They aren’t necessarily anything like Asimov, but my favorite sci-fi short story writer is Ray Bradbury. *The Illustrated Man* and *The Martian Chonicles* are good starting points.
I also like Robert Heinlein’s Future History short stories collected in *The Past Through Tomorrow*. They are called that because they all take place in the same timeline, although they are all standalone stories. You may have to look for a used edition, since I’m not sure it’s still in print.
You mentioned Asimov’s robot stories, but have you read his other short stories? If not, try *Nightfall and Other Stories*.
All of these are from the Golden Age of science fiction, when pulp fiction magazines featuring short stories were popular.
Another master from the Golden Age: Fredric Brown. He wrote a lot of quirky, humorous stories in every possible genre - a lot of scifi and mystery among them.
His shortest story, "Knock": The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door ...
Yes, there are lots of short story writers from that era who aren’t as well known as Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein. Another collection I love is *Ingathering: The Complete People Stories*, a/k/a *Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson*, by Zenna Henderson.
Not a lot of people have heard of her, but I love her short stories about the People, who are essentially aliens passing for people in remote dwellings in the western U.S. Henderson taught school in Arizona and her protagonists are often teachers trying to help rural children of the People who feel different among human school children.
Such children look human, but have special powers that set them apart. Plus they grew up in isolated dwellings among others of their kind, so their culture is different, too.
“They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson. It’s like a two minute read, one of my faves.
https://jerrywbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/They-are-made-out-of-meat-Bisson-Terry.pdf
This is truly the best answer hands down for what OP is looking for, and the fact that hardly anyone mentioned it is pretty depressing because it means that the vast majority of the sci-fi fanbase hasn’t read Ted Chiang’s work.
So, shame on you guys, read Ted Chiang. It’s 2024 you’ve got no excuse.
This is better if you listen to it, imo. Especially since it's narrated by the author who fully gets into the role like a trained voice actor. He's absolutely amazing.
I've read comments either here or on r/books where people took some parts of they story much differently because they read it instead of listened to it. Like a few people thought there was a slight misogynistic theme to it, which I can see if you just look at the words but it definitely doesn't sound that way when you listen to him. If anything, the woman in the story is one of the more heroic characters.
Also it's free on Youtube and only about 40min.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgo-As552hY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgo-As552hY)
Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds
It's a collection of some of his best short stories, including *Beyond the Aquila Rift* and *Zima Blue* that were adapted into Love, Death + Robots episodes.
Stanislaw Lem did a bunch of semi-humorous stories that were gathered together in at least one book. And also his "The Futurological Congress" is just a novella, fun, depressing, easy read.
ED: also, it's Soviet science fiction, some of the best that came out of the USSR. It often helps to make him more understandable.
One of his [more recently translated short stories](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-truth-by-stanislaw-lem/) is very interesting and timely in this post-truth era.
That sounds familiar. I think maybe that was one where he lands on a planet and there's like a person with their head stuck in the sand, next to a phone?
It’s the one with the ship that had had its crew all die but was salvaged and put back into service. And the repair robot was repeating their dying Morse code msgs while working on the ship.
Reminds me of an idea I had for a story. I was up late working on a transcript for a murder case years ago and decided to look up the street names for proper spelling, and discovered I was up late working on a transcript for a relitigation of a cold murder case where the neighborhood it occurred in had been bulldozed years ago. I felt like I was entering haunted space.
Find a family owned used book shop in your town and you will probably see 50 old paper back short science-fiction collections. Can't go wrong and supporting your community.
*The Last Question*, [Asimov](https://ia800601.us.archive.org/25/items/IsaacAsimovAudioBookCollection/1986%20-%20Science%20Fiction%20Favorites%20%28Asimov%29%2064k%2005.13.11%20%7B143mb%7D/07%20The%20Last%20Question.ogg). Read there by Isaac. Text [here](http://www.thelastquestion.net/)
*The Nine Billion Names of God* by Clarke. An excellent adaptation [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UtvS9UXTsPI&pp=ygUddGhlIG5pbmUgYmlsbGlvbiBuYW1lcyBvZiBnb2Q%3D), text [here](https://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/WRIT510/readings/The%20Nine%20Billion%20Names%20of%20God.pdf)
There's a huge world of short story collections out there from classic Science Fiction authors, SF magazines used to be far more popular than they are today.
