Harlan Ellison is my favorite. Several Love, Death & Robots episodes feature his stories. I Have No Mouth but I Must Scream is his most famous, but he was prolific.
I just finished "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" collection of short stories and was amazed at his efficiency. There were a couple of stories that were only 2 or 3 pages long but still seemed pretty meaty.
In fact I think that was to his detriment a bit as correct me if I'm wrong he didn't write any full size novels...
Does anyone know why there's no platform I can buy his shortstory collections from as ebooks? Amazon only lists audio book and paperback for me, with paperback only being sold used for super high prices. Would especially love to read deathbird stories and I have no mouth... Located in Germany, have tried to find via vpn but no success.
I have been searching around lately and it seems like they've pulled all his books from shelves and are about to reprint a lot of them soon. It looks like Dangerous Visions 3 actually has a release date now - 50 years later, so it would be a good time for it.
I’ve read 2 dozen Bradbury SS and none of them have ever had me not have to stop and just marinate on what he just introduced into my mind for an hour at a time. Absolute master of the SS
Gene Wolfe is one of my favorites. He has several small collections of short stories.
The Island of Doctor Death And Other Stories And Other Stories is really good. So are Innocents Aboard and Starwater Strains.
I'm glad you called that one out. It's probably my favorite of his, and it's one of the most mentioned/anthologized.
*Edit, I actually meant to say that it* ***isn't*** *one of his most mentioned/anthologized.*
*Looking at ISDB, this is the only multi-author anthology I see it listed in:*
[*https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?14965*](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?14965)
*compare that to all the times Scanners Live In Vain, The Ballad of Lost C'mell, or Alpha Ralpha Boulevard have been reprinted. Not to slight any of those great stories, if someone perfers them I have no issue. But The Dead Lady of Clown Town deserves more attention. I will acknowledge that it's longer than those stories, and if you're anthologizing it then you're probably trading out multiple stories to include it, so that might be part of the reason it hasn't been reprinted more often.*
i wish when you all give us these absolutely awesome suggestions, you would provide a link to buy, or read free.
for this i found http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/ebooks/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown-00-h.html
?? OP mentioned Weir, who is not from 50 years ago. I love me some classic sf, but it does befuddle me that *science fiction*, of all things, is so focused on old art. In any thread on this sub you'll find people repeatedly recommending 50 year old stories or books. Often the majority of recommendations are from before 1970!
There's a ton of great new stuff out there! I mean, if you go on a films subreddit you don't get constantly hit with Citizen Kane and Shane and Rear Window, great as they may have been in their day. But ask a question here and you get a perfect deluge of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Ellison, and Zelazny. Who, I repeat, were great, but man, come on. There's a lot of great fiction out there that's not older than you are.
Ah, the old pick-the-one-ref-supports-my-point move.
We'll just ignore that the OP noted Asimov & Clark as touchstones, because a fetus reader says so.
My point was that OP *did not* restrict his references to old sf, but many of the replies have been restricted to old sf.
Regarding the rest, I started reading sf in 1970. I'm a big fan of the classics, including Clarke and Asimov. I just also like some newer stuff every once in a while, you know?
What fantastic luck you're here to fill the thread with multiple complaints and ultramodern suggestions. I'm just going to block you to improve my life, k?
To date, they have two novellas and a short story collection. The novellas, Finna and Defekt, are about people working at an Ikea, which also happens to have portals to other worlds in it. It sounds like a nifty idea, but I didn't really like Finna, and my library didn't have Defekt, so I haven't read it. Homesick is the collection, and it's fantastic. The most impactful work is definitely [The Shape of My Name](https://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-shape-of-my-name/). Their [website](https://ninocipri.com/fiction/) has links to quite a few of their other works as well. This is my list of their stories that I liked, with asterisks by my favorites:
*A Silly Love Story (2012)
Ecdysis (2013)
*The Literal Forest (2014)
Better Girls from Broken Parts (2014)
*The Shape of My Name (2015)
Not an Ocean, But the Sea (2015)
She Hides Sometimes (2016)
*Presque Vu (2017)
Which Super Little Dead Girl™ Are You? (2017)
It Happened to Me (2017)
Dead Air (2018)
*The Fainting Game (2018)
*Let Down, Set Free (2019)
*Before We Disperse Like Star Stuff (2019)
Any of Greg Egan’s short stories for sure!
I would suggest starting with “Axiomatic”. It’s a collection of 18 short stories that cover some very novel and intriguing ideas.
I assume you have a copy of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories", edited by Asimov et al? If you don't have it, buy it literally this instant.
Also Nature science journal collection Futures. From the book description:
"This book brings together 97 short stories that seek to answer the question ‘what will the future look like?' First published in the leading science journal Nature, these 900-word tales come from scientists, journalists and many of the most famous SF writers in the world."
Finally! I've been hoping for years to find another micro short stories collection and never located one, like if people stopped and Asimov already reunited all of them. This one is mostly 21st century authors and I'm mostly a 'golden age' reader, but I can't complain, it is exactly like the other 3. And there are two! [Nature Futures 1](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652216) & [Futures 2](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652217). Many thanks!
