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Jews Versus #2
Jews versus Aliens
In JEWS VS ALIENS, editors Lavie Tidhar and Rebecca Levene have gathered together brand new stories from the light-hearted to the profound, with authors ranging from Orange Prize winner Naomi Alderman to Big Bang Theory writer/producer Eric Kaplan, all asking, for the first time, the question you didn’t even know you wanted answered – what happens when the aliens arrive, only to encounter... Jews?
“If you will it, it is no dream!” as Theodor Herzl said: and no doubt he had just such an anthology in mind. With all proceeds going to charity, JEWS VS ALIENS and its companion volume, JEWS VS ZOMBIES, are the must have anthologies of the year.
“If you will it, it is no dream!” as Theodor Herzl said: and no doubt he had just such an anthology in mind. With all proceeds going to charity, JEWS VS ALIENS and its companion volume, JEWS VS ZOMBIES, are the must have anthologies of the year.
121 pages, ebook
First published March 19, 2015
12 people are currently reading
271 people want to read
About the author
Lavie Tidhar
397 books743 followersLavie Tidhar was raised on a kibbutz in Israel. He has travelled extensively since he was a teenager, living in South Africa, the UK, Laos, and the small island nation of Vanuatu.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 17, 2016
What fun! “Excision” by Naomi Alderman is about an alien who becomes a Jew and describes why on a vidcast. “Nameless and Shameless” by Lois H. Gresh is about Lot and Abraham and the destruction of Sodom, by aliens, though they do not use that word. “The Farm” by Elana Gomel is about a nameless Jewish soldier in Russia-ish fighting aliens circa World War I, who has read “The War of the Worlds,” and uses it as a guide. “The Reluctant Jew” by Rachel Swirsky is about Joseph on a space station whose commanders decide to have the crew explain their religions. Joseph doesn’t know much about Judaism, but the aliens are mostly interested in twirling yarmulkes on their tentacles.
I quite liked this collection, though it took me a long time to read it, more because of what has going on in my life, and the world, rather then the book. Read on Kindle.
I quite liked this collection, though it took me a long time to read it, more because of what has going on in my life, and the world, rather then the book. Read on Kindle.
June 8, 2017
I'm not a short story person, but this book was a gift (and the proceeds go to a good cause). I really enjoyed some of the stories in this collection; others were a little too strange for me to appreciate, but it's good for the soul to read strange things once in a while.
April 1, 2015
An entertaining read that could have used another pass by a proofreader. Much of the Hebrew was backwards.
March 15, 2026
Only ones worth reading are Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars and The Reluctant Jew
October 8, 2018
I came to this title for rather silly reasons. I enjoy Jewish themes and I enjoy space-faring science fiction, so I thought I should give the collection a go. I was mostly angling for stories like "The Reluctant Jew" by Rachel Swirsky, where a Jewish engineer on a space ship is given the task of religious education for an alien species (the title gives away his feelings on the matter. :P) I was kind've hoping for a story about the antonym of that. Personal preference.
Overall this collection is much more creative and diverse than to be solely focused on futurism. Some of these stories were set in the Pale of Settlement, during the decline of the Russian Empire and the beginning of the Revolution. One of them is biblical (Lois H. Gersh's "Nameless and Shameless," which imagines that all the troubles at Sodom were exacerbated by extra-terrestrial influence.) The religious stories largely took cues from the Talmud, with the most unusual being "Don't Blink" by Gon Ben Ari, featuring a conversation between a son sitting shiva and "the mirror alien" as understood by a quote in the book THE MAGID FROM YAVNIEL by Rabbi Avram Barski. (This might be the author's personal iteration; it doesn't look like the book has officially been translated into English.) Needless to say, I'm far from expert level at this degree of exegesis, but I do get the shiva connection--we're not supposed to have uncovered mirrors while mourning, and the mirror alien basically explains why, during this long debate with the protagonist.
