Science Fiction Novellas You Particularly Like

[Extollager]

I just read John Brunner's "Some Lapse of Time," in the collection Now Then! This was new to me and it really held my interest. The novella length (I suppose something like 25,000-40,000 words, or let's say 60-90 pages of a typical old sf paperback maybe) allows development of atmosphere, character conflicts, and so on, but can avoid the padding that (I gather) is terribly common in this era of baneful World Building (but don't get me started). SF often deals with interesting ideas that can be adequately explored in that length, but that would not necessarily sustain an 80,00 to 100,000-word (or longer) work. And, personally, I think my mind may wander more than it used to because I spend too much time on the computer than with books, so the novella length suits my attention span.

Well, anyway, this thread is for the listing and discussion of science fiction novellas. There's a separate thread for "literary" novellas. (See below.) I don't think we need to be too strict about wordcounts as long as everyone makes a good faith effort to stick with something that may reasonably be called a "novella."

Here are a few additional SF novellas I have enjoyed:

Moore and Kuttner's "Vintage Season"
Budrys's "Rogue Moon" (F&SF Dec. 1960; the paperback book edition might have been padded; but you can find the novella in The SF Hall of Fame Vol. 2B, ed. Bova)
Lovecraft's "Shadow Out of Time"
Leiber's "You're All Alone" (I think this may have been padded out into a novel called The Sinful Ones, which I haven't read; I have "You're All Alone" as a novella in Fantastic Nov. 1966)
Wells's "Time Machine"
Doyle's "Poison Belt"

Great Novellas

The intro of my Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels (Silverberg/Greenberg) says: Some of the greatest works of modern literature fall into the class of novellas. Consider Mann's "Death in Venice," Joyce's "The Dead," Melville's "Billy Budd," and Conrad's "Heart of...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[BAYLOR]

With Folded Hands by Jack Williamson The novella prelude to his novel The Humanoids .

 

[JimC]

The novella version of Jack Williamson's 'Darker Than You Think' from a 1940 Unknown.

 

[dask]

“Hawk Among The Sparrows“ by Dean McLaughlin
”Clash By Night“ by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore
”The Last Castle“ by Jack Vance
”The Dragon Masters” by Jack Vance
”The Spectre General” by Theodore Cogswell
“The Witches Of Karres” by James Schmitz
”E For Effort” by T.L. Sherred
”The Moon Moth” by Jack Vance

 

[Extollager]

I wish I could read “Clash by Night” right now. I’m not sure I ever have!

 

[dask]

I have it in The Astounding Science Fiction Anthology edited by J.W. Campbell. Well worth having if you ever come across it.

 

[Vladd67]

The Dark Wheel by Robert Holdstock, anyone who read that will know it led you into hours of fun.

 

[BAYLOR]

Mephisto in Onyx by Harlan Ellison
The Unpleasant Profession of Johnathan Hoag by Robert Heinlein

 

[Pyan]

Never been a fan of novellas - I find they're either not long enough to fully develop the potential of an idea as a novel would, or they're too long to escape the honing that a short story requires.
There's also a regrettable but growing tendency to charge the same for an ebook version as a full-size novel. There's a couple of authors I could name that have several 100-page between-novel novellas in the Kindle shop, priced the same as their 350pp+ stories in the same series.

 

[Randy M.]

Never been a fan of novellas - I find they're either not long enough to fully develop the potential of an idea as a novel would, or they're too long to escape the honing that a short story requires.
There's also a regrettable but growing tendency to charge the same for an ebook version as a full-size novel. There's a couple of authors I could name that have several 100-page between-novel novellas in the Kindle shop, priced the same as their 350pp+ stories in the same series.

I agree with your second point, but an awful lot of "novels" could be pared down to make strong novellas. It's rare for me to want a novella/novel to be longer than it is, but I've read quite a few novels I think needed pruning to a more effective length.

[...] And, personally, I think my mind may wander more than it used to because I spend too much time on the computer than with books, so the novella length suits my attention span.

Hoo, boy, does that describe me.

Moore and Kuttner's "Vintage Season"
Budrys's "Rogue Moon" (F&SF Dec. 1960; the paperback book edition might have been padded; but you can find the novella in The SF Hall of Fame Vol. 2B, ed. Bova)
Lovecraft's "Shadow Out of Time"
Leiber's "You're All Alone" (I think this may have been padded out into a novel called The Sinful Ones, which I haven't read; I have "You're All Alone" as a novella in Fantastic Nov. 1966)
Wells's "Time Machine"
Doyle's "Poison Belt"

I agree with all but the Budrys, which I haven't read in novella form. I'd add,

H. G. Wells: "The Invisible Man"
H.P. Lovecraft: "At the Mountains of Madness" (this is borderline novel but can be included in collections and anthologies because it's short)
John W. Campbell Jr.: "Who Goes There?"
Octavia Butler: "Bloodchild"
Michael Shea: "The Autopsy"

Second,
Heinlein: "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag"
Jack Vance: "The Moon Moth"

I imagine others will come to mind the moment I hit "Post".

Randy M.

 

[JimC]

I really liked Hawk Among the Sparrows. A great story in ASF with a superb cover illustration by Kelly Freas. I remember reading it sometime during the summer of 1968.

 

[BAYLOR]

The novella version of Jack Williamson's 'Darker Than You Think' from a 1940 Unknown.

Good stuff .

 

[BAYLOR]

Dark Castle white Horse by Tanith Lee.

 

[JimC]

"Heinlein: "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" "

After Ginny Heinlein died, though I wasn't a member, the Heinlein Society asked me to write a short account of depositing her ashes in the Pacific Ocean, returning her to Robert. I thought it appropriate to include a reference to "Traveling in Elephants".

No spoilers - I'm not going to specify Hoag's profession
Though I expect everyone here already knows.....

 

[JNG01]

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

 

[BAYLOR]

"Heinlein: "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" "

After Ginny Heinlein died, though I wasn't a member, the Heinlein Society asked me to write a short account of depositing her ashes in the Pacific Ocean, returning her to Robert. I thought it appropriate to include a reference to "Traveling in Elephants".

No spoilers - I'm not going to specify Hoag's profession
Though I expect everyone here already knows.....

Hong is really terrific read and by far one the strangest stories Heinlein ever wrote .

 

[BAYLOR]

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

And one the best vampire stories ever written.

 

[JimC]

"by far one the strangest stories Heinlein ever wrote"

True that.

 

[Extollager]

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Granted it’s a short one, but that would be a novel rather than a novella, wouldn’t it? Or would it? It’s ages since I read it. But if a story was long enough to be published then as a full-length paperback novel...? Or was it originally published in somewhat shorter form, maybe in a magazine? Thoughts?

 

[JNG01]

Granted it’s a short one, but that would be a novel rather than a novella, wouldn’t it? Or would it? It’s ages since I read it. But if a story was long enough to be published then as a full-length paperback novel...? Or was it originally published in somewhat shorter form, maybe in a magazine? Thoughts?

In the version I have it in, it's one of a collection of horror novellas of the time. I don't know the word count, though, so can't say for sure whether it's technically a novel or a novella.