The Short Story Thread

J-Sun said:
Cool. I read your whole review now that it's out. Sounds like your second favorite was the Khaw? That was my second place story from the issue. It was a little too simple for me but was vigorous, with an interesting idea.
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The Nagata was by far the best. Superhero fiction isn't my thing, and I haven't read any other Wild Cards stories, so the Snodgrass didn't do much for me. The Yang never grabbed me, mainly because I'm not a big fan of science fiction that feels like fantasy. Of course, the Chinese characters were lost to me. The Khaw wasn't bad; short and to the point.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
Well, let's see.

I read a fair amount of collections and anthologies on my own. The number of stories varies enormously, of course, because I also read novels, but maybe a very rough average would be twenty stories per month from that source. I do a review of an old issue of Fantastic once a month for the Galactic Journey website, so that's maybe five more. Then I do miscellaneous reviews of on-line fiction (or PDF files from print magazines) for the Tangent website. Each review might vary from one story for a weekly website to twenty stories for a bimonthly print magazine. Maybe ten stories per month would be an extremely approximate average. So, I suppose I read anywhere from twenty-five to fifty stories a month. Some months are higher, some are lower. One story per day isn't a bad ballpark figure; obviously some days I read none and some days I read a lot.
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When you say you read collection, anthologies, which anthologies do you read or follow ? The best of the year types? Award anthologies?

I dont read short stories in SF through websites and most of my collections, anthologies are old ones bought because of fav old classic,modern SF greats.

I was wondering because i was looking to read more new SF stories in book,anthology format. Thinking about getting this collection :

The Long List Anthology Volume 2
 
Connavar said:
When you say you read collection, anthologies, which anthologies do you read or follow ? The best of the year types? Award anthologies?

I dont read short stories in SF through websites and most of my collections, anthologies are old ones bought because of fav old classic,modern SF greats.

I was wondering because i was looking to read more new SF stories in book,anthology format. Thinking about getting this collection :

The Long List Anthology Volume 2
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Any of Gardener Dozois years best new SF books are very good. Read see which authors you like and then buy their books.
 
Caliban said:
Any of Gardener Dozois years best new SF books are very good. Read see which authors you like and then buy their books.
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Yeah i know Dozois best new have good rep, i have read few earlier years but i was looking for other similar antholgoies, other editor books. Yes the plan is to read more new authors, their short stories to see which is worth getting their novels. Since i usually read more SF novels.
 
There are a few zillion year's bests if you're interested. Some of the more popular/famous general ones are those edited by Clarke (SF), Strahan, and Horton (both SF&F). If you're not too concerned with being current but just looking for recent good stuff, Hartwell had a recent series. Datlow and Guran are probably the big horror folks. Other than the halves of anthologies like the Strahan, Horton, and now defunct Datlow/Windling, I don't know of any significant fantasy annuals. Original anthology series are pretty much defunct but Strahan managed a stealth one with the "Infinity" series - they're just not numbered. :) As far as other anthologies, some of the webzine editors like Clarke (again) and Adams are busy with print anthologies. Basically, even though he skips a lot I love and takes a lot I don't, Dozois still is really the best source for good SF, IMO.
 
Honestly, I just tend to find whatever anthologies and collections there are sitting around for cheap at used book stories and library sales. (I'm just now reading a theme anthology from 2000 -- Star Colonies -- and that's "new" to me.)
 
Connavar said:
When you say you read collection, anthologies, which anthologies do you read or follow ? The best of the year types? Award anthologies?

I dont read short stories in SF through websites and most of my collections, anthologies are old ones bought because of fav old classic,modern SF greats.

I was wondering because i was looking to read more new SF stories in book,anthology format. Thinking about getting this collection :

The Long List Anthology Volume 2
Click to expand...

I've heard good things about this one, but the price puts me off at the moment: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1848639783/?tag=brite-21 (it's actually a lot cheaper in the US, but I'm in the UK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1848639783/
 
Some stories from The Traveling Grave and Other Stories by L. P. Hartley. I’m reading these in The Complete Stories of L. P. Hartley but Valancourt Books is reissuing The Traveling Grave, scheduled to be loosed into the wild on October 2nd.

“A Visitor from Down Under” – A man returned to London is pursued by the results of his past actions. Still one of the creepiest ghostly revenge stories I’ve ever read. Beautifully written, the use of a radio show as background brilliantly builds and sustains the atmosphere of imminent danger.

