Aliens among Us [Paperback]

Jack Dann (Editor), Gardner R. Dozois (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2000

In this thought-provoking collection of short stories, some of the most ingenious talents in science fiction explore the secret lives of the aliens who walk among us....

Includes stories by:

Philip K. Dick
Gene Wolfe
Paul J. McAuley
Pat Cadigan
Theodore Sturgeon
Kim Newman
and others!

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ace (June 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044100704X
• ISBN-13: 978-0441007042
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,716,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much padding, January 20, 2002

By 

John Peter O'connor - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aliens among Us (Paperback)

This is another of the themed SF anthologies compiled by Dann and Dozois in recent years. As with the others, unless you have been an avid SF short story readaholic for the last four of five decades, you will certainly find a large number of new and interesting stories here.

The book opens with a powerful and timeless story "The Other Celia" by SF master Theodore Sturgeon, in which the occupier of a cheap hotel room discovers that the resident in the room below his is in fact an alien. That of course sets the scene for the rest of the book in which the world seems to be overwhelmed by non humans disguised as people.

While it is not great, that is a good story and the collection includes a number of similarly enjoyable tales. Ray Nelson's "Eight o'clock in the morning tells of a lizard like race that has come to dominate and eat humans through the power of hypnosis. I also enjoyed the stories from Philip K.Dick, Robert Reed, Michael Shea and Avram Davidson as well as the collaboration between Paul J.McAuley and Kim Newman.

All in all, there are nine very readable stories in here and they are easily worth the price of the book. What is a little frustrating is that there are also six stories which are not really up to scratch. I'd have enjoyed this collection rather more if it had not included stories such as R.A.Lafferty's "Among the Hairy Earthmen" which is little more than an undeveloped idea and a number of dates from a history book.

I'd have rated this book higher if the editors had left out the padding and higher still if they had filled out their allocation of pages with material as good as the books highlights.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't let the cover mislead you, June 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Aliens among Us (Paperback)

Although the cover implies a lighthearted look at aliens who walk among us, the short stories are nearly all paranoid thrillers. Not what I expected, but another great job by Dann & Dozois.