So far only read:

~ Spar by Kij Johnson



2*

With an opening line like this "In the tiny lifeboat, she and the alien fuck endlessly, relentlessly." how could I pass it by?

Ultimately it made me feels stupid and frustrated because I'm sure it "means" something but I can't unravel it.

I luckily found a good review by someone who is capable of unraveling it. Plus they had some of the author's own words regarding the story which had to help.

From the author:
Johnson: it's "a story about what can happen as the people we love turn into non-communicative aliens with whom we share a bed. And a story about sex with an alien because it's that or die of boredom. All the other things - the weird Stockholm Syndrome dynamic; the fear of leaving a familiar situation, however horrific; the cruelty that comes from familiarity - evolved in the rewrite. It's interesting to me how what I saw as the primary & very obvious theme of the story is the one people notice least.
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The Cover by Sean Donaldson is titled "Oh Shit"
haha