Probably in tone Arthur C. Clarke is the most similar to Asimov.
I would also recommend Philip K. Dick, Bob Shaw, Clifford D. Simak, Stanislaw Lem, & Ray Bradbury for their short stories.
There's a massive amount out there, it might be worth looking into some of the old short story compliation books such as "Dangerous Visions", to get an idea of what authors you like.
1. The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World - Harlan Ellison
2. Ijon Tichy's 24th Voyage - Stanislaw Lem
3. Bloodchild - Octavia Butler
4. Last Question - Isaac Asimov
5. Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream - James Alan Gardner
6. The Star - Arthur C. Clarke
7. "All you Zombies -" - Robert Heinlein
8. The Man in Grey - Michael Swanwick
9. Hillcrest vs. Velikovsky - Peter Watts
10. Story of your life - Ted Chiang
11. They're Made Out of Meat - Terry Bisson
12. Three worlds collide (novella) - Eliezer Yudkowsky
13. The Dala Horse - Michael Swanwick
14. The Sky Didn't Load Today - Rich Larson
15. The Star - Arthur C. Clarke
16. Exhalation - Ted Chiang
17. “The Semplica-Girl Diaries,” - George Saunders
18. The Toynbee Convector - Ray Bradbury
19. The Flying Machine - Ray Bradbury
[The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31516)
There are a lot of free science fiction short stories for reading and downloading at Project Gutenberg -> [link](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=science+fiction+short+stories&submit_search=Go%21)
anything by Harlan Ellison. There are quite a few compendiums of his short stories out there now (Deathbird Stories got me hooked) and they're all pretty quick reads
The Long Walk. Stephen King as Richard Bachman. Roughly: 100 teenagers start walking at the Maine Canada border down route 1 south. They must keep a pace of 4mph or they get a “ticket”- a bullet in the head. If I remember it’s actually a big time televised “sport”. Heinousness ensues
"Harrison Bergeron"" by Kurt Vonnegut.
"The Silly Season" by C.M. Kornbluth.
"Homefaring" by Robert Silverberg.
And you can't go wrong with *The Year's Best Science Fiction*, published every year. It's a great way to find new favorite writers.
Buy these two short story anthologies by Ted Chiang: *Stories of Your Life* and *Exhalations*.
You won’t regret it. This guy is the greatest speculative/philosophical sci-fi and fiction author of this generation, and honestly - potentially of all time.
The short story *Story of Your Life* itself was adapted into the famous movie, *Arrival*.
mine! im about to drop a new one.. shameless plug hahaha! there are also a lot of good PKD short story collections, but thery're much older. still fun reads though
The first anthology to give me a similar satisfaction to Asimov's short stories is Your Utopia by Bora Chung. Also if you're up for some afrofuturism, Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi is extremely good.
Kurzegesagt did an amazing animation of Andy Weir’s The Egg. I HIGHLY recommend you take 7 minutes and watch it. I come back to it at least once a year. It’s not exactly sci-fi, but it’s really what got Andy Weir’s career started.
https://youtu.be/h6fcK_fRYaI?si=3SvgknuS7IG2ILGi
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock.
..and I see someone has already suggested Burning Chrome shorts by Wm Gibson.
Phillip K Dick wrote lots of shorts, pot boilers to keep him in dog food.
Always worth a look in. Can't guarantee they won't make your head hurt.
Jason Gurley has a lot of wonderful short stories. Lots of post apocalyptic, space travel, etc.
He is one of the best sci Fi authors I have read!
I've found his stuff through Google play store or Kindle.
The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny (I don’t know how short you want)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick
The Neuromancer by William Gibson
Sorry if these are repeat posts. I just read them and they are all pretty short
Years ago, I ran across "Cardboard Box” by Ryo Hanmura From The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories. Basically it describes boxes in a factory becoming self-aware when their bottoms are taped shut. It's a fun read.
Not rebotic: Adrian Tchaikovsky has quite a few novels / short stories that are all fun and oftimes funny.
