By Ursula K. LeGuin. The Terrans come to the forest planet Athshe to colonize, but they destroy its ecosystem.

By Robert Reed. A trek across an alien planet is also a coming of age story.

By Stanislaw Lem. A trek across an alien planet is also a coming of age story.

By David Brin and Stephen Gaskell. A Science Fiction Anothology Of Alien Worlds (Chaosium fiction). This collection of hard sci fi short stories has various contributors who have written stories set on alien worlds that push the limits of what science used to tell us was possible.

By Hal Clement. The first book in the Mesklin trilogy. The planet of Mesklin's gravity can be 700 times greater than Earth's, the oceans are liquid methane, the snow is frozen ammonia—but there is life.

By Poul Anderson. 3 humans are stuck in the middle of war on a little-explored planet between to alien tribes. The natives can fly—the planet is large with a low density and the air has a high density. The world and its biology are well thought out and have a very real impact on the story.

By Robert L. Forward Rocheworld is a double planet and it is the first planet in another star system that humans journey to—one half is rock and the other is water, they share an atmosphere and are egg shaped.

By Larry Niven. The story takes place around a neutron star and a gas giant with insufficient gravity to keep its atmosphere, resulting in a gas torus and smoke ring. The smoke ring supports a wide variety of life including some amazing trees.

By Arthur C. Clarke. The eco-system of this book is in the clouds of Jupiter—from glowing plankton floating through the air to gigantic whale-like medusa which feed on the plankton and then aerial sharks. One of the earlier attempts at creating a completely alien bionetwork.

By Olaf Stapledon. This is a history and a future of the entire galaxy, the entire cosmos, and the star maker itself. The book will take readers on a journey to see strange planet's and even stranger alien life.

By Orson Scott Card. In this sequel to Ender's Game, Ender finds himself on an alien planet where another alien species' existence is at stake. Through the story the biology and the intricate interconnectedness of life on this planet is uncovered.