I have been reading sci fi for years. Recently though, I started looking for short stories from the genre, primarily motivated by mind-blowing reading experience of The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, The Star by Arthur C. Clarke.
Please suggest from your personal treasure troves! I would love to read more of such sci fi craftsmanship. As a guide, the following are the ones I have discovered in recent times.
The Last Question by *Isaac Asimov*
The Star by *Arthur C. Clarke*
Understand by *Ted Chiang*
Mono No Aware by *Ken Liu*
Flowers for Algernon by *Daniel Keyes*
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by *Ursula K. Le Guin*
Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Uncertainty by *Ted Chiang*
The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling by *Ted Chiang*
Nightfall by *Isaac Asimov*
There Will Come Soft Rains by *Ray Bradbury*
Assume I am beginner when it comes to sci fi short stories. I have read all of *Ted Chiang*, however,
Thank you!
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by Optimal-Initial-869
8 Comments
There is quite a few short story anthologies from the pulp SF era that still hold up amazingly well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Science_Fiction_Hall_of_Fame,_Volume_One,_1929%E2%80%931964
If you want those by more recent authors, there is The Year’s Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois which he started in 1984. Sadly he died in 2018 so there aren’t any later ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year%27s_Best_Science_Fiction
I recently read Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky and enjoyed it.
I’m not massively into sci-fi, so I can’t tell you how it compares but I enjoyed it.
The Wandering Earth, Cixin Liu.
Try Robert A Heinlein, he wrote o lot of short stories.
Or try this site https://www.baen.com/free-stories-2022.html
I see some anthologies rec’d & I’d second that, there are lots and lots of them. [https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7967.Best_Science_Fiction_Anthologies](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7967.Best_Science_Fiction_Anthologies)
Ellison. Get his 50 year retrospective. You’ll be good for a while. So many gems
A few authors that have short story anthologies you should check out
Philip K Dick
Alastair Reynolds
JG Ballard
* A collection of fantasy horror stories for Halloween: The October Country, Ray Bradbury
* The Bradbury collection that includes There Will Come Soft Rains: The Martian Chronicles
* One more Bradbury story, one of my all-time favorites though it’s hard to find because of the generic title: The Rocket, the character’s name “Fiorello Bodoni” may be easier to find.
* Adventures in Time and Space, 1946: this is just an incredible collection. Spectacular. Imagine the cream of the sci-fi crop in a world where the a-bomb went off less than a year ago, when space travel is not yet within our technological grasp.
* Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, James Tiptree Jr.’s collection: if you have to pick two, I suggest The Girl Who Was Plugged In and Love is the Plan the Plan is Death.
* Somewhat off the wall, Postcards from Impossible Worlds, Peter Chiykowski et al.: Spec fic micro short stories written on postcards, published 2018.