Once religion comes into the mix, we inch further and further away from a traditional story anthology. :P But even sans religion, more authors chose to write their stories in epistolary form. The first story in the collection, "Antaius Floating In the Heavens Among the Stars" by Andrea Phillips, is a humorous exchange between a ruffled Jewish wedding party and the alien reception venue which needs some cultural sensitivity training. ;) The final story is "Excision" by Naomi Alderman (known more widely in the literary and speculative fiction world for her Women's Prize-winning novel, THE POWER.) This was more serious in tone (so surprise, surprise, I liked it better) concerning a radio interview where an alien explains why "they" (four different genders throughout life) decided to convert to Judaism. Turns out "their" culture committed genocide on a small contingent of its species, and Judaism offered "someone to forgive me." Quite the disquieting end to the collection with the Holocaust overtones.
Obviously (this seems to be my theme with Jewish spec fic I've read recently) the gentiles will not always "get it." In general, from my Jewish geekery standpoint, I found the stories easy to access. My personal big complaint would be--oy gevalt, you have stories with aliens, male protagonists, lots of female writers...how come so paltry on the female protagonists? Maybe this feeds into why "The Matter of Meroz" by Rosanne Rabinowitz is my favorite of the collection. This is another Russian/Ashkenazi historical story with biblical undertones--Meroz is mentioned in The Book of Judges. Talmudic scholars, Samuel and Lev, are studying how it might be another planet. Meanwhile on Earth, socialist thinking infiltrates young Jews like Samuel's sister, Raizl, and she's part of the Jewish Bund, which seeks to protect shtetls from pogroms. This is kind've another golem story, where Samuel, Lev and Raizl perform a kabalistic ritual to make contact with the lifeforms on Meroz to assist them, but this isn't a superhero tale. The strongest parts remain rooted in the characters and the human themes; Rabinowitz fleshed out a whole lot for short story length.
Thematically, I think the most thoughtful and literary story is "The Farm" by Elena Gomel. This one takes place a little later in Russian history, during the Revolution, which has been compromised because these zombie-like aliens called Eaters have entered the scene. Our protagonist is an assimilated Jewish socialist named Yakov who is trying to fight off the new threat...but their existence, ultimately, ties back into the human condition. I won't give away (much) more than that, but if like with the Alderman story, it makes me uncomfortable. I'm cool with how "Excision" challenges me, though; with "The Farm" I'd like to rail more against the antisemitic culture which pervades Russia society no matter what ideology is in charge. But in making Yakov a flawed character, Gomel reminds me, and all of us, that sometimes we have to turn the mirror inwards.
Overall this collection is much more creative and diverse than to be solely focused on futurism. Some of these stories were set in the Pale of Settlement, during the decline of the Russian Empire and the beginning of the Revolution. One of them is biblical (Lois H. Gersh's "Nameless and Shameless," which imagines that all the troubles at Sodom were exacerbated by extra-terrestrial influence.) The religious stories largely took cues from the Talmud, with the most unusual being "Don't Blink" by Gon Ben Ari, featuring a conversation between a son sitting shiva and "the mirror alien" as understood by a quote in the book THE MAGID FROM YAVNIEL by Rabbi Avram Barski. (This might be the author's personal iteration; it doesn't look like the book has officially been translated into English.) Needless to say, I'm far from expert level at this degree of exegesis, but I do get the shiva connection--we're not supposed to have uncovered mirrors while mourning, and the mirror alien basically explains why, during this long debate with the protagonist.
Once religion comes into the mix, we inch further and further away from a traditional story anthology. :P But even sans religion, more authors chose to write their stories in epistolary form. The first story in the collection, "Antaius Floating In the Heavens Among the Stars" by Andrea Phillips, is a humorous exchange between a ruffled Jewish wedding party and the alien reception venue which needs some cultural sensitivity training. ;) The final story is "Excision" by Naomi Alderman (known more widely in the literary and speculative fiction world for her Women's Prize-winning novel, THE POWER.) This was more serious in tone (so surprise, surprise, I liked it better) concerning a radio interview where an alien explains why "they" (four different genders throughout life) decided to convert to Judaism. Turns out "their" culture committed genocide on a small contingent of its species, and Judaism offered "someone to forgive me." Quite the disquieting end to the collection with the Holocaust overtones.
