What do you think?
Rate this book
Not Our Kind: Tales of (Not) Belonging
When you talk about outsiders, it's easy to think about that sense of isolation when you're not one of the "popular kids" in high school, when you're the new person on the job, when you stand out in a bad way.
But there's more than that.
There's the sense of wonder at a new, alien place. There's seeing everything you know through a new, different point of view.
These stories defy expectations and easy genre boundaries.
But if you want that sense of wonder and amazement when you first encountered speculative fiction, that idea that there is something different, something *more* just around the corner, just out of sight, that sense of coming home to the unfamiliar, then this is the book you want to read.
But there's more than that.
There's the sense of wonder at a new, alien place. There's seeing everything you know through a new, different point of view.
These stories defy expectations and easy genre boundaries.
But if you want that sense of wonder and amazement when you first encountered speculative fiction, that idea that there is something different, something *more* just around the corner, just out of sight, that sense of coming home to the unfamiliar, then this is the book you want to read.
301 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
4 people are currently reading
579 people want to read
About the author
Nayad A. Monroe
11 books81 followersI make art, write speculative fiction, and edit anthologies. I'm trying to meet everyone in the world, but will settle for the English-speakers if I must be realistic.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 10, 2025
This eclectic collection was filled with an array of speculative fiction that interpreted the archetype of the outsider in many ways. From the outer reaches of space to the post-apocalyptic American Midwest, the characters in these stories were intriguing and complex. Overall, however, I was repeatedly distracted by ALL THE TYPOS!! Very little aggravates me more than a professionally released book filled with typos, missing words and other printing errors. And this anthology, for all its talent, is full of typos. Perhaps the digital edition is better.
Some memorable tales:
“All the Pretty Cages” by Damien Angelica Walter’s
“Tahanan” by Reinhardt Suarez & Wes Alexander
“Spinwebs” by Lucy A. Snyder
“Mermaid’s Kiss” by Alex Bledsoe
Some memorable tales:
“All the Pretty Cages” by Damien Angelica Walter’s
“Tahanan” by Reinhardt Suarez & Wes Alexander
“Spinwebs” by Lucy A. Snyder
“Mermaid’s Kiss” by Alex Bledsoe
February 1, 2015
I think the anthology lives up to the description on the back cover: there is a sense of not only outsider-ness, but also other-worldliness and rediscovery in this batch of stories. Some of them hit the sense of being truly an outsider with amazing emotion and depth and dexterity (particularly "All the Pretty Cages" by Damien Angelica Walters, but also "The Victor" by Michael Haynes; "FawnGirl14" by Sarah Hans; "The Hanged Woman's Portion" by Marissa Lingen; and "The Repository of All Our Potential" by Janet Harriett) while others convey that sense of wonder tinged with loss (particularly Jennifer Brozek's "The Broken Silence of Fanghan" and Maurice Broaddus' "(120 Degrees of) Know the Ledge") and still others mix the two with alarming results (Remy Nakamura's "On Love and Decay;" Andrew Penn Romine's "For Outside Are the Dogs," and Tim Waggoner's "Cankerous"). But there really isn't a weak link in the volume.
Individual story reviews can be read on my "Story A Day" Livejournal community.
Individual story reviews can be read on my "Story A Day" Livejournal community.
July 5, 2016
A collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories about the people who don’t fit in with the others around them, for one reason or another.
These 19 stories live up to the title. Many of them have a protagonist who doesn’t belong or who is a stranger to the people around them. A few depict a clash of cultures (which I’m always interested in) and some have a feeling of otherness or strangeness which isn’t so usual in SFF anymore. The strangeness is perhaps best seen in the first story.
"Good Neighbors" by Amanda C. Davis: Paul works for an IT company. But in a very different kind of world where it’s very important to please certain people.
"The Hanged Woman’s Portion" by Marissa Lingen: Aridana has been sentenced to death in Pyxis Sigma III, on an alien world and among aliens. Alien missionaries visit her in jail but their religions don’t seem to work by the same logic as on Earth.
"The Broken Silence of Fanghan" by Jennifer Brozek: Kim Zhou has gotten a job as a caretaker of the town called Fanghan. Except that nobody lives there. Still, Kim is given set of instructions which he has to follow strictly.
"The Repository of All Out Potential" by Janet Harriett: Gaia has lived her whole life inside a starship. Unlike the other people onboard she’s never put a foot on a planet and never seen a planet up close. The others treat her like an experiment which frustrates her.
"FawnGirl14" by Sarah Hans: The main character was kidnapped forty years ago. Now she’s back but fundamentally changed. For only four days passed for her.
