I've always like Cherryh's gift for creating aliens that are truly alien, while still being able to convey some of their psychology and culture. Often she achieves a sense of horror around her aliens not because they're monstrous in appearance, but because their motives and internal logic are unclear, while they're manifestly powerful and dangerous to humans. Her novels often have a lone human among the aliens to provide the lens into the aliens.

(Link to a biblio below) I especially liked the "Chanur" series, part of the "Alliance-Union" universe, featuring spooky and enigmatic methane breathers, usually ignoring the oxygen-breathers, to their vast relief. Plus the terrified lone human.

And the "Company Wars" series was especially good, a combination of action on starships and stations. She's very good at what wikipedia called "unusually realistic" space battles, which feature realistic consequences of the speed of light (delaying information, everything becomes an estimate...reminded me of submarine warfare). I was really impressed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cherryh_bibliography

Let me know what you think if you try one, Rob. Hope you like her.