LeGuin’s “Lathe of Heaven” has sea turtle aliens

“Hanging, swaying, pulsing, the most vulnerable and insubstantial creature, [the jellyfish] has for its defense the violence and power of the whole ocean, to which it has entrusted its being, its going, and its will.” (7)

“Sleep is in contact with the Possible, which we also call the improbable. The world of the night is a world. Night, as night, is a universe… The dark things fo the unknown world become neighbors of man, whether by true communication or by a visionary enlargement of the distances of teh abyss… The dream is the aquarium of the Night” (89, attributed to V. Hugo, Travialleurs de la Mer).

“It was, Haber thought in emotionless horror, a giant turtle. Then he realized that it was encased in asuit of some kind, which gave it a bulky, greenish, armored, inexpressive look like a giant sea turtle standing on its hind legs.” (118, the Aliens dreamt by Orr)

It’s ironic that Orr–who is clearly the symbolic jellyfish–dreams up alien sea turtles, because sea turtles like to eat jellyfish.  I don’t know what to make of this.