Favourite Sci-Fi Short Stories, Novellas etc

darryl · 12-31-2011, 01:13 AM

I have just replied to the thread about Best Sci-Fi novels and thought it would be interesting to have a similar thread on Short Stories, as there are so many wonderful ideas and authors who don't feature in the best Novels for various reasons. I've also asked for people's favourites rather than the best. Feel free to nominate the best if you like, but for me I think that would be impossible. It would also be nice to include a short reason as to why you like the short story concerned. For me it will often but not always be the thought provoking ideas or original premise behind the story.

Alice Sheldon (aliases James Tiptree Jnr and Raccona Sheldon) is in my view one of the greatest authors in Sci-Fi, who wrote wonderful short stories, but a couple of very mediocre novels. Some of the best are:

The Screwfly Solution - A number of thought provoking aspects of an interesting premise. Great last line.

Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death - Interesting idea and well-written in the first person of a most interesting primitive species.

The Girl who was Plugged In - Brilliant story. Great read for the marketers and those into the cult of celebrity.

The Man who Walked Home - Novel time travel story.

Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star" is written from the point of view of a Jesuit on a long space journey with secular scientists, and has a wonderful ending.

Vernor Vinge's "Longshot" is a third "person" narrative about an automated space probe on a desperate mission which unfolds throughout the story. Very interesting premise.

Fredric Brown's "Answer" is less than a page long but most thought provoking. A great piece of writing.

Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall" is plainly written and the characters somewhat wooden, but the premise alone is startling. I read this as a young teen and loved the premise.

Richard Lupoff's "With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Lil Ol N'Alabama" is highly original and written in colloquial "s'urn" (southern). Why should we leave all our prejudices behind if we colonise other solar systems?

xg4bx · 12-31-2011, 07:53 AM

Love and Glass by Michael Scott Bricker (found in Timelines:Stories Inspired by the Time Machine). it involves the time traveler and various time travelers from around the universe coming together on a planet at the end of time.

the entire story is included in the sample if anybody wants to read it-

http://www.amazon.com/Timelines-Stor...=1CJLSCQI37SW4

kennyc · 12-31-2011, 08:16 AM

hmmm, didn't we have a thread like this....maybe it was not limited to Science Fiction.

A few of my all time favorites are:

Frost and Fire - Bradbury

The Star - Arthur C. Clark

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - LeGuin - http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas.txt

Rescue Party - Arthur C. Clark: http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/0...498747___1.htm

The Story of Your Life - Ted Chiang

A Rose for Ecclesiastes - Roger Zelazny

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes.

A Boy and His Dog - Harlan Ellison

And there is this of course: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_short_stories.html

darryl · 01-01-2012, 12:56 AM

[QUOTE=kennyc;1903706]hmmm, didn't we have a thread like this....maybe it was not limited to Science Fiction.

I didn't see one but perhaps I didn't search diligently enough.

I like your list and certainly agree with you about Flowers for Algernon. That is one that should have been on my list.

kennyc · 01-01-2012, 05:05 AM

Some recent anthologies I've seen have included

"Rappaccini's Daughter" - Nathanial Hawthorne (I sort of have mixed feeling about what genre that might fall into)

Just read a story in the Pen/O.Henry Prize 2011 last night that is definitely SF based on global warming: Diary of an Interesting Year - Helen Simpson.

I wouldn't say either of those is a "favorite" as the OP asked but just thought I'd mention them in that it seems the SF/Mainstream category is shifting a bit.

BenG · 01-01-2012, 06:49 AM

Microcosmic God By Theodore Sturgeon
Mimsy Were The Borogoves By Lewis Padgett (alias of Henry Kuttner and his wife, C. L Moore)
The Little Black Bag by C M. Kornbluth
Dark They Were, and Golden-eyed by Ray Bradbury
The Great Work of Time by John Crowley
Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson
Spacetime for Springers by Fritz Leiber (not really SF but highly recommended, esp if you have cats)
The Darfsteller by Walter M. Miller
All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis (Christmas SF)

For more recommendations check out this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43439

sabredog · 01-01-2012, 07:00 AM

The Outer Pendulum series by Slava Heretz

Pretty good reads.

