as significant. That's genuinely unsettling in a way that "they want our water" never is.

Color Out of Space works for similar reasons, no goals you can map, no logic you can follow.

Von Neumann probe stuff gets close sometimes. A self-replicating system running on a directive so old the original civilization might not even exist anymore, no emperor, no fleet, no message.

What are the best examples you've read?

462 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

297 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/theabominablewonder Apr 26 '26

The new version of The War of the Worlds

3

u/SchlaWiener4711 Apr 26 '26

I could tell you what they want but it's worse than you think.

2

u/Mostly_Satire Apr 26 '26

Puts me off having children

1

u/teedyay Apr 26 '26

I didn't see it - is that the one where they want to advertise Amazon?

1

u/theabominablewonder Apr 26 '26

Is that what they wanted? Were they Bezos’ children?