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Embassytown

You'll enjoy these titles because: Looking for more books that explore alien languages, deep space exploration, or first (and ongoing) extra terrestrial contact? Check out these similar reads!

User from Grand Rapids Public Library

20 items

  • Project Hail Mary

    Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Included

    Bryant, Brooks
    "I thought there was no way this book would even come close to Weir's other notable novel, "The Martian," but dare I say, this book is better. To say why I loved this book would be a huge spoiler, so you'll just have to trust me when I say you're…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2023[United States] : Findaway Voices, 2023. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • A first contact story about a crew of human colonists who land on an uncharted planet. This one blends day-to-day survival, the exploration of an alien world, and a few different types of communication struggles... without a trained linguist in…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2018New York : Macmillan Audio, 2018.
  • A little more dystopic/horror leaning than space-faring, "Amatka" is a Swedish story in translation, about a government worker - Vanja - who travels to a remote colony on a research assignment. A story that takes place in a world literally held…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2017New York : Random House Audio, 2017.
  • "It's science fiction that's heavy on the science - no surprise, considering the author! I love the main character, and it gets into big questions about knowledge and faith." - Erin H.
    Downloadable Audiobook, 1997[United States] : Simon & Schuster Audio : Made available through hoopla, 1997. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • A Space Opera about an intergalactic ambassador navigating an alien culture, "A Memory Called Empire" falls more heavily on the side of political intrigue than "Embassytown," with an emphasis on political instability and the very beginnings of…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2019[United States] : Macmillan Audio, 2019. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • "Babel-17" is an oldie-but-goodie. First published in 1966, parts of the novel are a little dated, but the story follows a poet and linguist whose singular ability to understand the language of the alien Invaders and put an end to their sabotage.
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2016[United States] : Blackstone Audio, Inc. : Made available through hoopla, 2016. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • "This stand-alone sci-fi novella is a refreshing take on space exploration that poses the question: is the journey worth continuing if no one back home is listening? Or is returning home no matter what more important?" - Hannah M.
    Downloadable Audiobook,
  • A first contact story that blends horror and sci-fi (vampires vs. aliens, anyone?), as humanity sends a hodge-podge crew of highly-engineered post-human cyborgs, linguists, and biologists to investigate a faint but fast-approaching signal from the…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2008[United States] : Recorded Books, Inc., 2008. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • A cult classic originally published in 1984, "Native Tongue" is a feminist sci-fi novel about a far-future world where women have two purposes: to birth and raise children, and to translate interplanetary communication. A story about the power of…
    eBook, 20132013.
  • Set in 2007, "Axiom's End" is the story of first contact, sort of: Cora Sabino's been caught in a whirlwind of attention when her whistleblower father reveals that the U.S. government has been in contact with alien life forms for decades. When he…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2020New York : Macmillan Audio, 2020.
  • "Bradbury's lyrical voice is haunting. I love a book that stays with me. Focuses not only on man's conquest of a planet but also the effects on the Martians." - Atti B.
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2014[United States] : ListenUp Production LLC, 2014. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • This is a divisive one: very much a love-it-or-hate-it novel, but a very close cousin to "Embassytown" both thematically and stylistically. A story where the world has fallen to a plague literally borne on language, where words spoken aloud not only…
    Book, 2012New York : Alfred a Knopf, Inc., 2012. — Fiction Marcus
  • "Translation State" is another story about an intergalactic, linguistic diplomat-slash-translator whose cross-cultural experiences have wide-reaching consequences. This book is broader in scope, edging more into Space Opera territory, but is a great…
    Downloadable Audiobook,
  • Ursula K. Le Guin's entire Xenogenesis series is great for readers interested in well-written, very-alien aliens (Start with "Dawn" below). But "The Dispossessed," (book 6 in the Hainish Cycle) is a must-read for anyone that loved the idea of one…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2010[United States] : HarperAudio, 2010. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • Le Guin's Xenogenesis series is about a rather more literal merging of civilizations: on a genetic level, as the last remaining humans on a dying earth must choose whether or not to merge with an advanced alien species - the Oankali, who have the…
    Book, 2021New York : Grand Central Publishing, 2021. — Science Fiction Butler
  • The second book in the "Children of Time" series, which takes place thousands of years after the first book. This one is more focused on communication, language, and survival, but if you're interested in first contact and deep space exploration,…
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2019[United States] : Hachette Audio, 2019. — eAudiobook hoopla
  • Another Space Opera about a tense-and-escalating first contact situation, "A Darkling Sea" is a little less about language and more about deep space exploration and an intergalactic culture clash.
    Book, 2014New York : Tor, 2014. — Science Fiction Cambias
  • Ella Minnow Pea

    A Novel in Letters

    Dunn, Mark
    "This hilarious and moving fairy tale is an absolute delight for word lovers." - Hannah M.
    eBook, 20142014.
  • Looking for more great sci-fi with excellent world building? Check out "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi in time for our Sci-Fi Book Club discussion on Wednesday April 2, 2025, from 7:00 - 8:00 pm at the Main Library!
    Book, 2009San Francisco, CA. : Night Shade, c2009. — Science Fiction Bacigalupi
  • Haven't had a chance to read "Embassytown" by China Mieville? Click through to check out a copy in your preferred format!
    Downloadable Audiobook, 2011[Westminster, Md.] : Books on Tape, 2011.