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Short Story Recommendations?
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What kind of short work do you like? Do you prefer collections by one author, or a mix of different authors?
Two funny ones are
by J.C. Hines and a mixed bag of authors in
; actually, you'll find quite a lot of SF anthology if you look for Martin H. Greenberg. Or check your favorite series for series order and if instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 ... there's a 0.5, 1, 2, 2.5 ... the ".5" ones are likely short stories
There's the various Year's Best anthologies:The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2011 Edition
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 5
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2011 Edition
My two favourite short stories of all time are by Arthur C Clarke. They are The Nine Billion Names Of God (which has the most chilling last line I've ever read) and The Star. Both are combined in The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke.
In case you're interested, there are some free (published) short stories on my website (www.barrykirwan.com), ranging from 'hard SF' (executive decision) to more general SF (the Sapper; Sylvian Gambit) to the humorous (Looking for Hell; Escape from Hell).
I get Daily Science Fiction emailed to me. This is my favorite one in a while. http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
I really loved the Fast Ships, Black Sails collection, but I don't see a copy of it online.
I thought First Flight was really cool and fun!
Short Fiction is my love. Here are a few of my top picks (some are online and some are not SFF so shoot me. :) ):The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursala K LeGuin (Incredible Story)
The Story of Your Life - Ted Chiang (also Hell is the Absence of God...and others he is an excellent short story writer)
Wild Horses - Rick Bass
Frost and Fire - Ray Bradbury
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - Katherine Anne Porter
Rescue Party - Arthur C Clarke
The Star - Issac Asimov
A Rose for Ecclesiastes - Roger Zelazny
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cathedral - Raymond Carver
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes.
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
The Fall of the House of Usher, The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe
A Boy and His Dog - Harlan Ellison
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge - Ambrose Bierce
The Hills like White Elephants, The End of Something and A Clean Well Lighted Place - Hemingway
A Rose for Emily - Faulkner
Chicxulub - T.C. Boyle
Faith wrote: "I get Daily Science Fiction emailed to me. This is my favorite one in a while. http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
"
That was a cool story! Thanks!
If you haven't yet, definitely check out Lightspeed Magazine. They have some amazing stories available for free every month. (And their e-subscription's only $1.99 a month which is a great deal and includes Fantasy magazine now.)A few stories that I've enjoyed from this magazine:
"Houses" by Mark Pantoja:
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
"Her Husband's Hands" by Adam-Troy Castro
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
"I'm Alive, I Love You, I'll See You in Reno" by Vylar Kaftan
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Kenny wrote: "Short Fiction is my love. Here are a few of my top picks (some are online and some are not SFF so shoot me. :) ):The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursala K LeGuin (Incredible Story)
Th..."
Great selections, Kenny. A good read, is a good read.
Elldee
You can try Brave New Worlds edited by John Joseph Adams. It's a dystopian antho, and has two of Kenny's recommendations (like Omelas).The Weird edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer is also great. Might seem expensive, but, uh, the physical book's 1100 pages, double column, so it's quite lengthy and includes a comprehensive selection of short stories (table of contents here.)
I hope you also give our antho a try, Alternative Alamat edited by Paolo Chikiamco (he was also a slush reader for Fantasy Magazine, which got subsumed into Lightspeed), an anthology based on Philippine folklore.
For the Lightspeed recommendation, the stories are also collected in Lightspeed Year One.
More from the old schoolTales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clark
Nightfall and Other Stories by Asimov
Convergent Series by Larry Niven
Waldo and Magic, Incby Heinlein
A little-known (and prolific) author who specialises in delightfully-quirky short stories is Rhys Hughes. I first came across his work many years ago when I edited a small press sci-fi/fantasy magazine.I have a soft spot for John Wyndham, who has several short-story collections available, but I suspect his 'cosy catastrophes' are deemed rather old-fashioned these days...
Marybeth wrote: "Hi All,Does anyone have any short story recommendations for me? I am totally obsessed with Elle Lapraim but she only has a few. I love Sci-fi and Fantasy equally.
Thanks you in a..."
Tony is a very talented author. His short stories are refreshing to read. He has a superb way of bringing his stories to life. He is a very descriptive writer. As I was reading his short stories I got lost in his words and felt like I was right there in every story.
I has been quite some time that an author has been able to grab my attention the way Tony has. Lately, reading novels from Dean Koontz Steven King, I found I was bored and lost interest, even though these are two of my favourite authors.
With Tony’s e-book, I was hooked from beginning to end in each of his short stories. I was never bored, never wondering when the story would end, in fact there were some, I wish would have kept going, but I realize then it wouldn’t be a short story. His words and stories flow quite beautifully, his tales full of fantastic, unique characters that the reader can relate to.