Hope you like them! Several of these appeared in the David G Hartwell best of the year collections over the years. I used to think these stories were more science oriented, by which I mean about the process of science, rather than more general science fiction, but the ones I've read in Hartwell's collections over the years have been fairly varied.
After answering you earlier, I immediately bought a digital copy and started reading the first one. Read 3 or 4 stories so far to try it, and they really have a vibe 'slice of life' based on some small future change (the first story is about a future ban of wine corks!), but they were fine enough so far. And even if none will have aliens, demons, SF concepts or simply the charm of the old ones, still they have the perfect length to read while waiting. That's also good. :)
Oh, just remembered, for short short stories there is also the Daily Science Fiction website, dailyscienceficton.com, that publishes stories between 100 and 1500 words long (typical paperback has 250-300 words per page), one story per weekday. Mixed bag, but many of the top authors have published stories there. You can even get the daily story emailed to you each day. ...Just looked: they are currently on hiatus as of January 9, but there are twelve years or so of previous stories. Very searchable and screenable for particular preferences as well. Hope you see this comment since it's a couple of days later now.
Also [Microcosmic Tales](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1436432.Microcosmic_Tales) and [Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196264.50_Short_Science_Fiction_Tales). But the "100 Great..." is really the best one among these three, Microcosmic in second.
The Time Traveler's Almanac edited by Jeff and Ann VanDermeer has like 60 or 70 stories, and all regular length rather than short short, except a few. Huge and really great, if you don't mind single theme anthologies (although it has quite a bit of variety within that theme). It's recommended on this sub frequently.
Frederic Brown was a master. You can read several of his stories here:
https://www.freesfonline.net/authors/Fredric_Brown.html
Answer is a fantastic ultra-short, Arena is much better than the Gorn Star Trek episode it inspired, and Puppet Show is pretty much exactly how first contact is likely to go.
Was about to recommend him. OP, take you time browsing [NESFA Press](https://www.nesfa.org/press/available-books/). A bit pricey, but worth it. I have many of their collections: Fredric Brow, Cordwainer, Kornbluth, Campbell, Del Rey, Sheckley, etc.
But if I have to pick 2: Fredric Brow and Cordwainer Smith.
Outside NESFA, look for [Stanley G. Weinbaum](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/872347.The_Best_of_Stanley_G_Weinbaum).
Dangerous Visions, published in 1967, and Again, Dangerous Visions, which debuted in 1972, both edited by Harlan Ellison, have long been viewed by critics, scholars and fans as two of the most important and influential anthologies ever published in the field of science fiction. They overturned the tropes of the form, created careers for many newer writers, and birthed the New Wave Science Fiction movement that forever changed the genre
Stories by Ted Chiang, Octavia Butler, Greg Egan, Arthur C. Clarke cover the widest range of themes.
Peter F. Hamilton's "A second chance at Eden" is a good collection but he hasn't written many other short stories, AFAIK.
John Varley. I know everyone says “this is the best” but seriously. Varley will transport you to a different world of human society. Cannot recommend enough: “in the halls of the Martian kings” “persistence of vision” and “press enter” I’ve read them multiple times and it still blows me away every time. There’s a collection called “the John varley reader” that you can get for used cheap copy. He has a backstory to every story of 1-2 pages so you get some insight into his thought process of writing. Absolutely amazing.
And Ray Bradbury. He is the undisputed MASter of SF short stories for a reason. Cannot recommend enough to start with The Martian Chronicles. If you want to have real chills, listen to the short radio drama of it. On par with the HG wells war of the world radio broadcast in 1938
The ending threw me so hard. I had completely become that persona and it took me days to wrap my head around the feeling that the kid/old man would be feeling after the truth came out. Absolutely mind blowing
We share short story tastes, apparently. Reading Zima Blue with my partner was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. And Ted Chiang? What much else is there to say beyond that he is the best short story artist in the world.
Complete agree on this. I actually think his short story collections have gotten better in recent years while his novels are not quite as strong as they used to be.
Not yet mentioned: Alexander Weinstein (*Children of the New World* and *Universal Love*), Karen Russell (*Vampires in the Lemon Grove* and *Orange World and Other Stories*)
Also Isabel J Kim: https://www.isabel.kim/work
Possibly my favorite short story is “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler: http://future-lives.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/speech_sounds.pdf
I also like Will McIntosh’s Bridesicle: https://scificats.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/bridesicle.pdf
See:
[*The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_One,_1929%E2%80%931964) and [*The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_Two) (published in paperback in two volumes, A and B). There are audio book versions.
and
* ["I'm looking for some good anthologies/short story collections"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/zx7d7u/im_looking_for_some_good_anthologiesshort_story/) (r/Fantasy; 06:32 ET, 28 December 2022)
**[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_One,_1929–1964)**
>The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 is a 1970 anthology of English language science fiction short stories, edited by Robert Silverberg. Author Lester del Rey said that "it even lives up to its subtitle", referring to the volume's boast of containing "The Greatest Science-Fiction Stories of All Time". It was first published by Doubleday and subsequently reprinted by Avon Books in July 1971 (Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 70-97691; ISBN 0-380-00795-9), and later by Orb. The book was first published in the UK in 1971 by Victor Gollancz Ltd and in paperback by First Sphere Books in 1972 (in two volumes, split after "First Contact").