Obviously (this seems to be my theme with Jewish spec fic I've read recently) the gentiles will not always "get it." In general, from my Jewish geekery standpoint, I found the stories easy to access. My personal big complaint would be--oy gevalt, you have stories with aliens, male protagonists, lots of female writers...how come so paltry on the female protagonists? Maybe this feeds into why "The Matter of Meroz" by Rosanne Rabinowitz is my favorite of the collection. This is another Russian/Ashkenazi historical story with biblical undertones--Meroz is mentioned in The Book of Judges. Talmudic scholars, Samuel and Lev, are studying how it might be another planet. Meanwhile on Earth, socialist thinking infiltrates young Jews like Samuel's sister, Raizl, and she's part of the Jewish Bund, which seeks to protect shtetls from pogroms. This is kind've another golem story, where Samuel, Lev and Raizl perform a kabalistic ritual to make contact with the lifeforms on Meroz to assist them, but this isn't a superhero tale. The strongest parts remain rooted in the characters and the human themes; Rabinowitz fleshed out a whole lot for short story length.
Thematically, I think the most thoughtful and literary story is "The Farm" by Elena Gomel. This one takes place a little later in Russian history, during the Revolution, which has been compromised because these zombie-like aliens called Eaters have entered the scene. Our protagonist is an assimilated Jewish socialist named Yakov who is trying to fight off the new threat...but their existence, ultimately, ties back into the human condition. I won't give away (much) more than that, but if like with the Alderman story, it makes me uncomfortable. I'm cool with how "Excision" challenges me, though; with "The Farm" I'd like to rail more against the antisemitic culture which pervades Russia society no matter what ideology is in charge. But in making Yakov a flawed character, Gomel reminds me, and all of us, that sometimes we have to turn the mirror inwards.
January 17, 2016
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2584699.html
In the foreword to Jews vs Aliens, Lavie Tidhar points out that "The alien in science fiction, it is often said, stands in for the Other in all its myriad forms... To [John W.] Campbell, of course, the Jews were the aliens – but what happens when the roles are reversed?" Another theme that came through to me here more than in the other book was the military tradition of aggressive defence; Roseanne Rabinovitz's story "The Matter of Meroz" combines the two very effectively.
In the foreword to Jews vs Aliens, Lavie Tidhar points out that "The alien in science fiction, it is often said, stands in for the Other in all its myriad forms... To [John W.] Campbell, of course, the Jews were the aliens – but what happens when the roles are reversed?" Another theme that came through to me here more than in the other book was the military tradition of aggressive defence; Roseanne Rabinovitz's story "The Matter of Meroz" combines the two very effectively.
January 27, 2018
Overall this was an interesting read. It took me longer than planned for personal reasons. It was quick and thought provoking. Because this was a collection of short stories, I will do short reviews of each.
Antaius Floating in Heavens Among the Stars by Andrea Phillips: 4 stars. This was fun. A little tropey, but a good intro into the feel of the book. Enough of the "alien" to immediately relate with the happy couple and their marital woes.
The Matter of Meroz by Roseanne Rabinowitz: 3 stars. Relatable and yet foreign, terrifying and yet familiar. I liked the bits where it felt like I was sharing in the collective consciousness of this people, their hopes and fears. The alien tie in left me wanting though. Was there a different future?
Alien Thoughts by Eric Kaplan: 3 Stars. This was a little more conceptual and overly vague for me, but I liked the sense of action and the battle with S, which I assume is "the accuser."
The Reluctant Jew by Rachel Swirksy: 4 stars. Hilarious. Truly funny. The plot was a little weak, but I liked the rather scathing, irreverent look at both being in service and being told to be performatively Jewish.
