Tales from the Planet Earth is a 1986 anthology of science fiction stories edited by Frederik Pohl and Elizabeth Anne HullTales from the Planet Earth ed. Frederik Pohl & Elizabeth Anne Hull (St. Martin’s Press, , Nov 1986 It presents 19 stories, sharing a common background developed by Pohl and Hull, by 18 authors from 18 countries; each author's story is set in his native country, plus one extra story by Pohl. According to its cover, it contains stories about aliens which came to "occupy our bodies and inhabit our souls" and they "must find humans capable of hosting personalities and thoughts transmitted across the cosmos".Contents lists, a Locus Magazine webpage
The collection was dedicated for the memory of A. Bertram Chandler and Janusz A. Zajdel.p. v
Contents Sitting Around the Pool, Soaking Up the Rays · Frederik Pohl, originally in IASFM Aug ’84 The Thursday Events · Ye Yonglie User Friendly · Spider Robinson Life as an Ant · André Carneiro Fiddling for Waterbuffaloes · Somtow Sucharitkul, originally in Analog Apr ’86 S Is for Snake · Lino Aldani, originally "S come serpente", Urania #1021, Apr 27, ’86. The Divided Carla · Josef Nesvadba, originally "Rozštěpená Karla", in Literární Měsíčník Jun ’85 The View from the Top of the Tower · Harry Harrison, originally in F&SF May ’86 Don’t Knock the Rock · A. Bertram Chandler The Owl of Bear Island · Jon Bing Contacts of a Fourth Kind · Lyuben Dilov Infestation · Brian W. Aldiss In the Blink of an Eye · Carlos Maria Federici Particularly Difficult Territory · Janusz A. Zajdel (Polish title: "Wyjątkowo trudny teren") Time Everlasting · Sam J. Lundwall The Middle Kingdom · Tong Enzheng & Elizabeth Anne Hull, adapt. On the Inside Track · Karl-Michael Armer, originally in Entropie, 1986 The Legend of the Paper Spaceship · Tetsu Yano; trans. by Gene Van Troyer & Tomoko Oshiro, originally 1978 We Servants of the Stars · Frederik Pohl
Reception Orson Scott Card described the anthology as "a world tour of science fiction" and reported "it will make you more appreciative of the best of America sf -- and more impatient with sameness, the repetitiveness, the insularity that so often afflicts us.""Books to Look For", F&SF, July 1987
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