A review by woozles666
Alien Stories by E.C. Osondu
5.0
I'm incredibly lucky to have stumbled onto Alien Stories. This short story collection is truly a masterpiece with more depth than many I've read in recent years. Moreover, the array of stories is dizzying in its variety, but each one is unique and memorable in its own way.
The author cleverly plays with that various definitions of the word "alien" throughout the collection. The issues and themes they explore range from the morality of the death penalty to the structural racial discrepancy in treatment quality in the American healthcare system. These issues come across clearly due to the masterful storytelling and economy of language that E.C. Osondu uses throughout the book.
However, these stories also shine because they are wildly creative. Every single one stuck in my memory, so it's hard to even choose just a handful to highlight. One story involves an immigrant to America going to a "memory store" to sell his memories after he loses his job at the car wash. Another is about an alien ship that crashes into a town and is abandoned by its pilot, but suddenly the villagers start having a string of good luck in their lives. All of the stories provide a stunning cross-section of incredibly relevant themes, fable-like elements, and sci-fi plot lines.
No story overstays its welcome, either. Most of them are short and sweet, clocking in at just a few pages. However, you would be hard-pressed to not rip through them all at once since they are just so good. I'm going to be highly recommending this collection to anyone interested in short stories for a long time to come.
The author cleverly plays with that various definitions of the word "alien" throughout the collection. The issues and themes they explore range from the morality of the death penalty to the structural racial discrepancy in treatment quality in the American healthcare system. These issues come across clearly due to the masterful storytelling and economy of language that E.C. Osondu uses throughout the book.
However, these stories also shine because they are wildly creative. Every single one stuck in my memory, so it's hard to even choose just a handful to highlight. One story involves an immigrant to America going to a "memory store" to sell his memories after he loses his job at the car wash. Another is about an alien ship that crashes into a town and is abandoned by its pilot, but suddenly the villagers start having a string of good luck in their lives. All of the stories provide a stunning cross-section of incredibly relevant themes, fable-like elements, and sci-fi plot lines.
No story overstays its welcome, either. Most of them are short and sweet, clocking in at just a few pages. However, you would be hard-pressed to not rip through them all at once since they are just so good. I'm going to be highly recommending this collection to anyone interested in short stories for a long time to come.