To Serve...Breakfast by Jay Caselberg: 2 stars. This was one of the weaker ones for me. A predictable storyline, and implausible denouement and even in my limited understanding of Judaism a shaky doctrinal point. I guess is still a matter of debate, but...yeah, I don't buy it.
The Farm by Elana Gomel: 4 stars. I think this was my favorite overall story. It had a strong story arc, and combined the elements of horrifying aliens, the Jewish persecution, and the estrangement both from humanity and faith. It had atmosphere and lots of things to consider.
Don't Blink by Gon Ben Ari: 2 stars. Veeeery long and it didn't build to any sort of resolution that felt satisfying. It felt more like a bad conversation, even though the considerations of doctrine and life as a lapsed Jew all felt very "honest."
Nameless and Shameless by Lois H. Gresh: 3.5 stars. I thought this was a really fun retelling of the fall of Sodom. Really good blending of an alien culture that's been accepted and a very well known story.
The Ghetto by Matthue Roth: 2 stars. This one didn't seem to tell me much.
Excision by Naomi Alderman: 3 stars. Very short but insightful, thought provoking and capturing a bright, brilliant bubble of what it means for this author to consider genocide, family, and the haunt of the past.
Overall an enjoyable read by obviously talented storytellers.
Antaius Floating in Heavens Among the Stars by Andrea Phillips: 4 stars. This was fun. A little tropey, but a good intro into the feel of the book. Enough of the "alien" to immediately relate with the happy couple and their marital woes.
The Matter of Meroz by Roseanne Rabinowitz: 3 stars. Relatable and yet foreign, terrifying and yet familiar. I liked the bits where it felt like I was sharing in the collective consciousness of this people, their hopes and fears. The alien tie in left me wanting though. Was there a different future?
Alien Thoughts by Eric Kaplan: 3 Stars. This was a little more conceptual and overly vague for me, but I liked the sense of action and the battle with S, which I assume is "the accuser."
The Reluctant Jew by Rachel Swirksy: 4 stars. Hilarious. Truly funny. The plot was a little weak, but I liked the rather scathing, irreverent look at both being in service and being told to be performatively Jewish.
To Serve...Breakfast by Jay Caselberg: 2 stars. This was one of the weaker ones for me. A predictable storyline, and implausible denouement and even in my limited understanding of Judaism a shaky doctrinal point. I guess is still a matter of debate, but...yeah, I don't buy it.
The Farm by Elana Gomel: 4 stars. I think this was my favorite overall story. It had a strong story arc, and combined the elements of horrifying aliens, the Jewish persecution, and the estrangement both from humanity and faith. It had atmosphere and lots of things to consider.
Don't Blink by Gon Ben Ari: 2 stars. Veeeery long and it didn't build to any sort of resolution that felt satisfying. It felt more like a bad conversation, even though the considerations of doctrine and life as a lapsed Jew all felt very "honest."
Nameless and Shameless by Lois H. Gresh: 3.5 stars. I thought this was a really fun retelling of the fall of Sodom. Really good blending of an alien culture that's been accepted and a very well known story.
The Ghetto by Matthue Roth: 2 stars. This one didn't seem to tell me much.
Excision by Naomi Alderman: 3 stars. Very short but insightful, thought provoking and capturing a bright, brilliant bubble of what it means for this author to consider genocide, family, and the haunt of the past.
Overall an enjoyable read by obviously talented storytellers.
August 4, 2017
Jews vs Aliens is a charity anthology supporting Mosac (Greenwich, South London), which provides practical and emotional support to non-abusing parents, carers and families of children who have been sexually abused.
But don’t buy it to support an excellent cause. Buy it because it is fascinating, and at times laugh-out-loud funny.
We start off with “Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars” by Andrea Phillips. Oy, gevalt, this alien wedding venue and catering company is a Jewish mother-of-the-bride’s nightmare. You could see the inescapable train wreck coming when the groom’s favorite food was “pigs in a blanket.” The place has a decent reputation, but the aliens who run it have lost their human adviser.