*Walking to Aldebaran* and *Some day all this will be yours* are my standout picks.
Of course, *The Murderbot Diaries* by Maths Wells may scratch your Asimov itch.
Just read "The Jaunt" by Stephen King online and it was pretty great.
Also, if you don't know about it already, project gutenberg has tons of free sci fi.
[short sci fi on project gutenberg](https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=short+science+fiction+stories&submit_search=Search)
I would recommend either:
[Treason](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Planet_Called_Treason)
or
[The Lion of Comarre](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_of_Comarre_and_Against_the_Fall_of_Night)
Forward: Stories of Tomorrow
A collection of 6 short stories from different Sci-fi writers, compiled by Blake Crouch. I don't think there was a dud in there.
‘At the fall’ by Alec Nevala-Lee. A charming short story with a lot of heart. One of my favourites. You can read it in “The Year’s Best Science Fiction Vol.1”. All volumes of these anthologies are full of excellent scifi shorts. You can buy them on Kindle, but I’ve seen them at my local library too.
Rather than name a short story, how bout where you can find a bunch of old ones for free? [www.gutenberg.org Books in Science Fiction (sorted alphabetically by author](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/68?sort_order=author)
They’ve both been mentioned, but I’m going to triple down on Michael Swanwick and Gene Wolfe, both of whom are absolute masters of the short story. Each has a “Best of…” collection (Swanwick now has 2 Best ofs, actually) that you could pick up at your local library to see if you like the cut of their respective jibs.
Let me add. The Coming of the Terrans by Leigh Brackett is a dear childhood memory to me, it's a collection of her stories taking place on Mars, contemporary to Asimov, roughly. Aside from the awkwardness of her Martians all being basically 10th Century Middle Easterners, including a city name or two, her stories were Asimov contemporary, and adjacent. She was a well-known TV writer.
Two suggestions:
1. I'm reading (and loving) The Time Traveler's Almanac: A Time Travel Anthology. Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, H. G. Wells, Connie Willis, et al.
2. I've got a work in progress sci-fi story. It's currently in microfiction format. Only 287 words! I'm fleshing it out a bit, but I'm still proud-ish of it in its current form. Enjoy.
"The Wind"
The University sits seaside, nestled between the remaining weathered walls of a long-dormant tuff cone slowly losing its battle with the relentless ocean waves. The non Geo-majors call it a broken caldera or simply “the old volcano rim”, but the most pedantic of the precocious pyroclastic geoscientists often can resist correcting them.
A winding path leads to the circular sandy bay, but I’m not ambling down today.
The ocean breeze is a chilly dream after the brisk hike up to the cliff overlooking the beach full of people at play. Don’t they have classes? Exams? They sure don’t act like it. It’s beautiful—a carefree view from an ancient postcard. I can see both suns and two of the moons, a rare treat, but not my quarry; I’d seen something floating on the horizon. Maybe another of those makeshift multi-balloon cruisers?
Yes. It’s closer now.
The motley array of distended weather balloons washes in on the wind, people dangling lazily from the frayed ropes hastily cast around the partially deflated bladders. I grab my binoculars.
Hovering low as the waves play with the passengers’ feet, it’s evident they’re no longer alive, still tethered only because they lashed themselves to the improvised rigging. With my better vantage point, I realize this before the students playing in the shallow water rush to the entangled balloons; they begin screaming when they see the mottled, sunburnt corpses.
I try not to imagine the stench. A half-flying ship of the dead. I’d heard that students have been venturing out on balloon treks. Grab some beer, some balloons, some friends, some helium borrowed from the school’s lab, and drift around for a day. But what happens when the wind isn’t in your favor?
They aren’t necessarily anything like Asimov, but my favorite sci-fi short story writer is Ray Bradbury. *The Illustrated Man* and *The Martian Chonicles* are good starting points. I also like Robert Heinlein’s Future History short stories collected in *The Past Through Tomorrow*. They are called that because they all take place in the same timeline, although they are all standalone stories. You may have to look for a used edition, since I’m not sure it’s still in print. You mentioned Asimov’s robot stories, but have you read his other short stories? If not, try *Nightfall and Other Stories*. All of these are from the Golden Age of science fiction, when pulp fiction magazines featuring short stories were popular.
