Hwarhath Transgressive Tales by Aliens collects a dozen Hwarhath tales with commentary by their translator. As the translator notes, “Humanity has encountered only one other species able to travel among the stars. This species, who call themselves the hwarhath, or ‘people,’ are also the only intelligent species so far encountered. Of course, we interest and puzzle and disturb each other…. The stories in this collection were written after the hwarhath learned enough about humanity to realize how similar (and different) we are. Our existence has called into question many ideas about life and morality that most hwarhath would have called certain a century ago…” Reviews “Arnason’s aliens are almost uniformly bisexual, and forbidden from engaging in heterosexual love beyond what’s needed for procreation. This behavior allows Arnason to adapt timeless folkloric tropes to her own modern, progressive, and wholly original reality, which comes alive in her precise, classically beautiful prose.” — Publishers Weekly, February 29, 2016 “This is anthropological science fiction at its best, with only Ursula K. Le Guin rivaling Arnason in cultural insight and in the sophistication, complexity, and evocativeness of her worldbuilding. The hwarhath serve as a distorted mirror in which we can clearly see our own follies, foibles, peculiarities, and the inequalities of our society; the hwarhath, meanwhile, see humans as a distorted mirror in which they can see the peculiarities and inequalities of their own society. Arnason does her best work here at novella length, and I consider “The Potter of Bones” and “Dapple” to be among the very best novellas of their respective years, and as having an honorable place amongst the best SF novellas ever written. “The Hound of Merlin”, “The Actors”, “The Lovers”, “The Garden”, and “Holmes Sherlock” are also very strong; in fact, there’s really nothing here that isn’t worth reading. Coming as it does from a small press, you may not see Hwarhath Transgressive Tales by Aliens included on many lists of the best collections of 2016 as the year comes to an end, but believe me, it’s one of them. It may even turn out to be the best collection of the year.” — Locus, Gardner Dozois, May 2016 “The alien species Hwarhath is an intelligent population whose inhabitants share many similarities to, and differences from, humans. This collection by the James Tiptree Jr. Award–winning author Arnason ( A Woman of the Iron People ) details Hwarhath society from the perspective of a cultural anthropologist and translator. The first story, “Historical Romances,” details the differences in Hwarhath literature and popular fiction, showcasing the latter in “The Actors,” “Dapple,” and “The Potter of Bones.” Sexuality, its fluidity, and its defined gender roles in this extraterrestrial community are highlighted in the myth-based tale “The Gauze Banner.” Delivered in a clear voice with scholarly touches, Arnason’s book brings a fantastic species to life.” — Library Journal, April 2016 “Eleanor Arnason’s witty and sophisticated anthropological fiction has long been admired by readers and editors of literary science fiction, but it has escaped wider recognition by appearing largely as stories and novellas. The central conceit is that these tales are the work of an alien race, the Hwarhath, who only late in their long history come in contact with humans, whom they don’t like very much but find fascinating. This first collection reveals a complex history of the Hwarhath through their myths, legends and even their science fiction, revealing a culture worthy of comparison to those of Ursula K. Le Guin.” — Chicago Tribune, Gary K. Wolfe, June 15, 2016