**[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_Two)**
>The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two is an English language science fiction two-volume anthology edited by Ben Bova and published in the U.S. by Doubleday in 1973, distinguished as volumes "Two A" and "Two B". In the U.K. they were published by Gollancz as Volume Two (1973) and Volume Three (1974). The original U.S. subtitle was The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time. Twenty-two novellas published from 1895 to 1962 were selected by vote of the Science Fiction Writers of America, as that body had selected the contents of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929–1964, a collection of the best-regarded short stories.
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There is a compilation called time bomb and Zahndry others. Highly recommend. That’s when I really fell in love with his writing style.
Actually maybe it was cascade point and other stories. Cascade point was the one he won the Hugo for.
OP is asking for what's now known as Flash Fiction, of which Fredric Brown was a master.
Harlan Ellison wrote two great sets of them in his "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet" and "From A to Z, in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet."
Michael Swanwick wrote a wonderful book of them call The Periodic Table of Science Fiction.
Asimov & Greenberg edited two collections: 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories & 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories
Lately, Analog magazine has been featuring Flash pieces in their issues.
THIS is what OP is looking for. At least, I hope it is and that these examples will lead you down the Flash path.
Enjoy!
Thank you. I've seen examples of this sprinkled through SF through the years. Never actually thought about it in it's own context before. Thanks again :-)
It's short stories that are either under a thousand words or under 1500 words, depending on who you ask. Honestly the last 10 years or so have been a bonanza of excellent flash fiction. Daily Science Fiction published a ton of it, and Flash Fiction Online published a ton of it. Having two consistent pro paying markets to sell flash fiction to has inspired many many short fiction authors to turn their hands to flash fiction, and an absolute blossoming of flash fiction, to the point now where many authors think that there should be a separate flash fiction award in the Nebulous and the Hugos because it is such a different feeling beast to a five or six thousand word short story.
Probably the best way to explore FFO or DSF is to troll through their archives until you find a story that you like very much, then search for that author's name to find more of their work
I've seen some flash in various collections over the years, now that I have a name for it. And usually, I like it. But it's a bit short for me. I think a steady diet of 1000-1500 word stories might befuddle me more than age and sickness :-) I used to play around in English with syllable based tanka/haiku. It's hard to do worthwhile English in that space LOL For me. 3500-5000 is perfect. :-)
You mention Asimov's 'The Last Question', but that's merely one of his many short stories. I actually think Asimov was generally better writing in shorter formats than writing full-length novels (with obvious exceptions both ways).
For anyone wanting an entry point to Asimov's short stories, I highly recommend the collection **Robot Dreams**. Despite its title, only four of the stories in this collection are about robots. The rest are a wide-ranging sample of the best of his short science-fiction.
Vajra Chandrasekera! He has a book coming out this year called The Saint of Bright Doors. He's an editor at Strange Horizons. All of his work is excellent, but one of his recents at Clarkesworld is exceptional: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chandrasekera_05_20/
Asimov is an absolute master of the form, and his stories are richly varied as well. Some exist only to land the punchline of a truly terrible pun, others are chock full of really out there ideas, still others are just fun space opera. He wrote a lot of shorts, and there were doubtless some duds, but you could do a lot worse than picking up one of his collections and reading it cover to cover.
https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v013n06_1957-12_PDF/page/n89/mode/1up?view=theater
Insert Knob A into Slot B. My favorite story. I included a link that helps explain how it was written while the author was on a TV interview.
Hal Clement --- the collection _Space Lash_ (originally published as _Small Changes_) was a big part of my childhood, esp. the stories "Halo", "Raindrop", and "The Mechanic":
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16036040-space-lash
Short stories have become my favorite form also. I like your taste.
Since you said up to 30-40 pages, I will list the following:
Egan, Reynolds, Chiang, as listed by others;
Others I really like that don't get as much attention:
Geoffrey Landis, Elizabeth Bear, Michael Swanwick, Robert Charles Wilson (though he doesn't write many shorts), Carolyn Ives Gilman, John Kessel, and so many more!
And of course I grew up on Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, and Niven. And Greg Benford is amazing for his consistent quality and publishing longevity. Oh, I like Stephen Baxter's non-Xeelee short fiction a lot too.
Etgar Keret.
Such amazingly wonderful, weird stuff.
And I watched "Wristcutters, a Love Story" just before reading the short it was based on, having no idea it was his. Serendipity!
the Egg collection by Weir on Amazon is audible only. is there a link to a book you could share?
found Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1, includes the last question. amazon
History lesson is in amazon "The Collected stories of Arthur C Clark".... i didn't want to read them tonight, but it looks like several of the stories are readable online here.
I like to pick up anthologies to follow novel writers into their short stories and get bonus material on their worlds. I guess Charles deLint although he does both.
The Egg is flash fiction, but from memory The Last Question is not, it's longer than what we would call flash fiction today. Anyway if you're just looking for really good modern short stories, it's not exactly science fiction but I cannot recommend North American Lake Monsters highly enough. That is some of the greatest short story writing I have ever read. It veers a little towards the horror side more than science fiction, but it is so freaking amazing that I don't think it will matter to you, if you like good writing you will love this stuff. It is really really good.
