I like free things... The best way to discover an author you’ll love forever is by reading something of theirs for free.
So here are five short stories I thought were pretty damn good, if not pretty damn excellent. Some might not be to your taste, but some might really grab you. If you do end up reading any of them, tell me what you think.
Raymond Carver – A Small Good Thing
It’s a story of grief and how people cope told in a very plain, subtle, unassuming way. Some folk find it overly slow and I won’t fight them over it but I found it heartbreakingly honest – a depiction of fear and grieving so far removed from the sensationalized emotion we see on TV every night.
Isaac Asimov – The Last Question
He apparently told folk it was his best story. I agree. When I think of what sci fi can accomplish, the ways in which it can make people stop and begin to contemplate new possibilities, I think of The Last Question.
Charles Stross – Down on the Farm
An intelligent, gripping, often extremely funny blend of paranormal and science fiction? IMPOSSIBLE. Although he uses the word “chuckle”, which is -2 points from me. Otherwise, Stross is solid as always.
Cory Doctorow – The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away
More clever sci-fi. Okay, shoot me, I like the genre. Cory does have a tendency to stray a bit too far into technobabble, but I think that’s why I love his stuff so much. Unlike Asimov, who makes me feel like I’ve learned something about the universe, or Philip K Dick, who makes me feel I’ve learned something metaphysical, Cory makes me feel like I’ve learned something practical with all his babble and hoo-hah.
Well. Maybe not with this particular story. But it’s fun nonetheless.
Ambrose Bierce – An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Written in 1890, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is still considered a classic of American literature. It was also one of the very first stories of its type to employ a particular type of ending which has been used and abused a hundred times over since. Not only a great story, but truly pioneering as well. Enjoy.
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