Best science fiction story of all-time nomination thread

[JPinAZ]

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.

[Borodog]

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).

[mmbt0ne]

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

[Borodog]

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.

[MrMon]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

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.

[wheeler]

"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley

[Cry Me A River]

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

[mmbt0ne]

[ QUOTE ]
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. I

[/ QUOTE ]

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

[Andrew Karpinski]

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.

[Analyst]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

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.