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I'm looking for a sci-fi book I read in probably the mid to late 80s. I recall an alien character — possibly not immediately identified as an alien — that was "pregnant" with its offspring, which was budding off its back(?).

The alien was friendly, I think, in possibly a political or exploration context, though I can't say if it had actual contact with humans in the novel. The alien character may have been something of an outcast among its own people.

I have some association with this character being near the sea, as for a long time I thought the book was The Face of the Waters by Robert Silverberg. However, I've recently re-read The Face of the Waters, and it's clearly not the story I was thinking of.

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    There are lots of sci-fi aliens that reproduce by budding, e.g. in Van Vogt's "War of Nerves" which became part of The Voyage of the Space Beagle, although that's probably not the one you're looking for. Can you recall any more story details? Are the budding aliens friendly or hostile?
    – user14111
    Commented Oct 2, 2023 at 3:44
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    I don't remember much at all, unfortunately. The alien was friendly, I think, in possibly a political or exploration context, though I can't say if it had actual contact with humans in the novel. The alien character may have been something of an outcast from its own people. Sorry, I know that's not much to go on!
    – Rillibee
    Commented Oct 2, 2023 at 3:57
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    Maybe Jack Chalker's Czill? See this q&a for details
    – Shawn
    Commented Oct 2, 2023 at 4:49
  • Thank you. The story doesn't sound familiar but I'm interested enough to want to read it now!
    – Rillibee
    Commented Oct 4, 2023 at 8:22

2 Answers 2

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After doing some digging I think I have the answer.

The series of books you are looking for is the tower and the Hive series by Anne McCaffrey.

The mrdini are the aliens who bud in vast domes and they with the humans are fighting against a bug like alien species

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. From a brief glance it looks like this might be a possible answer, but you could still improve it by finding some quotes the show the alien growing buds from its back.
    – DavidW
    Commented Jul 2 at 21:36
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This might be Harry Turtledove's 1990 World of Difference, which takes place on an alternate Mars where Martians reproduce via (fatal) budding. Two groups of humans (Soviets and Americans) ally with different factions of the (pre-industrial) Martians, and the Americans help a female Martian survive budding (making her the first of her species to live through that process).

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