"For Outside are the Dogs" by Andrew Penn Romine: Luisa, her brother, and her boyfriend try to survive in a post-Cataclysm world where the Templars have all the modern tech. But life is hard. When they come across a strange dog they realize it probably belongs to the Templars but they take it anyway, for selling it back might give them a chance at a better life.
"The Victor" by Michael Haynes: In this world, the victor sacrifices his life and the loser goes on to live the life of the victor. The victor’s family isn’t happy about it.
"Umwelt" by Gary Kloster: Gazi and Siska have been on the run from gods and war. Some years back they settled down and had kids. But now war has found them again.
"On Love and Decay" by Remy Nakamura: One day, the giant fungal city pushed upwards from soil and took over Disneyland and Orange County metro. Eight years later, the mushroom people still encounter prejudice in their everyday life. When Julian, a human, falls in love with Kombucha, a shroom woman, they know that not everyone will understand them.
"All the Pretty Cages" by Damien Angelica Walters: In this world, some humans are born with wings and are unable to speak. They’re called avians and they’re hunted and brought to schools where their wings and vocal cords are removed to make them normal, even though they can’t blend into human society. The main character used to be an avian. Now she hunts them.
"Tahanan" by Reinhardt Suarex and Wes Alexander: Mahal’s grandfather is behaving strangely, ordering her to go away while he says goodbye to various things. Mahal decides to spy on him and learns thing about her own country and past which adults haven’t told her.
"Spinwebs" by Lucy A. Snyder: In this world, some people live with spiderlike people called spinwebs. However, some humans loath the spinwebs and the humans who associate with them. Young Adria learns this first hand, when Mama Silklegs dies and leaves her eggs to Adria’s care.
"Mermaid’s Kiss" by Alex Bledsoe: Jimmy Howley is the chief of police in Parsons. He’s rather disappointed in his life and has become something of a drunk. One night, he sees a girl in the Tennessee River. She kisses him and he realizes that she has a fish tail instead of legs. But she slips back into water and he is left wondering if it was a drunken dream. Until a year later when the mermaid’s sister comes to him.
"Say Rice" by Ekaterina G. Sedia: Margie is a biology student but she’s interning with a law firm. Her old but very elegant boss, Stella, makes Margie feel like a clumsy bum. But there’s a reason why Margie was hired to the firm.
"Hero Town" by Tyler Hayes: Jace is from the Office of Superhuman Resources. He needs to inoculate teenaged powered people. An epidemic is plaguing the unpowered people and evidence suggests that the powered people are the source. The heroes don’t take this suggestion kindly, to say the least, because mere bugs shouldn’t work on real supers.
"Euryale Rising" by Erika Holt: Unexpected news reaches hell: Man’s dominion is over. Various devils, imps, and daemons stream out of the inferno and to Earth. Euryale is one of them, a creature whose whole family was killed by humans because their blood is said to heal every wound. She takes her bow with her and wants revenge.
"The Valiant Heart" by Juliette Wade: Grobal Pyaras is a nobleman. In his country, the nobles and the warriors (Arissen) don’t mix. But Pyaras has fallen in love with an Arissen to the chagrin of his cousin, the king, who will do everything in his power to make life difficult for the couple. In this culture the warriors prove the valiance in their hearts with a duel.
"(120 Degrees) of Know the Ledge" by Maurice Broaddus: In this world, America is a colony of Albion. In America, blacks are unhappy with the racism and have formed their Lost Nation. Carlton X is one of them and when their leader, Father Justice, is assassinated, Carlton X raises in the hierarchy.
"Cankerous" by Tim Waggoner: Doozer is a homeless man in his fifties living in a tent city. One day, he notices something strange about the mother and daughter living in the next tent.
I liked all of these stories but my favorites where “The Valiant Heart”, “The Hanged Woman’s Portion”, “Euryale Rising”, “The Victor”, and “The Repository of All Out Potential”. Many of the stories have more than a touch of sadness in them but usually with some underlying hope.
These 19 stories live up to the title. Many of them have a protagonist who doesn’t belong or who is a stranger to the people around them. A few depict a clash of cultures (which I’m always interested in) and some have a feeling of otherness or strangeness which isn’t so usual in SFF anymore. The strangeness is perhaps best seen in the first story.
"Good Neighbors" by Amanda C. Davis: Paul works for an IT company. But in a very different kind of world where it’s very important to please certain people.
"The Hanged Woman’s Portion" by Marissa Lingen: Aridana has been sentenced to death in Pyxis Sigma III, on an alien world and among aliens. Alien missionaries visit her in jail but their religions don’t seem to work by the same logic as on Earth.