Blue Tyson · 01-01-2012, 07:25 AM

Aldani, Lino - Good Night Sophie - [science fiction]
Bacigalupi, Paolo - Calorie Man,The - [science fiction]
Blackford, Russell - Soldier In the Machine,The - [science fiction]
Brackett, Leigh and Ray Bradbury - Lorelei Of the Red Mist - [science fiction]
Brackett, Leigh - Black Amazon Of Mars - [science fiction]
Broderick, Damien - Schrodinger's Dog - [science fiction]
Brown, Simon - Imagining Ajax - [science fiction]
Campbell, John W. - Who Goes There? - [science fiction]
Carrico, David - Quiet Man,The - [science fiction]
Chiang, Ted - Exhalation - [science fiction]
Clarke, Arthur C. - Nine Billion Names Of God,The - [science fiction]
Denton, Bradley - Sergeant Chip - [science fiction]
Di_Filippo, Paul and Bruce Sterling - Scab's Progress,The - [science fiction]
Dick, Philip K. - Minority Report,The - [science fiction]
Dickson, Gordon R. - Dolphin's Way - [science fiction]
Doctorow, Cory - When SysAdmins Ruled the Earth - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Breaking Through To the Heroes - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Colouring the Captains - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Coming Down - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Coyote Struck By Lightning - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Doing the Line - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Flashmen - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Man Who Lost Red,The - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Privateers' Moon - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Rynemonn - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Sewing Whole Cloth - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Ship's Eye - [science fiction]
Dowling, Terry - Time of the Star - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Border Guards - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Crystal Nights - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Dark Integers - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Dust - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Luminous - [science fiction]
Egan, Greg - Wang's Carpets - [science fiction]
Geston, Mark S. - Allies,The - [science fiction]
Godwin, Tom - Cold Equations,The - [science fiction]
Gould, Steven - Peaches For Mad Molly - [science fiction]
Haldeman, Joe - Hero - [science fiction]
Haldeman, Joe - We Are Very Happy Here - [science fiction]
Jones, Raymond F. - Person From Porlock,The - [science fiction]
Kress, Nancy - Computer Virus - [science fiction]
Kress, Nancy - Saviour - [science fiction]
Leinster, Murray - Exploration Team - [science fiction]
Lethem, Jonathan - Vanilla Dunk - [science fiction]
Levinson, Paul - Chronology Protection Case,The - [science fiction]
McAllister, Bruce - Kin - [science fiction]
McCaffrey, Anne - Dragonrider - [science fiction]
McDevitt, Jack and Stanley Schmidt - Good Intentions - [science fiction]
McDonald, Ian - Tear,The - [science fiction]
McDonald, Ian - Verthandi's Ring - [science fiction]
Reed, Robert - Man With the Golden Balloon,The - [science fiction]
Rex, T. - Evensong - [science fiction]
Reynolds, Alastair - Diamond Dogs - [science fiction]
Roberts, Frank - It Could Be You - [science fiction]
Robinson, Spider - Dog Day Evening - [science fiction]
Robinson, Spider - Melancholy Elephants - [science fiction]
Shea, Michael - Autopsy,The - [science fiction]
Shepard, Lucius - Radiant Green Star - [science fiction]
Smith, Cordwainer - Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons - [science fiction]
Smith, Cordwainer - Scanners Live In Vain - [science fiction]
Steele, Allen M. - Death of Captain Future,The - [science fiction]
Stross, Charles - Antibodies - [science fiction]
Stross, Charles - Halo - [science fiction]
Stross, Charles - Lobsters - [science fiction]
Stross, Charles - Tourist - [science fiction]
Sussex, Lucy - Merlusine - [science fiction]
Swanwick, Michael - Dead,The - [science fiction]
Tiptree_Jr, James - Only Neat Thing To Do,The - [science fiction]
Turner, George - Flowering Mandrake - [science fiction]
Westerfeld, Scott - Unsportsmanlike Conduct - [science fiction]
Williams, Walter Jon - Green Leopard Plague,The - [science fiction]
Wodhams, Jack - One Clay Foot - [science fiction]
Zelazny, Roger - Home Is the Hangman - [science fiction]

kennyc · 01-01-2012, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenG

....

For more recommendations check out this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43439

Ah-Ha! There's the thread I was thinking about!

Thanks Ben!

xg4bx · 01-01-2012, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabredog

The Outer Pendulum series by Slava Heretz

Pretty good reads.

+1, i love that series.

i'm not a huge fan of short stories generally. i keep expecting every one to have a twist ending and i'm disappointed when they don't. the twilight zone has ruined storytelling for me lol.

kennyc · 01-01-2012, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xg4bx

+1, i love that series.

i'm not a huge fan of short stories generally. i keep expecting every one to have a twist ending and i'm disappointed when they don't. the twilight zone has ruined storytelling for me lol.

Hmmm, interesting comment. For me it's "New Yorker" style short stories -- without an ending or conclusion -- that has ruined storytelling. It's not that a story must have a twist ending (though I definitely admire those that work) but that it must have a satisfying conclusion. Much of what passes for "literature or New Yorker type stories just piss me off.

Jack Tingle · 01-01-2012, 08:42 AM

My sci-fi conventional answer:
Moore, C.L., "No Woman Born" (novella)
Sturgeon, Ted, "Slow Sculpture" (short story)
Zelazny, Roger, "Lord of Light" (novel)

Fantasy answer:
Shorter fantasy works never stuck for me.
Stewart, Sean, "Clouds End" (novel)

Regards,
Jack Tingle

shootingMaNs · 01-01-2012, 10:32 AM

My favorites are "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison, and "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury.

kennyc · 01-01-2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Aldani, Lino - Good Night Sophie - [science fiction]
Bacigalupi, Paolo - Calorie Man,The - [science fiction]
,,,,
Wodhams, Jack - One Clay Foot - [science fiction]
Zelazny, Roger - Home Is the Hangman - [science fiction]

And those are ALL your favorites?

Any chance you might pick 3-5 out of that list?

fantasyfan · 01-01-2012, 02:53 PM

There are so many choices one could make!

Here is an arbitrary choice of ten that I've read over the years all of which have left a lasting impression. It would be very easy to extend the list.

Isaac Asimov: "Green Patches"

Stephen Baxter: Cilia-of-Gold"

Raymond Z Gallun: "Seeds of the Dusk"

Robert Heinlein: "By Hi Bootstraps"

David Barr Kirtley: "Save Me Plz"

Heather Lindsley: "Mayfly"

Tim Pratt: "Impossible Dreams"

Clifford D. Simak: "A Death In the House"

William Tenn; "The House Dutiful"
"Child's Play"

12-31-2011, 01:13 AM	#1
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	Favourite Sci-Fi Short Stories, Novellas etc I have just replied to the thread about Best Sci-Fi novels and thought it would be interesting to have a similar thread on Short Stories, as there are so many wonderful ideas and authors who don't feature in the best Novels for various reasons. I've also asked for people's favourites rather than the best. Feel free to nominate the best if you like, but for me I think that would be impossible. It would also be nice to include a short reason as to why you like the short story concerned. For me it will often but not always be the thought provoking ideas or original premise behind the story. Alice Sheldon (aliases James Tiptree Jnr and Raccona Sheldon) is in my view one of the greatest authors in Sci-Fi, who wrote wonderful short stories, but a couple of very mediocre novels. Some of the best are: The Screwfly Solution - A number of thought provoking aspects of an interesting premise. Great last line. Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death - Interesting idea and well-written in the first person of a most interesting primitive species. The Girl who was Plugged In - Brilliant story. Great read for the marketers and those into the cult of celebrity. The Man who Walked Home - Novel time travel story. Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star" is written from the point of view of a Jesuit on a long space journey with secular scientists, and has a wonderful ending. Vernor Vinge's "Longshot" is a third "person" narrative about an automated space probe on a desperate mission which unfolds throughout the story. Very interesting premise. Fredric Brown's "Answer" is less than a page long but most thought provoking. A great piece of writing. Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall" is plainly written and the characters somewhat wooden, but the premise alone is startling. I read this as a young teen and loved the premise. Richard Lupoff's "With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Lil Ol N'Alabama" is highly original and written in colloquial "s'urn" (southern). Why should we leave all our prejudices behind if we colonise other solar systems?

12-31-2011, 08:16 AM	#3
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	hmmm, didn't we have a thread like this....maybe it was not limited to Science Fiction. A few of my all time favorites are: Frost and Fire - Bradbury The Star - Arthur C. Clark The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - LeGuin - http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas.txt Rescue Party - Arthur C. Clark: http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/0...498747___1.htm The Story of Your Life - Ted Chiang A Rose for Ecclesiastes - Roger Zelazny Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes. A Boy and His Dog - Harlan Ellison And there is this of course: http://scifilists.sffjazz.com/lists_short_stories.html Last edited by kennyc; 12-31-2011 at 09:40 AM.

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12-31-2011, 07:53 AM	#2
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	Love and Glass by Michael Scott Bricker (found in Timelines:Stories Inspired by the Time Machine). it involves the time traveler and various time travelers from around the universe coming together on a planet at the end of time. the entire story is included in the sample if anybody wants to read it- http://www.amazon.com/Timelines-Stor...=1CJLSCQI37SW4

01-01-2012, 12:56 AM	#4
darryl Wizard Posts: 3,108 Karma: 60231510 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kindle Oasis, Huwei Ascend Mate 7	[QUOTE=kennyc;1903706]hmmm, didn't we have a thread like this....maybe it was not limited to Science Fiction. I didn't see one but perhaps I didn't search diligently enough. I like your list and certainly agree with you about Flowers for Algernon. That is one that should have been on my list.

01-01-2012, 05:05 AM	#5
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Some recent anthologies I've seen have included "Rappaccini's Daughter" - Nathanial Hawthorne (I sort of have mixed feeling about what genre that might fall into) Just read a story in the Pen/O.Henry Prize 2011 last night that is definitely SF based on global warming: Diary of an Interesting Year - Helen Simpson. I wouldn't say either of those is a "favorite" as the OP asked but just thought I'd mention them in that it seems the SF/Mainstream category is shifting a bit.

01-01-2012, 06:49 AM	#6
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,729 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	Microcosmic God By Theodore Sturgeon Mimsy Were The Borogoves By Lewis Padgett (alias of Henry Kuttner and his wife, C. L Moore) The Little Black Bag by C M. Kornbluth Dark They Were, and Golden-eyed by Ray Bradbury The Great Work of Time by John Crowley Or All the Seas with Oysters by Avram Davidson Spacetime for Springers by Fritz Leiber (not really SF but highly recommended, esp if you have cats) The Darfsteller by Walter M. Miller All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis (Christmas SF) For more recommendations check out this thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43439

01-01-2012, 07:00 AM	#7
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	The Outer Pendulum series by Slava Heretz Pretty good reads.

01-01-2012, 07:25 AM	#8
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Aldani, Lino - Good Night Sophie - [science fiction] Bacigalupi, Paolo - Calorie Man,The - [science fiction] Blackford, Russell - Soldier In the Machine,The - [science fiction] Brackett, Leigh and Ray Bradbury - Lorelei Of the Red Mist - [science fiction] Brackett, Leigh - Black Amazon Of Mars - [science fiction] Broderick, Damien - Schrodinger's Dog - [science fiction] Brown, Simon - Imagining Ajax - [science fiction] Campbell, John W. - Who Goes There? - [science fiction] Carrico, David - Quiet Man,The - [science fiction] Chiang, Ted - Exhalation - [science fiction] Clarke, Arthur C. - Nine Billion Names Of God,The - [science fiction] Denton, Bradley - Sergeant Chip - [science fiction] Di_Filippo, Paul and Bruce Sterling - Scab's Progress,The - [science fiction] Dick, Philip K. - Minority Report,The - [science fiction] Dickson, Gordon R. - Dolphin's Way - [science fiction] Doctorow, Cory - When SysAdmins Ruled the Earth - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Breaking Through To the Heroes - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Colouring the Captains - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Coming Down - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Coyote Struck By Lightning - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Doing the Line - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Flashmen - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Man Who Lost Red,The - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Privateers' Moon - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Rynemonn - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Sewing Whole Cloth - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Ship's Eye - [science fiction] Dowling, Terry - Time of the Star - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Border Guards - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Crystal Nights - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Dark Integers - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Dust - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Luminous - [science fiction] Egan, Greg - Wang's Carpets - [science fiction] Geston, Mark S. - Allies,The - [science fiction] Godwin, Tom - Cold Equations,The - [science fiction] Gould, Steven - Peaches For Mad Molly - [science fiction] Haldeman, Joe - Hero - [science fiction] Haldeman, Joe - We Are Very Happy Here - [science fiction] Jones, Raymond F. - Person From Porlock,The - [science fiction] Kress, Nancy - Computer Virus - [science fiction] Kress, Nancy - Saviour - [science fiction] Leinster, Murray - Exploration Team - [science fiction] Lethem, Jonathan - Vanilla Dunk - [science fiction] Levinson, Paul - Chronology Protection Case,The - [science fiction] McAllister, Bruce - Kin - [science fiction] McCaffrey, Anne - Dragonrider - [science fiction] McDevitt, Jack and Stanley Schmidt - Good Intentions - [science fiction] McDonald, Ian - Tear,The - [science fiction] McDonald, Ian - Verthandi's Ring - [science fiction] Reed, Robert - Man With the Golden Balloon,The - [science fiction] Rex, T. - Evensong - [science fiction] Reynolds, Alastair - Diamond Dogs - [science fiction] Roberts, Frank - It Could Be You - [science fiction] Robinson, Spider - Dog Day Evening - [science fiction] Robinson, Spider - Melancholy Elephants - [science fiction] Shea, Michael - Autopsy,The - [science fiction] Shepard, Lucius - Radiant Green Star - [science fiction] Smith, Cordwainer - Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons - [science fiction] Smith, Cordwainer - Scanners Live In Vain - [science fiction] Steele, Allen M. - Death of Captain Future,The - [science fiction] Stross, Charles - Antibodies - [science fiction] Stross, Charles - Halo - [science fiction] Stross, Charles - Lobsters - [science fiction] Stross, Charles - Tourist - [science fiction] Sussex, Lucy - Merlusine - [science fiction] Swanwick, Michael - Dead,The - [science fiction] Tiptree_Jr, James - Only Neat Thing To Do,The - [science fiction] Turner, George - Flowering Mandrake - [science fiction] Westerfeld, Scott - Unsportsmanlike Conduct - [science fiction] Williams, Walter Jon - Green Leopard Plague,The - [science fiction] Wodhams, Jack - One Clay Foot - [science fiction] Zelazny, Roger - Home Is the Hangman - [science fiction]

01-01-2012, 08:42 AM	#12
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	My sci-fi conventional answer: Moore, C.L., "No Woman Born" (novella) Sturgeon, Ted, "Slow Sculpture" (short story) Zelazny, Roger, "Lord of Light" (novel) Fantasy answer: Shorter fantasy works never stuck for me. Stewart, Sean, "Clouds End" (novel) Regards, Jack Tingle

01-01-2012, 10:32 AM	#13
shootingMaNs later... Posts: 199 Karma: 2832520 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Endicott, NY Device: Sony PRS-600, iRiver Story HD, Nook Color Kobo Libra H2O	My favorites are "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison, and "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury.

01-01-2012, 02:53 PM	#15
fantasyfan Wizard Posts: 1,368 Karma: 26886344 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Ireland Device: Kindle Oasis 3, 4G, iPad Air 2, iPhone IE	There are so many choices one could make! Here is an arbitrary choice of ten that I've read over the years all of which have left a lasting impression. It would be very easy to extend the list. Isaac Asimov: "Green Patches" Stephen Baxter: Cilia-of-Gold" Raymond Z Gallun: "Seeds of the Dusk" Robert Heinlein: "By Hi Bootstraps" David Barr Kirtley: "Save Me Plz" Heather Lindsley: "Mayfly" Tim Pratt: "Impossible Dreams" Clifford D. Simak: "A Death In the House" William Tenn; "The House Dutiful" "Child's Play"

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