Looking for SF with lots of credible & interesting aliens!

Hi all!
Can somebody please help out a voracious reader of all kinds of genres who has a hard time finding SF novels with interesting aliens*?

EDIT: *ALIENS should not be the mindless feasting-on-humans kind, not my cup of tea. I love interesting complex alien cultures & biologies, first contact novels, alliances between aliens & humans in space, lot of emphasis on the aliens. Don't mind a bit of romance but please no bodice-rippers set in space or any vampire/werewolf stuff ;)

SF Authors I most enjoy (in oder of preference):

Julie E. Czerneda (Webshifters, Species Imperative, Trade Pact),
Michael Cobley (Humanity's Fire/Seeds of Earth),

Mary Gentle (only Golden Witchbreed)
S.L. Viehl (Stardoc),
Maxine McArthur (Time Past, Time Furture),
(some) Kay Kenyon,
(only some) Sheri S. Tepper,
Marti Steussy (First Inners series),
Karen Traviss (only Wess'Har series),
(some) J.C. Cherryh.

Any ideas?! Grateful for all suggestion!

EDIT (23/08/2009):
THANK YOU for your valuable input Z, The Left-handed Reader & J.D.B. Martin! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

I read most of Larry Niven's books but haven't tried Ian Banks & John Scalzi yet. Harry Harrison sounds interesting too.
Karen Traviss I have read & really liked, forgot to list her. Same goes for CJ Cherryh. David Weber sounds worth checking out. Tanya Huff? That's surprising, I thought she wrote vampire books.
Neal Asher I know by name of course but have never read yet.

THANK YOU AGAIN & PLEASE keep those suggestions coming ;)

EDIT 31 August 2009:
THANK YOU EVERYBODY, all your ideas are welcome! I love that you took this as a challenge, I certainly find it one. Bring it on!

Larry Niven's known space ... Neutron Star is a reasonable place to start ( short stories ) and when ready - Ringworld
The Mote in Gods eye ( Niven and Pournell ) also has some excellent aliens
The legacy of Herodot ( Niven, Pournell and Barnes ) has a nice alien life form worth investigating ( nice meaning interesting as opposed to personality : )
Footfall ( Niven Pournell ) - Aliens invading Earth - the alien culture/characters are well done. Good book to boot.
Outside of Larry Niven
The player of Games by Ian Banks explores an alien culture quite well - although is not in itself focused too much on the aliens. Still well worth a read though
West of Eden by Harry Harrison - more of a what if than Sci Fi ( the dinosaurs never died out and evolved inteligence and genetic engineering - well ahead of its time in that regard ) - the Yilane (sp?) culture/society is very well developed
Old Mans War - John Scalzi (sp) is again excellent but the later books in the series focus more on alien culture ( generally they just eat people and get shot at in the first book - but don't be alarmed!!! An outstanding book )

That should be enough for now - I suppose in terms of Sci Fi and well developed aliens/cultures then Larry Niven is your only man

The Faded Sun Trilogy by C J Cherryh - a human joins the last members of an alien race
The Host by Stephenie Meyer - set on earth with alien body snatchers
The Confederation series by Tanya Huff (Valor's Choice) various allied/enemy alien races
Empire Of Man by David Weber and John Ringo (March Upcountry) - soldiers marooned on a low tech world
Jani Killan series by Kristine Smith (Code Of Conduct) later books have more aliens, alien/human hybrids
Vampire Earth series by E E Knight (Way Of The Wolf) - aliens control earth
Wess'Har series by Karen Traviss (City Of Pearl) - first contact scenario

Nothing beats Neal Asher for wickedly vicious aliens. Not the thinking, ultra advanced type - just downright scary. His books are fast paced action with thinking behind them featuring super advanced human tech vs fantastically cruel forna - cool

23/08/2009:
THANK YOU for your valuable input Z, The Left-handed Reader & J.D.B. Martin! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

I read most of Larry Niven's books but haven't tried Ian Banks & John Scalzi yet. Harry Harrison sounds interesting too.
Karen Traviss I have read & really liked, forgot to list her. Same goes for CJ Cherryh. David Weber sounds worth checking out. Tanya Huff? Surprising, I thought she wrote vampire books.
Neal Asher I know by name of course but have never read yet.

EDIT: My kind of ALIENS are not the mindless feasting-on-humans kind. I love interesting alien cultures & biologies, first contact novels, alliances between aliens & humans, lot of emphasis on the aliens. That's why Julie E. Czerneda and Michael Cobley are my top favourite SF authors.
Don't mind a bit of romance but please no bodice-rippers set in space or any vampire/werewolf stuff ;)

THANK YOU AGAIN & PLEASE keep those suggestions coming ;)

Both Mass Effect Novels i think may interest you in the view that there are many alien species living along with Humans in the "Greater Galactic community." "Revelation" is set before the first game so prior knowledge from the game isnt necessary to enjoy the book. The Second follows on from one of the characters from the first book so knowing about the games may help but it really isnt necessary to enjoy :).
Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn
Mass Effect: Ascension by Drew Karpyshyn

THANK YOU L. Callaghan!
I've never played a videogame in my life and that's not going to change but the first of the books sounds very interesting. Many different alien cultures, humanity not at the top of the galactic order, aliens & humans working together - yes, definitely worth buying :)

THANK YOU ALL & PLEASE keep 'em coming!

What about The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin? Perhaps not exactly "aliens", but, well, they ARE really different, and the book IS about contact.

