# favorite sci-fi short stories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666 "2003-01-10T02:44:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/1 "2003-01-10T02:44:43Z")
I just finished reading “Writers of the Future” volume XVIII (2001). I like “Carrying the God” – two stories intertwined really that merge in the end – whoever carries the God figure leads the tribe, and a man looking to make money putting a client in stasis til his illness can be cured. “Eating, Drinking, Walking” – shows the people completely dependent on their city … they don’t even walk anymore. “Worlds Apart” – two people with the “greatest job” ever – you create world through your passion/sex. “Prague 47” – a writer goes hunting for words that have been scattered across many alternate Earths. Can anyone suggest any other good sci-fi short stories? By anyone, really. 🙂 summary would be good, if you can remember. /Shadez ---
**Author:** ![moonchilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@moonchilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonchilde)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/2 "2003-01-10T02:54:08Z")
A.C.Clarke’s “The Star”…the first contact and the theological ramifications. It is in the collection “The Nine Billion Names of God” which also includes “The Sentinel” which became “2001”. Great collection of short stories. Isaac Asimov’s “Nightfall”…considered by many to be the best SF short story of the Golden Age. You won’t go wrong with any of the short story collections of Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison. One suggestion (and this is where I found a lot of my favorites)…try “The Hugo Award Winners” collections. You’ll find great short stories and novelettes from all the great masters and also pick up great stories that were one hit wonders but still remarkable. Enjoy! mc ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/3 "2003-01-10T03:04:46Z")
“Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick. It’s much, much better than the movie (i.e., it actually makes sense) Actually, there’s a lot of stuff by him that I like. Except “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”… I can’t imagine why any sane person would have wanted to turn _that_ one into a movie. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/4 "2003-01-10T03:13:38Z")
God Is an Iron by Spider Robinson Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven The Deadlier Weapon by Larry Niven ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/5 "2003-01-10T05:04:10Z")
“The Ugly Little Boy” by Isaac Asimov. “The Happy Breed” by John Sladek. “I have no mouth, and I must scream” by Harlan Ellison. Those are just a fragment and the first that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/6 "2003-01-10T05:15:12Z")
I’ve read a huge amount of short stories, so I have major difficulties seperating them. But the first one that comes to mind is always something by Zelazny. Probably one of his most famous is “The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth.” It’s about a hunter on an alien planet. He also wrote “A Rose for Ecclesiastes.” There is also a comparatively new writer, Ted Chiang, who is just amazing and garnering quite a bit of critical acclaim. One of his first short stories, “The Tower of Babel,” won the Nebula. He also wrote “Hell is the Absence of God,” and “Seventy-Two Letters” both which made a lasting impression on me. I don’t remember them well enough to provide decent summaries, though. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/7 "2003-01-10T05:17:16Z")
Well, Philip Dick had a host of great short stories, but my favorite is one of the shortest of all: “Answer” by Frederic Brown. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/8 "2003-01-10T06:14:42Z")
“Sandkings” by George RR Martin. Not the Outer Limits adaptation; the original story as it appeared in Omni magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/9 "2003-01-10T06:28:26Z")
I like short stories by Asimov and Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nenya_Elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/10 "2003-01-10T06:34:10Z")
Was “Inconstant Moon” the one about thinking the sun was going to go nova? I liked that one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/11 "2003-01-10T13:40:59Z")
If you’re looking for collections of short stories, try these: “Dangerous Visions,” Harlan Ellison, ed. “The Persistance of Vision,” by John Varley “San Diego Lightfoot Sue,” by Tom Reamy “The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories,” by Gene Wolfe Top single short stories: “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” by Harlan Ellison “The Last Flight of Dr. Ain,” by James Tiptree, Jr. “Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones,” by Samuel R. Delany “Passengers,” by Robert Silverberg “Coming Attraction” by Fritz Leiber [“The Screwfly Solution”](http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/sheldon/) by Racoona Sheldon “Press Enter ” by John Varley “Even the Queen” by Connie Willis “Neutron Star” by Larry Niven “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler “The Pusher” by John Varley “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin “Understand” by Ted Chiang “The Marching Morons” by Cyril Kornbluth “A Martian Odyssey” by Stanley G. Weinbaum "All You Zombies . . . " by Robert A. Heinlein “[Light of Other Days](http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/shaw/)” by Bob Shaw And, of course, [these](http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/ChuckRothmaneBooks.htm) 😉 That ought to hold you for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/12 "2003-01-10T14:05:09Z")
