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Short fiction reccomendations

Short fiction is at the heart of a lot of major developments in science fiction. The format allows authors to explore an idea without making a whole story, and sometimes, that's all you need to really fuck with someone's brain. So here are some short stories that rewired my nerves fundamentally. enjoy!

Cws are keyed for efficiency and to prevent spoilers, click here to see what the numbers/ letters mean

  1. suicide/adjacent 

    1. Stuff that could be considered suicide/ attempting without scifi context (Ex. an astronaut in a shuttle with no chance of being saved spends the last of the shuttle’s remaining power to send a message instead of maintaining life support for a few more minutes.)

    2. Non graphic discussion of past suicide attempt/s 

    3. Stuff that could be considered suicide but is not explicitly so for other reasons

  2. government/ political

    1. War, war crimes, weapons of mass destruction

    2. Political imprisonment or similar unethical government actions

  3. Unreality

    1. Characters experiencing a weird relationship with reality

    2. A fundamental concept you or characters built your understanding of reality on is not true within this story

  4. Anxiety inducing

    1. paranoia/ will make you feel like someone is behind you 

    2. Cosmic horror/ beings or events beyond comprehension vibes

    3. Poetic existential dread about the end of species/ the universe or its vastness

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov

No list of brain wrecking/ all time best scifi short fiction would be complete without this story so i figured id just start here. The end makes me feel like i just got punched in the gut no matter how many times I read it, and ive read it A LOT.

[link: free- text on webpage. also available in countless audio versions on youtube or your preferred podcast app]

cw: 4c


The Very Pulse of the Machine by Michael Swanwick

Speaking of stories that will make you feel god in your bones- this exists. read it. I'm not religious but this story is my religion, you feel? 

[link: free- text on webpage. also available as audio from the clarkesworld magazine podcast]

cw: 1a, 3a


Vaster Than Empires and More Slow  by Ursula K Le Guin

You want eeriness? What about trees? or, tree shaped things? arboroformes? And what's that noise? I thought you said only plants lived here? what the- *eerie whooshing and radio static*

[link: free- pdf on internet archive]

cw: mild 1a, 4a


The Field of Vision by Ursula K Le Guin

to me this falls into the category of what i consider better cosmic horror. its like Lovecraft but with less racism and more space. (other instances include the Area X series by Jeff VanderMeer and the Three Body Problem series by Cixin Liu). 

[link- its part of this collection which is free to borrow with an account on the internet archive]

Cw: 3a, 4b


Division by Zero by Ted Chiang

what if the fundamental nature of your reality was just. gone. wouldnt that be fucked up?

[link- text on webpage]

cw: 1b, 3b


The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species, An Advanced Readers Picture Book of Comparative Cognition, and A Timekeepers Symphony by Ken Liu

These are three stories I consider to be in a series, though to my knowledge Liu has said nothing indicating he sees them so, they just. They feel similar. Each goes through a variety of ways different species may experience a certain thing (books/ writing, cognition, and time/timekeeping) 

[link- Bookmaking, Cognition, Timekeeper’s. All text on webpage]

Bookmaking cw- none :)

Cognition cws- 4c

Timekeepers cws- 2a, 4c


The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly

y'know when you eat some really good food and it's like youre slingshotted back into your past. that but like, actually. With magic. 

Gives new meaning to the concept of just desserts. 

[Link- text on webpage]

Cw: 2b


Feminine Endings by Neil Gaiman

A totally normal love letter from a secret admirer

[link- video of author reading it]

Cw: 4a


The Water is Wide by Ursula K Le Guin

This is about death and it helps.

[link- in this collection, pdf free to borrow from internet archive]

Cw: 1c, 3a


The Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang

Wanna feel awe at the universe?

[link- in this collection, pdf free to borrow from the internet archive]

cw:


Other People by Neil Gaiman

“‘Time is fluid here’ said the demon. He knew it was a demonthe moment he saw it, he knew it just as he knew the place was hell. There was nothing else that either of them could have been”

[link- the author reading the story]

Cw: mild 4b, mild 3a


They’re Made out of Meat by Terry Bisson

What if aliens discovered us and were just, kinda grossed out?

[link- text on webpage]

Cw: mild 4c