Welcome to Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars, the galaxy’s premiere spot for luxurious accommodation, fine dining, and views so beautiful they are capable of halting your autonomous biological functions temporarily!
Let’s just say the person who thought this was a good place to have a wedding won’t be invited to Seder next year.
“The Scapegoat Factory” by Ofir Touche Gaflais is possibly my favorite story in the collection. In the future some of the dead inexplicably reanimate, not as zombies but as real people. The Reamimated cannot get work, their families want nothing to do with them, and they cannot get out of it by dying again no matter how hard they try. It’s tough-going to be a reanimated person, especially if you are one of God’s (re-)Chosen People. But there is paying work as a scapegoat, and people blame the Jews for everything. Interesting resolution.
In “The Matter of Meroz” Rosanne Rabinowitz has a rabbi who describes manner of travel called “the leaping of the road,” or kefitzat haderech. It seems Aliens were here in the time of Deborah, and we blocked to road for them to return to the stars by “jaunting,” Alfred Bester-style. Should we reach out to these aliens in a time of need, or should the knowledge stay hidden on an acient scroll? Good story.
A meteorite sends us the rules for speaking the unpronounceable Name of G-d in “Alien Thoughts” by Eric Kaplan. It’s sent by something that wants us to have the knowledge so it can infect our world. We let it in, but manage to send it off elsewhere. And the consequences are unexpected.
“The Reluctant Jew” by Rachel Swirsky is set on a space station. Aliens are very interested in human religions, a crew member who is at best an agnostic has a vaguely Jewish background. Hey, presto – he’s ordered to reluctantly represent the Jews at a booth next to all the other showcased religions. For the good of inter-stellar relationships, don’t you know. Why the aliens are interested is . . . pretty cool.
It also includes “To Serve… Breakfast” by A&A author Jay Caselberg, “The Farm,” written by Elana Gomel, “Don’t Blink” by Gon Ben Ari, “Nameless and Shameless” by Lois H. Gresh, “The Ghetto” by Matthue Roth, and “Excision” by Naomi Alderman . You get a lot of fiction and support a great cause.
But don’t buy it to support an excellent cause. Buy it because it is fascinating, and at times laugh-out-loud funny.
We start off with “Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars” by Andrea Phillips. Oy, gevalt, this alien wedding venue and catering company is a Jewish mother-of-the-bride’s nightmare. You could see the inescapable train wreck coming when the groom’s favorite food was “pigs in a blanket.” The place has a decent reputation, but the aliens who run it have lost their human adviser.
Welcome to Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars, the galaxy’s premiere spot for luxurious accommodation, fine dining, and views so beautiful they are capable of halting your autonomous biological functions temporarily!
Let’s just say the person who thought this was a good place to have a wedding won’t be invited to Seder next year.
“The Scapegoat Factory” by Ofir Touche Gaflais is possibly my favorite story in the collection. In the future some of the dead inexplicably reanimate, not as zombies but as real people. The Reamimated cannot get work, their families want nothing to do with them, and they cannot get out of it by dying again no matter how hard they try. It’s tough-going to be a reanimated person, especially if you are one of God’s (re-)Chosen People. But there is paying work as a scapegoat, and people blame the Jews for everything. Interesting resolution.
In “The Matter of Meroz” Rosanne Rabinowitz has a rabbi who describes manner of travel called “the leaping of the road,” or kefitzat haderech. It seems Aliens were here in the time of Deborah, and we blocked to road for them to return to the stars by “jaunting,” Alfred Bester-style. Should we reach out to these aliens in a time of need, or should the knowledge stay hidden on an acient scroll? Good story.
A meteorite sends us the rules for speaking the unpronounceable Name of G-d in “Alien Thoughts” by Eric Kaplan. It’s sent by something that wants us to have the knowledge so it can infect our world. We let it in, but manage to send it off elsewhere. And the consequences are unexpected.
