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SKS · Senior Editor Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 29

What are some of the best alternative reality short stories you've ever read? On a similar note, what are the best short story anthologies for alternative reality fiction?
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S.K. Slevinski
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Alternative Reality Web Zine
A Literary Magazine for Alternative Reality Fiction

Magus · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 2:28 pm

Just out of curiousity, what would you consider an "alternative reality" short story? Are these stories that have been posted on this site, or ones that truly take place in an alternative reality?
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"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

SKS · Senior Editor Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 29

"Alternative Reality" is the term we have settled on in lieu of using the term "speculative fiction". While the latter term is well-codified as an umbrella term for speaking generally about science fiction, fantasy, and horror, we personally encountered a lot of resistance to the term in discussions on our associate pages. The consensus we found was that most people consider "speculative fiction" to be largely synonymous with "science fiction"

And so, for the purposes of the magazine, we took a cue from our own name, and decided to use the term "alternative reality fiction" in its place. This term is meant to encompass all types of fiction that take place in a fictional reality markedly different from our own, most often science fiction, fantasy, horror and historical fiction.

So, no. Not stories from the magazine. Alternative reality stories more generally.
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S.K. Slevinski
Senior Editor
Alternative Reality Web Zine
A Literary Magazine for Alternative Reality Fiction

Magus · Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:50 pm

O.K.

Hmmmmm... This takes out a couple of my favorites ( "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away" would have taken the top spot, otherwise. "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Black Cat", "The Cask of the Amontillado" and "L.T.'s Theory of Pets" would have ranked high as well.)

Hmmmmm..... I'd have to say, from my understanding of the definition, would have to be "The Road Virus Heads North".

In terms of novellas, I would have normally Said "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption". But, in its stead, I'd say "Secret Window, Secret Garden".
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"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

DougGogerty · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 10:38 am

I've always liked Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. Asimov is at his best in short story form... I like a lot of his early Robot stories. A lot of the stuff in "Weird Tales" and other early SciFi magazines are enjoyable. Currently, they are releasing Robert E Howard's work from "Weird Tales" in anthology form. I think they are up to volume 3 or something. He has some good short stories...

I also like most of Edgar Allen Poe's stuff. I especially like The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Which leads to my liking of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

I am also quite partial to The New Computer, but I'm biased...
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Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

I haven't read many short stories, actually. Are there some good compendiums?
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Magus · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:22 pm

If you want Short Stories, the best volume I can think of is Stephen King's collection, Everything's Eventual. That has a great number of my favorites (All That You Love Will Be Carried Away, L.T.'s Theory of Pets, The Road Virus Heads North, Autopsy Room Four, The Man in the Black Suit), plus brief accounts and stories of how the ideas came to him or what they meant to him, which are both highly informative and, more often than not, contagiously funny.

If you want novellas, I'd suggest two more King collections, Four Past Midnight (The Langoliers and Secret Window, Secret Garden) and Different Seasons (Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption) (The collection as a whole really shows a more "literary" side of his).
_________________
"It ain't all buttons and charts little Albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is?... Love. You can know all the math in the 'Verse, but take a boat in the air you don't love, she ain't keepin' up just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her up when she ought to fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens, makes her home." Captain Malcom Reynalds, "Serenity"

Jay Tomio · Member Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 27

DougGogerty · Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:37 pm

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

As usual, Jay, thanks for such a comprehensive list!
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Jay Tomio · Member Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 27

I forgot Vermillion Sands by JG Ballard.
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Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

Thanks, Jay. I'm wondering, is there one or two you would suggest to start with? Say, for someone who usually reads novels and hasn't read much short fiction?
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DougGogerty · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:20 pm

In the before time there were lots of science fiction short stories being written. So, many early science fiction writers wrote in this format. Robert E. Howard, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Philip K Dick -- the list goes on and on.

So, you cannot go wrong with compilations of any of these writers. Many of them are at their best in the short format. Also, there are plenty of collections to choose from. I personally started with Poe and Bradbury. Dick and Asimov came next. You may like Fritz Leiber if you aren't already familiar with him. He wrote some fantasy...
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Douglas E. Gogerty
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Around the Campfire
"No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
-James T. Kirk

Jay Tomio · Member Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 27

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

I'm more of a fantasy (leaning toward historical or political, rather than high fantasy) person myself. But the question was intended more generally as well. Perhaps, a few recommendations for science fiction and a few for fantasy (and maybe one or two specifically for me)?
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pecooper · **Short story collection recommendations** Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:59 pm

I don�t know what Jay is going to recommend, Violanthe, but I�ll take a stab at a list.

Roger Zelazny.
The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth: And Other Stories
This is a great collection of his early works. Zelazny is a writer who bridges the science fiction/fantasy gap. He is also one of the finest writers of short fiction. If you can�t find this one, you might try some of his other collections: The Last Defender of Camelot, Frost & Fire or Unicorn Variations.

Ray Bradbury.
The Martian Chronicles
This is his best known collection. Ray Bradbury is probably the best known SF shot fiction writer. He�s even read outside the field. If you can�t find this one, he has some others I would recommend: A Medicine for Melancholy or R Is For Rocket.

Lord Dunsany.
In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales
This is the most recent collection of his work. It contains representative stories from his whole career. Lord Dunsany is the premier fantasy writer of the early 20th century, and he is somebody you should definitely read, if only for perspective. If you can�t find this one, there are the fantasy books that Jay recommends: The Gods of Pegana and The Book of Wonder. There is also a collection of very entertaining tall tails, Tales of Three Hemispheres.

Cordwainer Smith
The Rediscovery of Man
Technically, this is science fiction, but the style and subject matter are very reminiscent of fantasy. Cordwainer Smith wrote the some of the oddest and most bizarre SF of all time. He was who Robert Silverberg wanted to be when he grew up. Don�t try to read these stories straight through. This book is for dipping into. He does have some other collections.

R.A. Lafferty.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
My favorite of his collections. R.A. Lafferty is another unclassifiable short fiction writer. His stuff is wacky, sometimes funny, and always very strange. He also has a large number of collections, any one of which is readable.

Harlan Ellison.
Pretty much any of his collections.
Harlan Ellison was one of the foremost short fiction writers of the 60s and 70s, and still turns out a story occasionally. You should get familiar with him. He writes at the top of his lungs. Get one book and read it. Then stop, because when you read too much of his stuff close together, you begin to notice that he repeats himself horribly. I don�t suggest reading Dangerous Visions. It may have been an important anthology in its day, but a lot of what it contains doesn�t really hold up at all well.

Clifford D. Simak.
Over the River & Through the Woods
The most available of his short story collections. Just plain nice SF. Clifford D. Simak was SF�s pastoralist, and his work repays reading. If you can�t find this book, he has other collections. All the Traps of Earth Is probably the best of them. There is also City, which is a collection of linked stories that is often listed as a novel.

Violanthe · Webmaster Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 5903

Thanks pecooper! That's a great intro to short fiction!
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