The Reading Room--Story Recommendations

shelleyo · May 5, 2011

Writers must write, but they also have to read. Have you read a short story that blew you away? Want to link to a classic for a discussion about what works, what didn't, and how'd he do that?

There is a link stickied in the main short fiction forum where links to classic short stories have already been accumulating: The #1 Best Short Story of All Time. Great contemporary stories deserve a place, too. They're also good to read for market research.

I feel like the links will get lost in other threads, so here's one dedicated to those stories that are so good you just can't wait to share them with someone else.

Shelley

shelleyo · May 5, 2011

Here are some stories I've recently read and enjoyed:

Flying in the Face of God by Nina Allen, about 9,500 words

This was in Interzone's March/April issue last year. The story was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award for 2010 (but didn't win).

Anita meets Rachel, a female astronaut about to go into deep space, when she makes a film about her. Her connection and friendship with Rachel is very touching, I thought, especially as I got farther into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's also a lot of interesting stuff about the upcoming space travel and the process the astronauts go through to be able to do it.

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear, 4,300 words

This was my first Elizabeth Bear story. It's from Asimov's, 2007. This one won a Hugo and a Sturgeon. A robot honors the humans that are gone. This is awesome science fiction.

The Horrid Glory of its Wings by Elizabeth Bear, Tor.com

I don't know the word count, but I'm guessing around 5,000? This horror story has one of those endings that you must interpret for yourself, and it's done brilliantly.

Man on Fire by Zack Bean, only about 900 words, from PANK Magazine

I've read this multiple times, and it's one of my favorite short, literary stories.

A Hole Too Small by Kama Falzoi, about 1,800 words, from Pindeldyboz

This was published in 2004, and that's actually when I read it. It stuck with me. Unfortunately, Pindeldyboz shut down in August, but the archive is still there for now. This is probably the story I loved most from that site. I've searched for other stories by the author but only found one, which is also unfortunate.

If anyone reads and wants to discuss, disagree, analyze, that would be great.

Shelley

Izz · May 5, 2011

Great thread idea, Shelley, especially as i plan to up my short story reading to one a day, as per ShadowFox's suggestion over in Rejectomancy.

And having a discussion thread for the stories will be grand!

(now i need to remember the short fiction that's rocked my world)

Lillie · May 5, 2011

Just been reading The Precedent by Sean McMullen.

Good story. About 9000 words, probably.

I don't know how to do the linky thing, but it's here. http://suvudu.com/2010/08/suvudu-library-the-precedent-by-sean-mcmullen.html

I'll be thinking of this one every time I switch a light on.

alexshvartsman · May 5, 2011

I am a big fan of the spec fic short stories by Fredric Brown, Robert Sheckley and Robert Silverberg. I grew up on the stuff, reading their fiction translated into Russian back in the USSR.

Brown isn't as well-recognized as Bradbury or many of the other greats these days, but if you haven't read his short SF stories yet, you simply must.

Sagana · May 5, 2011

I read the stories in the link to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Contest. I couldn't find the winning entry. I think they might have taken it down. However, I really enjoyed the "Soup" story that is an honorable mention. The first story here:

http://shortstorycomp.blogspot.com/

I love T.C. Boyle's short stories. I read something by him, probably in an anthology, fell in love and have bought and read and reread everything by him I can find. I've read some of the novels, but I really prefer the short stories. I was trying to find one, any story, by him online for an example, but I can't find anything. (If anyone knows of one, please let me know.)

I also read a Jay Lake Dark Town story in a steampunk anthology and loved it. Since I've read quite a bit by him (but not everything by any means). Here's a Dark Town story that's online:
http://www.tachyonpublications.com/pdfs/Lizard_of_Ooze.pdf
and another story that I enjoyed:
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20021223/house.shtml

I love short stories. Always have. And I read a lot of them. In all genres. I'm a Gaiman fan girl, so anything he writes would go on my list. I read the short story that came before (or from, I dunno) The Graveyard Book and while I enjoyed the whole book, in a lot of ways I liked the short better. He's a wonder that way, and I expect that's why the Sandman worked so well for him.

Anyway, off to read the things you all have posted, so I might be able to add to discussion.

Sai · May 5, 2011

Lately I've been reading 'Machine of Death' volume 1. It's a collection of short stories that all center around a machine that can tell people exactly how they will die. The entire first volume is available for free on the book's site:

http://machineofdeath.net/about/book

It's a interesting anthology, and they're looking for submissions for volume 2...

zanzjan · May 5, 2011

alexshvartsman said:
Brown isn't as well-recognized as Bradbury or many of the other greats these days, but if you haven't read his short SF stories yet, you simply must.

I seem to recall that NESFA Press did a Frederic Brown compilation a few years back, FWIW. [googles] Yep: http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Brown-1.html

I'd have to say I didn't read a lot of short SF/F until I started trying to write shorts myself. I then spent a lot of time going through the various Year's Best SF volumes. The one I remember best from those was Gould's Peaches for Mad Molly -- absolutely brilliant. Most recently I was really impressed with the pieces in the Metatropolis anthology, most notably the Schroeder and the Lake pieces though they were all very good and definitely recommended.

