Hortinstein: Amazing first alien encounter book that should be read by everyone that is a fan of the genre. Memorable cast of characters...the Vampires are really interesting. All kinds of introductory scientific concepts throughout. Entertaining and educational.

Mentions by: Church-

Mentions by: jcoffland : metaphorm

Ronsenshi: Read it some time in university and it has completely changed how I think about things. Figuratively speaking turned my mind inside out.

Mentions by: omnibrain : k__

bornon5: It's a sci-fi novel that asks fascinating questions about sentience and intelligence, and made me stare at the ceiling for weeks after I finished it.

Mentions by: manojlds : nepalez

komali2: A romping and intellectually trusting sci-fi involving space vampires. Good biology. Made me seriously question the nature of consciousness.

smsm42: Very strong hard sci-fi with mind-bending approach to the question of conscience. And vampires (not the Twilight kind, the scary kind).

Mentions by: CosmicShadow

MichaelGG: Not because it's a great fiction story (it is), but because it introduced me to the concept of Unconscious Intelligence. We take it for granted that "sleeping on a problem" or "going for a walk" can lead us to great ideas and breakthroughs. That's great, ideas do just pop into the mind. But... what created those ideas?