ghilimei's review
1.0
Disappointing, definitely not as cool as I expected it to be; I think some of the stories are just plain awful and I say this trying not to offend anybody who might have liked them.
To me, most of the stories are just sad and depressing, while others try too hard to be shocking and ended up making me nauseous. With only 7 out of 19 stories worth my time, I give this collection one lone star (maybe one and a half not to be unfair to the ones I actually liked).
I only really liked War Bride by Rick Wilber (would have liked it to be a novel or a novella, not such a short story) and When the Fathers Go by Bruce McAllister. Mr. McAllister is clearly much better at this than most of the others authors in this collection as it is a known fact that it can be more difficult to write a really good short story than it is to write a good full length novel. His story was also sad and quite heart-breaking, but it clearly belonged to a superior league of writing.
Some other stories I moderately enjoyed reading:
The Jamesburg Incubus by Scott Baker is longer, more intricate and overall a nice read, but still not as interesting as I expected given the good reviews it got from other readers.
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven is a geeky, entertaining little mock-article about what would actually happen if Superman tried to have sex and procreate with a human female (which made me laugh more by actually thinking of the silly, physically-impossible-for-almost-the-same-reasons Twilight sex S. Meyer pushed on her fans).
Roadside Rescue by Pat Cadigan is a very interesting tale of inter-species rape without the victim knowing what's actually happening until it's all over. It raises some great question marks about the difference in perception when it comes to love and sex and touches the fetish issue - is it really sex if you're the only one calling it that?
Scales by Lewis Shiner is a tale about a family torn apart by a succubus. I quite enjoyed this one as well and it would probably make a good psychological thriller movie.
Saving the World at the New Mood Motel by Roberta Lannes is a very light, quite funny tale of alien sex in a very human context.
To me, most of the stories are just sad and depressing, while others try too hard to be shocking and ended up making me nauseous. With only 7 out of 19 stories worth my time, I give this collection one lone star (maybe one and a half not to be unfair to the ones I actually liked).
I only really liked War Bride by Rick Wilber (would have liked it to be a novel or a novella, not such a short story) and When the Fathers Go by Bruce McAllister. Mr. McAllister is clearly much better at this than most of the others authors in this collection as it is a known fact that it can be more difficult to write a really good short story than it is to write a good full length novel. His story was also sad and quite heart-breaking, but it clearly belonged to a superior league of writing.
Some other stories I moderately enjoyed reading:
The Jamesburg Incubus by Scott Baker is longer, more intricate and overall a nice read, but still not as interesting as I expected given the good reviews it got from other readers.
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven is a geeky, entertaining little mock-article about what would actually happen if Superman tried to have sex and procreate with a human female (which made me laugh more by actually thinking of the silly, physically-impossible-for-almost-the-same-reasons Twilight sex S. Meyer pushed on her fans).
Roadside Rescue by Pat Cadigan is a very interesting tale of inter-species rape without the victim knowing what's actually happening until it's all over. It raises some great question marks about the difference in perception when it comes to love and sex and touches the fetish issue - is it really sex if you're the only one calling it that?
Scales by Lewis Shiner is a tale about a family torn apart by a succubus. I quite enjoyed this one as well and it would probably make a good psychological thriller movie.
Saving the World at the New Mood Motel by Roberta Lannes is a very light, quite funny tale of alien sex in a very human context.
tarana's review
2.0
The stories towards the end of the book were much better - actual closure instead of a plot half-finished or too way out there.
tyler_j's review against another edition
3.5
1- Her Furry Face by Leigh Kennedy- 4.25 stars
2- War Bride by Rick Wilber- 5 stars
3- How's the Night Life on Cissalda? by Harlan Ellison- 2 stars
4- The Jamesburg Incubus by Scott Baker- 4.25 stars
5- Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven- 3 stars
6- The First Time by K.W. Jeter- 2 stars
7- The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod by Philip Jose Farmer- 1 star
8- Husbands by Lisa Tuttle- 4.25 stars
9- When the Fathers Go by Bruce McAllister- 2 stars
10- Dancing Chickens by Edward Bryant- 3.5 stars
11- Roadside Rescue by Pat Cadigan- 4.5 stars
12- Omnisexual by Geoff Ryman- 3.5 stars
13- All My Darling Daughters by Connie Willis- 5 stars
14- Arousal by Richard Christian Matheson- 3 stars
15- Scales by Lewis Shiner- 4 stars
16- Saving the World at the New Moon Motel by Roberta Lannes- 3.25 stars
17- And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree Jr.- 3.25 stars
18- Picture Planes by Michaela Roessner- 4.5 stars
19- Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates by Pat Murphy- 4.25 stars
Avg- 3.5
Mixed bag sure but the ones I liked were rather thought-provoking and i'm really glad I read them. I enjoyed more than I didn't. Weird and thought-provoking are good words for this anthology.
