I am a huge fan of SF stories. Some years ago I looked for best-of lists as a basis for stories that I should read and I was lucky: I found the Locus All-Time Poll 1999. My goal is to read all of them and to provide short summaries and my personal opinion. As usual your mileage may vary.
Good stories are green, okay stories yellow and the ones I didn’t like are red. An asterix * indicates that stories shared the same place in the Locus Poll.
Status: work in progress. I am currently updating the stories that I have already read.
Novella (46-100 pages, 17’500 – 40’000 words)
1) Vintage Season, C. L. Moore & Henry Kuttner (1946)
Oliver Wilson has rented an old mansion to three vacationers for the month of May. Suddenly there are even more people interested in it and it’s clear that something mysterious is going on…
A wonderful story with great characters and an interesting plot. Whenever you think you know what’s going on, the authors add another twist.
2) The Time Machine, H. G. Wells (1895)
From allreaders.com: The book tells the story of the Time Traveler’s journey nearly a million years into the future and the very unexpected and disturbing society he finds there. The Time Traveler formulates various theories based on what he observes of the society, which each, in turn, prove to be oh, so wrong! In the end, his realization of the future is especially terrifying considering it is the result of our current social structure.
I haven’t read it yet.
3) The Persistence of Vision, John Varley (1978)
Somewhen in the near future another crisis has hit the economy and a man decides to hike to California. On his way he discovers a ranch where blind and deaf people have created their own society. He decides to stay with them and discovers that they communicate and interact in completely new ways…
When I read the story I thought, okay, not bad, but soon after I finished it it hit me with a bang. Varley has created a rich, detailed and unique vision of something that might be possible one day. Highly recommended.
4) A Boy and His Dog, Harlan Ellison (1969)
In a post-apocalyptic world a man tries to survive with the help of his smart dog. I liked the movie with Don Johnson more, although it is also possible that the German translation wasn’t that good.
5) The Man Who Sold the Moon, Robert A. Heinlein (1950)
not read
6*) Houston, Houston, Do You Read?, James Tiptree, Jr. (1976)
not read
6*) Who Goes There?, John W. Campbell (1938)
From wikipedia: A group of scientific researchers, isolated in Antarctica by the nearly-ended winter, discover an alien spaceship buried in the ice, where it crashed twenty million years before. They try to thaw the inside of the spacecraft, but end up accidentally destroying it. However, they do recover the alien pilot from the ancient ice, which the researchers believe was searching for heat when it was frozen. Thawing revives the alien, a being which can assume the shape, memories, and personality of any living thing it devours, while maintaining its original body mass for further reproduction.
Interesting premise but the start is very slow and the characters not very convincing. I can’t recommend the story, it’s better to watch one of the movies that is based on the idea (like Aliens or The Thing).
8 ) The Last of the Winnebagos, Connie Willis (1988)
not read
9) By His Bootstraps, Robert A. Heinlein (1941)
Plot summary from allreaders.com: “A grad student despairing over finishing his thesis is drawn into a series of encounters which promises escape from the future career for which he has lost his enthusiasm. He time travels back and forth through a portal from the far future back to his own town in the present, looking for answers. He finally reaches a completely unexpected conclusion which leaves all of our assumptions about causation in ruins.”
An absolutely wild and twisted time travel story, highly recommended!
10) The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Gene Wolfe (1972)
One of my all time favourites, a typical Gene Wolfe story filled with riddles and hints.
11) Enemy Mine, Barry B. Longyear (1979)
Plot summary from allreaders.com: The alien Dracon and the Man face each other; crash-landed – both stranded on the barely habitable barren rock of a planet that they have fought over in space not an hour before. They decide to try to survive the planet together rather than kill each other bare-handed. …
not read but I enjoyed the movie
12) The Dead Past, Isaac Asimov (1956)
not read
13) The Big Front Yard, Clifford D. Simak (1958)
not read
14) He Who Shapes, Roger Zelazny (1965)
15) The Mountains of Mourning, Lois McMaster Bujold (1989)
not read
16*) Home is the Hangman, Roger Zelazny (1975)
not read
16*) The Moon Moth, Jack Vance (1961)
How to catch a murderer on a planet where everyone wears masks? The poor galactic delegate is faced with this problem and tries his best, but the exotic custom makes it very difficult and deadly pitfalls wait everywhere…
A funny story about a colorful and unusual society. The audiobook is also excellent (can be found somewhere in the internet).
