Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Ace (1997), Mass Market Paperback, 286 pages
Description
The companion volume to the provocative Alien Sex anthology, Off Limits pushes boundaries with twenty stimulating tales of otherworldly encounters This second volume of the Alien Sex anthology series brings together authors Neil Gaiman, Robert Silverberg, Samuel R. Delany, Joyce Carol Oates, Elizabeth Hand, and many others to explore the mysteries of sex, alien and human alike. From an alien spy who falls in love with one of the earthlings he's monitoring, to a woman whose souvenir dream-catcher calls to her bedroom more than she bargained for, to a genetically engineered sex object aboard a space station, these thought-provoking tales of alien sex open up new worlds for fantastical exploration. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Ellen Datlow, including rare photos from the editor's personal collection.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
It's been a while since I read "Alien Sex," but, for my money, "Off Limits" actually improves on the original. There are twenty-two stories here, so it's no surprise that not everything works, but, for my money, the writing's better in this volume than in the original, and the hit-to-miss ratio
Lastly, there are a couple of boundary-pushing stories here that more or less have to be read to be believed and whose plots I won't describe here. Bruce McCallister's "Captain China," which describes the redemption of a young Vietnamese refugee forced into the sex trade is painful to read but also hugely imaginative and hair-raisingly grotesque, is one of those hit-you-in-the-gut stories. So is Kathe Koja and Barry M. Matzberg's "Ursus Triad, Later," which has got to be one of the strangest, most disturbing re-imagining of a fairy tale ever put to paper. That genre's pretty popular these days, but this is the sort of thing that trigger warnings were invented for. The fact that it's probably one of the best-written pieces here, a showcase for writing that's both bizarrely poetic and unrelentingly brutal, makes it difficult to read and harder to forget. Datlow's collections are usually good bets, and "Off Limits" is no exception.
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improves considerably. Either that or I'm beginning to learn how to read science fiction. Still, even some of the pulpier stuff works: Martha Soukup's "Fetish" plays out like a Tool video in short-story form, but its images have stayed with me. There's also a surprisingly good story by Elizabeth Hand, whose "Waking the Moon" I found incredibly cheesy. She acquits herself well here, meditating upon what might happen to femininity if the roles that have traditionally been assigned to women were to be replaced by technological substitutes. Some more standouts: "Lucifer in Blue" and "The House of Mourning," two meditations on prostitution that go deeper than mere smut: the former meditates on the psychology of political extremism, while the second tries to figure out where altered brain chemistry ends and real love begins. There's also John Kaiine's "Dolly Sodom", a particularly surreal vision of suburban ennui, and Richard Matheson's "Oral," which takes a fairly obvious title in directions most readers won't see coming. There's also a Samuel R. Delany story that seems to prefigure the psychological reaction of straight society to both the AIDS crisis and the increased visibility of transsexuals.Lastly, there are a couple of boundary-pushing stories here that more or less have to be read to be believed and whose plots I won't describe here. Bruce McCallister's "Captain China," which describes the redemption of a young Vietnamese refugee forced into the sex trade is painful to read but also hugely imaginative and hair-raisingly grotesque, is one of those hit-you-in-the-gut stories. So is Kathe Koja and Barry M. Matzberg's "Ursus Triad, Later," which has got to be one of the strangest, most disturbing re-imagining of a fairy tale ever put to paper. That genre's pretty popular these days, but this is the sort of thing that trigger warnings were invented for. The fact that it's probably one of the best-written pieces here, a showcase for writing that's both bizarrely poetic and unrelentingly brutal, makes it difficult to read and harder to forget. Datlow's collections are usually good bets, and "Off Limits" is no exception.
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LibraryThing member eingang
Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex, edited Ellen Datlow, is full of provocative stories, but I think the one that's stayed with me the longest, resonating the most since my previous reading, is Fetish by Martha Soukup, about a woman growing a beard, on purpose.
Other stories are quite powerful and
If you're thinking, however, that this collection is a thinly-veiled excuse for science fiction pornography, you couldn't be further from the truth. While some stories do feature explicit sexuality, in a human sense, many of them are not so much exploring sex in its physicalness as investigating society's ideas and values about sex and those who "practice" it or live or die by it.
Other stories are quite powerful and
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memorable as well, like Samuel R. Delaney's Aye, and Gomorrah.... There's an interesting back and forth, in meter, between Joe Haldeman and Jane Yolen, on themes of aliens and human sexuality as witnessed by aliens.If you're thinking, however, that this collection is a thinly-veiled excuse for science fiction pornography, you couldn't be further from the truth. While some stories do feature explicit sexuality, in a human sense, many of them are not so much exploring sex in its physicalness as investigating society's ideas and values about sex and those who "practice" it or live or die by it.
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LibraryThing member Hegemellman
I really liked this collection, though I found the editor's paragraph before each story to be unhelpful. I enjoyed things much more once I started ignoring that paragraph altogether and allowing the story to stand alone.
This is not erotica. These stories are about the boundaries of sexuality and
This is not erotica. These stories are about the boundaries of sexuality and
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gender. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996
Physical description
286 p.; 6.7 inches
ISBN
0441004369 / 9780441004362
Local notes
Robert SILVERBERG: The Reality Trip. Susan WADE: The Tattooist. John KAIINE: Dolly Sodom. Sherry COLDSMITH: The Lucifer of Blue. Scott BRADFIELD: The Queen of the Apocalypse. Richard Christian MATHESON: Oral. Simon INGS: Grand Prix. Brian STABLEFORD: The House of Mourning. Martha SOUKUP: Fetish. Gwyneth JONES: Red Sonja and Lessingham in Dreamland. Mike O'DRISCOLL: The Future of Birds. Bruce McALLISTER: Captain China. Lisa TUTTLE: Background : the Dream. Samuel R. DELANY: Aye, and Gomorrah. Kathe KOJA and Barry N. MALZBERG: Ursus Triad, Later. Joe HALDEMAN and Jane YOLEN: Sextraterrestrials. Joyce Carol OATES: The Dream-Catcher. Roberta LANNES: His Angel. Neil GAIMAN: Eaten (Scenes From a Moving Picture). Elizabeth HAND: In the Month of Athyr