“The Reluctant Jew” by Rachel Swirsky is set on a space station. Aliens are very interested in human religions, a crew member who is at best an agnostic has a vaguely Jewish background. Hey, presto – he’s ordered to reluctantly represent the Jews at a booth next to all the other showcased religions. For the good of inter-stellar relationships, don’t you know. Why the aliens are interested is . . . pretty cool.
It also includes “To Serve… Breakfast” by A&A author Jay Caselberg, “The Farm,” written by Elana Gomel, “Don’t Blink” by Gon Ben Ari, “Nameless and Shameless” by Lois H. Gresh, “The Ghetto” by Matthue Roth, and “Excision” by Naomi Alderman . You get a lot of fiction and support a great cause.
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March 22, 2016I'm giving this an incomplete review because I'm only going to mention the stories I liked. Some of the other ones were either far too metaphysical for me to understand or dwelled in a dark and visceral way on pogroms (in at least one case: both?) Where I had fun with this was when it was funny.
In "Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars", a venue in space's unfamiliarity with Judaism (and Earth in general) causes a spectacular fuckup at a Jewish wedding. Slight cringe for nightmare mother-in-law humor.
"The Reluctant Jew", possibly my favorite, has a gag about tentacle-aliens at the intergalactic version of a multicultural exhibit being fascinated by yarmulkes--eating them, playing with them, you name it.
"To Serve... Breakfast": alien invasion foiled by Jewish ingenuity... possibly non-observant Jewish ingenuity, in this specific case!
"Excision": an alien from a civilization with four--originally five--genders converts to Judaism and is interviewed about why they made that choice. Notable for a rather firm rebuttal when the (presumably human) interviewer tries to ascribe human gender analogues to the alien's species' genders.
Anyway, I think it's worth picking up just for those few because it's only three or four dollars and you may get more out of the metaphysical and dark ones than I did.
In "Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars", a venue in space's unfamiliarity with Judaism (and Earth in general) causes a spectacular fuckup at a Jewish wedding. Slight cringe for nightmare mother-in-law humor.
"The Reluctant Jew", possibly my favorite, has a gag about tentacle-aliens at the intergalactic version of a multicultural exhibit being fascinated by yarmulkes--eating them, playing with them, you name it.
"To Serve... Breakfast": alien invasion foiled by Jewish ingenuity... possibly non-observant Jewish ingenuity, in this specific case!
"Excision": an alien from a civilization with four--originally five--genders converts to Judaism and is interviewed about why they made that choice. Notable for a rather firm rebuttal when the (presumably human) interviewer tries to ascribe human gender analogues to the alien's species' genders.
Anyway, I think it's worth picking up just for those few because it's only three or four dollars and you may get more out of the metaphysical and dark ones than I did.
January 7, 2023
This is the second "Jews versus" booklet, and I was obliged to read it. In the same booklet format, it includes ten short stories related to Jews and, this time, aliens. As with Jews versus Zombies, the term "alien" needs a little stretching and may not relate only to creatures from outer space. Still, I enjoyed this book more than the previous one. It's larger (10 stories vs. 10, 150 pages vs. 120), and I found the stories to be more interesting. I especially liked the light-hearted "Antarius Floating in the Heavens Above the Stars", which deals with how aliens will see a Jewish wedding and "Excision", which is short, strong and eventually tragic, dealing with conversion and even circumcision. Still, this is a mixed bag, just like the first booklet, and I grade it 3.5 stars, rounding it down.
November 16, 2023
When too much schmaltz is not enough, add some aliens already.
March 29, 2015
A fun collection of sci fi short stories, all featuring Jews and Aliens. The diversity of the stories is amazing.