18) R&R, Lucius Shepard (1986)
Three soldiers enjoy their short vacation from war. Each of them has different ways to deal with the latest experiences and the horrors of war but slowly they start collapsing…
A fantastic story looking deep into the soul of the soldiers. The character descriptions are excellent and you don’t want to miss the fight man vs jaguar! One of my alltime favourites.
19) The Word for World Is Forest, Ursula K. Le Guin (1972)
20) Behold the Man, Michael Moorcock (1966)
not read
21) Weyr Search, Anne McCaffrey (1967)
not read
22) Born with the Dead, Robert Silverberg (1974)
not read
23) Green Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1985)
not read
24) Ill Met in Lankhmar, Fritz Leiber (1970)
not read
25) The Last Castle, Jack Vance (1966)
read but can’t remember
26*) Eye for Eye, Orson Scott Card (1987)
not read
26*) PRESS ENTER[], John Varley (1984)
A computer genius is found dead in his appartment. It looks like a suicide but there are some doubts…
Stories about computers tend to date quickly but not here. I was surprised how close John Varley’s ideas are to reality. In addition the strong characters add a human touch that make the story stand out. Highly recommended!
26*) Seven American Nights, Gene Wolfe (1978)
A rich tourist from Iran travels to a USA that has been pushed back by war and destruction. In a diary he writes about his experiences during the first 7 days and then it suddenly ends. What has happened?
A really smart story and one of my all-time favourites. As usual with Gene Wolfe you have to pay attention to every detail. After finishing it for the first time I immediately had to read it a second time to understand the hints and events. A true gem.
29*) The Dragon Masters, Jack Vance (1962)
On a foreign planet two tribes breed their own dragons to help them fight each other. A third race remains neutral. From time to time aliens come from another planet to enslave the people. This time it’s different, the natives are prepared to fight but what can they do agains the technological superiority?
An interesting story, very typical for Vance, with believable aliens. The cultural differences are so big that already the communication fails.
29*) A Planet Named Shayol, Cordwainer Smith (1961)
Political prisoners are brought to the planet Shayol where a dreadful punishment is waiting for them.
A strong story, consequently thought out until the very end.
31) The Death of Doctor Island, Gene Wolfe (1973)
Three people live on an isolated island. They all have psychological deficits and the island helps to heal them – with sometimes extreme measurments.
A beautiful and very touching story. I liked how the island responds with weather changes to the emotions of the protagonists. This allows the reader to experience the events on multiple levels.
32) Nerves, Lester del Rey (1942)
Plot summary from allreaders.com: “National Atomics is trying to develop a heavy isotope to use for clearing boll weevils from farmland in order to get the help of a politician in preventing congressional action to move atomic plants at least fifty miles away from cities. Their engineer, Jorgenson, has an untested process which gets out of control when he begins to implement it, causing a horrific atomic accident threatening to become even a worse disaster be producing the dreaded Mahler’s Isotope. Jorgenson, crazed with his own importance is hurt in the accident and it is up to the company medic, Doc Ferrel and the rest of his medical team to save him so that pehaps he can control the atomic reaction and prevent disaster.”
An exciting story. My only complain is that the SF part is rather small.
33) A Song for Lya, George R. R. Martin (1974)
34*) The Call of Cthulhu, H. P. Lovecraft (1928)
34*) Dragonrider, Anne McCaffrey (1968)
34*) Hardfought, Greg Bear (1983)
34*) The Queen of Air and Darkness, Poul Anderson (1971)
38) Surface Tension, James Blish (1952)
39) Nightwings, Robert Silverberg (1968)
Earth in a distant future. Men belong to guildes, one of them the Observers who wait from an attack from aliens. It has been predicted that it will happen one day, but is it true?
A great story by one of the masters of SF. Good characters and an excotic setting that closely resembles the earth we know support the events in the story very well. The names of the cities are almost like ours, e.g. Roum, Perris or Jorslem. Silverberg has written 2 more stories in the same setting, they have been published together as a novel with the same name.
