Another of my favourite authors is CJ Cherryh. She's written a huge number of books, and I must admit up front that I've only read a fraction of them.
I'm a big fan of the Chanur novels. Payanfar Chanur is a Hani, an alien who looks a bit like a walking lion. But Cherry's genius is in making her and the other Hani characters so individual.
The writing is close third person, and we go inside Pyanfur's head a lot. She's captain of a trading starship, an experienced and wily character who travels the galaxy. She has to negotiate trade contracts, and negotiate the choppy waters of multi-species diplomacy while she's being chased across the universe by the ruthless and dangerous Kif.
The way Cherryh describes the everyday life and operation of a starship is stunning. She is so detailed about who does what, the ship's operating procedures, and the mechanics of travelling through jump. One of the things I particularly like is the way she shows how physically exhausting constantly going through jump is for the crew.
And then there's the role reversal, which I can really identify with. The women are the starship captains, travelling the universe, with power to make trading contracts that bind their long-established and noble houses. There is also a very real sense of the cutthroat competition that exists between different Hani families.
Hani males stay at home and keep house - when they're not fighting their neighbours to take over their lands too. Cherryh makes the Hani really come alive. They're very definitely alien, but the mirrors she holds up to humanity make us think hard about our own gender divisions and competitiveness.
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