Not One of Us : Stories of Aliens on Earth

Mankind comes face to face with extraterrestrial life in this anthology from Clarkesworld publisher Neil Clarke. Here are stories that aren’t afraid to tackle thorny issues like race, immigration, nationalism, religion, and politics.
Science fiction writers have been using aliens as a metaphor for the other for over one hundred years. Superman has otherworldly origins, and his struggles to blend in on our planet are a clear metaphor for immigration. Earth’s adopted son is just one example of this “Alien Among Us” narrative.
There are stories of assimilation, or the failure to do so. Stories of resistance to the forces of naturalization. Stories told from the alien viewpoint. Stories that use aliens as a manifestation of the fears and worries of specific places and eras. Stories that transcend location and time, speaking to universal issues of group identity and its relationship to the Other. The table of contents includes:

Touring with the Alien by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Laws of Survival by Nancy Kress
At Play in the Fields by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Ants of Flanders by Robert Reed
Taking Care of God by Cixin Liu
Water Scorpions by Rich Larson
The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill by Kelly Robson
Men are Trouble by James Patrick Kelly
They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Bits by Naomi Kritzer
And Never Mind the Watching Ones by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
Dark Heaven by Gregory Benford
Nine-Tenths of the Law by Molly Tanzer
Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion by Caroline M. Yoachim
Time of the Snake by A.M. Dellamonica
The Fear Gun by Judith Berman
Tendeléo’s Story by Ian McDonald
The Choice by Paul McAuley
Passage of Earth by Michael Swanwick
Reborn by Ken Liu
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang

These writers grapple both the best and worst aspects of human nature, and they do so in utterly compelling and entertaining ways.