40*) The Brave Little Toaster, Thomas M. Disch (1980)
40*) Soldier, Ask Not, Gordon R. Dickson (1964)
42) The Gold at the Starbow’s End, Frederik Pohl (1972)
43) Cascade Point, Timothy Zahn (1983)
Novelette (21-45 pages, 7,500-17,499 words)
1) Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes (1959)
An idiot with a low IQ gets a special treatment to become very very smart. He writes a diary and the reader can participate in his life…
A strong story with a great idea. It has been extended into a novel.
2) Nightfall, Isaac Asimov (1941)
On the planet Lagash is not only one sun but multiple and it never gets dark. Almost. Once every 2000 years there is a moment of darkness that drives the men into madness and this moment is near…
Great idea but I didn’t like the one-dimensional characters and found the story telling a bit weak.
3) A Rose for Ecclesiastes, Roger Zelazny (1963)
From wiki: The story is narrated by a gifted human linguist and poet named Gallinger, who is part of a mission studying Mars. He becomes the first human to learn the “high language” of the intelligent Martians, and to be allowed to read their sacred texts.
Zelazny at his best! Language is one of my favourite topics and I loved how it’s used to weave such a fascinating story.
4) Fondly Fahrenheit, Alfred Bester (1954)
James Vandaleur is the owner of a robot and uses it to earn money. Unfortunately for him something is wrong with that robot…
What a wild and fantastic story! Highly recommended.
5) The Bicentennial Man, Isaac Asimov (1976)
A moving story about the robot Andrew who first fights to be free and then to be recognized as human.
6*) A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1955)
The novelette is the first part of the famous novel, one of the milestones in Science Fiction. I need to re-read it one day.
6*) Sandkings, George R. R. Martin (1979)
8 ) The Cold Equations, Tom Godwin (1954)
On board of a spaceship the pilot Barton discovers to his great horror an 18 yr old girl. There is only fuel and oxygene enough for one person and his mission is very important: he has to deliver medicine. A hard decision must be taken.
Wow, what a cruel and touching story. It’s a deadlock situation with no good solution and one feels every second with the protagonists.
9) The Deathbird, Harlan Ellison (1973)
It’s hard to describe what’s going on in the story so I leave it to the reader. Rest assured that this is a strong story and very unusual. A typical Ellison.
10) Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand, Vonda N. McIntyre (1973)
A boy is close to death and the people of his village call a healer to take care of him. She uses unusual methods. The venom of snakes is used to cure the illness. There is a lot of misunderstanding that slowly escalates…
This story took me by surprise. It’s very moving and touched me at a weak spot. The author extended it later into the novel Dreamsnake.
11*) For a Breath I Tarry, Roger Zelazny (1966)
From wikipedia: Taking place long after the self-extinction of Man, the story recounts the tale of Frost, a sentient machine (“…a silver-blue box, 40x40x40 feet,… featured in whatever manner he chose.”) Though Man has disappeared, his robotic creations (and their creations in turn) continue to function. In Faustian manner Frost enters a bargain with Mordel: will he ever truly understand Man?
Zelazny is a class of his own. He uses allusions to the bible and to Goethe’s Faust to explore what it takes to be a human. Great story and highly recommended.
11*) Paladin of the Lost Hour, Harlan Ellison (1985)
13*) ‘And He Built a Crooked House‘, Robert A. Heinlein (1941)
13*) Blood Music, Greg Bear (1983)
13*) Burning Chrome, William Gibson (1982)
16) Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones, Samuel R. Delany (1968)
17*) Gonna Roll the Bones, Fritz Leiber (1967)
This is more a horror story in which the protagonist rolls the dices with a real evil one opponent. Not my taste.
17*) The Women Men Don’t See, James Tiptree, Jr. (1973)
19) Scanners Live in Vain, Cordwainer Smith (1950)
Scanners are special people who have given up most of their senses to fullfill their duty in space. A new invention might change everything…
Not my taste although stylistically well done. The story could have been told without the SF elements as well and I didn’t find the central topics too interesting.
20*) Inconstant Moon, Larry Niven (1971)
20*) Kirinyaga, Mike Resnick (1988)
22) Bloodchild, Octavia E. Butler (1984)
An enslaved race is used to give birth to the children of their masters.
Interesting story but ultimately not completely satisfying.
23) The Screwfly Solution, Raccoona Sheldon (1977)
24*) The Girl Who Was Plugged In, James Tiptree, Jr. (1973)
24*) The Little Black Bag, C. M. Kornbluth (1950)
26*) The Colour Out of Space, H. P. Lovecraft (1927)
26*) Fire Watch, Connie Willis (1982)
26*) A Martian Odyssey, Stanley G. Weinbaum (1934)
Neat stories about the Mars, unfortunately they are now too outdated although there is a certain pulp charm.
26*) Mimsy Were the Borogoves, Henry Kuttner (1943)
30*) Neutron Star, Larry Niven (1966)
A man is convinced to go on a mission to a neutron star. Will he solve the mysterie before it kills him? Very exciting story.
30*) Rachel in Love, Pat Murphy (1987)
32*) We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Philip K. Dick (1966)
This has been filmed as Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger and we see one of Dick’s favourite topic: what is real and what is not? This can be a tough question if you decide to get wrong memories that feel like real ones. Great story and good introduction into Dick’s oeuvre.
32*) With Folded Hands…, Jack Williamson (1947)
34*) Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54′ N, Longitude 77° 00′ 13 W”’, Harlan Ellison (1974)
A man has only one wish: he wants to die. An agency helps him to accomplish this but he has to go on a strange mission.
The first half was very strong but then I got lost. Maybe a second read is required to understand what’s going on.
34*) Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, Cordwainer Smith (1961)
34*) Arena, Fredric Brown (1944)
34*) A Galaxy Called Rome, Barry N. Malzberg (1975)
34*) Unicorn Variation, Roger Zelazny (1981)
39) Black Destroyer, A. E. van Vogt (1939)
40*) Nine Lives, Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
40*) The Ugly Little Boy, Isaac Asimov (1958)
42*) Microcosmic God, Theodore Sturgeon (1941)
42*) What’s It Like Out There?, Edmond Hamilton (1952)
44*) Buffalo Gals, Won’t You Come Out Tonight, Ursula K. Le Guin (1987)
44*) The Proud Robot, Henry Kuttner (1943)
Very funny story about a scientist who is a genius when he is drunk. After another session with much alcohol he has built a robot but can’t remember what it’s good for… Highly recommended.
46*) At the Rialto, Connie Willis (1989)
46*) San Diego Lightfoot Sue, Tom Reamy (1975)
46*) The Ugly Chickens, Howard Waldrop (1980)
49*) Faith of Our Fathers, Philip K. Dick (1967)
49*) The Lucky Strike, Kim Stanley Robinson (1984)
51) The Jaguar Hunter, Lucius Shepard (1985)
Plot summary from enotes: In the title story, Esteban Caax, a lifelong resident of Puerto Morada, is failing in his attempts to assimilate himself into modern society. His marriage gives him no pleasure, his farm teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and the television set—a luxury he bought for his “modern” wife—forces him to attempt to kill a black jaguar so that a local man can build a shopping center. He agrees to the hunt despite his late fathers warning that black jaguars “have other forms and magical purposes with…
The story is not too bad but I was irritated by Shepard’s style. I couldn’t avoid the feeling of repetition in the character descriptions, and this took away some of the magic.
52) The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, Roger Zelazny (1965)
53) The Man Who Came Early, Poul Anderson (1956)
Other
* Call Me Joe, Poul Anderson (1957)
Joe is a special creature that has been designed to survive the conditions on Jupiter. With the help of a psi-link, a human can control him from a safe distance to collect scientific data. The device responsible for the psi-link starts to show a strange behavior and Cornelius is sent to investigate what’s going on.
A great story with colorful descriptions of Jupiter. There are interesting parallels to the movie Avatar (2009) so it looks like James Cameron has read it.
Short Story (4-20 pages, 1,000-7,499 words)
1) Jeffty Is Five, Harlan Ellison (1977)
Good story about the loss of the past.
2) ‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman, Harlan Ellison (1965)
Wild story about uniformity.
3) The Star, Arthur C. Clarke (1955)
An expedition to a distant star discovers the remains of another civilization… Great ending!
4) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison (1967)
A computer goes mad and destroys the world. With the few survivors he plays a cruel game. Recommended!