2- War Bride by Rick Wilber- 5 stars
3- How's the Night Life on Cissalda? by Harlan Ellison- 2 stars
4- The Jamesburg Incubus by Scott Baker- 4.25 stars
5- Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven- 3 stars
6- The First Time by K.W. Jeter- 2 stars
7- The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod by Philip Jose Farmer- 1 star
8- Husbands by Lisa Tuttle- 4.25 stars
9- When the Fathers Go by Bruce McAllister- 2 stars
10- Dancing Chickens by Edward Bryant- 3.5 stars
11- Roadside Rescue by Pat Cadigan- 4.5 stars
12- Omnisexual by Geoff Ryman- 3.5 stars
13- All My Darling Daughters by Connie Willis- 5 stars
14- Arousal by Richard Christian Matheson- 3 stars
15- Scales by Lewis Shiner- 4 stars
16- Saving the World at the New Moon Motel by Roberta Lannes- 3.25 stars
17- And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree Jr.- 3.25 stars
18- Picture Planes by Michaela Roessner- 4.5 stars
19- Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates by Pat Murphy- 4.25 stars
Avg- 3.5
Mixed bag sure but the ones I liked were rather thought-provoking and i'm really glad I read them. I enjoyed more than I didn't. Weird and thought-provoking are good words for this anthology.
rremer's review against another edition
3.0
Some of these were great, some were good, a couple were bad, and every single one of them was odd. Considering the title and theme of the anthology that was pretty on point but it made for some interesting reading. A few of the stories that stuck with me most for a variety of reasons are Husbands by Lisa Tuttle, Dancing Chickens by Edward Bryant, When the Fathers Go by Bruce McAllister, and All My Darling Daughters by Connie Willis.
meghan_is_reading's review
good selection - made me think, which is a fun part of SciFi, and a truly disturbing/heartbreaking piece by Connie Willis which made me pause for a day or two before I could read anything else.
sucreslibrary's review against another edition
2.0
eh. I guess I was expecting more alien fucking from a book called Alien Sex. in quite a few of these there are no aliens involved at all. there's also a ton of rape in this book, as well as racism, bestiality and pedophilia. only liked 3 stories out of the 19. Don't read it unless you like reading ~edgy~ literature that sometimes involves sex.
mikekaz's review against another edition
4.0
This is a pretty good mix of stories. All of them are stories about people and beings having sex with an alien of some sort. Not all are aliens from outer space but also just alien-ness of the sex act with new and different partners. There are some real gems here and my favorites are below.
"How's the Night Life on Cissalda?" by Harlan Ellison - The ultimate in sexual intercourse comes for a visit.
"Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" by Larry Niven - The reality of Superman's sex life.
"Roadside Rescue" by Pat Cadigan - A weird story that turns out to be sexual.
"All My Darling Daughters" by Connie Willis - An excellent story that seems to be light-hearted at first but turns out to be VERY intense.
"Saving The World At The Moon Motel" by Roberta Lannes - A troublesome relationship leads to an incredible result.
"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates" by Pat Murphy - The next generation of beings after humans.
"How's the Night Life on Cissalda?" by Harlan Ellison - The ultimate in sexual intercourse comes for a visit.
"Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" by Larry Niven - The reality of Superman's sex life.
"Roadside Rescue" by Pat Cadigan - A weird story that turns out to be sexual.
"All My Darling Daughters" by Connie Willis - An excellent story that seems to be light-hearted at first but turns out to be VERY intense.
"Saving The World At The Moon Motel" by Roberta Lannes - A troublesome relationship leads to an incredible result.
"Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates" by Pat Murphy - The next generation of beings after humans.
librarianryan's review against another edition
2.0
I picked up this book because I was intrigued by the title. Alien sex. This aught to be an interesting erotic novel, but it was anything but. It is very literary and quite boring if you are more use to things that come from Ellora’s Cave.