-Suzanne

alexshvartsman · May 5, 2011

zanzjan said:
I seem to recall that NESFA Press did a Frederic Brown compilation a few years back, FWIW. [googles] Yep: http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Brown-1.html

I own this book (obviously)

zanzjan said:
most notably the Schroeder and the Lake pieces though they were all very good and definitely recommended.

I'm ashamed to say that I have not read anything by Jay Lake yet. I keep hearing amazing things about his work and I *must* correct this gap in my SF/F education really soon.

Izz · May 5, 2011

alexshvartsman said:
I own this book (obviously)

I'm ashamed to say that I have not read anything by Jay Lake yet. I keep hearing amazing things about his work and I *must* correct this gap in my SF/F education really soon.

He had a flash piece published by Daily Science Fiction a couple months ago. Was good. Hello, said the gun.

Lillie · May 5, 2011

Izz said:
He had a flash piece published by Daily Science Fiction a couple months ago. Was good. Hello, said the gun.

Oh yes! Was very good.
Thanks

Sagana · May 6, 2011

Oh yes, thank you. I'd forgotten that one and I really enjoyed it. "Normally reticent to the point of wisdom" - isn't that a great line?

Isabelle · May 6, 2011

Possibly my favourite short story writer is Jhumpa Lahiri. Her first book, Interpreter of Maladies absolutely blew me away - so beautifully, sensitively written, and her characters and their lives just sing. She had her second short story collection published either last year or the year before...it's called Unaccustomed Earth, and also stunning. Definitely worth a read!

Going to check out some of your suggestions now

shelleyo · May 6, 2011

I'm looking so forward to sampling these recommended stories!

Here are a few more stories, and a poem. I read these at various times over the last several months. There are a lot of stories I like, but these keep rattling around in my head. I always had a sense of whoa after reading them.

Imago by Andrew Peery, about 5000 words. Oh, this story! This was his first published story (and it was in The Gettysburg Review, no less), and immediately when I finished it, after I stopped being awed by it, I was jealous. I want to write stories like this. It's literary, but it's also the rare not-first-person literary story that tends to tell a story rather than just create an epiphanic moment at the end. I ended up just soppy about this thing.

Free Radical by D.M. Gordon. This is a prize-winning short poem, and it's the type of poetry I wish I could write well, because it's the type I like to read the most. I think it's stunning without a single incoherent line.

Reddog by William H. Coles. A little over 5,000 words, I guess. You can read several of his literary stories here. I actually own his book on writing literary fiction, and it did give me some insight. When I feel like giving up writing literary stories, because when I approach them I always, always feel like I have no clue what I'm doing, I read certain parts and feel better about it all.

Most of his stories are finalists in competitions like the William Faulkner competition, or prize winners in other contests. Some have been published in prestigious places like The Chattahoochee Review. I've enjoyed everyone I've read to one degree or another, but Reddog is my favorite because of the subtleties and the way you can get it at the end without ever being told exactly what's going on. I think it's a perfect example of an unreliable narrator, but the reader gets the truth anyway. Facing Grace with Gloria is probably my second favorite of them all, followed by The Thirteen Nudes of Ernest Goings.

He has several essays about writing at his site. I actually got a lot out of his bit on creating a character-based literary story here. It's a bit pedantic in places and just odd at times, but the lesson in there's worth getting through the rest (IMO) if you're interesting in writing literary fiction. It gives what I think is a pretty functional definition, and some tips (even though I do think it's easy to be turned off by the way it's presented, I'm not sure why).

Shelley

alexshvartsman · May 6, 2011

Izz said:
He had a flash piece published by Daily Science Fiction a couple months ago. Was good. Hello, said the gun.

Thanks, Sam! I did in fact read that story (and it was quite good) - I just didn't realize it was him.

Sagana · May 6, 2011

I just finished Tideline Shelley. Thank you. That's an excellent story. When the words/word usage and the plot come together that way, battered pretties and Sir Kay, powdered corrosion and errantry, something moves. Wouldn't you love to hear all the stories of the 41 people he finds to give them to, and why?

Izz · May 9, 2011

shelleyo said:
Tideline by Elizabeth Bear, 4,300 words

This was my first Elizabeth Bear story. It's from Asimov's, 2007. This one won a Hugo and a Sturgeon. A robot honors the humans that are gone. This is awesome science fiction.

This is the story i'm a-gonna read today. Will come back with thoughts later.

Second day of my read-a-short-story-a-day push.

Izz · May 9, 2011

Izz said:
shelleyo said:

Tideline by Elizabeth Bear, 4,300 words

This was my first Elizabeth Bear story. It's from Asimov's, 2007. This one won a Hugo and a Sturgeon. A robot honors the humans that are gone. This is awesome science fiction.

Click to expand...

