Papirolle Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Can someone recommend a good anthology of "classic" genre (mostly SciFi I guess) short stories? I have several anthologies of the English language non-genre classics as well as (I think) the whole Poe, Flannery O'connor and also some older genre stuff (M.R. James, A. Blackwood, Lovecraft, Doyle...) but, except for Asimov's "Robot" stories only a little shortish SciFi (I knew "The 9 billion names of God", though, and another one of Clarke's(?) with a continent sized alien "god" devastating earth).I sometimes think that the best literary pieces of the Sci-Fi and horror genre may be short stories.As has been mentioned many times in this thread already, Ted Chiangs The Story of Your Life and Others.It is probably the best short story collection you can find. I can't think of any better anyway.It has three of my favourite short stories ever:UnderstandDivision By ZeroThe Story of Your Life Gene Wolfe has many collections out and have written some fantastic short stories. Try The Best of Gene Wolfe. Stephen King is also a very good short story writer. Skeleton Crew and Night Shift are classics. Franz Kafka is also a classic short story writer. Don't know the name of any collection though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnionAhaiReborn Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 A Perfect Day for Bananafish - Salinger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubies & Jade Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Lol yes I see and of course it was for you!! :wub: I miss you around!I hope that's a good busy! :love: Its nice to be missed! Its been a mixed kinda busy, but that's life. hope you're well too! Minority Report > Blade Runner. :agree: so much truth! and to get this back on topic, what about The Lottery, but Shirley Jackson? I don't think its been mentioned yet, and its classic. Not sci-fi, but still under the speculative fiction umbrella I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maithanet Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. ClarkeFlowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I second the Lottery and I'd like to add Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 The Lottery is definitely SF, if you ask me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rondo has three heads Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Escape from Spiderhead is a good sci-fi-lite story by George Saunders. The last two paragraphs are super corny.He has another kind of sci fi story called The Semplica Girl Diaries. Great story but it's mostly literary, the future/sci fi stuff is mostly in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Highborn Maid Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Here are some of my favourites: Revelation by Flannery O'ConnorThe Hell Screen by Ryunosuke AkutagawaThe Premature Burial by Edgar Allan PoeThere Will Come Soft Rains by Ray BradburyA Piece of String by Guy de MaupassantFondly Fahrenheit by Alfred BesterA Gentle Creature by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Lottery by Shirley JacksonQueenie by Alice MunroAnna on the Neck by Anton ChekhovFlowering Judas by Katherine Anne PorterA Toy For Juliette by Robert BlochI Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan EllisonTwo of Hearts by Stacey Q Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily Valley Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I forgot to add to my list "I have no mouth and I must scream" by Harlan Ellison... Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain" and still more...I have no mouth is one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read.Octavia Butler's "Speech Sounds" is a horror show too. I loved it."All Summer in a Day" by BradburyAnd the yellow wallpaper. That story still gives me nightmares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Highborn Maid Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 To those who mentioned Ellison's "I Have No Mouth," there's an expanded point-and-click game based on it from the 90's that actually surpasses the source material imo...though the gameplay is a bit crass. Makes me wish it were a novella and not just a short story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I have no mouth is one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read.Octavia Butler's "Speech Sounds" is a horror show too. I loved it."All Summer in a Day" by BradburyAnd the yellow wallpaper. That story still gives me nightmares.I think I read that about 40 years ago. Still can't shake the images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horselover Fat Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 For Ellison, I prefer "Repent Harlequin". Whoever said "a good man is hard to find" and "a Rose for Emily" those were great choices. I like " Hills Like White Elephants" from Hemingway also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjornbert Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Story of Your Life is the best science fiction story.^this. All Chiang is brilliant(my favorite is one set as a series of interviews though. Not sure about the name)I also loved, loved, loved Parker's A Small Price to Pay for is Birdsong, but I'm not sure if it should be mentioned hrte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I think short-stories is kind of the "core" of Science Fiction as a genre. (while doorstopper trilogies is the "core" of fantasy as a genre :p) Lots of good mentions here. Maupassant's Boule de Suif is also good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Some really great suggestions here. Will just add two more of my favourites that I've not seen mentioned yet:The Cold Equations - Tom Godwin (classic SF but really stands up well today)Daddy's World - Walter Jon Williams I love love love the way that story starts and ends with exactly the same words, but by the end of the tale they take on a really different meaning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 first wife, a professional literary writer, had as her favorite short for a while 'birdland' by one michael knight [sic], which was published in the new yorker back in the late 90s. I thought it was a fairly shruggable text, but then again am not a professional literary writer but rather just an internet prick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Andrei Makine's "A Life's Music'' or "Music of a Life" (depending on translation, though I prefer the former) instantly springs to mind. I don't hesitate in calling it a short story as it's barely over 100 pages and can be read easily in a day, an afternoon even. The first time I read it, I put it down for a moment and let it sink in and then I picked it back up and read it a second time. Beautifully written short story about a once up and coming Russian classical pianist who on the eve of his first big performance has to flee home, he escapes to his aunt's house, only for that to be invaded by Germans and later has to search through Russian soldier's corpses to find someone he resembles in appearance; after finding that person he takes on his identity and survives. Don't want to give the whole thing away but suffice to say it's beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King in Black Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Makes the whole world kin - O Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 first wife, a professional literary writer, had as her favorite short for a while 'birdland' by one michael knight [sic], which was published in the new yorker back in the late 90s. I thought it was a fairly shruggable text, but then again am not a professional literary writer but rather just an internet prick. As long as you are not a short prick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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