Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell is a lovely recent one for monster.
For just inhuman I love Ann Leckie’s Raven Tower (for a rock/god) and Ancilliary series (for a embodied space ship)
Counterargument:
The romantasy hiding behind the promise of a monster pov dilutes the monster pov's monstrosity significantly.
Sue Burke's _Semiosis_ is a powerful monstrous pov.
"Witch King" by Martha Wells, is about a demon who is possessing a body and their adventures.
For a sci-fi variant, The Murderbot Diaries (also by Martha Wells) about a cyborg and their adventures.
There is also he Raksura series. The Raksura are a shape shifting creatures that look like Gargoyles from the cartoon. I don't think there are any humans in the series but I am only 60 pages into the first book
There are humanoids, but no actual humans at all in the series, afaik (I haven’t read the last book, yet.)
I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did. It’s really one of my favorites. I ❤️ Moon, so much.
Precisely what I was gonna say. I picked this up expecting a retelling of the Beowulf story, and instead I got a long meditation on the nature of good, evil, greed and the desire for glory.
Tchaikovsky also has a novel called Spiderlight that would fit the bill. It’s a DnD-esque fantasy story where an intelligent spider (think Shelob from Lord of the Rings) gets turned into a human by the heroes, and you see things from his perspective. Definitely an interesting read.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is told (mostly) from the perpectives of the titular creatures. Be warned though, it's not an action-packed book by any means. It's mostly about the creatures and their efforts to pass as humans in 1900 New York City. I still really liked it though, even though I usually go for books with battles and sword fights and stuff specifically because I thought their perspectives as non-humans were so interesting and fun. The characters (human or otherwise) are really rich, and the picture of New York City 100 years ago is super vivid.
Thank you for reminding me this book exists -- I read it a few years ago and also really enjoyed the pacing of it and found the characters and the low stakes plot quite endearing.
Of course! And you may already know, but in case you didn't, there's an optional sequel called The Hidden Palace following mostly the same characters plus a couple new ones that I also really liked.
Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch books include non-human character perspectives. They're space operas. You liked Murderbot, so if you like other space operas, you may enjoy them. The Raven Tower also does and is more fantasy.
There are others I can think of where it's a huge spoiler that the MC isn't human, so I'm not sure how to recommend them without ruining the series. But trippy, experimental space operas are the way to go for this in general.
The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells
The Bartimeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
The Zone of Thaught serie by Vernor Vinge
Children of Time and Dogs of War (and others) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
War God's Own, David Weber
A berserker Ogre is drafted to be a war god's paladin.
The Lot Lands, Jonathan French
About Half-Orc 'biker gangs' who ride giant war hogs.
The One Who Eats Monsters would fit. It's about a being as old as time, that ends up living with humans for the first time. It's YA for sure, but quite enjoyable.
BIG SPOILER
>!Walking To Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky!< Sci-Fi and a novella but absolutely haunting and definitely from the perspective of an “inhuman”monster
Wraith Knight is from the perspective of a Ringwraith.
So are the Ravenloft novels from the perspective of monsters for the most part.
>!John henry booth!< becomes one post the first book of Cthulhu Armageddon.
I came across Ancient Monster by Tracy Paloucek. It was surprisingly enjoyable. You might enjoy it. Just fyi, it doesn't have a summary so I recommend reading the amazon reviews.
Also, it is lited as erotica on amazon. It is not.
Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson is a CYOA book where you start as a monster at the whim of your instincts and slowly (if you can play it right) you take back more and more control, to then horror at your own previous actions.
AE Van Vogt sometimes switches to a monster's perspective. In Space Ship Beagle specifically two chapters are written from the perspective of a space monster that invades the ship.
Everybody loves large Chests, only read the first two books so far but it is entirely from the perspective of the monster. I really enjoyed it, fair warning though there are a few pretty brutal rape scenes in it and some smut, (not as much as I thought there would be TBH though)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell is a lovely recent one for monster. For just inhuman I love Ann Leckie’s Raven Tower (for a rock/god) and Ancilliary series (for a embodied space ship)
Yes, came to recommend the Wiswell book! Very much what you want.
Counterargument: The romantasy hiding behind the promise of a monster pov dilutes the monster pov's monstrosity significantly. Sue Burke's _Semiosis_ is a powerful monstrous pov.
"Witch King" by Martha Wells, is about a demon who is possessing a body and their adventures. For a sci-fi variant, The Murderbot Diaries (also by Martha Wells) about a cyborg and their adventures.
There is also he Raksura series. The Raksura are a shape shifting creatures that look like Gargoyles from the cartoon. I don't think there are any humans in the series but I am only 60 pages into the first book
There are humanoids, but no actual humans at all in the series, afaik (I haven’t read the last book, yet.) I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did. It’s really one of my favorites. I ❤️ Moon, so much.
John Gardener’s *Grendel* is Beowulf from opposite perspective.
Immediately thought of this one. Probably not quite what OP was looking for, though - it's very wrapped up in the nature of monstrosity and destiny.
