SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Always on the lookout for a good short story, I was wondering what stories have stayed with my GR colleagues long after they first read them?

Not the "best" but ones that have stayed in your mind or altered your perception about life/reality.

For me, those would include:

1. "A Boy and His Dog," Harlan Ellison
2. "The Helping Hand," Poul Anderson
3. "Can These Bones Live?," Ted Reynolds
4. "Nightflyers," George R.R. Martin
5. "Prayers on the Wind," Walter Jon Williams

Off the top of my head I would have to say.

1. In The Flesh - Clive Barker

I know there are others, but I'll have to find the names of them, can't remember right now.

Hmmm, I'll never forget reading The Langoliers or The Library Policeman by Stephen King. The Monkey's Paw (W.W. Jacobs) is another one, and of course all of E.A. Poe!

Excellent topic! I saw the movie 'A Boy & His Dog' first. I love grade B SF movies & Jan Michael Vincent had made an impression in 'The Mechanic' with Charles Bronson, so it's one of my favorites. Harlan Ellison is also a favorite author.

I think Ellison's 'I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream' was one of the most haunting short stories I've ever read. His "Partners in Wonder" collections are fantastic. He & other authors collaborate on short stories, of which Ellison is certainly a master.

"The Last Command" by Clark was another one that hit me hard when I first read it. Very memorable. Not so great now or the 2d time around - its time is well past, thankfully. There were a lot of good stories in his "The 9 Billion Names of God". He edited another short story book called, "Tomorrows Children" which I got ages ago & reread ever 5 years or so. I think he only has one story in it, but 'A Pail of Air' by Heinlein is another good story in there.

"Welcome to the Monkey House" by Vonnegut is another good one, both the book & all the stories in it.

"Ordeal in Space" plus a ton of other ones by Heinlein. His collection, "The Past Through Tomorrow" has most of them in it. Excellent.

Robot stories by Asimov are also a favorite.

There is a Stephen King short story called the Jaunt, it was originally published in the Twilight Zone magazine and is King's take on Sci-Fi. I really enjoyed it and thought about it a long time afterwards.

The story takes place early in the 24th century, when the technology for teleportation, referred to as "Jaunting", is commonplace, allowing for instantaneous transportation across enormous distances, even to other planets in the solar system. Very good!

Oh, I wish I could remember all the names of the ones I like! One of my favorites ever was a Heinlein called either "They" or "Them". I also love Waldo & Magic... and many other of his stories. Was the original "Nightfall" a short story or novella? It has been so long I've forgotten. I don't think I've read a short story or anthology in ages...

I found the Jaunt posted online if anyone wants to read it:

http://groups.msn.com/BloodyTheater/b...

Great topic. There have been quite a few short stories that have statyed with me long after I read them. A strong top 10 would be:

1. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (Ursula K. Le Guin).

2. The Lost Boys (Orson Scott Card)

3. Closing Time (Neil Gaiman)

4. Jefftey is Five (Harlan Ellison)

5. The Country of the Kind (Damon Knight)

6. The Monsters of Heaven (Nathan Ballingrud)

7. The Eichmann Variations (George Zebrowski)

8. The Star (Arthur C. Clarke)

9. That only a Mother (Judith Merril)

10. The Mountains of Mourning (Lois M. Bujold)

I haven't read many SF/Fantasy short stories that really impacted me that much, at least that I can remember, but I read one recently that's still fresh on my mind that stood out as really good (and kind of depressing). It's called "The People of Sand and Slag" by Paolo Bacigalupi.

I read it in the Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse anthology, but the whole story is also available online on the author's website http://windupstories.com/pumpsix/the-...

"All My Darling Daughters" by Connie Willis was absolutely haunting.

And, I'll never forget the Ray Bradbury story about the time travelers who step on a butterfly in dinosaur land and change their future. I remember everything about that story except the title, even though I've been reminded of it many times.

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is terrific.

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (I forget the author) is fantastic too.

I first encountered The Lottery a long time ago as a tv movie with Keri Russell and it disturbed the crap out of me.

Owl Creek Bridge is by Ambrose Bierce, and a great Twilight Zone episode, too!

I don't remember the story, but the title of "The Hot and Cold Running Waterfall" cycles in my mind like a pajamas in a washing machine.

I remember that Ray Bradbury story as well! I can't remember the name either but I think I've got it at home.

I'm not a short story person, but there are a some that have struck a chord with me over the years:

"Repent Harlaquin! Said the TickTock Man" by Harlan Ellison

"Cask of Amontillado" by Poe

I've gotten better about reading the shorts, but it's still not my favorite style.

"The Sound of Thunder" is the name of that Bradbury story.

I also loved:
"Jeffty is Five" by Harlan Ellison
"The Cheese Stands Alone" by Harlan Ellison
"The Sword of Damocles" by James Hogan
"And He Built a Crooked House" by Robert Heinlein
"Needle in a Timestack" by Robert Silverberg

Those are the ones I recall off the top of my head. Give me a few days, er, maybe weeks, to peruse my short story collections and I could come up with more.

Kristin's mention of Poe reminded me of my sixth grade teacher reading "The Tell-Tale Heart" to us. The heartbeat scared the crap out of me. I promptly went on to read every bit of Poe that I could find. Nothing quite compared to the first thrill of "The Tell-Tale Heart".

Not really a short story reader but...

'Unaccompanied Sonata' by Orson Scott Card really stands out in my mind.

Some others:

'Call me Joe' by Poul Anderson

'Does the Bee Care' by Isaac Asimov

'The Shadow Out of Time' by HP Lovecraft

'Who Goes There?' by John W. Campbell

Has anyone here ever heard of or seen a copy of Oracle Short Story & Letters? It is a SCI-FI/Fantasy magazine produced somewhere in California.

You have all forgotten a classic; either that or you have not read it and should do it now! :-)

I am talking about "The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster. Yes it is the same person who wrote 'A room with a view" & "Passage To India" but this is pure quality SF and the message is very relevant today. Take a look at

http://brighton.ncsa.uiuc.edu/prajlic...

One story I found very poignant was "All Summer In A Day" by Ray Bradbury. That is the one about the children on Venus celebrating the one the one day every seven years when it stops raining and they get a rare short glimpse of the sky. It is about how children can be unintentionally very cruel.

I also loved one of his stories that I first heard as a radio play; it is called "August 2026: There will come soft rains" and you can read it here http://www.jerrywbrown.com/datafile/d... I won't say what it is about because it would ruin your enjoyment. Basically I love most of Bradburys short stories. I also once read a very good collection of short stories, a mix of SF & Fantasy, by Orson Scott-Card that rivalled the best of Bradbury (but much stranger!) but I cannot remember the title.

Robin, "All Summer In A Day" is my all time favorite short story... I don't know of many people who have heard of it, and less people who enjoy it, so I am glad that you did.

Can anyone recommend any short story compilations? I love to read, and used to turn to short stories when my life became too crazy for a novel. I'd forgotten about the habit, but this thread has reminded me! Give me a shopping list to take to the book store...

I just finished The Best of John W. Campbell, which was great, and am halfway finished with The Best of Robert E. Howard: Crimson Shadows, which has been good so far. I have several anthologies sitting on my to-read or mooched book shelves that I haven't gotten to yet.

About two months ago, I decided that I would always be reading at least one anthology. It's easier than a novel and fits well into my commute (I carpool and ride a bus).

Robin & Becky, I agree that it's a great story. "All in a Summer's Day" & other stories are in Tomorrow's Children: Eighteen Tales of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I thought I mentioned that in here earlier, but apparently not. It's a great read. My review of it lists all the stories.

Laurel,

I have a couple of short story collections for you:

The Heat of the Moment
Triangulations: Taking Flight

The Heat of the Moment is a collection of short stories on the theme of Fire, created to raise money to benefit a charity in California, for the benefit of people who lost their homes in the wildfires last year. It's got stories by 20 different authors in a variety of genres.

