A post I did on the previous item in the gallery seems even more apropos here so I will repost it.





It is interesting to realize that no matter how odd the alien biologically, their technology (for the same general planetary conditions) will likely be easily recognizable because the technology is shaped primarily by its interaction with the nonbiological material world. Airplane wings and controls will work the same and therefor look the same regardless of the life form they lift. Even the nonbiological materials will be the same e.g. aluminum will be used because it will be strong and lightweight on all terrestrial worlds.



Indeed, the more strongly a piece of technology interfaces with the surrounding physical world, the more generic will be its design from world-to-world. Only weakly interfacing technology will be unique. E.g. A firearm deals with high hot gas pressures used to launch a projectile. In almost all physical environments that will necessitate a cylindrical barrel with a hollow bore. Everything else is detail and has been for the last 800 years. Any alien landing on Earth, or any Earthling landing on an alien world, will quickly recognize a "boomstick" when he/she/it sees one. It will just odd grips. Conversely, an iPhone could look like almost anything. You'd have to take it apart and find the fractal antenna to divine its purpose. Benjamin Franklin would recognize an M4 as firearm in mere seconds but would likely think a dead/unpowered iPhone a puzzle box with the control buttons as nonworking latches.



Novelty for novelty's sake has its place in both art and speculative science to be sure, but verisimilitude is usually more interesting past the first glance. It certainly requires more thought, knowledge and creativity to make something look obviously functionally familar but still off just enough to make as of non-human manufacture.



We go conceptually wrong, I think, when we try to make our alien environs to "alien".



Under my criteria above, this is well done. The boomstick is clearly a boomstick. While biological interfaces, such as the magazine store on the back are clearly non-human. My only quibble is that the grips on the boomstick are to human like. Human hands are adapted to hold branch-like cylinders. The Birrin appear to have a hand comprised of three opposing fingers, a hand adapted to picking up generic objects off the ground. So, whereas a human boomstick has cyclindrical grips a Brirrin boomstick would have spherical, or as least more knobbly, grips.



A detailed thinking out of the Brirrin hand would yield good fine detail for future works, I think.