A review by lizzderr
Alien Sex: 19 Tales by the Masters of Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy by Ellen Datlow

4.0

When discussing what sex in future and/or distant worlds might look like, it makes sense to tackle issues of consent—how can affirmative consent be established between beings that might struggle to communicate? To put it bluntly, then, there was a lot more rape, and moments of questionable consent, in this collection than I anticipated. Connie Willis’s “All My Darling Daughters” is certainly the most brutal on that point, and I wish I’d known that ahead of time, but in the end I’m not sorry I read it. My favorite story was probably Pat Cadigan’s “Roadside Rescue”—while some of the stories in the collection show their age in occasionally awkward ways, “Roadside Rescue” feels fresh and current. A fascinating collection overall!