I will certainly be checking out future work from this talented author. Thank you Tony for sharing you talent with the world. Good luck and God Bless! I have now had the pleasure of reading his second offering. Eternity and more science fiction shorts. Sci-fi is a hard thing to write convincingly yet Tony pulls it off brilliantly here.
AUTHOR PAGE - Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006IYVA1K
I just read The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories and loved it. Thanks for the recommendation. I hate it when you get totally obsessed with an author and then they don't come out with anything new for a while and you feel lost. So glad to have all these great recommendations!
Try Beneath Ceaseless Skies webzine, or Asimov's or Analog. Both Ralan and Duotrope have comprehensive listings of all the SF/F webzines and other publications with a description of which types of fiction each carries.
I second the motion with respect to Gaiman's short stories and would direct your attention to F&SF's free digest, available electronically from the kindle store, and possibly others. If you don't do amazon, then I would check the fictionwise page, as that is where I have acquired a paid subscription to the magazine in full.
Hi Mary - you're spoiled for choice when it comes to fantasy and science fiction short stories. One of my favourite writers in those genres is Ray Bradbury who combines a wonderful imagination with a poetic sense of language.http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
Orson Scott Card has a webzine for SF/F short stories: http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.comHe contributes, too, so if you liked Ender's Game or his other work, check it out. (Shameless plug) the "Orson Pick" in Issue 3 was my husband's short story Fat Town, a modern take on Hansel and Gretel.
This anthology was written by one of our group members. I got it when he was giving it away for free, maybe it still is free. I liked the surprise I got at the end of all of the stories because I found myself saying "I didn't see that coming" or "whoa - I want to read this again" The stories are short and easy to read and I read them at lunch time. You have got to get this book: 24:01 One Minute After
http://socyberty.com/issues/encourage...Check out this article, then get your copies next week. Reviews would be very much appreciated on my amazon kindle author page. Thanks so much.
"Kansai Airport" is a scathing, over-the-top assault on contemporary fascism, with a nod to the Freudian surreal. Until its official release date, April 10, the short story can be found in its entirety (plus audio book!) here:http://patriksampler.wordpress.com/re...
Synopsis:
In an oversexed, near-future Japan, a foreigner arrives in search of his estranged family. Leaving the airport, he finds a society in which men and women rarely interact, reproduction is the domain of foetus-incubating blow up dolls, and all are on high alert for the “North Korean evil enemy”. Perhaps he, too, is such an enemy.
Here's a good question (If I could figure out how to put this in a new therad I would):How important is the -length- of an ebook? Do people look at it and say, oh, it's a short story, or a novella, or whatever? It's not like you can heft the paper book in your hand and estimate it to be a good three-day's read from the weight. When you buy it, do you care?
And, an allied question: do you notice, or care, if it is the second, or third, volume?
Brenda
Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions, both edited by Harlan Ellison, are available for Kindle (and I assume other e-readers, but have not checked). They contain many inventive, original, and edgy stories; although I suppose some may seem a bit dated now. (I may have to go dig up my old Science Fiction Book Club editions now.)
If you've read any of Alan Dean Foster and liked his stuff, I know of 2 books of short stories of his:With Friends Like These...
Who Needs Enemies?
I found them both very light, fun and with a dash of Foster's humor.
I've uplaoded one of my shorts to GoodReads, so that it can be read in its entirety. It's dark, sad and dystopian. Around 3900 words, and professionally edited.
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...
Book View Cafe has redone its store, and is having a sale on fantasy and science fiction, long and short. Head over to www.bookviewcafe.com
A few I've read recently and been very impressed with. A couple of the Nebula award nominees:
Movement - Nancy Fulda: http://www.nancyfulda.com/movement-a-...
The Paper Menagerie - Ken Liu: http://a1018.g.akamai.net/f/1018/1902...
and
Bullet in the Brain - Tobias Wolff: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/Lite...
Speech Sounds - Octavia Butler: http://www.e-reading.org.ua/chapter.p...
and a couple of classics:
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. LeGuin: http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas...
Rescue Party - Arthur C. Clarke: http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/07...
SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Goblin Tales (other topics)Fantasy Gone Wrong (other topics)
The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2011 Edition (other topics)
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3 (other topics)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume 5 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Martin H. Greenberg (other topics)Arthur C. Clarke (other topics)
Rhys Hughes (other topics)
John Wyndham (other topics)
Elle Lapraim (other topics)
More...
Does anyone have any short story recommendations for me? I am totally obsessed with Elle Lapraim but she only has a few. I love Sci-fi and Fantasy equally.
Thanks you in advance.
Mary