Triangulations is a collection of the best stories entered into a writing contest run by the PARSEC, for the Confluence SF/F convention. The theme last year was Metallic Feathers, which they converted to Taking Flight.

Also, try Fictionwise.com for standalone short stories, in e-book form.

Thanks Jim... Added to my TBR list. :)

You're welcome, Becky. I hope you can find it at a decent price & I didn't just tease you. I got my hardback copy for a quarter or something from the library. I looked it up on Amazon the other day & the cheapest was $35 for the paperback! I think it's time they republish it.

It's OK, Jim. I have a few books that I have wanted for a long time but can never find... (I FINALLY found an inexpensive unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo on Ebay -- I couldn't find it for less than $70 anywhere else!)

I'll take a look around and see what I see... Maybe they will reprint it - someday.

Becky (and anyone else who's interested):

Most of the short stories that have stuck with me, I've found in various collections so I hesitate to recommend any single volume but two perhaps obscure ones that are consistently good are Jean E. Karl's The Turning Place: Stories of a Future Past, which is aimed toward the YA crowd but "old" adults can read it with pleasure too, and Edgar Pangborn's Still I Persist in Wondering: Tales of a darkening world, a marvelous author who's unjustly forgotten in today's "darkening world."

And a shout out to Sullypython: I can't believe I forgot Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" :-(

Thanks Terence, I will have to check those out too. =)

One short story that has stayed with me for years is "To Serve Man", by Damon Knight. It's all about how perception is everything. I read the story long before I saw the Twilight Zone version, but I loved both.

Another great story is "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", by Larry Niven. It's actually an essay about how it would be impossible for Superman to ever make love to and impregnate Lois Lane. Very amusing, but kind of sad as well.

Leslie Ann Moore

Griffin's Daughter

Outstanding. Thank you, Robinhj.

The Mill - Paul Di Filippo
The Marching Morons - C. M. Kornbluth
The Little Black Bag - C. M. Kornbluth
The Star - Arthur Clarke
The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged) - John Varley

OK. Here's a few to start with. Yes, morbidity and angst are my "thing". All these stories make me cry.

For short soty collections:

Nightfall--Isaac Asimov

Nine Tomorrows--Isaac Asimov

The Man Who Sold the Moon---Robert Heinlein

The Past Through Tomorrow--Robert Heinlein

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One!--edited by Robert Silverberg, this contained the top 17 sf stories voted on the the Science Fiction Writers of America.

Strange Wine--Harlan Ellison

since in my 20s the shortest story I will read is a novella of about 100 pgs. I have issue with a 30 page or shorter story that take 10-15 minutes to read.

If it was good enough to read I want a novel on the topic

Kevin, I also like longer stories, but I would disagree with writing off shorter stories as a whole.

Some of the most touching and thought provoking stories are short in terms of pages and read times, but long in terms of memory and enjoyment.

Very true. Sometimes stories are just not meant to be novels.

Short story books aren't my first pick, but I'm glad I read some. Some are just fantastic & most really can't be longer. I agree with the other comments that some stories are not meant to be novels.

I really dislike stories that go on too long. A great example is Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein. It was a good novella but it was a novel instead. The first half or 2/3 was good, but the last was extraneous & really brought the book down a notch, IMO.

I have heard that it takes more skill to write a compelling short story than a novel. I don't know if that's true, because I'm not a writer. However, one thing I learned through English Lit classes is that short story writing is an art unto itself and I don't think it's fair to blow off short stories just because they're not long enough.

Sandi, I agree completely. Short stories are refined like molten metal in a crucible. Some of the best stories and most impact for the fewest words I've read were written by Stephen R. Donaldson - try either one of his anthologies: Reave the Just and Other Tales or Daughter of Regals and Other Tales.

I used to not have much use for short stories, but as I forced myself to read collections by favorite authors (Gaiman, DeLint) I ended up really loving them. It's true that some stories are best told in a few pages. Gaiman especially has some really kickass ones.

