Well, I just adore Zelazny's writing in general. Roadmarks is a long time favourite which I have read many times. It was probably my favourite until A Night In Lonesome October came out. I should mention that I loved The Doors of his face The Lamps of his mouth so our reading tastes are likely different. I don't love short stories in general, but TDOHFTLOHM, that was an exception. Am reading his last book, Lord Demon at the moment and that is pretty amazing as well.
Great! No special plans for October, but I'll probably post a few more book reviews. I've just started reading a series, Colin Wilson's Spider World, so I expect that will feature at some point.
BTW just wanted to say there's some great stories in here i recall reading now the plots have been mentioned and others that sound intriguing so I'm going to have to expand my TBR list again.
Since recommending by his bootstraps I've reread it and it is a short story not a novella plus is available as a free download as it's out of copyright. Same applies to All You Zombies which is in some ways the same story and in others, not 😅
Man, Love Death and Robots is such a treat... i loved all 3 seasons but s1 was extra special because I had never experienced a series of animated shorts of wildly different style and through the roof quality before. I first experienced Zima Blue there, and it stuck deep in my brain. It was part of what made me come back to sci fi literature and reading in general!
Hi Robin from Dorset Bob - I read The Door Into Summer nearly 50 years ago but as long as you read it in its historical context its an interesting read - many regard it as a ground breaking novel but in the 40's and 50's the SF scene was just really developing and growing so we ought to allow some 'rough edges' in my view. Read it and please let us know what you thought.
I'm not competing in the book giveaway, but here are some of my favorite short stories (in no particular order): I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison; Nightfall by Isaac Asimov; It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby; Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr.; The Man Who Never Grew Young by Fritz Leiber; and for short story collections it's hard to beat The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume 1) edited by Robert Silverberg, The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova; and the two groundbreaking original anthologies edited by Harlan Ellison (Dangerous Visions and Again Dangerous Visions). Love your channel!
I read The Time Migration in To Hold up the Sky short story collection. I don’t remember if I liked it... From that book I enjoyed The Village Teacher quite a bit.
@bartsbookspace The title story was OK but nothing standout I think. The Village Teacher wasn't in this collection, unfortunately. Curse 5.0 was definitely my favourite.
I wouldn't miss this one. Of course I'm in! My recommended short story is Inconstant Moon, by Larry Niven. The story is about the protagonist realizing that the moon that night is much brighter than usual. You might get an idea why, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone! I read many short story collections and anthologies, but this is the only story that I remember vividly. Everything is so well described that I don't just remember the story, I see it as a movie in my head. There is also an Outer Limits episode made from it that I might see some day. I remember the few Outer Limits episodes that I've seen were quite good, but still, I don't want to risk it and ruin the story. So, yes, I recommend it to everyone who wants to read a good short story.
Hi Robin, Why not ask for the email address AFTER the person has won. Since they left a comment on your video, you can inform them there that they won and then talk privately. No need to collect many email addresses. Seven
Hi Seven, that's a fair point. Maybe if I do one of these again in the future, I will try doing it that way. As it is, I thought the MS form would be the most convenient way of doing this. If you want to take part, but would rather not share your email address at this stage, you can just put something else in that field.
Excellent conversation, well done. Alastair is one of my favourite contemporary authors, and the conversation pointed me in the direction of some of his influences which was excellent. Your "Short Stories" theme has been very enjoyable, thank you.
Great interview with my favorite author! Thanks for the interesting discussion Robin. And thank you to Al (if you're reading this) for doing these interviews. It's fun to hear about your writing process and how you approach short stories.
Great conversation. I haven’t read any of AR’s short stories, but I did watch and remember loving Zima Blue! I’m glad he talked about it here. I wonder if Zima means winter; it does in Polish.
I agree with those who thank you for your list being not just the same old same old. Several I'd never heard of, and those included both recent and non-recent titles. Previous comments have recommended many books to you. I will limit myself to saying that Lem is the funniest SF writer I know. Maybe even the funniest writer I know period. People who just read Solaris are missing out. Read The Futurological Congress or The Star Diaries. Also (maybe I'm not limiting myself all that much) Brunner is good but he was very prolific so some of his output is, to say it politely, uneven. I recently re-read several of his and the ones that held up the best were Bedlam Planet, Polymath, and The Infinitive of Go.