Hi,

Have you tried 'The Gods Themselves' by Isaac Asimov? The middle third is all about an alien race in another universe and the whole book is about what they're doing.

[Deleted by Amazon on 7 Oct 2011 19:33:47 BDT]

THANK YOU Anita, Sam Hunter & Space Girl!
I have read all of Le Guin's & all of Asimov's books, they are classics and must-have-reads as far as I am concerned ;)
"Mirror Bound" I have never heard of, sounds very promising indeed! Needs to go into my basket...

THANK YOU ALL & Please continue :))

Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer. 'The most controversial courtroom drama since the O.J. Simpson Trial'. Aliens have discovered Earth but their mothership needs a replacement part and a trade between aliens (the Tosoks) and humans is agreed. Then one of the aliens is charged with the murder of a human, his astronomer friend. Intrigue ensues. Was he framed? Did he do it? Why?

Two more suggestions...

'The Sparrow' by Mary Doria Russell (Wasn't so keen on its sequel)
'Speaker For The Dead' by Orson Scott Card. Not quite as good as 'Ender's Game' but not bad and interesting aliens.

You could try my Observation Trilogy.

Michael E. Lloyd

Thank you N. Wolbers, Sam Hunter & M.E. Lloyd! Good suggestions all of them :)
Illegal Alien just jumped into my basket, looks really promising.
The Ender quartet I've read before, The Sparrow as well and like you Sam, I was highly disappointed by its sequel.
Always on the lookout for new authors, so I put book 1 of the Observation Trilogy into my basket as well.

MANY THANKS again to all the contributors! Keep the ideas flowing!

I'm now oh for three. This is starting to become a challenge! :)
Hmmm... Must think harder...

How about 'Polar City Blues' by Katherine Kerr? It's been a long time since I read it but I remember enjoying it and I'm sure there's aliens in there somewhere...

Hi Sam, yes it IS a challenge, isn't it? There really aren't that many SF authors with a plethora of interesting aliens out there. Julie E. Czerneda, Michael Cobley & Maxine McArthur still write the best aliens, totally in love with their books.
I am a huge fan of Katherine Kerr and have read all of her books ;)

I have just published my first science fiction novel (available through Amazon). It fits most of your criteria: no feasting, no vampires, some romance (they don't wear bodices in my book), and there is a hard-won alliance between the aliens and humans! It is also part mystery thriller:
Passengers to Sentience
The book has been reviewed independently at www.sciencefictionandfantasy.co.uk
and there are sample chapters at the publisher's website: www.authorsonline.co.uk
Hope you like it!
If you do, let me know via the guestbook at www.scifiwriter1.webs.com

Just a thought. Have you ever tried something by Stanislaw Lem? Maybe Solaris or Fiasco, or anything else? Again, not exactly "aliens", and perhaps impossibility of contact instead of contact, but, personally, I'd really recommend Lem. Of course Lem is not an easy reading and what I really don't know is if English translations are reliable (never read him in English, unfortunately, never read the originals too, I do not speak Polish, but we have some quite good translations in Lithuanian.)

Ok... I'm not giving up yet!

...But I am probably gonna stretch what you're looking for a little. Stick with me a moment. If you don't like the idea... Well hey, no problem.

Do you remember Blake's 7, the sci-fi tv programme from the late seventies and early eighties? Well, you may or may not know that they've remade it as a series of audio dramas. In it, the ship, Liberator, is alive and alien and interacts with the crew as the computer, Zen. They've portrayed Zen as more alien and more creepy than the tv show did and it comes across well. Maybe it would qualify as an interesting alien. Maybe?
They're also introducing other aliens; the creators of the Liberator and soon Cally and the Auronar.

... ... You're gonna tell me that you've already listened to them, aren't you?

I also should have mentioned that first contact occurs in Passengers to Sentience, in which humans are the ones considered to be the risk! Also, the aliens have a particularly interesting biological feature. However, aliens in their native form are not encountered until after page 300, aliens in human form are to be found much earlier, although of course the real humans are not aware of this...
I have to agree with Anita, Stanislaw Lem is particularly intriguing. 'Solaris' especially, in which the sea covering an entire planet is an alien life form, is spectacular both in itself and in the effect it has on the humans that try to contact and understand it. The Andrei Tarkovsky film version is breath-takingly atmospheric and a much closer adaptation than the more recent Soderbergh / Clooney version.

I've totally forgotten The Uplift War by David Brin!

THANK YOU Peter, Anita and Sam (who won't give up lol)!

Peter, Passengers to Sentience sounds intruiging & I will certainly give it a try. You realize Amazon takes 3 weeks to post it?! Maybe bookdepository is faster?

Anita, like you I greatly admire Stanislaw Lem and have read all his books, same goes for David Brin, The Uplift War was brilliant.

Peter, I'll have to look out for the film version of Solaris that you recommended.

Sam, you are brilliant & I just love the fact that you haven't given up on me yet :)
Can you believe it but NO, I have not listened to the Blake's 7 audio dramas yet lol
Please don't take this the wrong way Sam but Blake's 7? For me that's like Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate or Doctor Who, just not my cup of tea...No offense to any fans!

DON'T GIVE UP YET GUYS :)

Thanks for your interest. My cousin ordered Passengers to Sentience from amazon and it only took 7-8 days, so hopefully you would get it in about the same time span. It's Print on Demand, so it will be your very own copy printed for you personally! There are strong female characters, too, both human and alien.