Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

as you can all tell, I'm extremely bored tonight.

so...this time i'll do a seeded elimination tournament.

Two rules:

No novellas or novels...ONLY short stories. I'll define it as one you should be able to read in one sitting without a problem.

No stories less than ten years old.

I'll nominate the obvious one first:

Nightfall - Isaac Asimov

and one of my favorites:

The Cold Equations - Tom Godwin

and one more from the modern era:

Blood Music - Greg Bear


so let's here 'em...

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

The Nine Billion Names of God - Arthur C. Clarke

Unaccompanied Sonata - Orson Scott Card

Flowers For Algernon - Daniel Keyes (Although even the original story may be too long under the rules.)

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

I think Ender's Game is probably too long to qualify, although it first appeared as a short story.

Parts of The Martian Chronicles are also great, but they form a larger work.

I agree Cold Equations is awesome.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
as you can all tell, I'm extremely bored tonight.

so...this time i'll do a seeded elimination tournament.

Two rules:

No novellas or novels...ONLY short stories. I'll define it as one you should be able to read in one sitting without a problem.

No stories less than ten years old.

I'll nominate the obvious one first:

Nightfall - Isaac Asimov

and one of my favorites:

The Cold Equations - Tom Godwin

and one more from the modern era:

Blood Music - Greg Bear


so let's here 'em...

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to concur on Nightfall. I don't care for the short story genre, but Nightfall is at the top of my list even so.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

what is the story where the girl on venus misses the sun coming out? that one is pretty good.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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what is the story where the girl on venus misses the sun coming out? that one is pretty good.

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i know what you're talking about! I just can't remember the name or the author...heartbreaking story.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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I have to concur on Nightfall. I don't care for the short story genre, but Nightfall is at the top of my list even so.

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??? Science fiction is ALL about the short story. If you haven't read many, you're really missing out.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

I second 9 billion names of God

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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I have to concur on Nightfall. I don't care for the short story genre, but Nightfall is at the top of my list even so.

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??? Science fiction is ALL about the short story. If you haven't read many, you're really missing out.

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I've read 'em--I just don't like the short story form, whether it is SF or mainstream literary fiction. I am a novel person.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Bump for those too lazy to go past the first 3 pages.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

The Veldt.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

"The Last Question" -- Isaac Asimov

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

I know it's not exactly sci-fi in its purest sense but I'm a big fan of Steven King's "The Mist."

Swede

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Neat idea...I haven't read too many SF short stories, but I'll nominate some that I've loved...

The Fifth Head of Cerberus : Gene Wolfe -- Later used as part of a three part novel, this story of a boy scientist who may be a clone growing up in a decrepit whorehouse on a planet modeled after Rimbaud's North Africa is probably my favorite short story ever...yes, better than "Araby"...

Every other Gene Wolfe story ever -- I'm a nerd.

Johnny Mnemonic: William Gibson-- Just a little bit better than the film. OK a lot better.

A Little Something For Us Tempunauts -- Philip K Dick...good description on this wiki

Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman -- Harlan Ellison


Even less science fictiony:
The Brave Little Toaster - Tom Disch (You heard me!)

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Anything by Greg Egan IMHO. If I had to pick... Orphanogenesis excerpt from Diaspora

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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I know it's not exactly sci-fi in its purest sense but I'm a big fan of Steven King's "The Mist."

Swede

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It's too long, too, otherwise I would second it. As it is, I think Flowers for Algernon and The Cold Equations are both really close together for best of all time - hard to say. Funny how all the really good SF has tragic endings.

(BTW, there's a big collection of classic SF stories just released by David Drake and Eric Flint (yeah, I know, I know) - it has a lot of the classics and probably half the stories that will be mentioned in this thread. Check it out.)

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

I've got an old, dusty collection of Ray Bradbury short stories, most of which I really liked.

The Veldt, as mentioned in this thread, was very cool.

The one mentioned in this thread where the girl misses the sun, I think, is All Summer In A Day.

A Sound Of Thunder was a good story as well, despite, apparently, the quality of the movie.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

The Cold Equations is pretty badass.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

[ QUOTE ]
I know it's not exactly sci-fi in its purest sense but I'm a big fan of Steven King's "The Mist."

Swede

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know if it's sci-fi or not, but it's one of my all time favorite stories.

