The People: No Different Flesh

The second in Henderson's tales of the People, aliens who crashlanded on earth and have to fit in despite their psychic abilities. No school teachers this time (the first book heavily featured teachers, probably because Henderson herself was one), but the framing is evident again, with a couple of humans who feature in the first story being shown what has happened to the people at various times, going back to why/when they left their world.

Although some of the description is vivid, I find it unconvincing in places because some of the stories are actually the recollections of humans who encounter individuals of the People, not the People (who have race memory recall) themselves, and I find it hard to picture how they can have word by show more word recall of what human beings felt, especially as those narratives start before they encounter one of the People.

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Re-read
My review above stands. I would only add that in one of the later stories, the woman of the People narrating the story is an absolute brat, possibly the author's reaction to the general perception that the People are all absolute paragons of virtue in the majority of stories in this and its predecessor, 'Pilgrimage'. And even so, I didn't really buy the Jemmy character, met in several tales before, stranding a heavily pregnant woman in a flood.

The other point I would make is to add a trigger warning regarding infant mortality because that is a major plot point in two of the stories. As before, my rating is an OK 2 stars. show less

When I picked this collection up at the used book store about all I knew about Zenna Henderson was that she hadn't written much, and that her People stores had a fervent and loyal following. And while I can't say that these stories will become cherished favorites, I'm certainly glad that I read this book. As I was reading the first few stories I kept thinking "well I've heard this story many times before" but I'm guessing that is precisely because these simple, powerful originals have been copied many times over.

This is a truly distinctive voice in scifi. It's hard to think of another author in the genre who is so perfectly, profoundly different from, say, Isaac Asimov. This is science fiction without science. Instead, these are show more character driven stories of personal growth and triumph, stories that always pack an emotional wallop--that hit you right between the eyes with a empathetic two-by-four. And these are stories where the conflicts are generally those within ourselves or those provided by mother nature.

It's quite obvious that Henderson was a devout Christian--the stories are suffused with a pervasive Faith in a gentle, caring, benevolent Presence (without ever being the slightest bit preachy). show less

Not a brilliant review: The People, from another planet that was destroyed, look human but have powers we earthlings don't have and are much better than we are. One woman, unlike all the others we learn about, is haughty and selfish and self-centered---and grieving and pregnant---until she realizes how wrong her behavior is; she seems unrealistic to me. All the others have evolved; there are hints of a difficult past and science-related abilities that had to be relearned in order for them to travel in space. (Unless that was in the first book. This is the second book of the series, composed of short stories (based on the list of copyright dates.))
Some humans have done terrible things to them, reminiscent of pogroms and other massacres. show more The action seems to take place in the American Southwest. The People are very religious, and connect to our Bible (which I assume was not available on their planet). They can sense when they are about to die and are very accepting of death; it's unusual to find a science fiction book with faith such an important part of the characters. show less

Presented in a similar framing story as the first book of the People, 'Pilgrimage', this book present another set of tales about the small group of aliens lost on Earth after the destruction of their old Home.

This time, a couple who had lost their own child find a young girl who has problems keeping her feet on the ground - all-too-literally! Knowing they can't keep the girl, they launch a search for her parents who would be surely looking for such a precious child by who knows what means. Not that they were expecting the parent to be the survivor of a hit and run accident caused by the local wild boys. With father and daughter re-united with the earth bound groups of the People, their rescuers are traeted to a collection of tales show more about the lives of the People as they made Earth a new Home. Although most of these stories also end on a positive note, they are grimmer than the first set of tales overall. show less

The People are from another planet living on earth masquerading as humans but they have very special powers. This is the second book Henderson has written about The People. An Assembly of the people is taking place and this book chronicles the stories of The People who attend it.

Chronicles a group of alien refugees with psychic powers living in secret among humans on Earth.

I reviewed this linked collection of stories on SF Mistressworks: https://sfmistressworks.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/the-people-no-different-flesh-z...