This is the story i'm a-gonna read today. Will come back with thoughts later.

Second day of my read-a-short-story-a-day push.

Initial thoughts/first impressions: Most Excellent.

The world is dense without the prose being dense--as in, it's fully realized, rich.

The story is emotional, but not melodramatic. This is, i think, due to Bear focusing on telling the story, rather than describing the emotions. We are shown emotion, not told *and* shown it (which is a trap i often fall into). In other words, nothing's over-written. The main character, being who she is, may also contribute to this.

It feels part of a much larger whole, but the story we're being told is the center of that whole. Everything else mentioned/inferred is only there to strengthen the story, even though at the same time it solidifies the universe that exists outside.

Later, i shall spend some time studying the mechanics further, looking for ways i can apply the 'whens' and 'whys' to my writing.

Out of the two stories i've read so far this week, that one's a clear frontrunner (by several miles) for the review spot on my blog (a new weekly blog feature i'm going to run called 'Recommended Reading'). The story i read yesterday was very poor, unfortunately, but i can learn from those, too.

shelleyo · May 9, 2011

I'm so glad you guys liked the story. I was really impressed by it. It certainly bears repeated reading to examine the structure and technique, as well as to simply enjoy the richness of it.

You have me incredibly curious about the story you read yesterday, Izz.

Shelley

Sagana · May 9, 2011

I'm looking forward to seeing your review, Izz, and me too curious what was yesterday's

Izz · May 9, 2011

shelleyo said:
You have me incredibly curious about the story you read yesterday, Izz.

Shelley

Sagana said:
I'm looking forward to seeing your review, Izz, and me too curious what was yesterday's

Heheh--i should really have prefaced my comment with an imo.

It wasn't a story recommended to me by anyone, just one in one of the zines i read.

It was, *imo*, a poorly executed flash piece full of stilted writing that started off badly, sagged in the middle and ended abruptly, and that came across as the author thinking he was oh-so-clever, when in reality he wasn't.

But that's rather scathing and not-very-nice, so i won't mention the story by name

It definitely won't be getting a review on the blog, though.

Sagana · May 10, 2011

lol. I always wonder about stories I don't understand. Are they trying to be clever and I just don't get it? Sometimes I give them to my husband and ask him if I missed something. Usually if I did, so did he. He doesn't like short stories because there's too much 'what was the point of that' for him. We read one like that the other day in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. And I really liked the story too, and the world. We finally decided the author had just cut too much out to get to a short story from a novel world, without having enough plot.

Izz · May 10, 2011

Sagana said:
lol. I always wonder about stories I don't understand. Are they trying to be clever and I just don't get it? Sometimes I give them to my husband and ask him if I missed something. Usually if I did, so did he. He doesn't like short stories because there's too much 'what was the point of that' for him. We read one like that the other day in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. And I really liked the story too, and the world. We finally decided the author had just cut too much out to get to a short story from a novel world, without having enough plot.

This, imo, is one of the big differences between good short story writing and good novel writing. I think it requires a different skillset to write a story in a few thousand words that leaves a reader both satisfied and provoked to thought than it does to write a novel that does the same.

Same tools, yes, but some of them are applied in different ways.

Sagana · May 10, 2011

I dunno. I'd rather read a story, novel or short, with a plot. So I'd rather read 5,000 words that goes somewhere than 700 that's a vignette. But I think it's the same basic skill - just somehow a lot of people think they can do without a plot in a short story. And they often can. These are published works, after all

But then I want to do both, so I want them to be connected. I haven't yet figured out how to do it really short. My shortest story is still right at 5,000 words. But 'Hello said the gun' is short/flash and I loved it. Soooo... did you say those flash prompts are up yet?

Talk about off-topic. Runs off to find the right place to look/ask.

Izz · May 10, 2011

Sagana said:
I dunno. I'd rather read a story, novel or short, with a plot. So I'd rather read 5,000 words that goes somewhere than 700 that's a vignette.

Yes, that's pretty much what i meant. Sorry if i was unclear.

But I think it's the same basic skill - just somehow a lot of people think they can do without a plot in a short story. And they often can. These are published works, after all

Yep, definitely agree that it's the same basic skill. I reckon, though, it takes different applications beyond that basic skill to write a really good short story (one that is 5,000 words--or less, or more--and has a plot, leaves a reader satisfied, and provokes thought) than it does to write a novel with the same result.

Plotless stories can work, too, but imo it's a lot rarer that they do, and typically requires the writer to already have mastered the other facets of storytelling.

But then I want to do both, so I want them to be connected. I haven't yet figured out how to do it really short. My shortest story is still right at 5,000 words. But 'Hello said the gun' is short/flash and I loved it. Soooo... did you say those flash prompts are up yet? Talk about off-topic. Runs off to find the right place to look/ask.

Hee! Flash is a beast all its own, i reckon. You can take certain liberties with technique that would be a lot harder to take with a longer story. Half the fun with flash is experimenting with different styles

The Reading Room--Story Recommendations

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