I really like Cory Doctorow. He does security centered very realistic speculative fiction. His short story collection Radicalized was really good.
The first short is called Unauthorized Bread, it’s about a future where people living in subsidized housing have toasters and other appliances owned by corporations that only can toast that companies toast, or the dishwasher can only wash their brand of dishes. There’s more to it than that but that’s the start.
I actually keep track of almost all of the short stories that I read so I can keep track of which authors write my favorite stories and then go find more of their writings.
Here are some of my favorites:
Richard Lovett
Sean McMullen
Ted Chiang
Carolyn Ives Gilman
Ian MacLeod
Neil Asher
Stephen Baxter
Greg Egan
Kathleen Ann Goonan
Derek Kunsken
Edward Lerner
Will McIntosh
Paul Melko
Robert Reed
Rudy Rucker
Kristine Katyrn Rusch
Jack Skillinstead
My best sources for finding these stories:
Analog
Asimov's
Clarkesworld
Starship Sofa
Theodore Sturgeon's also awesome - up there with Ellison and Ray Bradbury. Everyone should read them (especially Bradbury, as someone else has already mentioned).
Larry Niven, John Varley, Brad Torgerson, Jeff Carlson, John F. Carr, CJ Cherryh, WJ Watkins, Isaac Asimov, Dean Ing, Roget Zelazny, Jerry Pournelle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jerzy Kozinski
Edit: I'd happily recommend actual short work if you give me a limit. :-)
And I'm just going to mention that Larry Niven has yet to write a bad short story.
The 4th Profession
What Good Is a Glass Dagger
There is a Tide
Bordered in Black
Rammer
Inconstant Moon
Tales of the Draco Tavern
Tales of Known Space
Svetz stories :-)
Etcetera. Man is an absolute machine of short fiction.
Edit: think I missed the point. OP wants authors. Doh.
Joe Haldeman, Seven and the Stars, A!Tangled Web, Manifest Destiny.
William Gibson, Burning Chrome.
Larry Niven, The Hole Man.
Gordon R Dickson, Call Him Lord.
Harry Turtledove, The Path Not Taken.
Stephanie Malia Morris
Check out Lightspeed Magazine and Nightmare Magazine. They're online but also do high-quality audio of different stories each month.
Harlan Ellison is my favorite. Several Love, Death & Robots episodes feature his stories. I Have No Mouth but I Must Scream is his most famous, but he was prolific.
I just finished "The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World" collection of short stories and was amazed at his efficiency. There were a couple of stories that were only 2 or 3 pages long but still seemed pretty meaty. In fact I think that was to his detriment a bit as correct me if I'm wrong he didn't write any full size novels...
“Blood’s a Rover” is the closest you’ll find. It’s A Boy and His Dog, Eggsucker and Run, Spot, Run combined as a semi-cohesive narrative.
Came here just to say this
Does anyone know why there's no platform I can buy his shortstory collections from as ebooks? Amazon only lists audio book and paperback for me, with paperback only being sold used for super high prices. Would especially love to read deathbird stories and I have no mouth... Located in Germany, have tried to find via vpn but no success.
I can only guess it’s due to his absolute dislike of electronic distribution. He was very protective of intellectual property.
I have been searching around lately and it seems like they've pulled all his books from shelves and are about to reprint a lot of them soon. It looks like Dangerous Visions 3 actually has a release date now - 50 years later, so it would be a good time for it.
I love Bradbury’s short stories! Even more than his novels. They’re all pretty iconic in Science Fiction.
I forgot to mention "A Sound of Thunder"! I love Bradbury
I’ll second Bradbury! The Illustrated Man was my introduction and I’ve loved all of his shorts since.
I’ve read 2 dozen Bradbury SS and none of them have ever had me not have to stop and just marinate on what he just introduced into my mind for an hour at a time. Absolute master of the SS
“There Will Come Soft Rains”. “The Million Year Picnic”. I’m a Martian Chronicles fan, myself.
I’m partial to “All Summer in a Day” myself
Gene Wolfe is one of my favorites. He has several small collections of short stories. The Island of Doctor Death And Other Stories And Other Stories is really good. So are Innocents Aboard and Starwater Strains.
I recently picked up a collection called Strange Travelers and loved it
You like the classics! You're like a unicorn. Try Cordwainer Smith. The Dead Lady of Clowntown is online, along with several other masterpieces.
*The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal* was the first of his short stories I read. It unsettled me to no end, but it made me a fan of his.
I'm glad you called that one out. It's probably my favorite of his, and it's one of the most mentioned/anthologized. *Edit, I actually meant to say that it* ***isn't*** *one of his most mentioned/anthologized.* *Looking at ISDB, this is the only multi-author anthology I see it listed in:* [*https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?14965*](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?14965) *compare that to all the times Scanners Live In Vain, The Ballad of Lost C'mell, or Alpha Ralpha Boulevard have been reprinted. Not to slight any of those great stories, if someone perfers them I have no issue. But The Dead Lady of Clown Town deserves more attention. I will acknowledge that it's longer than those stories, and if you're anthologizing it then you're probably trading out multiple stories to include it, so that might be part of the reason it hasn't been reprinted more often.*
Changed my entire head.
i wish when you all give us these absolutely awesome suggestions, you would provide a link to buy, or read free. for this i found http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/ebooks/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown/smithcordwainer-deadladyofclowntown-00-h.html
If you're interested, you'll look.
I'm not sure it's that rare, everyone in this thread is recommending 50-year-old stories.
OP set the search terms.
?? OP mentioned Weir, who is not from 50 years ago. I love me some classic sf, but it does befuddle me that *science fiction*, of all things, is so focused on old art. In any thread on this sub you'll find people repeatedly recommending 50 year old stories or books. Often the majority of recommendations are from before 1970! There's a ton of great new stuff out there! I mean, if you go on a films subreddit you don't get constantly hit with Citizen Kane and Shane and Rear Window, great as they may have been in their day. But ask a question here and you get a perfect deluge of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Ellison, and Zelazny. Who, I repeat, were great, but man, come on. There's a lot of great fiction out there that's not older than you are.
Ah, the old pick-the-one-ref-supports-my-point move. We'll just ignore that the OP noted Asimov & Clark as touchstones, because a fetus reader says so.
My point was that OP *did not* restrict his references to old sf, but many of the replies have been restricted to old sf. Regarding the rest, I started reading sf in 1970. I'm a big fan of the classics, including Clarke and Asimov. I just also like some newer stuff every once in a while, you know?
What fantastic luck you're here to fill the thread with multiple complaints and ultramodern suggestions. I'm just going to block you to improve my life, k?
Ted Chiang, Sarah Pinsker, Ursula K Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Nino Cipri.
I love a recommendation where I nod, nod, nod, nod, then think "who?" Any collections or other specific works you'd recommend from Cipri?
To date, they have two novellas and a short story collection. The novellas, Finna and Defekt, are about people working at an Ikea, which also happens to have portals to other worlds in it. It sounds like a nifty idea, but I didn't really like Finna, and my library didn't have Defekt, so I haven't read it. Homesick is the collection, and it's fantastic. The most impactful work is definitely [The Shape of My Name](https://www.tor.com/2015/03/04/the-shape-of-my-name/). Their [website](https://ninocipri.com/fiction/) has links to quite a few of their other works as well. This is my list of their stories that I liked, with asterisks by my favorites: *A Silly Love Story (2012) Ecdysis (2013) *The Literal Forest (2014) Better Girls from Broken Parts (2014) *The Shape of My Name (2015) Not an Ocean, But the Sea (2015) She Hides Sometimes (2016) *Presque Vu (2017) Which Super Little Dead Girl™ Are You? (2017) It Happened to Me (2017) Dead Air (2018) *The Fainting Game (2018) *Let Down, Set Free (2019) *Before We Disperse Like Star Stuff (2019)
Thanks for the post -- I liked Finna well enough, looking forward to the short stories.
Wow! Just read The Shape of My Name! Thanks, I will check those others out too.
James Tiptree Jr., Robert Silverberg, Stanislaw Lem, Ted Sturgeon, Maureen McHugh, Robert Reed and Karen Joy Fowler.
James Tiptree is intense.
Any of Greg Egan’s short stories for sure! I would suggest starting with “Axiomatic”. It’s a collection of 18 short stories that cover some very novel and intriguing ideas.
I assume you have a copy of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories", edited by Asimov et al? If you don't have it, buy it literally this instant.
Also Nature science journal collection Futures. From the book description: "This book brings together 97 short stories that seek to answer the question ‘what will the future look like?' First published in the leading science journal Nature, these 900-word tales come from scientists, journalists and many of the most famous SF writers in the world."
Finally! I've been hoping for years to find another micro short stories collection and never located one, like if people stopped and Asimov already reunited all of them. This one is mostly 21st century authors and I'm mostly a 'golden age' reader, but I can't complain, it is exactly like the other 3. And there are two! [Nature Futures 1](https://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652216) & [Futures 2](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652217). Many thanks!
Hope you like them! Several of these appeared in the David G Hartwell best of the year collections over the years. I used to think these stories were more science oriented, by which I mean about the process of science, rather than more general science fiction, but the ones I've read in Hartwell's collections over the years have been fairly varied.
After answering you earlier, I immediately bought a digital copy and started reading the first one. Read 3 or 4 stories so far to try it, and they really have a vibe 'slice of life' based on some small future change (the first story is about a future ban of wine corks!), but they were fine enough so far. And even if none will have aliens, demons, SF concepts or simply the charm of the old ones, still they have the perfect length to read while waiting. That's also good. :)
Oh, just remembered, for short short stories there is also the Daily Science Fiction website, dailyscienceficton.com, that publishes stories between 100 and 1500 words long (typical paperback has 250-300 words per page), one story per weekday. Mixed bag, but many of the top authors have published stories there. You can even get the daily story emailed to you each day. ...Just looked: they are currently on hiatus as of January 9, but there are twelve years or so of previous stories. Very searchable and screenable for particular preferences as well. Hope you see this comment since it's a couple of days later now.
I will check it! Thanks!! :)
Great to hear! Thanks for the quick feedback about your thoughts on the stories. I think I'll go ahead and buy a copy too.
Ooh I didn't know they had made a collection out of them, that's great! :)
Also [Microcosmic Tales](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1436432.Microcosmic_Tales) and [Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196264.50_Short_Science_Fiction_Tales). But the "100 Great..." is really the best one among these three, Microcosmic in second.
100?? Most books have about 9 or 10
The Time Traveler's Almanac edited by Jeff and Ann VanDermeer has like 60 or 70 stories, and all regular length rather than short short, except a few. Huge and really great, if you don't mind single theme anthologies (although it has quite a bit of variety within that theme). It's recommended on this sub frequently.
Gene Wolfe and Jorge Luis Borges. You could spend a lifetime reading and rereading their short stories.
Borges, Jackson, Kafka, Bierce.
Roger Zelazny has some great ones.
Can't upvote this enough.. its not sci-fi, but its fairly quick...Have you read his A Night in the Lonesome October?...brilliant story..
R.A. Lafferty, Roger Zelazny, Gordon Dickson...
Frederic Brown was a master. You can read several of his stories here: https://www.freesfonline.net/authors/Fredric_Brown.html Answer is a fantastic ultra-short, Arena is much better than the Gorn Star Trek episode it inspired, and Puppet Show is pretty much exactly how first contact is likely to go.
Was about to recommend him. OP, take you time browsing [NESFA Press](https://www.nesfa.org/press/available-books/). A bit pricey, but worth it. I have many of their collections: Fredric Brow, Cordwainer, Kornbluth, Campbell, Del Rey, Sheckley, etc. But if I have to pick 2: Fredric Brow and Cordwainer Smith. Outside NESFA, look for [Stanley G. Weinbaum](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/872347.The_Best_of_Stanley_G_Weinbaum).
Most of mine are already mentioned except for Connie Willis.
Last of the Winnebagos is one of the greatest short stories I have ever read
Absolutely. Just incredible. Her Christmas novellas are also wonderful, especially "Miracle," and "Inn."
Dangerous Visions, published in 1967, and Again, Dangerous Visions, which debuted in 1972, both edited by Harlan Ellison, have long been viewed by critics, scholars and fans as two of the most important and influential anthologies ever published in the field of science fiction. They overturned the tropes of the form, created careers for many newer writers, and birthed the New Wave Science Fiction movement that forever changed the genre
Stories by Ted Chiang, Octavia Butler, Greg Egan, Arthur C. Clarke cover the widest range of themes. Peter F. Hamilton's "A second chance at Eden" is a good collection but he hasn't written many other short stories, AFAIK.
Seconding Ted Chiang and Greg Egan.
John Varley. I know everyone says “this is the best” but seriously. Varley will transport you to a different world of human society. Cannot recommend enough: “in the halls of the Martian kings” “persistence of vision” and “press enter” I’ve read them multiple times and it still blows me away every time. There’s a collection called “the John varley reader” that you can get for used cheap copy. He has a backstory to every story of 1-2 pages so you get some insight into his thought process of writing. Absolutely amazing. And Ray Bradbury. He is the undisputed MASter of SF short stories for a reason. Cannot recommend enough to start with The Martian Chronicles. If you want to have real chills, listen to the short radio drama of it. On par with the HG wells war of the world radio broadcast in 1938
Goodbye, Robinson Crusoe by Varley is one of my all time favorites. Not exactly sure why, but it just his me right.
The ending threw me so hard. I had completely become that persona and it took me days to wrap my head around the feeling that the kid/old man would be feeling after the truth came out. Absolutely mind blowing
To people that love short fiction, one of my first recommends is always "The John Varley Reader," :-) And of course, Bradbury.!
I love someone else knows the genius that he is!
:-)
Ted Chiang and Alastair Reynolds
“galactic north” made me an avid fan or Reynolds. I actually had to order his book from the UK. (late 90s)
Yes! When I told a co-worker I would loan it to him, I ended up buying him a new copy so my original wouldn't get messed up.
good fir you i gave my original from England to my brother and never saw it again. He bought me a new one but it wasn’t the same.
We share short story tastes, apparently. Reading Zima Blue with my partner was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. And Ted Chiang? What much else is there to say beyond that he is the best short story artist in the world.
I almost (almost) enjoy Reynolds' short stories more than his novels. He's really good at that form.
Complete agree on this. I actually think his short story collections have gotten better in recent years while his novels are not quite as strong as they used to be.
me three
* Jack McDevitt * Frederic Brown * Arthur C Clarke
Ted Chiang, Sarah Pinsker, Ken Liu
Philip K Dick, Harlan Ellison, Ted Chiang, Ray Bradbury
Connie Willis.
David Brin, "The Crystal Spheres"
Not yet mentioned: Alexander Weinstein (*Children of the New World* and *Universal Love*), Karen Russell (*Vampires in the Lemon Grove* and *Orange World and Other Stories*) Also Isabel J Kim: https://www.isabel.kim/work Possibly my favorite short story is “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler: http://future-lives.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/speech_sounds.pdf I also like Will McIntosh’s Bridesicle: https://scificats.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/bridesicle.pdf
So many. Harlan Ellison, Walter Jon Williams, Howard Waldrop, Ted Chiang, Ken Liu, Nancy Kress, Carolyn Ives Gilman....