"The Broken Silence of Fanghan" by Jennifer Brozek: Kim Zhou has gotten a job as a caretaker of the town called Fanghan. Except that nobody lives there. Still, Kim is given set of instructions which he has to follow strictly.
"The Repository of All Out Potential" by Janet Harriett: Gaia has lived her whole life inside a starship. Unlike the other people onboard she’s never put a foot on a planet and never seen a planet up close. The others treat her like an experiment which frustrates her.
"FawnGirl14" by Sarah Hans: The main character was kidnapped forty years ago. Now she’s back but fundamentally changed. For only four days passed for her.
"For Outside are the Dogs" by Andrew Penn Romine: Luisa, her brother, and her boyfriend try to survive in a post-Cataclysm world where the Templars have all the modern tech. But life is hard. When they come across a strange dog they realize it probably belongs to the Templars but they take it anyway, for selling it back might give them a chance at a better life.
"The Victor" by Michael Haynes: In this world, the victor sacrifices his life and the loser goes on to live the life of the victor. The victor’s family isn’t happy about it.
"Umwelt" by Gary Kloster: Gazi and Siska have been on the run from gods and war. Some years back they settled down and had kids. But now war has found them again.
"On Love and Decay" by Remy Nakamura: One day, the giant fungal city pushed upwards from soil and took over Disneyland and Orange County metro. Eight years later, the mushroom people still encounter prejudice in their everyday life. When Julian, a human, falls in love with Kombucha, a shroom woman, they know that not everyone will understand them.
"All the Pretty Cages" by Damien Angelica Walters: In this world, some humans are born with wings and are unable to speak. They’re called avians and they’re hunted and brought to schools where their wings and vocal cords are removed to make them normal, even though they can’t blend into human society. The main character used to be an avian. Now she hunts them.
"Tahanan" by Reinhardt Suarex and Wes Alexander: Mahal’s grandfather is behaving strangely, ordering her to go away while he says goodbye to various things. Mahal decides to spy on him and learns thing about her own country and past which adults haven’t told her.
"Spinwebs" by Lucy A. Snyder: In this world, some people live with spiderlike people called spinwebs. However, some humans loath the spinwebs and the humans who associate with them. Young Adria learns this first hand, when Mama Silklegs dies and leaves her eggs to Adria’s care.
"Mermaid’s Kiss" by Alex Bledsoe: Jimmy Howley is the chief of police in Parsons. He’s rather disappointed in his life and has become something of a drunk. One night, he sees a girl in the Tennessee River. She kisses him and he realizes that she has a fish tail instead of legs. But she slips back into water and he is left wondering if it was a drunken dream. Until a year later when the mermaid’s sister comes to him.
"Say Rice" by Ekaterina G. Sedia: Margie is a biology student but she’s interning with a law firm. Her old but very elegant boss, Stella, makes Margie feel like a clumsy bum. But there’s a reason why Margie was hired to the firm.
"Hero Town" by Tyler Hayes: Jace is from the Office of Superhuman Resources. He needs to inoculate teenaged powered people. An epidemic is plaguing the unpowered people and evidence suggests that the powered people are the source. The heroes don’t take this suggestion kindly, to say the least, because mere bugs shouldn’t work on real supers.
"Euryale Rising" by Erika Holt: Unexpected news reaches hell: Man’s dominion is over. Various devils, imps, and daemons stream out of the inferno and to Earth. Euryale is one of them, a creature whose whole family was killed by humans because their blood is said to heal every wound. She takes her bow with her and wants revenge.
"The Valiant Heart" by Juliette Wade: Grobal Pyaras is a nobleman. In his country, the nobles and the warriors (Arissen) don’t mix. But Pyaras has fallen in love with an Arissen to the chagrin of his cousin, the king, who will do everything in his power to make life difficult for the couple. In this culture the warriors prove the valiance in their hearts with a duel.
"(120 Degrees) of Know the Ledge" by Maurice Broaddus: In this world, America is a colony of Albion. In America, blacks are unhappy with the racism and have formed their Lost Nation. Carlton X is one of them and when their leader, Father Justice, is assassinated, Carlton X raises in the hierarchy.
"Cankerous" by Tim Waggoner: Doozer is a homeless man in his fifties living in a tent city. One day, he notices something strange about the mother and daughter living in the next tent.
I liked all of these stories but my favorites where “The Valiant Heart”, “The Hanged Woman’s Portion”, “Euryale Rising”, “The Victor”, and “The Repository of All Out Potential”. Many of the stories have more than a touch of sadness in them but usually with some underlying hope.
March 1, 2015
Some of the stories were really interesting, but many of them were just a bit too weird.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews