Two new kittens tear across my feet, jump and land in a tussle of ferocious claws and fur, wrestling with each other. Tails flick, haunches wiggle and soon one is soaring through the air with a mighty pounce.
Nothing like two new cats to distract my gaze from the wet, chill weather that has moved into the Northwest.
So, throughout history and even into fictional alien worlds has humanity attempted to bond with other species.
A treecat in David Weber’s Honor Harrington series springs to mind. A sense of communication and symbiosis wrapped around Honor’s neck much like a pelted scarf.
Or the dragons of Pern by Anne McCaffrey that humans imprint on the hatching grounds and forge a telecommunication link that can transcend even time.
Robin Hobb also carries out this theme of telepathic dragons in her own dragon series. The more recent ones being Blood of Dragons and City of Dragons. Also in her Farseer trilogy, the young boy hero bonds with a wolf.
Andre Norton’s The Zero Stone starts a series where the ship’s cat ingests a strange seedpod and evolves into an entity that names itself Eet and follows the hero as his companion into adventures.
Timothy Vaughn writes in Dragon and Thief about a dragon alien, named Draycos, that blends onto the young hero’s back and legs, but can leap out into three dimensions to interact at need. Talk about getting a wild tat.
In the Liaden universe, several family cats are cameoed and even a tree appears to communicate with the Delm of Korval, dropping magical seed pods whenever necessary.
John Scalzi’s hero, Jack Halloway, battles to prove sentience in a small furry creature that he befriends in Fuzzy Nation. Human and creature face off in a legal battle against the big business of Zaracorp that has its own plans for their alien world.
If you’re searching for a story of alien and human bonding, here are just a few samples of species symbiosis in science fiction .
Do you have any favorites?
We humans form friendships and alliances with other species on our own Earth, so why not with aliens from other worlds? From dolphins to horses, cats to dogs, many other species have enriched our life and eased the drear of coming winter with adorable gamboling and warm, cuddly affection.
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