William Gibson, \"The Winter Market\"
 

Johny Mnemonic's good, but The Winter Market's Gibson's best, imo, and gets my vote for the best story.

That\'s Flowers for Algernon (nm)
 

.

Re: That\'s Flowers for Algernon (nm)
 

Ted Chiang wrote a really good collection.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man are both really good, too.

http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/...._AA240_.L.jpghttp://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I'm sorry all I can think of are collections; it's been too long for me to remember individual stories. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
-Sam

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Harlan Ellison writes some real good short stories. I don't recall any titles, but Angry Candy was real good.

Re: That\'s Flowers for Algernon (nm)
 

Does Jorge Luis Borges count as SciFi? His shortstories are all basically single clever ideas, encapsulated in enough story to get the thought across, just like SciFi. But there aren't any space-aliens or laserguns. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Still, Labyrinths is one of my favorite collections of short-stories ever.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

-Sam

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

The Birds

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison.

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very nice

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Classical American science fiction was extremely popular in Russia in late 80's and early 90's. Some of my favorite short stories were by Clifford Simak, Poul Anderson and Henry Kuttner.

For this I'd nominate Kuttner's "Hogben" stories that were absolutely hillarious. It was about a family of mutants trying to hide their unusual nature.

Also, Georger R.R. Martin's series of stories later published under title "Tuf Voyaging".

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Goliath By Neil Gaiman

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

I can't believe there are almost 30 posts & no Heinlein nominations.

Anything out of The Past Through Tomorrow is good, but Requiem is my favorite.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Think Like a Dinosaur - James Patrick Kelly.

Honorable Mentions:

The Miracle of Ivar Avenue - John Kessel (Dominic, you in particular will like this, I hope, along with the companion pieces Some Like It Cold and It's All True; they blend hollywood and sci-fi beautifully).

All You Zombies - Robert Heinlein.

The Hemmingway Hoax - Joe Halderman (OK, it's a novella, but it's still [censored] awesome).

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

Where can I find these? Are most of them in collections of short stories, or is each it's own purchase, etc.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

mmbtOne,

Most are available in collections or as individual ebook purchases for like a dollar each. I would just google on the titles for the best way to find them.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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Where can I find these? Are most of them in collections of short stories, or is each it's own purchase, etc.

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There are tons of anthologies of the best SF short stories, but you'll have a hard time finding a better place to start than The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. I'm not sure all of it is in print, but it shouldn't be too hard to find all the volumes used. I see references on Amazon to Vol. I, IIA, IIB, III, and IV. Most of the classics are in I, IIA, and IIB.

Once you get through those, you can branch out into other versions of "The Best", but the stories will start overlapping.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison
A Gun For Dinosaur by L Sprague de Camp
The Cave of Night by James Gunn
A Pail of Air by Fritz Leiber
Lulungameena by Gordon R. Dickson


Since we're discussing classic sf, I'm going to prosthletize for X-1 and Dimension X. Two radio shows from the 50's which dramatised a whole whack of golden age science fiction by the likes of: Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Robert Heinlein, Issac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Clifford D. Simak, H. Beam Piper, Robert Sheckley, Fredrik Pohl, L Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, etc, etc. Awesome for listening to on trips!

Available (free - public domain is good!) from Old Time Radio groups like the OTRR Distro Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OTRRDistroGroup/

Episode lists for X-1 and Dimension X:
http://otrsite.com/logs/logx1001.htm
http://otrsite.com/logs/logd1013.htm

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. I

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Just bought it this morning. Enjoying it a couple stories in.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

It's either by Clarke or Asimov I'm not sure, but it's about this guy who is on this moon base with all the nukes, and some guy takes over, and is going to nuke a city on earth to demosntrate his power or something, and he locks himself with the nukes and then deliberately exposes himself to the radiation... not sure of the title but it's amazing and has the greatest ending EVER.

Re: Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread
 

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It's either by Clarke or Asimov and then deliberately exposes himself to the radiation... and has the greatest ending EVER.

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Both Asimov and Clarke have better, more gripping endings in stories peviously mentioned in this thread: Asimov's "The Last Question" and Clarke's "The Nine Billion Names of God". You will remember the first story the rest of your life, and the second story is kind of like "The Last Answer".

Both stories can be found on line, probably in violation of copywrites so I won't post the links but they are easy to find.