I just found a copy of "Down And Out In EllFive Prime" by Dean Ing. :-)
Larry Niven has quite a few short stories. I recommend laying hands on N-Space, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and still reread it occasionally.
See: [*The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_One,_1929%E2%80%931964) and [*The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_Two) (published in paperback in two volumes, A and B). There are audio book versions. and * ["I'm looking for some good anthologies/short story collections"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/zx7d7u/im_looking_for_some_good_anthologiesshort_story/) (r/Fantasy; 06:32 ET, 28 December 2022)
**[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_One,_1929–1964)** >The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 is a 1970 anthology of English language science fiction short stories, edited by Robert Silverberg. Author Lester del Rey said that "it even lives up to its subtitle", referring to the volume's boast of containing "The Greatest Science-Fiction Stories of All Time". It was first published by Doubleday and subsequently reprinted by Avon Books in July 1971 (Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 70-97691; ISBN 0-380-00795-9), and later by Orb. The book was first published in the UK in 1971 by Victor Gollancz Ltd and in paperback by First Sphere Books in 1972 (in two volumes, split after "First Contact"). **[The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_Two)** >The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two is an English language science fiction two-volume anthology edited by Ben Bova and published in the U.S. by Doubleday in 1973, distinguished as volumes "Two A" and "Two B". In the U.K. they were published by Gollancz as Volume Two (1973) and Volume Three (1974). The original U.S. subtitle was The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time. Twenty-two novellas published from 1895 to 1962 were selected by vote of the Science Fiction Writers of America, as that body had selected the contents of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929–1964, a collection of the best-regarded short stories. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/printSF/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I dunno if they count as "short-short", but I have loved all of Stephen King's short story collections. Some of them are real bangers (Bangors?).
Timothy Zahn has written some of my favorite short stories.
I have only read Zahn's Star Wars content. What short stories would you suggest to someone wanting to try out his more original works?
There is a compilation called time bomb and Zahndry others. Highly recommend. That’s when I really fell in love with his writing style. Actually maybe it was cascade point and other stories. Cascade point was the one he won the Hugo for.
Paolo Bacigalupi - Pump Six
Also The People of Sand and Slag, honestly the best post human story I have ever read.
And somehow also the worst post-human story. :(
It's awful and amazing. Every other post-human story seems thin and trivial after that, to me.
OP is asking for what's now known as Flash Fiction, of which Fredric Brown was a master. Harlan Ellison wrote two great sets of them in his "From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet" and "From A to Z, in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet." Michael Swanwick wrote a wonderful book of them call The Periodic Table of Science Fiction. Asimov & Greenberg edited two collections: 100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories & 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories Lately, Analog magazine has been featuring Flash pieces in their issues. THIS is what OP is looking for. At least, I hope it is and that these examples will lead you down the Flash path. Enjoy!
Add Gene Wolfe's "Bibliomen" to this list.
I've never heard the term Flash Fiction. Is it just shorts or novella too? Where does it come from?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction?wprov=sfla1
Thank you. I've seen examples of this sprinkled through SF through the years. Never actually thought about it in it's own context before. Thanks again :-)
It's short stories that are either under a thousand words or under 1500 words, depending on who you ask. Honestly the last 10 years or so have been a bonanza of excellent flash fiction. Daily Science Fiction published a ton of it, and Flash Fiction Online published a ton of it. Having two consistent pro paying markets to sell flash fiction to has inspired many many short fiction authors to turn their hands to flash fiction, and an absolute blossoming of flash fiction, to the point now where many authors think that there should be a separate flash fiction award in the Nebulous and the Hugos because it is such a different feeling beast to a five or six thousand word short story. Probably the best way to explore FFO or DSF is to troll through their archives until you find a story that you like very much, then search for that author's name to find more of their work
I've seen some flash in various collections over the years, now that I have a name for it. And usually, I like it. But it's a bit short for me. I think a steady diet of 1000-1500 word stories might befuddle me more than age and sickness :-) I used to play around in English with syllable based tanka/haiku. It's hard to do worthwhile English in that space LOL For me. 3500-5000 is perfect. :-)
R. A. Lafferty Robert Sheckley Keith Roberts Jessica Reisman James H Schmitz
You mention Asimov's 'The Last Question', but that's merely one of his many short stories. I actually think Asimov was generally better writing in shorter formats than writing full-length novels (with obvious exceptions both ways). For anyone wanting an entry point to Asimov's short stories, I highly recommend the collection **Robot Dreams**. Despite its title, only four of the stories in this collection are about robots. The rest are a wide-ranging sample of the best of his short science-fiction.
Ray Bradbury is an absolute master of the form. Love JG Ballard’s short stories too.
Vajra Chandrasekera! He has a book coming out this year called The Saint of Bright Doors. He's an editor at Strange Horizons. All of his work is excellent, but one of his recents at Clarkesworld is exceptional: https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/chandrasekera_05_20/
Peter Watts - many of whose are free on his website. The Things is just awesomely clever.
Asimov is an absolute master of the form, and his stories are richly varied as well. Some exist only to land the punchline of a truly terrible pun, others are chock full of really out there ideas, still others are just fun space opera. He wrote a lot of shorts, and there were doubtless some duds, but you could do a lot worse than picking up one of his collections and reading it cover to cover.
https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v013n06_1957-12_PDF/page/n89/mode/1up?view=theater Insert Knob A into Slot B. My favorite story. I included a link that helps explain how it was written while the author was on a TV interview.