“Red Nails” by Robert E. Howard “We Are Idio” by Doris L. Piserchia and it’s a classic, it’s been done to death in the movies, but still it is one fucking nightmarish vision: “Who Goes There?” by Arthur C. Clarke ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/13 "2003-01-10T14:27:46Z")
“And Then There Were None” by Eric Frank Russel. (Text available online.) Imagine a world based on Ghandi. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/14 "2003-01-10T14:45:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\* > “Who Goes There?” by Arthur C. Clarke \*\* Just a correction, but “Who Goes There?” was by John W. Campbell. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/15 "2003-01-10T15:30:17Z")
Thanks for the lunchtime reading, **Scuba**! Let me recommend Harry Turtledove’s [_Counting Up, Counting Down_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345442261/qid=1042212095/sr=1-39/ref=sr_1_39/103-3574396-6116632?v=glance&s=books). The title refers to both the first and last story in the collection which deal with a man who is compelled to screw things up with his first wife - please read them in the order they are presented for full effect. The first story is a downer, the second story ends on a high note, and while it is implausible, it is implausible fun. If you’re the sort to peruse used book stores, I recommend Harlan Ellison’s [_Strange Wine_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060111135/qid=1042212445/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-3574396-6116632?v=glance&s=books), which is probably the strongest of his short story collections. Unfortunately, it is out of print so finding it might be a tad difficult. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/16 "2003-01-10T15:40:59Z")
I love just about any short story by Fredric Brown. There are a number of his collections around, the one that’s probably easiest to find is “The Best of Fredric Brown”. ---
**Author:** ![HeatMiser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@HeatMiser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeatMiser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/17 "2003-01-10T16:00:48Z")
Ray Bradbury’s _Zero Hour_ - where a game played by the neighborhood children may have more significance than it seems. Kurt Vonnegut’s _Harrison Bergeron_ - probably not science fiction by the stricter definitions, but it does portray a future world, one where a system in devised to guarantee equality among all citizens by taking steps to ensure that all are reduced to the least common denominator. A couple of additional P. K. Dick stories that come to mind: _Upon The Dull Earth_, which deals with a girl’s dangerous experiment in contacting demon-like creatures, and _The Pre-Persons_, an exploration of the ethics of abortion carried to a ludicrous extreme. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/18 "2003-01-10T16:02:03Z")
My favorite SF/fantasy short stories are the ones I wrote in my undergraduate days. 😉 (Some of 'em are archived here: [www.netcom.com/~rogermw/stories](http://www.netcom.com/~rogermw/stories) ) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/19 "2003-01-10T16:55:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by HeatMiser \* > **Kurt Vonnegut’s _Harrison Bergeron_ - probably not science fiction by the stricter definitions, but it does portray a future world, one where a system in devised to guarantee equality among all citizens by taking steps to ensure that all are reduced to the least common denominator.** I’m glad you mentioned this. This is probably my favorite sci-fi story EVER. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666/20 "2003-01-10T18:05:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steelerphan \* > \*\*“Sandkings” by George RR Martin. Not the Outer Limits adaptation; the original story as it appeared in Omni magazine. \*\* I loved Sandkings. I could swear that I read it in Asimov’s SF, though. It was the one issue out of the two years that I subscribed that I lost, much to my regret. Ditto Ted Chiang’s “Understand.” My all-time fave. I love Michael Swanwick’s “Griffin’s Egg,” too. I’ve read way too much by Isaac Asimov. “Ugly Little Boy” bored the crap out of me though. I just didn’t connect with it. Tough for me to pick a real standout from his work, though. I love “Nightfall” still. Most of his other stuff, now that I’m older and better read, is just a bit too “clever” and puzzle-y for me. The stories are intellectually satisfying, but not emotionally so. Some goosd ones, though … “The Dead Past” and that old one about the dull accountant who recaptures the spaceship from aliens. Can’t recall the name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-sci-fi-short-stories/147666.md?page=2)