The Alien Condition

by Stephen Goldin (Editor)

From the front cover: "One dozen original new science-fiction stories of other life on other worlds."

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction

206 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1973

About the author

Born in Philadelphia in 1947, Stephen Goldin has lived in California since 1960. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from UCLA and worked as a civilian space scientist for the U.S. Navy for a few years after leaving college, but has made his living as a writer/editor most of his life.

His first wife was fellow author Kathleen Sky, with whom he co-wrote the first edition of the highly acclaimed nonfiction book The Business of Being a Writer . His current wife is fellow author Mary Mason. So far they have co-authored two books in the Rehumanization of Jade Darcy series.

He served the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as editor of the SFWA Bulletin and as the organization’s Western Regional Director.

He has lived with cats all his adult life. Artistically, he enjoys Broadway musicals and surrealist art. Philosophically, he is an atheist.

Learn more about him at his Web site. . Many of his books can be bought through his online bookstore, Parsina Press.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Goldin assisted David Gerrold in the editing of several anthologies of original short speculative short fiction in the 1970s, but this is the only volume that was credited solely to him. (He was, of course, known much more widely as an author.) The Alien Condition contains a very good selection of stories, a dozen stories told from an alien (to us, obviously) viewpoint. I remember good stories by Alan Dean Foster, Arthur Byron Cover, S. Kye Boult (a pen name of William Cochrane), Kathleen Sky (who was married to Goldin at the time), and Vonda N. McIntyre. The stand-out piece is Love Is the Plan the Plan is Death by James Tiptree, Jr.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting (horrifying?), intriguing, and playful; this story is told from an alien point of view as it poses some Big Questions about life. I was originally going to give it 4 stars because I found it a bit depressing, but the question(s) it is asking are profound, and I have found it hard to stop thinking about it. The alien perspective is a learning curve and you'll probably have to read it twice before a lot of it will click. Nebula Award Winner, 1973.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

...Between the lines of the narrative, the details of his ecology become clear and the conclusion, for anybody who knows anything about arachnids, should be obvious. Considered in that light, Moggadeet is not all that alien. To write him from his perspective without overly bold anthropomorphisation is quite an achievement. He may not have broken the cycle of life and death that governs his species, but there is a kind of contentment in the climax of the story that is hard to imagine from a human point of view...

Full Random Comments review.

[Secil Kaplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiptree Bilim Kurgunun Canına Okuyor
http://www.kurgu-bilim.com/tiptree-lo...

[Jon]

Read from the Reprint section of Lightspeed Magazine, June 2014: Women Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue. Strange, compelling and very thought provoking. Understandable why it won awards back in 1974.

[Andreas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review at my blog.

[Almeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

So alien, it took me a while to catch on. Deserves a re-read now that I understand the story's presentation.

[Tine!]

Um. Let me thinkythink, Leeliloo.

[Cidolfus · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting selection of short stories showing aliens with unusual thinking patterns. Unfortunately I find a not insignificant selection of these are not as good as I hoped. Plus, my ebook copy had punctuation and kerning errors. Still, the top three I read were quite worth it.

1. Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death (the best story, can read and listen to it here: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fi...)
2. Nor Iron Bars a Cage (crazy stuff, like a less belligerent Thing from The Thing)
3. Deaf Listener (short, sweet, and to the point)
Runner up: A Way Out (it's really funny!)

Overall, I would say I did not regret reading this collection and you should check it out when you get the chance.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"Stephen Goldin gathers together twelve original short stories–including six by women authors and two co-written with women–on the theme of the alien condition [1]. Despite the “Average” overall rating, The Alien Condition gathers a fascinating range of science fiction with three spectacular visions by Vonda N. McIntyre, Kathleen Sky, and James Tiptree, Jr. I was also pleasantly surprised by Alan Dean Foster’s take [...]"

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuyo título original La condición alienígena explica mucho mejor el contenido. Todos son relatos desde el punto de vista de inteligencias extraterrestres, con algunas ideas rarísimas y muy originales.

https://liblit.com/varios-mundos-perd...

[Bookmeister420]

I only read "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death", I don't know why this has shifted to the collection now.

[Akiva ꙮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

[[Review of "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death", a short story by James Tiptree, Jr. --- fucking goodreads merges.]]

Had to quit listening to this on the Lightspeed podcast and read it instead. It's normally the kind of thing I would be super into---culture and psychology of a very very alien species that's more predatory and instinct driven than humans---but it's also gory and gross and turns out to be a bad choice of listening material while very carsick.

(earlier:) Unsure whether I'd be liking this better if I didn't have to hear the reader bellowing "I, MOH-GAH-DEET" several times a minute.

[yellowbird · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories that are told from an alien point of view. Some of the stories are annoying, but most are well told and memorable. My favorites are The Lament of the Keeku bird by Kathleen Sky, Wings by Vonda McIntyre, and Routine Patrol Activity by Thomas Pickens. The first is a coming of age story, the second is a tale of loss and love on a grand scale (an entire alien race leaves their planet) and the third is very similar to a David Brin Uplift story, where educated dolphins face alien invaders.
A very good collection, overall.

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrific but terrific!

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

one of the strangest things I've ever read