Det här är förmodligen Legacy of Heorot , en samarbets roman skriven mellan Larry Niven, Steven Barnes och Jerry Pournelle. Det publicerades 1987 och passar därför din tidsram, och har det utmärkande diagrammet för hibernationssjukdomen (ett resultat av att använda sin suspenderade animationsteknik för länge), liksom Grendels som utlänningar. Kolonifartyget är Geografiskt och finansierades av National Geographic Society.
Från den länkade Wikipedia-artikeln diskuteras översikt över plott och problem med upphängd animering:
Two hundred colonists arrive on Avalon to found a new community, having made the 100-year journey from Earth in suspended animation on the starship Geographic (the expedition is funded by the National Geographic Society). The colonists, all selected for their outstanding physical and mental attributes, make a terrible discovery: though the suspended animation technology which permitted them to survive the journey worked well enough, it had unforeseeable side effects due to the unprecedented duration of its use. Their intelligence and reasoning skill are damaged. Some are only mildly afflicted, while others have intellectual disability; eight cannot be reanimated at all. The book opens with the colonists learning how to live without the sharp and nimble minds they all once had.
Och diskussion om grendelarna:
The autopsy reveals that grendels (as the creatures are now known) are crocodilian in appearance and behavior, with jaws that can crush steel. Their bones are significantly stronger than those of humans, as they are not based on calcium. They have a sense of smell better than a dog's. Studying its brain shows it is not fully sapient, but that it is not far off, and is at least as smart as a gorilla. Its claws are not just weapons, but exert enough traction for the creature to sprint up rocky cliffs. Though it is not a true amphibian – it cannot breathe water – it does possess an integral snorkel enabling it to move undetected beneath several feet of water. Its cardiovascular system and musculature give it strength and stamina far beyond that of humans, and that is without its primary evolutionary advantage: A super-oxygenated blood supplement.