The aliens will not be silicon and that's okay!
All my 'humble yourself' jokes are a reference but it feels lame to constantly dunk on that guy so I didn't clip him in here.
On the Potential of Silicon as a Building Block for Life
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32532048/
Life in the Universe
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691241784/life-in-the-universe-5th-edition
The Black Cloud
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1246118