Kate Wilhelm
Kate Wilhelm has a couple of books in this genre I like a lot. In Juniper Time (1979), a post-apocalyptic novel, astronauts discover a message floating in space and are desperate to have it translated, because if it's a trick from an "enemy" human political group, that's one thing, but if it's a message from outer space, if it's a message of hope from some beings that are more highly evolved than us and can save us from ourselves....
The Clewiston Test (1976) concerns a biochemist who has identified a truly miraculous cure for pain. The only problem is the nasty side effects--increasingly antisocial behavior, and a growing dislike and suspicion of others escalating into violence. She is badly injured in a car accident and may--or may not--have tested the painkiller on herself. The reactions of her husband and her colleagues to this situation, and her relationship to her primate experimental subjects, makes a sneaky treatise on the ethics of science and society.
Wilhelm has done a number of mysteries, science fiction, and plain old novels over the years which I've enjoyed; my favorite of these has got to be Oh, Susannah!, in which the protagonist suffers from amnesia with confabulation. Oh Susannah! makes me laugh like an idiot everytime I read it (which sounds a little heartless until you crack the book). I've owned probably half a dozen copies over the years, but I always give them away to people I like who like to read. "Take this, you'll love it!" I cry. I have yet to get a single one of those copies back.
Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin's Native Tongue trilogy (Native Tongue, Judas Rose, and Earthsong) is probably the most radically feminist of the books I've described. Set in the future, the book details a time when men and women are separated into castes, such that women develop their own language called Láadan. Essentially, the books are about language, in all of its forms, and the power it can provide. Interestingly enough, she's probably best known for her several books on her project called the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense, in which she recommends the Boring Baroque Response as a defense against verbal abusers, tyrants, and just plain crabby people.
Ahhhhh, I feel better already.