5) ‘All You Zombies?‘, Robert A. Heinlein (1959)
Wild time travel story.
6) The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, Ursula K. Le Guin (1973)
7) The Game of Rat and Dragon, Cordwainer Smith (1955)
Space travel is dangerous. Man and cat work together in a team to destroy what one sees as dragon and the other as rat.
Like most other stories from Cordwainer Smith, this didn’t do much for me. The topic is interesting but I didn’t like the characters and how the whole story is told.
8*) The Nine Billion Names of God, Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
Monks believe that if you write down all 9 billion names of god, destiny will be fullfilled. With the help of a computer and electronic typewriters they get close to that goal. What will happen? An interesting and amusing idea.
8*) A Sound of Thunder, Ray Bradbury (1952)
Going back in time is possible and people go on a hunting party to find – the T-Rex! But you better not mess around with the past. Great story.
10) The Green Hills of Earth, Robert A. Heinlein (1947)
11) Day Million, Frederik Pohl (1966)
12) It’s a Good Life, Jerome Bixby (1953)
13) Aye, and Gomorrah?, Samuel R. Delany (1967)
Wild story about the Spacers and the Frelks. Hard to describe, read it!
14) Light of Other Days, Bob Shaw (1966)
So called slow glass allows to record everything around us with interesting sociological side effects.
15*) The Last Question, Isaac Asimov (1956)
Humans ask a super computer the last question, first in 2061 and finally when the universe is about to die. As so often Asimov comes up with a good idea and a nice pointe but this is your typical hard SF story that leaves almost everything else aside.
15*) There Will Come Soft Rains, Ray Bradbury (1950)
Strong story about an automated house. Hard to tell more without spoilers – just read it. A good example why Bradbury is considered as a master of short stories.
17*) Or All the Seas with Oysters, Avram Davidson (1958)
17*) Requiem, Robert A. Heinlein (1940)
19) Air Raid, Herb Boehm (1977)
20) That Hell-Bound Train, Robert Bloch (1958)
21) The Lottery, Shirley Jackson (1948)
22*) The Country of the Kind, Damon Knight (1956)
22*) The Liberation of Earth, William Tenn (1953)
24*) Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1961)
24*) Sundance, Robert Silverberg (1969)
26) When It Changed, Joanna Russ (1972)
27*) Love is the Plan the Plan is Death, James Tiptree, Jr. (1973)
27*) The Third Expedition (Mars Is Heaven!), Ray Bradbury (1948)
One of the stories that make up the “Martian Chronicles”. Bradbury shows some really dark humor here, great story.
29) Passengers, Robert Silverberg (1968)
30*) Cassandra, C. J. Cherryh (1978)
30*) Helen O’Loy, Lester del Rey (1938)
Wonderful story about a loving female robot who goes to extremes. Not as sophisticated as modern stories but with a big heart.
32) The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories, Gene Wolfe (1970)
The fantasies of a dreamy young boy seems to come true and he meets the heros of the pulp that he reads.
Too many allusions and I didn’t enjoy the story as much as other from Wolfe.
33*) The Long Watch, Robert A. Heinlein (1949)
33*) Space-Time for Springers, Fritz Leiber (1958)
33*) Speech Sounds, Octavia E. Butler (1983)
36) The Way of Cross and Dragon, George R. R. Martin (1979)
37*) Corridors, Barry N. Malzberg (1982)
37*) Out of All Them Bright Stars, Nancy Kress (1985)
37*) Robbie, Isaac Asimov (1940)
Read years ago, and I enjoyed it. One of the classic robot stories from Asimov.
40) Narrow Valley, R. A. Lafferty (1966)
41*) The Hole Man, Larry Niven (1974)
From Wikipedia: A team of explorers and scientists on Mars encounter an alien base, in which there is a still-functional communication device. One scientist believes that at the center of the device is a tiny black hole, but his superior does not believe him. To prove his point, the scientist turns off the containment field, releasing the black hole.
A so-so story, that couldn’t completely convince me. The science was fine but the struggle between the two men too black-white.
41*) The Pusher, John Varley (1981)
41*) That Only a Mother, Judith Merril (1948)
[...] SF stories until 1999 [...]