Best Portrayals of Alien Cultures

[Lapis Exilis]

I'm rereading Uhura's Song (Janet Kagan, 1985) and it is IMHO one of the best portrayals of an alien culture - the Eeiauoans and the Sivaoans - in any Trek book.

I loved the Rihannsu books by Diane Duane (My Enemy, My Ally and The Romulan Way) and of course her Spock's World is generally considered one of the great portrayals of Vulcans. I may revisit those next.

What are other favorite explorations of alien cultures in Trek lit?

 

[Mysterion]

KRAD did a pretty good job of fleshing out the klingons in his various works.

 

[DarKush]

I also like the fleshing out of the Romulan culture. I like how the Andorians have been depicted, though I can't say I'm a fan of every story based around them. Ditto, with the Tzenkethi (though I think at times they are too strange and hard for me to visualize in my mind). I liked the explanation for the Breen discrepancies. The Caeliar were interesting. I also recall The Hive, from Objective: Bajor, being a pretty cool species.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The Final Reflection. Get past the weird game they're playing in the first chapter and it's still the best the Klingons have ever been (even if they don't much resemble modern Klingons)

 

[Kilana2]

Una McCormack is great at writing about Cardassians.....

 

[Stevil2001]

I thought Jarman had a good knack for this: the Andorians in Paradigm and the Nasat in Balance of Nature.