Reading this reminds me of the enormous chasm that exists between the vast majority of overwrought poorly written science fiction like this, and the absolute best of the genre.
Anyone care to recommend a dark scifi book about utterly alien lifeforms or worlds, that are more accessible to someone with average IQ?
As it happens, I recently inventoried my favorite aliens and eliminated the ones that were too humanized and also not understandable to people. I might be missing something obvious, but the one that sticks in my mind 2 years after I read it is:
Pandora's Star
A few chapters in, it felt like I had been baited with a veneer of scifi over a core of anthropomorphic medieval historical fiction. Do the dogs connect back to the AIs in a satisfying way? Should I give it a second chance? ChatGPT says
As the story progresses, the puppies become involved in the larger
conflict that is taking place in the galaxy, and they play a key role
in helping the human and alien characters achieve their goals.
The puppies' involvement with the artificial intelligences (AIs) in the
story is a central part of the plot, and the resolution of the conflict
between the puppies and the AIs is an important part of the story's
resolution.
To be fair, "A Deepness in the Sky" has a richer world than Fire. When I reread Fire a few years later I did tend to skim the Tines as well. Whereas every one of the half dozen themes in Deepness has remained compelling after multiple readings.