Not One of Us

Starred review from September 24, 2018
Collecting 21 stories from the last two decades, this hefty and fascinating theme anthology focuses on one of SF’s major issues: If aliens aren’t just bug-eyed monsters with no more than rape and plunder on their minds, what else—who else—could they be? And, for that matter, what do we mean by us? Readers should savor the stories a few at a time to get the most out of Clarke’s superior selections, all of which are distinctive attempts to grapple with those questions. The short stories frequently make good use of their length to shift perspectives abruptly, putting readers not just in the presence but inside the skins of aliens who might be conquerors, teachers, betrayers, or lovers—or some all-too-human combination. They also aren’t afraid to tackle contemporary political hot topics such as immigration, citizenship, and belonging. Outstanding works by Nancy Kress (“Laws of Survival”), Judith Berman (“The Fear Gun”), and Ted Chiang (“Story of Your Life”) are highlights, but there are no inferior pieces here. This is a fine, thoughtful book.

November 15, 2018

Editor Clarke (Clarkesworld and Forever Magazine) gathers more than 20 authors to explore themes of extraterrestrial contact. This seemingly exhausted subject, in such capable hands, proves more fiercely alive than ever. Reflecting the greater culture of our current times, the stories tend toward the darker end of the spectrum, though are not without occasional humor, hope, or absurdity. Those who consider the genre "escapist" will not find anything of the sort here. Sf veteran Gregory Benford's "Dark Heaven," with its hurricane-ravaged Southern noir, exposes brutal corporate exploitation and commodification of laborers from afar. Caroline M. Yoachim's "Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion" is an emotionally lacerating chronicle of love and loss, as humanity struggles to trust nonhumans who claim to regret the terrible damage wrought by their arrival. Michael Swanwick's "Passage of Earth" gazes into the abyss of physically repulsive aliens as frightened of--and enthralled by--survival in an indifferent universe, as we are. VERDICT The heart and unrelenting intelligence present in this survey of social segregation, xenophobia, and existential dread will appeal to readers of philosophical Sf unafraid of tackling serious issues.--William Grabowski, McMechen, WV

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2018
This anthology by acclaimed Clarkesworld Magazine editor Clarke assembles a wide array of previously published stories concerning the many and various ways aliens can shape humanity. Ranging from well-established names such as Michael Swanwick, Ted Chiang, Ian McDonald, and Nancy Kress to upcoming writers such as Ken Liu or Caroline M. Yoachim, each author presents a different vision of an encounter between the human and the alien on Earth. Highlights include Yoachim's "Five Stages of Grief after the Alien Invasion," which uses the famous K�bler-Ross model of grief to explore human reactions to an accidental transformation of Earth by very apologetic aliens; Liu's "Reborn," where an investigator struggles to piece together a conspiracy against a benign race of alien occupiers in a world where memories can be periodically and irrevocably erased; and Chiang's frequently anthologized "Story of Your Life," where a linguist tasked with deciphering an alien language experiences her life and memories in a strange, nonlinear fashion. Readers looking for sf that explores its furthest possibilities and helps transform their own perception of the world are highly recommended to give this anthology a look.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)