July 8, 2021
I'm sadly underwhelmed by this #ownvoices short story collection, most of which falls far shy of its potential to tell exciting science-fiction from a specifically Jewish perspective. Of the ten entries herein, I'd give a few of them passing grades -- "Antaius Floating in the Heavens Among the Stars," "The Reluctant Jew," and "Excision," all coincidentally about aliens drawn to convert to Judaism but that pull their punches somewhat as coherent narratives -- and just one anything higher, Rosanne Rabinowitz's excellent take on Russian resistance fighters using obscure Kabbalistic rites to summon extra-dimensional allies, "The Matter of Meroz."
That leaves the majority of the submissions as distinctly subpar, unfortunately. There are lazy stereotypes, half-baked and unimaginative plots, and a surprising degree of garbled mysticism that only skims the surface of our faith tradition and its particular customs. If I assign each tale a rating of 1-to-5 stars and calculate an average, the book comes out to a score of 2.5 overall. I feel comfortable with rounding that up to a 3 on the basis of how much I appreciate that a title like this has been published at all, but I honestly can't say that I'd recommend it for anybody to read straight through.
[Content warning for racism and antisemitism including pogroms.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
That leaves the majority of the submissions as distinctly subpar, unfortunately. There are lazy stereotypes, half-baked and unimaginative plots, and a surprising degree of garbled mysticism that only skims the surface of our faith tradition and its particular customs. If I assign each tale a rating of 1-to-5 stars and calculate an average, the book comes out to a score of 2.5 overall. I feel comfortable with rounding that up to a 3 on the basis of how much I appreciate that a title like this has been published at all, but I honestly can't say that I'd recommend it for anybody to read straight through.
[Content warning for racism and antisemitism including pogroms.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
January 2, 2026
Very clever 21st century humor.
"Jews Versus Aliens" is a collection of ten (10) short stories which have been written by ten (10) different authors, and as the title implies, each of these stories involves notably awkward encounters between aliens who are from distant planets and humans who happen to be Jewish.
You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the humor in the stories which are included in this compilation. The 10 stories which are included in this collection are all very cleverly written so that everyone who reads them will be easily able to enjoy these stories, if you're looking for something that will make you laugh repeatedly, I thoroughly recommend this compilation.
"Jews Versus Aliens" is a collection of ten (10) short stories which have been written by ten (10) different authors, and as the title implies, each of these stories involves notably awkward encounters between aliens who are from distant planets and humans who happen to be Jewish.
You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the humor in the stories which are included in this compilation. The 10 stories which are included in this collection are all very cleverly written so that everyone who reads them will be easily able to enjoy these stories, if you're looking for something that will make you laugh repeatedly, I thoroughly recommend this compilation.
January 18, 2018
Overall this was a pretty good selection of short stories. Although I'm sure a bit of it went over my head.
May 25, 2022
Like with any collection, this had some delightful hits and some strong misses. I cracked up over the tentacle v yarmulkes one, but did not even crack a smile at the Twilight Zone ripoff one.
June 17, 2023
The stories are a mixed bunch. The humorous ones were my favorite, but a few of the serious ones were excellent too.
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December 25, 2024SFFBC Buddy Read discussion
March 16, 2026
Aliens > Zombies. Some of these were pretty good!
February 21, 2017
Mostly good but some stories a bit hard to follow.
March 2, 2016
I was really sad that this wasn't as great as I'd hoped it'd be. :( I guess I set the bar too high.. It wasn't terrible though, it's just that the stories were not of the caliber that I was expecting. I'm not a zombie person so I don't think I'm going to get the sister book to this - Jews vs Zombies. I DID however, really like the first few and last story in this!!
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February 7, 2018
Unfortunately, the best part of the book was the title. I really wanted to like this book, but as I read through the short stories, they were pretty much all either:
1) Bad generic Twilight-Zone plots with a main character named "Moishe" (to make it "Jewish", I guess)
2) A mildly Jewish-related idea, implemented with poor dialogue, cardboard characters and bad editing.
1) Bad generic Twilight-Zone plots with a main character named "Moishe" (to make it "Jewish", I guess)
2) A mildly Jewish-related idea, implemented with poor dialogue, cardboard characters and bad editing.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews