Following its recent release, excitement remains high for Jacob Weisman’s INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE.

Jana Nyman delivers the second review of the book for FANTASY LITERATURE.

The anthology begins with an introduction by Weisman, explaining what his goals were and why he wanted non-genre authors to cross the invisible-but-forbidding barrier between serious lit and sci-fi. He sets the tone for what the reader should expect, as well as reflecting on his own experiences as a reader and an editor in the publishing industry. Regardless of my evaluation of an included story’s success or failure as speculative fiction, he’s completely correct when he extols the talents of the authors.

Each story is headed by a short biography of the author in question, as well as a brief bit of information on the story itself: where it might have been previously published, whether it was nominated for any awards, etc., which was tremendously helpful in the cases (and there were many) where I wasn’t already aware of an author’s career.

<snip>

The best stories in INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE certainly outweigh the weakest ones, and even the ones that I didn’t consider completely successful were still quite good. The style and content of the stories varies drastically from author to author, so I recommend reading a few stories at a time rather than plowing through the entire anthology in one go. Personally, I’ve been inspired to linger a little longer outside the sci-fi/fantasy section the next time I’m on the lookout for a new work of fiction.

For LIBRARY JOURNAL, Neal Wyatt recommends the anthology in his WYATT’S WORLD column.

Authors such as Junot Díaz, George Saunders, and Molly Gloss are gathered in this anthology highlighting stories of alien invasion, first contact, and more—offering further proof, if any more were necessary, that the line between genre and literary fiction is simply speculative.

Andrew Liptak at THE VERGE includes INVADERS among his listing of what to read in science fiction and fantasy this month.

Invasions are a longstanding trope within science fiction literature, and this new anthology from Jacob Weisman collects an intriguing set of short stories from authors not typically associated with science fiction. This collection contains stories about first contact to epidemics to scientific experiments from authors such as Junot Díaz, Jonathan Lethem, Katherine Dunn, and a number of others.

For more info about INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story