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Science fiction
Science fiction first appeared on television during the golden age of science fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium for...
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The Sentinel
"The Sentinel" is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, famous for being expanded (and extensively modified) into the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke actually expressed impatience with the common description of it as "the story on which...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
—All You Zombies—
"—All You Zombies—" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It was written in a single day, July 11, 1958, and first published in the March 1959 issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, after having been rejected by Playboy....
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Time travel
"If This Goes On—"
"If This Goes On—" is a science fiction short novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first serialized in 1940 in Astounding Science-Fiction and revised and expanded for inclusion in the 1953 collection Revolt in 2100. One of his Future History series, it...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Dystopia,
- Science fiction,
- Short story
- Science fiction,
Misfit
Misfit is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in the November 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. One of the earliest of his Future History stories, it was later included in the collections Revolt in...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Menace From Earth
"The Menace From Earth" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1957.
The "menace" of the title is a beautiful woman tourist who visits the Moon colony and is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15 year old girl...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Genius of the Species
"Genius of the Species" is a short story by Reginald Bretnor (first published with the author name "R. Bretnor"), which originally appeared in the anthology 9 Tales of Space and Time edited by Raymond Healy.
The story is set in the Soviet Union...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Umney's Last Case
Umney's Last Case (1993) is a short story written by Stephen King and published as a separate booklet as part of Penguin's 60th anniversary. It also appeared in Nightmares & Dreamscapes - a collection of King's stories.
The story begins as a Raymond...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story,
- Mystery
- Short story,
Faith of our Fathers
"Faith of Our Fathers" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in the anthology Dangerous Visions (1967).
The story is a horrifying vision of a God that is all-devouring and amoral, and is a sharp depiction of religious...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
"—And He Built a Crooked House—"
“—And He Built a Crooked House—” (the quotation marks and dashes being part of the story’s title) is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein first published in Astounding Science Fiction in February 1941. It was reprinted in the...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Riders of the Purple Wage
Riders of the Purple Wage is a science fiction novella by Philip José Farmer. It appeared in Dangerous Visions, the famous New Wave science fiction anthology compiled by Harlan Ellison, in 1967, and won the Hugo Award for best novella in 1968,...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is a short story by the 20th century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in the Argentine journal Sur, May 1940. The "postscript" dated 1947 is intended to be anachronistic, set seven years in...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Harrison Bergeron
"Harrison Bergeron" is a satirical, dystopian science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut and first published in October, 1961. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the story was re-published in the author's...
- x Characters:
- Harrison Bergeron,
- Diana Moon-Glampers
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Dystopia,
- Short story
- Dystopia,
Ms Fnd in a Lbry
"MS Fnd in a Lbry" (probably intended to be understood as "Manuscript Found in a Library") is a satirical science fiction short story about the exponential growth of information by Hal Draper written in 1961.
The story is in the form of a report...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
True Names
True Names was the science fiction novella which brought Vernor Vinge to prominence in 1981. It was one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to stories in the cyberpunk genre....
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Cyberpunk
The Bicentennial Man
The Bicentennial Man is a novella in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov. The story formed the basis of the novel The Positronic Man (1993), co-written with Robert Silverberg, and the 1999 film Bicentennial Man, starring Robin Williams.
The original...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
It's a Good Life
"It's a Good Life" is a short story by Jerome Bixby, written in 1953. In 1970 it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the 20 finest science fiction stories ever written. The story was first published in Star Science Fiction...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Horror,
- Short story
- Horror,
Blue Shift
"Blue Shift" is the tenth story chronologically to appear in Stephen Baxter's science fiction anthology novel Vacuum Diagrams. "Blue Shift" was originally published in Writers of the Future volume 5 in 1989.
Set in A.D. 5406, the story begins on an...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Lieserl
Lieserl is the title of the fifth story in Stephen Baxter's science fiction anthology Vacuum Diagrams. It was originally published in Interzone in 1993 and represents a small, but integral part of the novel, Ring.
Set primarily on Earth in the year...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Shall the Dust Praise Thee?
"Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" is a science fiction short story by Damon Knight. It was first published in the anthology Dangerous Visions (1967). His agent refused to publish it and suggested the Atheist Journal in Moscow might buy it but no one...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Machine Stops
"The Machine Stops" is a science fiction short story (of 12,000 words) by E. M. Forster. After initial publication in The Oxford and Cambridge Review (November 1909), the story was republished in Forster's The Eternal Moment and Other Stories in...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Micromégas
Micromégas (1752) is a short story written in the 18th century by the French philosopher and satirist Voltaire. It is a significant development in the history of literature because it originates ideas which helped create the genre of science fiction...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Cathedral
The Cathedral (Polish: Katedra) is the title of a science fiction short story by Jacek Dukaj, winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award in 2000; and of a 2002 short animated movie by Tomasz Bagiński, based on the story. The film was nominated in 2002 for...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Blind Alley
Blind Alley is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and later included in the collection The Early Asimov (1972).
Although the story postulates a race of...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Robbie
"Robbie" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September 1940 issue Super Science Stories magazine as "Strange Playfellow", a title that was chosen by editor Frederik Pohl and described as "distasteful" by...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Runaround
"Runaround" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, featuring his recurring characters Powell and Donovan. It was written in October 1941 and first published in the March 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It appears in the...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Reason
"Reason" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the April 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and collected in I, Robot (1950), The Complete Robot (1982), and Robot Visions (1990). It is part of Asimov's...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Catch that Rabbit
"Catch that Rabbit" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the February 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot (1950) and The Complete Robot (1982).
The recurring team...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Liar!
"Liar!" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov that first appeared in the May 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and was reprinted in the collections I, Robot (1950) and The Complete Robot (1982). It was Asimov's third published...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Little Lost Robot
"Little Lost Robot" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the March 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot (1950), The Complete Robot (1982), Robot Dreams (1986), and...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Escape!
"Escape!" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published as "Paradoxical Escape" (a publisher's change in the title) in the August 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted as "Escape!" (Asimov's choice of...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Evidence
"Evidence" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the September 1946 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections I, Robot (1950), The Complete Robot (1982), and Robot Visions (1990).
In...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
The Evitable Conflict
"The Evitable Conflict" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the June 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and subsequently appeared in the collections I, Robot (1950), The Complete Robot (1982), and Robot...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Mother Earth
"Mother Earth" is a science fiction novelette by Isaac Asimov. It was written from September 1 to October 10, 1948, and published in the May 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It is considered part of the Robot Series. It has been republished...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Teacher's Pest
"Teacher's Pest" is a science fiction short story by Orson Scott Card. It is a prequel to Card's Ender's Game series, and tells of the first meeting of Ender's parents.
It can be found in the 2003 Tor edition of the book First Meetings.
While...
- x Characters:
- John Paul Wiggin,
- Theresa Wiggin
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Investment Counselor
"Investment Counselor" is a science fiction short story by Orson Scott Card. It is part of the Ender's Game series, and tells of the first meeting of Ender and Jane.
It was first published in the anthology Far Horizons, and was later reprinted in...
- x Characters:
- Ender Wiggin,
- Jane,
- Valentine Wiggin
- Jane,
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Colour Out of Space
"The Colour Out of Space" is a short story by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in March 1927 and initially published in Amazing Stories in September 1927, it became one of his most anthologized works.
"The Colour Out of Space" is a...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Horror,
- Science fiction,
- Short story
- Science fiction,
The Ugly Little Boy
"The Ugly Little Boy" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the September 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title "Lastborn", and was reprinted under its current title in the 1959 collection Nine...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
The Last Question
"The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was reprinted in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), Robot Dreams...
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Our Lady of Chernobyl
Our Lady of Chernobyl is a collection of short fiction by the Australian science fiction writer Greg Egan, published in 1995 by MirrorDanse, in Sydney. The book has a purple drawing of a brain on the cover and contains four short stories.
All of the...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a postapocalyptic science fiction short story by Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction. It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The name was also used for a short...