@zoicon5 Thanks for the recommendations. I've only read Solaris by Lem, but as you and others have indicated he was a very versatile writer. I have The Futurological Congress and Cyberiad on my radar.
Nice idea. Too many Booktubers don't seem to like/appreciate short-stories but in sci-fi, maybe even more than other genres, they're the bricks the whole thing's built from IMO. (and aside from the usual suspects and those recommended - 'The Light of Other Days' is one of my all time favourites for instance - i'll always recommend Greg Egan's collection "Axiomatic" when SF&F short-stories come up. E.g. "Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies" from that is another fave of mine)
Very interesting and some good collections i now need, my wallet does not thank you. All the stories Ive read i would absolutely agree with as being worthy. And now I have a bunch of new ones to search out, the monkey one, The WIll, Shortcut , Reason and how the World was saved.
This was a really great idea, Robin. Cheers for inviting me to contribute. I only discovered Bob Shaw last year, but have grown to love his work. Light of Other Days sounds really interesting, such a great concept. I Have a Mouth, and I Must Scream, is an absolute classic… and terrifying. Evil Robot Monkey sounds intriguing, especially in terms of Emily’s relationship to her own medical interface with technology. I’ve only read The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem. Love the sound of How the World Was Saved; what an imaginative premise to ask a robot to create nothing! Also cool to get your perspective on the Polish and English translation. Cheers for all the recommendations!
Thanks! Yes, some really interesting stories suggested from everyone involved. I have Bob Shaw's Other Days, Other Eyes in my reading line-up for some time in the next few weeks.
Nice. I recall reading Them Bones now. I had recalled elements of the story but not what it was. I read The Man Who Folded Himself by Gerrold a few years ago (really liked it) and later discovered he'd done a lot more SF including several highly rated star trek episodes (TNG). Theres a couple of very strong novellas along the same lines that predate it, well worth reading, both by Heinlein. All You Zombies, and By His Bootstraps. There was a film of AYZ i don't recall what it was called.... OK i looked it up, Predestination. I read Up The Line years ago it didn't leave much of a mark on me.
I love the Time Travel concept and potential paradoxes. Thanks for enlightening us to these books. I don't think that I've read much time travel, but I've sure watched enough of it in movies.
Thanks for putting this together Robin! I had, as always, a ton of fun chatting with you on video (and also after). Couple of the short stories mentioned by the other book-tubers also intrigued me. So much to read! 😃
Star Trek ripped off or reused Arena for one of the original episodes. Eg i dont know if the author got credit. And im pretty sure thata another story you mentioned about the eden with a dark secret (i wont spoil it) was done in next generation. I find it amusing that a Peter Hamilton story is in a collection of short stories. I recall the very slow time machine from years ago. Cant recall the ending though. I love cordwainer smith instrumentality stories. Youve missed off though one of two stories, a tough choice given your criteria, which Harlan Ellison? A boy and his dog, or i have no mouth and i must scream ETA ive just ordered rediscovery of man its only £2.99 on amazon in kindle format compared to £10 paperback. I probably read it years ago but at that price am happy to reread
Thanks for watching! Yes I heard about that Star Trek episode (based on Arena), haven't seen it though. It's true, Hamilton is not exactly known for his short fiction - I picked up Manhattan in Reverse to get a taster of his writing style before committing to any of his epic novels/series. I was suitably impressed with his world building and ideas, I've since decided to read the Commonwealth Saga in the near future. As for Harlan Ellison, he is my 'list of shame' of authors I haven't read yet. I'm pretty keen to give those stories you mention a try, along with the Dangerous Visions anthology.
