From virtual reality to America's heartland, a provocative collection of stories--by Joyce Carol Oates, Samuel R. Delany, Robert Silverberg, Joe Haldeman, and Elizabeth Hand, among others--explores the mysterious range of human--and alien--sexuality.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In her introduction to this volume, master anthologist Datlow (Blood is Not Enough) observes that science fiction "has traditionally been a bit hesitant about dealing with sexual and gender themes," but this collection of 20 short stories gives it a try and often succeeds in evoking the "alienness" of all sexual relationships. The best stories rely not upon interstellar orgies or futuristic sex toys but upon the sexual foibles of human beings on 20th-century Earth. "Oral," by Richard Christian Matheson, concerns a man who interacts with the physical world only through somebody else's description, and the woman who tries to provide that description. Matheson takes everyday, neutral objects like wine glasses and sea shells and infuses them with a sensuality that makes them seem alien and fantastic. In Bruce McAllister's present-day "Captain China," a young boy forced into prostitution faces a bleak reality that has timely and disturbing overtones. Of the more traditional SF stories, Neil Gaiman's darkly humorous poem/screenplay, "Eaten," features a PI whose search for a missing woman leads him literally to hell, while Simon Ings's "Grand Prix" is an action-filled account of a man who can neurally link himself to his race car. A few stories lose themselves in an attempt to be different?like "Sextraterrestrials," an eccentric but boring record of an E-mail poetry competition between Joe Haldeman and Jane Yolen. Overall, however, this is provocative reading not just for SF fans but for all those who sometimes feel that the opposite sex is just too strange to be from the same planet.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
From Susan Wade's hypnotic tale of a tattoo artist's strangest client ("The Tattooist") to Bruce McAllister's disturbing story of a captive child's dream of freedom ("Captain China"), the 18 selections (including four previously published titles) in this anthology explore the alien dimensions of exotic sexuality. Although only a few stories deal with interspecies relationships, each selection explores the boundaries of love's strange territories. Large libraries might want to take into account the work's explicit language before adding to their sf or short story collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
I've been an editor for over thirty years, first in book publishing, but mostly editing short stories for OMNI Magazine and webzine, EVENT HORIZON, a webzine, and SCIFICTION, the fiction area of SCIFI.COM. I now edit original and reprint anthologies. Born and bred New Yorker, although I travel a lot.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Changing perceptions through alien education,
By A Customer
This review is from: Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (Paperback)
Ellen Datlow has done it once again -- assembling disparate tales, spanning decades of writing and a multitude of writing styles, into an anthology that is thematically cohesive and offers a bit of something for everyone. Anthologies are often difficult to review because of the diversity of voices, but if the reader approaches this collection as a buffet (from which one may pick and choose) rather than a 12 course meal, there will be more than one can consume at one sitting.
Classic stories by Robert Silverberg and Samuel R. Delany have been intermixed with more recent works by Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, Elizabeth Hand, and 17 more of today's leading writers. Off Limits includes provocative tales of close encounters -- love, sex and life -- and plays with your perceptions of what is truly alien. One piece of advice: skip reading the Foreward by Silverberg and the Introduction by Datlow as they unfairly offer judgements of what the reader will find between the book covers and tainted my desire to read further. I found much more depth and content to contemplate than Datlow and Silverberg gave the author's credit for
9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Far too many weak stories,
This review is from: Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (Paperback)
The best stories in this collection are the short ones for the simple reason that they inflict less suffering on the reader than do the long ones. Seldom has a sequel fallen as far short of the standards set by its predecessor as does this anthology which is the follow up to the highly regarded Alien Sex. It contains 18 stories, 16 of which were new for this collection in 1996. The other four stories go back as far as the sixties. There are also two poems.The dominant theme in this anthology is prostitution. Almost half of the stories deal with this topic in one form or another. By contrast, in the original anthology, there is a much greater variety of subject matter. No more than half of the stories in here merit inclusion in an anthology and the others range from poor to utterly dreadful. I can recommend Brian Stableford's "The House of Mourning" and Elizabeth Hand's "In the Month of Athyr" as standing out from the rest but of the other 18 pieces, I awarded more lower rankings than I have ever done for any other anthology that I have ever read. If there is one way in which collection is like "Alien Sex" it is the fact that this is not a book of of erotic writing. I doubt that any reader will feel aroused by the content of the book. That is not a criticism, it's just that some of the write ups on the jacket are misleading. If you like the general idea of a collection of stories about alien sex, you should buy "Alien Sex" from the same editor. That is a far better book.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Free SF Reader,
By Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (Paperback)
Basically what it says. Not too bad though, and definitely not 'porn style'.
This is designed to look at the differences, ways to relate, problems and surprises associated with relationships between different species of people, let alone different races. Also, there are a couple of supernatural type tales to be found in this collection towards the end. Off Limits : The Reality Trip - Robert Silverberg Off Limits : The Tattooist - Susan Wade Off Limits : Dolly Sdom - John Kaiine Off Limits : The Lucifer of Blue - Sherry Coldsmith Off Limits : The Queen of the Apocalypse - Scott Bradfield Off Limits : Orl - Richard Christian Matheson Off Limits : Grand Prix - Simon Ings Off Limits : The House of Mourning - Brian Stableford Off Limits : Ftish - Martha Soukup Off Limits : Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland - Gwyneth Jones Off Limits : The Future of Birds - Mike O'Driscoll Off Limits : Captain China - Bruce McAllister Off Limits : Background: The Dream - Lisa Tuttle Off Limits : Aye and Gomorrah - Samuel R. Delany Off Limits : Ursus Triad Later - Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg Off Limits : The Dream-Catcher - Joyce Carol Oates Off Limits : His Angel - Roberta Lannes Off Limits : In the Month of Athyr - Elizabeth Hand Bags of skin trio. 3 out of 5 Mutant tackle tattoo empathy. 3.5 out of 5 Coin full. 3 out of 5 Spanish Civil girls and quartermaster's stores. 3 out of 5 Adultery hate. 1.5 out of 5 Feeling it up, explained. 3.5 out of 5 Formula Zero carjcking off. 4 out of 5 Addicted to professionals. 4 out of 5 Bearded lady is still quite popular. 3.5 out of 5 Sword and sorcery virtual therapy. 4 out of 5 In a future with a bleeding disease decimating the female population male-females in demand. 3.5 out of 5 Child superhero saviour definitely not from around here. 4 out of 5 Bonus gonad growth. 3 out of 5 Gender altered space workers provide exotic on shore leave. 3 out of 5 Goldilocks close to bears. 2 out of 5 Put it where the man says next time. 3.5 out of 5 Genegineer stork stunt tragedy. 3.5 out of 5
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