Ellison is Brilliant. So many stories are wonderful. The Essential Ellison is a treasuretrove of them.

I also love Poe's Tell-Tale heart and Cask of Amontillado

Stephen King has many in his collections.

Also, LOVE "A Distant sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury

And Connie Willis - her collection" "The Winds of Marble Arch"

I've never been much for short stories, but... I started reading Gardner Dozois' Years Best Science Fiction. Every year I am impressed with the quality of the stories. I think that authors use this collection to get the initial chapters of their books into print.

One story that impressed me was "Mortimer Gray's History of Death" by Brian Stableford. It became a novel titled "Fountain of Youth".
I really enjoyed the concepts in this rather long short story.

I'd recommend picking up Orson Scott Card's Masterpieces The Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century, a collection of short sci-fi stories. The word "masterpieces" may be overselling it a bit, but I enjoyed 95% of the short stories in there - easily the best-liked compilation I've ever read.

Also anything in the Road to Science Fiction compilations by James Gunn - there are 6 of them, each devoted to a different type of sci-fi, so you can pick your favorite. (My favorite was Volume 3.)

I'm generally not a fan of short stories, but William Gibson's are fantastic. Cyberpunk is made to be short and punchy. Johnny Mnemonic, New Rose Hotel, Dogfight, and Burning Chrome (also the name of the collection) especially stand out.

I get obsesive about reading a book once I've started it (I recently put away about 450 pages in one night)so when I'm really busy I stick to short stories to unwind with at night. I can finish one in a night and not stay up till 1 am when I know my son will be up at 6.

Most of my favorites have been mentioned here:

That Only a Mother, by Judith Merril
All in a Summer's Day by Bradbury
Poe's Tell Tale Heart
And He Built a Crooked House by Heinlein
Bloodchild, by Octavia Butler
The Yellow Wallpaper (not fantasy or scifi but super creepy)
Ellison's Repent Harlaquin! Said the TickTock Man

And I highly recommend The Women of Wonder books edited by Pam Sargent. There's a great one in the modern volume of this collection that's an exercise in quantum physics that I didn't fully understand but still enjoyed thoroughly (don't have the book near me so I don't remember the name)

I'll second The Yellow Wallpaper (by Gilman). It's the only thing I remember from my freshman lit class, and it's certainly stuck with me.

Other memorable stories include:
Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven
All You Zombies (mentioned many times above)
Mimzy Were the Borogoves by Lewis Padgett
Sandkings by George Martin
Tunesmith by Lloyd Biggle

Thanks for the info about Gilman. I'm gonna track those down now.

This can be answered by highlighting excellent short-story writers. Three recommendations on short story collections published in 2008:
1) Nano Comes to Clifford Falls: And Other Stories - Kress excels at short fiction, and most years she is on the Nebula nomination list.
2) Pump Six and Other Stories IMO best 'first collection' from a new author in several years.
3) The Best of Lucius Shepard If you have not read Shepard, he mixes supernatural with core SF and usually builds out strong characterization.

Not published this year, but recent, is the best collection of vignettes (extremely short stories) in SF I have ever read: The Draco Tavern

Imperfectlyrua wrote: "I get obsesive about reading a book once I've started it (I recently put away about 450 pages in one night)so when I'm really busy I stick to short stories to unwind with at night. I can finish one..."

Imperfectlyrua, if you liked the Women of Wonder books, you should check out this site. It's a fiction site set up by 20 or so women authors, several of whom were in the Wonder collection: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/

for short stories:
1. The Veldt: Ray Bradbury
2. Rocking horse Winner: Ray Bradbury
3. Bloodchild: Octavia Butler
4. Speech Sounds: Octavia Butler

for short story compilations I'd recommend, Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler. if you haven't read her before, I'd say hers is more of a form of humanitarian and literary science fiction than hard science/geek science fiction but it is so elegantly and intimately written (all at once accessible and profound). Octavia is/was of the finest specimen of writer. RIP.