Interesting list. Many of them don't appeal to me once you present the story, but some certainly pique my interest, such as Hoyle's _Black Cloud_ and Kim's _The Cabinet_ - neither of them books I'd heard of before. Good call choosing _The Lathe of Heaven_ as the LeGuin entry. I read it back-to-back with _The Left Hand of Darkness_ and preferred the former, though they're both amazing SF books, and the first two SF books I read when I decided to get into the genre two years ago. I am always a bit curious why 1Q84 is people's first science fiction pick of Murakami's. It's a great page-turner and an enjoyable read, though it could have easily have been edited down by a third or so as some sections are highly repetitive and superfluous, but I don't even think it is science fiction. Speculative fiction, perhaps; magical realism, most certainly, but not science fiction. Whereas _Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World_ is science fiction, and often overlooked. Cordwainer Smith has been on my to-buy list for a while. I think science fiction, especially when it explores concepts, philosophy, and hypotheticals, is extremely well suited to short stories where it's easier to let the idea take the front seat and leaving character development and arcs in the back. Usually that doesn't work quite as well in a novel. But, no Philip K. Dick? No Stanisław Lem? I guess for such a short list, there will be as many greats left out as there will be included.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. There are a number of books/authors I thought of adding but didn't quite make it - 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' was a close one. If I ever make another list like this, I'll allow room for more entries. Regarding 1Q84, I understand why it's debatable whether it should be called science fiction. Personally, I like to think of it as literary fiction / magical realism with SF elements (mostly the parallel universe theme). I also enjoyed 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World', but it's been a long time since I've read it and my memory's a bit hazy on that one.
Man ... 5:52 ... That book's cover looks incredible. Very intriguing the name of the book. Makes me sure wonder what its about and what stories are contained in it.
Okay, at 9:47, I haven't read short stories from the bottom 3. But, I know that PJF is always enjoyable to me; however, Asimov would be a good choice too. Then, Zelazny is good too.
Hey, Robin, I always love your videos. It makes me smile to see you up on your YT Channel. Because I love sci-fi and don't read as much as I want to, but you remind me of how much I love it.
Planning to read the novel ‘Them Bones’ by Waldrop. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Great to learn about his short stories. A lot of SF readers are looking for those SF concepts, myself included.
You really should also read N.K. Jemisin's "The Ones Who Stay and Fight," which is an "answer story" to "Omelas." Sometimes walking away isn't enough. And if you ever want to see an extremely silly use of a time machine, read "Full Chicken Richness" by Avram Davidson (a great author in many genres).
Hard to hear this part ... 8:08 ... But, then, again, this is some time ago, and you've gotten much, much better since these days. And, happy to see DARK IS THE SUN on the Spinner Wheel. When I read it, it was really enjoyable. I don't remember that much, but it was a thick puppy. Yet, it was classic Farmer and quite enjoyable. I don't remember if I read Riverworlds before or after, and I do remember waiting for FREAKING EVER for PJF to fucking finally finish his 5th Riverworld for me to go out and buy a copy. Yeah, I had to wait. And, I got a friend to read Riverworld and he stuck through all through 4 books, then we debated on & on about what 5th would be about. I only wish PJF did more in Riverworld, because 5th was so-so. But, maybe, I was just disappointed because I knew it was over, because he said it would be over in book 5. And, I sure didn't like PJF telling people that, because RW could have went on forever.
Thanks for the feedback, yeah the audio balance was a little off in some of my earlier videos. I have enjoyed all the PJF books I've read. I haven't got round to Dark Is the Sun yet, but it's probably top of my list of his novels I want to try, along with Dayworld (I don't have a copy of the latter yet).
Always love your Reviews and Thoughts on the books. I think I read this one, not sure. It was years ago in High School when I got stood-up by my best friend. We were supposed to go out early in night (say 7 or 7:30pm), but knowing my Buddy of that Day, he was always late. So, thankfully, I just picked up this book and started reading it, and that Shit never showed up. Because he asked a girl out, early that day -- in the afternoon, and she UNEXPECTEDLY said yes. So, I got dumped and he went out with her, but he was always like that. So, I read this book (or another of Simak's in one setting) -- from 7:30pm until 1 or 2am. It was so engaging that I couldn't put it down. I remember it was about 130 or 135 pages. And, at the end, I think that I either cried or shed a few tears, because it was so heartfelt and gut-wrenching what I read. And, I think that I also read Special Deliverance, and I don't even remember a thing about it now -- other than it was a Journey with different characters. And, I remember some good laughs. But, again, it was in late 1980's, so that's why I don't remember it much now. Yet, I do remember that they were pastoral, lot of dialogue, and conversation between characters. But, I plan to read more. I am thinking about reading CITY now.