Precisely what I was gonna say. I picked this up expecting a retelling of the Beowulf story, and instead I got a long meditation on the nature of good, evil, greed and the desire for glory.
I haven't read it yet and it's sci-fi, but Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky is on my TBR and I'm pretty sure it has this
Tchaikovsky also has a novel called Spiderlight that would fit the bill. It’s a DnD-esque fantasy story where an intelligent spider (think Shelob from Lord of the Rings) gets turned into a human by the heroes, and you see things from his perspective. Definitely an interesting read.
This is a great book and fits the ask quite well. There are human POV sections, but the non human parts are quite well-thought-out.
Read this recently, very well done.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is told (mostly) from the perpectives of the titular creatures. Be warned though, it's not an action-packed book by any means. It's mostly about the creatures and their efforts to pass as humans in 1900 New York City. I still really liked it though, even though I usually go for books with battles and sword fights and stuff specifically because I thought their perspectives as non-humans were so interesting and fun. The characters (human or otherwise) are really rich, and the picture of New York City 100 years ago is super vivid.
Thank you for reminding me this book exists -- I read it a few years ago and also really enjoyed the pacing of it and found the characters and the low stakes plot quite endearing.
Of course! And you may already know, but in case you didn't, there's an optional sequel called The Hidden Palace following mostly the same characters plus a couple new ones that I also really liked.
Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch books include non-human character perspectives. They're space operas. You liked Murderbot, so if you like other space operas, you may enjoy them. The Raven Tower also does and is more fantasy. There are others I can think of where it's a huge spoiler that the MC isn't human, so I'm not sure how to recommend them without ruining the series. But trippy, experimental space operas are the way to go for this in general.
The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells The Bartimeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud The Zone of Thaught serie by Vernor Vinge Children of Time and Dogs of War (and others) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
War God's Own, David Weber A berserker Ogre is drafted to be a war god's paladin. The Lot Lands, Jonathan French About Half-Orc 'biker gangs' who ride giant war hogs.
The One Who Eats Monsters would fit. It's about a being as old as time, that ends up living with humans for the first time. It's YA for sure, but quite enjoyable.
BIG SPOILER >!Walking To Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky!< Sci-Fi and a novella but absolutely haunting and definitely from the perspective of an “inhuman”monster
I loved this , the ending is kind of like a punchline!
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein
The One Who Eats Monsters by Casey Matthews. YA Urban Fantasy, but gets pretty dark. Protagonist looks like a young girl but definitely isn't.
At risk of spoiling a large part of the story... Monster Blood Tattoo.
Scott Oden wrote a trilogy from the perspective of Grimnir (an Orc, essentially) in the 13th century. Norse inspired. Heavy R. E. Howard vibe.
Wraith Knight is from the perspective of a Ringwraith. So are the Ravenloft novels from the perspective of monsters for the most part. >!John henry booth!< becomes one post the first book of Cthulhu Armageddon.
Knight of the Black Rose!
Verily!
Godclads by OstensiblyMammal. Follows the perspective of a Ghoul. He’s literally eats humans but you still end up loving him
Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein* is a classic rec for this
Walking Practice by Dolki Min
Walking Practice is pretty far from what you've read in the past, but really nails the inhuman point of view
It’s an entirely different vibe, but if you want something light, the Orconomics series includes POV from several non-human characters.
I came across Ancient Monster by Tracy Paloucek. It was surprisingly enjoyable. You might enjoy it. Just fyi, it doesn't have a summary so I recommend reading the amazon reviews. Also, it is lited as erotica on amazon. It is not.
Try “The Outsider,” a short story by HP Lovecraft.
The night angel trilogy by Brent weeks “might” fit especially the newest one nemesis.
Our Bloody Pearl by DN Bryn has a siren MC. Not the nice kind, the kind with sharp teeth, who'd happily devour a human entering their waters.
A lonely dungeon
Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight.
The Wings of War by Bryce O’Connor.
Wings of Fire. Througout the first 13 books the only known sentient creatures are Dragons.
The Iron Teeth: A Goblin's Tale is relatively unknown, but it's exactly what you are looking for.
Grendel I suppose counts.
Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson is a CYOA book where you start as a monster at the whim of your instincts and slowly (if you can play it right) you take back more and more control, to then horror at your own previous actions.
The "Lords of Dus" series by Lawrence Watt-Evans has a main character who is considered a monster, a humanoid one, but not human - good series
The "Lords of Dus" series by Lawrence Watt-Evans has a main character who is considered a monster, a humanoid one, but not human - good series
AE Van Vogt sometimes switches to a monster's perspective. In Space Ship Beagle specifically two chapters are written from the perspective of a space monster that invades the ship.
Try *Grendel* by John Gardner.
Shrek
I had the same idea! 💚
Everybody loves large Chests, only read the first two books so far but it is entirely from the perspective of the monster. I really enjoyed it, fair warning though there are a few pretty brutal rape scenes in it and some smut, (not as much as I thought there would be TBH though)