The Young Oxford Book of Aliens

by Dennis Pepper (Editor)

This collection brings together a range of stories about aliens and our encounters with them. The stories don't necessarily portray aliens as hostile invaders. On the contrary, there are many stories that explore the interaction between aliens and humans, and other stories in which humans are
themselves the aliens. Some of the stories have been specially written for this collection by writers such as Sue Welford. Others are by the best of sci-fi writers including Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and Harry Harrison.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 1999

Reviews

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing stories! They use every twist in the book, allowing you to chart the evolution of the science-fiction story from the pulps to anthologies like this one. It's amusing to watch the writers try to find a twist that hasn't been done already.
“Encounter at Dawn” reminded me uncoincidentally of 2001.
“Day of Succession” was grimly amusing, but I could detect no hint of a message.
“Not Yet the End” was funny! It seemed like such an old trope after I read it, but it still surprised me.
“The Star Beast” was very sad and moving, but, I think, happily unrealistic. It reminded me in tone of Ursula K. LeGuin.
“Judgement Day”? Another story about how hopeless humans are.
“The Holiday-Makers”: rather pointlessly horrifying.
“The Father-Thing”: inspiring story of kid power! Reminded me of It.
“Space Born” was scary. Not my favorite.
“Earth Surrenders” was refreshingly modern. Interesting. Discouraging.
“The Underdweller”: Shocking Twist Ending #3! Gave me deja vu for Children of the Corn.
“To Serve Man” was lightweight but great! I was sure I had read it before, since I'm a huge Twilight Zone fan, but I hadn't. I'm glad I've finally read it!
“The Bounty Hunter”: Shocking Twist Ending #6 (or 5, of a certain kind of twist ending).
Stephen King must have ripped off “Eight O'Clock in the Morning” for “The Ten-o'-clock People.” I didn't even realize until now that the titles are strikingly similar.
“Dear Pen Pal”: interesting for camera nerds, maybe.
“Sweets from a Stranger” was grimly funny, and had the best illustration in the whole book. But I don't like it when bad things happen to good people.
“The Chase”: I could barely read this one. Shocking Twist Ending #8 (I think? I'm losing track.)
“The Pair”: A much-needed hopeful story. Balanced it out a bit, but there should have been more like this.
“Star Daughter”: another refreshingly modern story, written for this book, I think. A nice, light, girl-boy story.
“Keyhole”: really touching story of friendship between a baby alien and an Earth man. Shows one of the best features of humans: our wonderful mutability and ability to change our minds.
“The Streets of Ashkelon”: disturbing and dark. One of the few atheist-versus-believer stories I’ve read in which the atheist definitely wins. I think this story was too adult and mature to be in a book for young readers.
“Starbride”: romantic and moving. A human-positive story. Shocking Twist Ending #10! (Maybe.)
“Out of the Everywhere”: how humans should treat aliens (and other humans).
Dennis Pepper, you did a fine job, sir. This may be even better than Nasty Endings.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some very memorable pieces here - "To Serve Man" by Damon Knight is a classic, and "The Streets of Ashkelon" by Harry Harrison has a very vivid take on aliens encountering Earth religion. Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, A.E. van Vogt, and Murray Leinster make appearances too. Another satisfying collection of short stories, many with a rather unsettling edge.

[Eridian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I’ve ever read /gen

[jzmcdaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

YOBA is the book that got me into sci-fi. I checked this book out several times as a preteen, and many of the stories and their illustrations have haunted me since. This was the book that got me into science fiction in the first place, ever since I started dreaming up my own stories about aliens when I was a kid. But while I wanted to create unified worlds of cyber-glitz and glamour, many of the stories in this collection rely on dark twists. Encounter at Dawn and Keyhole are optimistic stories about scientists navigating extraterrestrial beings in hopeful pursuits of knowledge. However, miscommunication, fear, deception, and curiosity all play into the resolution of the rest. I'm sure many of the authors crafted stories around this, as these are our fears about life beyond our planet.

The Streets of Ashkelon is easily my favorite story in this collection. Watching the Weskerians question religion and commit atrocities for it is as interesting as an adult atheist as when I was a questioning Christian teen. While existential quandaries often play into the collection, some of the stories are great for the horror they invoke. The Father-Thing, Earth Surrenders, Eight O'Clock in the Morning, The Holiday-Makers, Space-Born, To Serve Man, and the Underdweller enthralled me for their character's horrific dealings with exploitative alien menace.

I felt that the Bounty Hunter, Starbride, and Star Daughter were the weakest stories simply because they didn't lead many places. Some of the weaker stories' twists resolve as the things the characters acted with were aliens. Star Daughter was interesting to note because it was written by a woman. Rea's womanhood seemed alien to the narrator, which made him irritating to read, but maybe that was the point.

I read this in a surge of nostalgia, and I'm happy to say I've reclaimed a part of my childhood for my personal bookshelf.

[Abygail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was a very interesting book to read and a good book to read from different perspectives of aliens.

[CraftyChara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rosa recommended