Mankind comes face to face with extraterrestrial life in this short fiction reprint anthology from Clarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke. They Are Strangers from Far Lands . . . Science fiction writers have been using aliens as a metaphor for the other for over one hundred years. Superman has otherworldly origins, and his struggles to blend in on our planet are a clear metaphor for immigration. Earth’s adopted son is just one example of this “Alien Among Us” narrative.
There are stories of assimilation, or the failure to do so. Stories of resistance to the forces of naturalization. Stories told from the alien viewpoint. Stories that use aliens as a manifestation of the fears and worries of specific places and eras. Stories that transcend location and time, speaking to universal issues of group identity and its relationship to the Other
Contents:
Introduction
Touring with the Alien / by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Laws of Survival / by Nancy Kress
At Play in the Fields / by Steve Rasnic Tem
Ants of Flanders / by Robert Reed
Taking Care of God / by Liu Cixin
Water Scorpions / by Rich Larson
The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill / by Kelly Robson
Men are Trouble / by James Patrick Kelly
They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass / by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Bits / by Naomi Kritzer
And Never Mind the Watching Ones / by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
Dark Heaven / by Gregory Benford
Nine-Tenths of the Law / by Molly Tanzer
Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion / by Caroline M. Yoachim
Time of the Snake / by A.M. Dellamonica
The Fear Gun / by Judith Berman
Tendeleo’s Story / by Ian McDonald
The Choice / by Paul McAuley
Passage of Earth / by Michael Swanwick
Reborn / by Ken Liu
Story of Your Life / by Ted Chiang
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About the Editor
Mankind comes face to face with extraterrestrial life in this short fiction reprint anthology from Clarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke. They Are Strangers from Far Lands . . . Science fiction writers have been using aliens as a metaphor for the other for over one hundred years. Superman has otherworldly origins, and his struggles to blend in on our planet are a clear metaphor for immigration. Earth’s adopted son is just one example of this “Alien Among Us” narrative.
There are stories of assimilation, or the failure to do so. Stories of resistance to the forces of naturalization. Stories told from the alien viewpoint. Stories that use aliens as a manifestation of the fears and worries of specific places and eras. Stories that transcend location and time, speaking to universal issues of group identity and its relationship to the Other
Contents:
Introduction
Touring with the Alien / by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Laws of Survival / by Nancy Kress
At Play in the Fields / by Steve Rasnic Tem
Ants of Flanders / by Robert Reed
Taking Care of God / by Liu Cixin
Water Scorpions / by Rich Larson
The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill / by Kelly Robson
Men are Trouble / by James Patrick Kelly
They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass / by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Bits / by Naomi Kritzer
And Never Mind the Watching Ones / by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
Dark Heaven / by Gregory Benford
Nine-Tenths of the Law / by Molly Tanzer
Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion / by Caroline M. Yoachim
Time of the Snake / by A.M. Dellamonica
The Fear Gun / by Judith Berman
Tendeleo’s Story / by Ian McDonald
The Choice / by Paul McAuley
Passage of Earth / by Michael Swanwick
Reborn / by Ken Liu
Story of Your Life / by Ted Chiang
Permissions
About the Editor