# Best Science Fiction short story ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891 "2005-01-27T06:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/21 "2005-01-27T14:16:31Z")
_Inconstant Moon_ is damn good, and would be on my short list. Others on that list (and which I haven’t seen mentioned) are: _Fondly Fahrenheit_ by Alfred Bester _The Man Who Lost the Sea_ by Theodore Sturgeon _Second Variety_ by Philip K. Dick _Oceanic_ by Greg Egan _Scanners Live in Vain_ by Cordwainer Smith _With Folded Hands_ by Jack Williamson _The Man Who Walked Home_ by James Tiptree, Jr. _We See Things Differently_ by Bruce Sterling _Prayers on the Wind_ by Walter Jon Williams _Born With the Dead_ by Robert Silverberg But if I had to pick one, and only one, very best SF story, I think I’d have to go with _By His Bootstraps_ by Heinlein, which very nearly exhausts its subject and whish is still breathtaking today. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/22 "2005-01-27T15:19:23Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Sticking to the OP’s criterion, I’d say Robert Heinlein’s _The Cold Equation_. I still remember the first time I read it, and the way it knocked the wind right out of me. > > Philip K. Dick’s _Oh, to be a Blobel!_ ranks pretty high, too. [nitpick] Cold Equations (plural) [/np]🙂 I gues I should have been more specific about what I consider a short story. Like I said, IANA English major ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/23 "2005-01-27T15:33:29Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > **Flowers for Algernon** is too long to qualify as a “short” story, ainnit? Wasn’t that a short story though, before it became a novel? ---
**Author:** ![EmeraldGrue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@EmeraldGrue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmeraldGrue)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/24 "2005-01-27T16:27:38Z")
“The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin “A Niche” by Peter Watts “Faith of Our Fathers” by Philip K. Dick (“Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large” by James Alan Gardner is one of my personal favourites but I doubt it qualifies.) ---
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/25 "2005-01-27T16:32:25Z")
On my top 10 list, half would probably be by Philip K. Dick. #1: Faith of our Fathers ---
**Author:** ![maniondl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@maniondl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maniondl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/26 "2005-01-27T16:42:15Z")
I’ll give you my top three (I’m remembering, so apologies if I screw up the titles) _The Second Kind_ by P. K. Dick _Burning Chrome_ by William Gibson (the short story itself, not the collection, though that’s good too.) _Thor Versus Captain America_ by David Brin ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/27 "2005-01-27T16:57:08Z")
Folks! Folks! Folks! I was always taught that the titles of books are italicized; the titles of short stories are placed in quotation marks. This may have added to the confusion over _Flowers for Algernon_ being a novel. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/28 "2005-01-27T17:13:30Z")
“Inconstant Moon” - Larry Niven “Nightfall” - Isaac Asimov “I Have No Mouth…” - Harlan Ellison (although my favorite stories of his are more Horror than SF…“Flop Sweat”, “All The Birds Come Home To Roost”, etc.) "If This Goes On - " - RAH I’m very much a classicist in my tastes. Dick and Gibson, for example, leave me totally cold. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/29 "2005-01-27T17:15:18Z")
“Unaccompanied Sonata” by Orson Scott Card ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/30 "2005-01-27T17:19:41Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > No it’s not. > > There’s the original, vastly superior, short story (about 30 pages long) that appeared in one of the pulps in the '50s, and there’s the bloatware version of the short story where he padded it up to novel size. The short story is one of the best SF stories ever written–the novel? Not so much. 😛 I agree. I’ll have to see if the novel came out before or after the movie - it is not a novelization. I am happy to report that the story showed up in my kid’s English book, so maybe people will remember the good version. BTW. it first appeared in F&SF, a digest not a pulp. Good choices. I’ll add “Them:” by Heinlein “The Star” by Clarke “The Sound of Thunder” and “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Bradbury. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/31 "2005-01-27T17:20:09Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Folks! Folks! Folks! I was always taught that the titles of books are italicized; the titles of short stories are placed in quotation marks. _Chicago_ still advises this, yes. But I know the New York Times, at least, puts the names of books in quotation marks. (Do they have their own manual of style?) I will third Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” Even though it always resonated to me as more a straight horror story. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/32 "2005-01-27T17:27:19Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “The Star” by Clarke _Awesome_ story. And not just cuz I was brought up a Cat’lick. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/33 "2005-01-27T18:10:27Z")
I’d have to second Inconstant Moon by Niven. Also The Deadlier Weapon by Niven and one of my personal favorites: God is an Iron by Spider Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/34 "2005-01-27T18:30:49Z")
I second: _The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas_ by Ursula K. LeGuin “Unaccompanied Sonata” by Orson Scott Card Two suggestions: “A Boy and His Dog” by Harlan Ellison (best ending line ever: “That girl of yours sure had good taste” hee!) “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” By Harlan Ellison - for the lyricism and characterization. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/35 "2005-01-27T18:33:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > "If This Goes On - " - RAH > [@Voyager](#): > > “Them:” by Heinlein Both already posted above. I like Clarke’s “The Star” as well. My favorite of his may be “A Walk in the Dark”. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/36 "2005-01-27T18:33:17Z")
Most of my SF short story exposure has been limited to Bradbury, so I can’t really comment, but I like nearly all of his stories (except the weird pseudo-preachy ones where he has the authors of the past moan about their literature being unappreciated). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/37 "2005-01-27T18:47:29Z")
The novel version of _Flowers for Algernon_ by Daniel Keyes (nobody’s even mentioned his name yet!) appeared in 1966. The movie, _Charly_ came out in 1968. Lots of stories not yet mentioned. Many of them are novellas, which many say is the best length for science fiction. Samuel R. Delany - “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” and “The Star Pit” Roger Zelazny - “A Rose for Ecclesiates” Harlan Ellison - “Repent, Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman” Kate Wilhelm - “The Infintiy Box” and “April Fool’s Day Forever” Michael Moorcock - “Behold the Man” (not the novel) Frederic Pohl - “Day Million” Ray Bradbury - “All Summer in a Day” and “Way in the Middle of the Air” (which is being left out of new editions of _The Martian Chronicles_, a crime against humanity) Ursula K. LeGuin - “Vaster Than Empires, and More Slow” Gene Wolfe - “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories” (not a collection: The collection is titled _The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories_ ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/38 "2005-01-27T19:02:02Z")
Yes, I should have made a distinction. Yes, “Flowers for Algernon” was a short story before it was a novel. It is the short story I was referring to. I have the original in my book “The Science Fiction Hall of Fame” (1970). I also have the novel, and I’ve seen _Charley_. While all are entertaining, IMHO only the original story deserves “greatness” status. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Samuel R. Delany - “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” Hmm… I hadn’t heard of that one before. Title struck me as very “Hawking-esque” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/39 "2005-01-27T19:12:36Z")
> [@Moody Bastard](#): > > _Awesome_ story. > > And not just cuz I was brought up a Cat’lick. Though you must admit it helped! 😉 Of all the stories mentioned (though I’ve only read maybe half of them) that was the only one that left me feeling poleaxed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891/40 "2005-01-27T19:27:51Z")
Bradbury wrote the best shorts, IMHO. His novels (Except _451_) never gel like his short stories do. “And There Will Come Soft Rains” “A Sound of Thunder” “All Summer in a Day” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-science-fiction-short-story-ever/286891.md?page=3)