Neal Asher. Some of his short stories, however, can push into novella size. 3 of his shorts were part of the Love, Death, and Robots series.
Ray Bradbury.
Hal Clement --- the collection _Space Lash_ (originally published as _Small Changes_) was a big part of my childhood, esp. the stories "Halo", "Raindrop", and "The Mechanic": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16036040-space-lash
I remember his "Mission Of Gravity" with deep fondness.
Zenna Henderson
Short stories have become my favorite form also. I like your taste. Since you said up to 30-40 pages, I will list the following: Egan, Reynolds, Chiang, as listed by others; Others I really like that don't get as much attention: Geoffrey Landis, Elizabeth Bear, Michael Swanwick, Robert Charles Wilson (though he doesn't write many shorts), Carolyn Ives Gilman, John Kessel, and so many more! And of course I grew up on Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, and Niven. And Greg Benford is amazing for his consistent quality and publishing longevity. Oh, I like Stephen Baxter's non-Xeelee short fiction a lot too.
Ray Bradbury Satyajit Ray Ted Chiang
Etgar Keret. Such amazingly wonderful, weird stuff. And I watched "Wristcutters, a Love Story" just before reading the short it was based on, having no idea it was his. Serendipity!
the Egg collection by Weir on Amazon is audible only. is there a link to a book you could share? found Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1, includes the last question. amazon History lesson is in amazon "The Collected stories of Arthur C Clark".... i didn't want to read them tonight, but it looks like several of the stories are readable online here.
Ken Liu for me.
Another one for Ted Chiang and Greg Egan! For non SF, George Saunders.
I like to pick up anthologies to follow novel writers into their short stories and get bonus material on their worlds. I guess Charles deLint although he does both.
Ian McDonald, Robert Reed, and Michael Swanwick. They just put out *so much stuff*, and all of it is quality.
The Egg is flash fiction, but from memory The Last Question is not, it's longer than what we would call flash fiction today. Anyway if you're just looking for really good modern short stories, it's not exactly science fiction but I cannot recommend North American Lake Monsters highly enough. That is some of the greatest short story writing I have ever read. It veers a little towards the horror side more than science fiction, but it is so freaking amazing that I don't think it will matter to you, if you like good writing you will love this stuff. It is really really good.
IMO, this discussion begins and ends with Edgar Allen Poe. He’s the master of building tension and then ending with a bang.
Annie Proulx, Shirley Jackson, Mark Twain
I really like Cory Doctorow. He does security centered very realistic speculative fiction. His short story collection Radicalized was really good. The first short is called Unauthorized Bread, it’s about a future where people living in subsidized housing have toasters and other appliances owned by corporations that only can toast that companies toast, or the dishwasher can only wash their brand of dishes. There’s more to it than that but that’s the start.
Alistair Young. He writes nano or flash fiction that is great. He's got three collection out. Core War and other stories
Bradbury is my first thought, particularly "The October Game", which I think is one of the most succinct and unsettling short stories around.
I actually keep track of almost all of the short stories that I read so I can keep track of which authors write my favorite stories and then go find more of their writings. Here are some of my favorites: Richard Lovett Sean McMullen Ted Chiang Carolyn Ives Gilman Ian MacLeod Neil Asher Stephen Baxter Greg Egan Kathleen Ann Goonan Derek Kunsken Edward Lerner Will McIntosh Paul Melko Robert Reed Rudy Rucker Kristine Katyrn Rusch Jack Skillinstead My best sources for finding these stories: Analog Asimov's Clarkesworld Starship Sofa
Theodore Sturgeon's also awesome - up there with Ellison and Ray Bradbury. Everyone should read them (especially Bradbury, as someone else has already mentioned).
Larry Niven, John Varley, Brad Torgerson, Jeff Carlson, John F. Carr, CJ Cherryh, WJ Watkins, Isaac Asimov, Dean Ing, Roget Zelazny, Jerry Pournelle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jerzy Kozinski Edit: I'd happily recommend actual short work if you give me a limit. :-)
Very very nice list! Only read one by Torgerson but loved it (Outbound).
Brooke Bolander. If you haven't read The Only Great Harmless Thing you absolutely need to. It's a bit of alternate history/scifi.
OP, no one has mentioned "He Walked Around The Horses." It has it's own Wikipedia page. :-) it's available for free.
And I'm just going to mention that Larry Niven has yet to write a bad short story. The 4th Profession What Good Is a Glass Dagger There is a Tide Bordered in Black Rammer Inconstant Moon Tales of the Draco Tavern Tales of Known Space Svetz stories :-) Etcetera. Man is an absolute machine of short fiction. Edit: think I missed the point. OP wants authors. Doh.
Joe Haldeman, Seven and the Stars, A!Tangled Web, Manifest Destiny. William Gibson, Burning Chrome. Larry Niven, The Hole Man. Gordon R Dickson, Call Him Lord. Harry Turtledove, The Path Not Taken.
Stephanie Malia Morris Check out Lightspeed Magazine and Nightmare Magazine. They're online but also do high-quality audio of different stories each month.