Caught the Best SF Novel discussion today, but was thinking SF is one of the few genre's where the short remains as vital a part of it's development as the novel.

So what are some of your favorite SF Shorts. Here are a few of mine.

1. Surface Tension - James Blish. Part of the Seedling Stars Series. A group of microscopic/genetically engineered pond dwelling humans bond with paramecium and diatoms to power the first craft ever to break the water's surface. One of the most charming SF shorts ever written. Whatever you do, don't mention this one to PIXAR.

2. Rogue Moon - A.J. Budrys. Dark and Convoluted. Scientists and an astronaut with a death fetish explore a mysterious artifact found on the dark side of the moon that's only seeming purpose is to graphically kill those who enter. Ripped off by Sci FI Channel or some random filmmaker as the CUBE series.

3. Arena - Fred Brown. Became the Lizard Man Star Trek episode, but the original is one of the all time stories to hand an 11 year old boy. One human is selected at random by a Superior Being to battle one representative of a completely alien species to the death...Winner's species survives, Loser's species is exterminated. Brilliant in it's moment to moment conveyance of strategy.

4. Bodies - Part of Thomas Disch's 334. Hospital Morque attendant selling unclaimed bodies on the sly to a house of perversion servicing necrophiliacs suddenly finds himself in a quandry when one the bodies he's already sold ends up having reserved a place at a cryogenics facility. Sound as morbid as they come, but contains some of the most beautifully, sadly rendered characters in all of SF.

5. Persistence of Vision, John Varley - An absolutely out of left field masterpiece. The kind of story only SF could produce, even though it has nothing to do with either aliens or technology. An aimless drifter falls in and then falls out with a self-sufficient colony of deaf/blind/dumb mutes.

6. And the Angels Sing - Kate Wilhelm. Walks a brilliant fine line with absolute confidence. An intelligent, well-meaning but tremendously obese and lonely newspaper editors stumbles upon a twelve-year-old girl shivering in a rainstorm on the side of the road, and brings her home to warm. He's wearing thick glasses, which fog, and it's not until he gets her home that he realizes it's not a girl at all, but an alien. The story then moves into very dangerous territory, as it becomes clear protagonist is a potential pedophile, but is so beautifully rendered and so emotionally true and so devastating at times...an absolute stunner.

7. First Contact - Murray Leinster...An established Golden Era Classic.

8. E is for Effort - T. L. Sherrad...One of my favorite time travel stories. An entrepreneur and an inventor create a silent camera that allows them to film any past event anywhere on the planet from any angle, then put together a crack team of voice talent to dub the films, and become the rage of the movie world. Trouble ensues when the begin to pursue more contemporary political events such as American Slavery and the Lincoln Assassination.

8. Second Dance from Pavanne...Keith Roberts. Series of alt-history stories set in a 20th century Europe where the Catholic Church never cleaved and has done everything in it's power to suppress technology. This story, about a young man who becomes an apprentice manning the huge semiphore towers that serve as the continents only form of long range communication, is the best.

9. They Women Men Don't See - Jame Tiptree. Tale of Two Fine Women, stranded on a remote island with two less than ideal men, who ultimately opt to escape with a disgusting alien species that suddenly appears rather than spend another second enduring the men.

10. Cold Equations - Tom Goodwin. Cheesy and Cloying, it is nonetheless the most important short in all SF...the ultimate litmus test...if you like and appreciate it, you are an SF fan, if you don't, if you protest it's conclusion, then SF is simply not for you. Period. End of Discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by Illiniq:
Caught the Best SF Novel discussion today, but was thinking SF is one of the few genre's where the short remains as vital a part of it's development as the novel.

Agreed, Illiniq. I think you'll also find klt will agree that this topic was overdue.

As with your list of novels, we share a lot of favorite short fiction. I have little to add to your excellent synopses except that I think you may be one of the few people I know who thinks as highly of "Surface Tension" as I do. Your admonition to keep it as far from PIXAR as possible is both well-taken and seconded.

I would, however, take issue with your description of "The Cold Equations." Cheesy and cloying might...might...apply today, but at the time of its writing, that was a profound an shocking resolution. I audited a 100-level survey of Science Fiction four years ago at Indiana University where the professor included "The Cold Equations" and it threw the roomful of late teens and early twenty-somethings for a loop.

I understand that in the early 90s there was a story published title "The Cold Solution" that offers just that, but I've never tracked a copy down. Have you read it? For that matter, James Patrick Kelly wrote another take on the story titled "Think Like a Dinosaur" several years ago. He won the Hugo, but I have to confess I didn't care for it nearly so much.

But, I digress. A few of my own favorites include:

"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-precious Stones" Samuel Delany I referenced this is the novel thread. It is a wonderful take on the nature of individual identity set against a background notable for being so richly imagined and established over so few pages.

"The Man Who Learned Loving" Theodore Sturgeon Easily one of the most moving and personally affecting works in the genre. I realized the other night that I have read and re-read this story for twenty-five years and it has never failed to move me, which is pretty remarkable considering that the thoughts of a 37-year-old on the nature of love and personal sacrifice are awfully different than those of a preteen.

"And Then There Were None" Eric Frank Russell The short story that may be single-handedly responsible for ruining Ursual K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed for me. Once I read Russell's story, no other depiction of an anarchistic society will do for me. Hilarious and thought-provoking in equal measure.

"Eurema's Dam" R.A. Lafferty I must be in an especially good mood today because the fun stuff is coming right to mind. Who knew that the life story of the world's last true idiot could also prove to be the most concise guide to personal improvement?

That's more than enough for now. Thanks again for the great topic, Illiniq!

Now Playing: "Compared to What" Les McCann & Eddie Harris Swiss Movement (Atlantic)

I'll add an obvious one to the list.

Harlan Ellison - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.

This was a big deal story to me and my friends during junior high, and has stayed one of my favorites over the years. His stories only seemed better after I got to meet him a couple years ago. Totally eccentric, but great. I just picked up a book on tape set that has Ellison reading his own stories which I'm looking forward to listening to soon.

I also would recommend J.G. Ballard's drowned World collection. I can never remember the title of the story, but there is one that involves a man fighting off some overgrown birds that I really liked a lot.

The entirety of Ray Bradbury's Illustrated Man. A whole book of excellent shorts storys from one of the best Science fiction writers.
In particluar I loved the idea behind 'Usher 2', an Edgar Allan Poe fan killing of the people who banned literature on Earth using just Poe's creations. Fantastic.

I just want to thank the creator and participants of this thread. It's really hard to find good recommendations of SF/F shorts so this was really useful in tracking down some quality stuff.

For my bit, anyone got any opinions on Gardner Dozois' yearly Mammoth Best of... books?