“Podolo” – A picnic on the titular island just off Venice becomes the scene of anxiety and loss. One of the two women picnicking goes missing while trying to catch a small kitten that has somehow gotten to the island. But if the kitten could reach the island, what or who else might have also? Another exercise in building and sustaining mood, this one feels like a story done ala Walter de la Mare or maybe a precursor to Robert Aickman’s work, and would make good companion reading with Daphne du Maurier’s “Don’t Look Now.”

“Three, or Four, for Dinner” – Two English businessmen in Venice have arranged a dinner with an Italian businessman. On the way to dinner they discover a body floating in the canal and report it. This story moves away from the seriousness of the first two, its tone a bit lighter and the interaction between the two Brits rather jocular, later events triggered by what one of them intends as a (rather cruel) practical joke.

“The Traveling Grave” – Not supernatural, a conte cruel, and another story told with graveyard humor. Invitations wrangled to an eccentric man’s home lead to an introduction to the titular device. A game somewhat like hide ‘n’ seek ensues with predictable results, but for all the results are predictable, getting there is all the fun.

“Feet Foremost” – A peculiar sort of haunting puts a guest’s life at stake. His fiancé recognizes his danger but cannot avert it.

“The Cotillon” – Apparently published before “Feet Foremost” one feels like a variation on the other. A coquette with at least one unsuccessful affair behind her at a cotillon meets a masked partner who seems to know her. Hartley is adept at laying down the hints and implications of events so the reader knows more than the character but the sense of a preordained outcome keeps you reading.


And there's my 1K posting, as if proof was needed that I just go on and on and ...


Randy M.
 
Reading Entropy in Bloom - by Jeremy Robert Johnson

The League of Zeroes - Set in the same Universe as the novel Skullcrack City. In the not too distant future people desperate for fame do increasingly bizarre and dangerous things to their bodies. Such as cut their toungue into 3 prongs and separate the brain from the body. (6/1)

Persistence Hunting - A guy who gets addicted to the thrill of burgling joins up with an attractive woman he met to try steal from her partner. (6/10)

The Oarsman - The apocalypse is brought about by some Buddhist monks. (5/10)

The Gravity of Benham Falls - A traditional ghost story. But it's very well done and the characters are fairly well drawn for a short story. A woman who pays for her fathers health care by stealing from unsuspecting lovers definitely picked up the wrong guy. She'll need help from her dead brother. (8/10)

Disassociative Skills - just a short piece about a family and the various addictions that drive them. (5/10)

Snowfall - A very short piece about a little boy who is wondering where his parents might have gone to. But he doesn't really care because he's too busy enjoying the snow. (8/10)

When Susurrus Stirs - A die hard pacifist deals with a parasite living inside him. This was disgusting. Imaginative sure but disgusting. (5/10)

Luminary - A very clever boy harnesses the power to revive people using fireflies. But at a cost. Lovely imagery. I really liked this. (8/10)

Trigger Variation - another story exploring addictions. A son addicted to violence and a father addicted to alcohol I think it was. The lives of the two men converge at the end with horrific consequences. (7/10)

Cathedral Mother - An Environentalist unwittingly destroys her life trying to preserve natural beauty. This was a nice concept. But it left me a bit cold. (4/10)

Swimming in the House of the Sea - 21 year old college drop out resents his severely retarded younger brother. I really liked this as well. (8/10)

I'm about half way through but I'm really enjoying this. A very varied set of stories.
 
Saturns Game - How an abusive childhood affects people as adults. Also includes a nose getting bitten of someone's face (6/10)

The Sharp-Dressed Man at the End of the Line - a prequel to a novella by Johnson I have previously read called Extinction Journals. Nice little opener if you have read the novella. (6/10)

A Flood of Harriers - How much 'blowback' is due to white Americans for their part in destroying the American Indians? Good story but I don't really feel like I can comment on the political nature of it as I'm not American. (7/10)

States of Glass - Similar to Kate Wilhelm only in the fact that it takes what I find to be a spectacularly boring premise and make it into the most readable story in the collection. (8/10)
 
I wouldn't usually mention a non-SFF-related book, but The Accusation by Bandi is a series of short stories that were apparently smuggled out of North Korea. They're more dystopian than some dystopian sci-fi. A woman who was accused of being a spy for closing her curtains during the day (and therefore ruining the perfect uniform window display of the tower block), for example.

I enjoyed most of the stories, but some characters in different stories merged into each other. The dialogue was very clunky at times, and there was a lot of unnecessary explanation when stories should have already ended. Overall, it felt like an excellent insight into what it was like to live in North Korea in the late 1980s and 90s. I'd recommend reading the first few, and skipping the last two.
 
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