- x Characters:
Backstage Lensman
Backstage Lensman is a short story by Randall Garrett, a parody or pastiche of the Lensman series of E.E. 'Doc' Smith. It was first written in 1949, lost and then rewritten in 1978. To readers of the Lensman books it is highly amusing but much less...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Jaunt
"The Jaunt" is a short story by Stephen King first published in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981, and collected in the 1985 anthology Skeleton Crew. It belongs primarily to the genre of science fiction rather than King's customary horror, but is...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
The End of the Whole Mess
"The End of the Whole Mess" is a short science fiction story by Stephen King which was first published in Omni Magazine in 1986, and later published in the Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection (1993) and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (2008)...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Crouch End
Crouch End is a horror story by Stephen King, originally published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1980), and republished in a slightly different version in King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes collection (1993). It contains distinct references to...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Horror,
- Science fiction,
- Short story
- Science fiction,
The Nine Billion Names of God
"The Nine Billion Names of God" is a 1953 science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke. The story was the winner (in 2004) of the retrospective Hugo Award for Best Short Story for the year 1954.
This short story tells of a Tibetan lamasery whose...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Girl Who Was Plugged In
"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" is a science fiction short story by James Tiptree, Jr, a pen name for psychologist Alice Sheldon. It won a Hugo Award in 1974.
The story takes place in a future world, where almost everything is controlled by corporate...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Pilot
"Pilot" is the title of a short story in science fiction author Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence. Sixth in the anthology Vacuum Diagrams, it is a revision of a story first published as a chapbook by Novacon in 1993.
Set in A.D. 4874, "Pilot" relates...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Beachworld
Beachworld is a short science fiction story by Stephen King, first published in Weird Tales in 1985, and collected in the 1986 Skeleton Crew anthology. "Beachworld" concerns the marooned survivors of a starship crash struggling to maintain sanity...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
All Summer in a Day
"All Summer in a Day" is a short story by science fiction author Ray Bradbury. This story was originally published in the March 1954 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
The story is about a class of schoolchildren on Venus. The...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Moxon's Master
"Moxon's Master" is a short story by the late 19th century American author Ambrose Bierce that speculates on the nature of life and intelligence. It describes a chess-playing robot automaton that murders its creator. Published in 1909, it is one of...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Toynbee Convector
"The Toynbee Convector" is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury. First published in Playboy magazine in 1984, the story was subsequently featured in a 1988 short story collection also titled The Toynbee Convector.
The Toynbee Convector...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
A Sound of Thunder
“A Sound of Thunder” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier’s magazine in 1952. It is the most re-published science fiction story of all time.
The story is set in 2055. A hunter named “Eckels” goes on the...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
Jipi and the Paranoid Chip
"Jipi and the Paranoid Chip" is a science fiction short story by Neal Stephenson that appeared in Forbes Magazine's July 7, 1997 issue. It is part of the Baroque Cycle/ Cryptonomicon universe.
The story deals with the concepts of mindshare and...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Great Simoleon Caper
"The Great Simoleon Caper" is a short story by Neal Stephenson that appeared in TIME Domestic SPECIAL ISSUE, Spring 1995 Volume 145, No. 12 (March 1, 1995). It deals with concepts familiar to Stephenson's fans: encryption, digital currency and...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag
"The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" is a novella by Robert A. Heinlein. It was originally published in the October 1942 edition of Unknown Worlds magazine under the pseudonym of "John Riverside". It also lends its title to a collection of...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
—That Thou art Mindful of Him
"—That Thou art Mindful of Him" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, which he intended to be an "ultimate" probe into the subtleties of his Three Laws of Robotics. The story first appeared in the May 1974 issue of Fantasy and Science...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Short story
The Screwfly Solution
"The Screwfly Solution" is a 1977 science fiction short story by Raccoona Sheldon, a pen name for psychologist Alice Sheldon, who was better known by her other nom de plume, James Tiptree, Jr. It received the Nebula Award for Best Novelette, and has...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction,
- Horror
Houston, Houston, Do You Read?
"Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" is a novella by James Tiptree, Jr. (pseudonym of Alice Sheldon). It won a Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1976 and a Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1977.
The novella first appeared in the anthology Aurora: Beyond...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death
"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" is a short story by James Tiptree, Jr. which won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1973.
The story is unusual in that it involves no human characters, but is told entirely from the perspective of a giant...
- x Characters:
- x Genre:
- Science fiction
