Just cause I felt the need, I thought I would add a few more :-)
How about "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, first published in November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly. I think I read it first in his Bicentennial Man anthology. I actually think it's better than Nightfall.
First published through serialization in 1928 in Amazing Stories, The Skylark of Space by E. E. "Doc" Smith. Technically not a short story, but each serial chapter was a self-contained story. It's the very first Space Opera and one of my all time favorites.
In fact, a lot of SF that we think of as novel length started off as serials in Amazing Stories.
All excellent selections, Thomas. You are obviously a science fiction aficionado. My favorite science fiction writer back in the day, was Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote novels as well as over 100 short stories and is most well known for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” My favorite short story collection of his was “Tales from the White Hart” where a fictional character named Harry Purvis regaled his drinking buddies with fabulous tales of his adventures. See,
Two particularly entertaining stories from that anthology are: “The Ultimate Melody” (a story about a musical tune perfectly matched with human brain waves) and “The Reluctant Orchid” (about an unusual carnivorous plant.”)
One of Clarke’s most entertaining stories was included in a different anthology. It was entitled “The Nine Billion Names of God.” See,
Clarke was remarkably adept at predicting the future. This twelve minute video that he made in 1964 is amazingly prescient. It is well worth a look. See,
Clarke is great, of course, and as a matter of fact "The Nine Billion Names of God" was on my initial list of about twenty stories. But I had rationed myself to ten and wanted to include some less familiar titles, to it got cut. And "Tales from the White Heart" is a most entertaining collection of tall tales.
You might think this is a bit crazy but I think the progenitor of modern science fiction is Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” It was the first major work to eschew realism and its a direct ancestor of many works of fantasy including especially Borges.
Don Quixote’s ironic take on chivolric romance has influenced many works of science fiction including, for example, “Star Wars.” Quixote’s quest to right the wrongs of Spain is recalitulated in the efforts of the crew of the USS Enterprise to right the wrongs of the universe.
Even though the concept of modern science hadn't been invented when Cervante’s wrote his masterpiece, when I read the book it always puts me in the mind of science fiction.
If you haven't read it, Edith Grossman’s translation of Don Quixite is majesterial.
Well, you could even take it all the way back to Homer and have a colorable case. World literature is, after all, an edifice built on ancient foundations.
Just emailed this to myself!
I have always found it intriguing that people compare science fiction to old cowboy stories.
A trip down memory lane. Thank you.
Just cause I felt the need, I thought I would add a few more :-)
How about "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, first published in November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly. I think I read it first in his Bicentennial Man anthology. I actually think it's better than Nightfall.
First published through serialization in 1928 in Amazing Stories, The Skylark of Space by E. E. "Doc" Smith. Technically not a short story, but each serial chapter was a self-contained story. It's the very first Space Opera and one of my all time favorites.
In fact, a lot of SF that we think of as novel length started off as serials in Amazing Stories.
All excellent selections, Thomas. You are obviously a science fiction aficionado. My favorite science fiction writer back in the day, was Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote novels as well as over 100 short stories and is most well known for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” My favorite short story collection of his was “Tales from the White Hart” where a fictional character named Harry Purvis regaled his drinking buddies with fabulous tales of his adventures. See,
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-White-Hart-Arthur-Clarke/dp/0345343220
Two particularly entertaining stories from that anthology are: “The Ultimate Melody” (a story about a musical tune perfectly matched with human brain waves) and “The Reluctant Orchid” (about an unusual carnivorous plant.”)
One of Clarke’s most entertaining stories was included in a different anthology. It was entitled “The Nine Billion Names of God.” See,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God
Clarke was remarkably adept at predicting the future. This twelve minute video that he made in 1964 is amazingly prescient. It is well worth a look. See,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y4nh2v3SmgQ
Clarke is great, of course, and as a matter of fact "The Nine Billion Names of God" was on my initial list of about twenty stories. But I had rationed myself to ten and wanted to include some less familiar titles, to it got cut. And "Tales from the White Heart" is a most entertaining collection of tall tales.
You might think this is a bit crazy but I think the progenitor of modern science fiction is Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.” It was the first major work to eschew realism and its a direct ancestor of many works of fantasy including especially Borges.
Don Quixote’s ironic take on chivolric romance has influenced many works of science fiction including, for example, “Star Wars.” Quixote’s quest to right the wrongs of Spain is recalitulated in the efforts of the crew of the USS Enterprise to right the wrongs of the universe.
Even though the concept of modern science hadn't been invented when Cervante’s wrote his masterpiece, when I read the book it always puts me in the mind of science fiction.
If you haven't read it, Edith Grossman’s translation of Don Quixite is majesterial.
Well, you could even take it all the way back to Homer and have a colorable case. World literature is, after all, an edifice built on ancient foundations.