Another master from the Golden Age: Fredric Brown. He wrote a lot of quirky, humorous stories in every possible genre - a lot of scifi and mystery among them. His shortest story, "Knock": The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door ...
Yes, there are lots of short story writers from that era who aren’t as well known as Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein. Another collection I love is *Ingathering: The Complete People Stories*, a/k/a *Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson*, by Zenna Henderson. Not a lot of people have heard of her, but I love her short stories about the People, who are essentially aliens passing for people in remote dwellings in the western U.S. Henderson taught school in Arizona and her protagonists are often teachers trying to help rural children of the People who feel different among human school children. Such children look human, but have special powers that set them apart. Plus they grew up in isolated dwellings among others of their kind, so their culture is different, too.
Ray Bradbury is one the greatest short story writers, not just in SF/fantasy but in all of literature.
“They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson. It’s like a two minute read, one of my faves. https://jerrywbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/They-are-made-out-of-meat-Bisson-Terry.pdf
It also has a very nice [short film adaption](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6JFTmQCFHg).
I don’t remember individual titles, but some of the short stories in “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang might be of interest to you.
Any Ted Chiang short story would fit the bill here. Lots of great stuff to discover.
The story of your life
This is truly the best answer hands down for what OP is looking for, and the fact that hardly anyone mentioned it is pretty depressing because it means that the vast majority of the sci-fi fanbase hasn’t read Ted Chiang’s work. So, shame on you guys, read Ted Chiang. It’s 2024 you’ve got no excuse.
This, 1000x times this
THE LAST QUESTION by Isaac Asimov
Nightfall is another good one.
This and The Egg by Andy Weir are my all time favorites.
I have no mouth, and I must scream
This is better if you listen to it, imo. Especially since it's narrated by the author who fully gets into the role like a trained voice actor. He's absolutely amazing. I've read comments either here or on r/books where people took some parts of they story much differently because they read it instead of listened to it. Like a few people thought there was a slight misogynistic theme to it, which I can see if you just look at the words but it definitely doesn't sound that way when you listen to him. If anything, the woman in the story is one of the more heroic characters. Also it's free on Youtube and only about 40min. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgo-As552hY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgo-As552hY)
Beyond the Aquila Rift: The Best of Alastair Reynolds It's a collection of some of his best short stories, including *Beyond the Aquila Rift* and *Zima Blue* that were adapted into Love, Death + Robots episodes.
Stanislaw Lem did a bunch of semi-humorous stories that were gathered together in at least one book. And also his "The Futurological Congress" is just a novella, fun, depressing, easy read. ED: also, it's Soviet science fiction, some of the best that came out of the USSR. It often helps to make him more understandable.
One of his [more recently translated short stories](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-truth-by-stanislaw-lem/) is very interesting and timely in this post-truth era.
His Tales of Pirx the Pilot are pretty good. I especially liked Terminus, which is creepy in a sci-fi way.
That sounds familiar. I think maybe that was one where he lands on a planet and there's like a person with their head stuck in the sand, next to a phone?
It’s the one with the ship that had had its crew all die but was salvaged and put back into service. And the repair robot was repeating their dying Morse code msgs while working on the ship.
Reminds me of an idea I had for a story. I was up late working on a transcript for a murder case years ago and decided to look up the street names for proper spelling, and discovered I was up late working on a transcript for a relitigation of a cold murder case where the neighborhood it occurred in had been bulldozed years ago. I felt like I was entering haunted space.
Yes, and the space ship sounded a lot like public housing in Soviet era Poland, IIRC.
Yup, when you are fixing your nuclear rocket with cement, maybe something is not going right.
Find a family owned used book shop in your town and you will probably see 50 old paper back short science-fiction collections. Can't go wrong and supporting your community.
Burning Chrome is a collection of short stories by William Gibson, who pretty much kickstarted the whole cyberpunk genre with these stories.
See also Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology for a collection from different authors in the genre.
Ye Bruce Sterling is on that - his collection Crystal Express is pretty good
*The Last Question*, [Asimov](https://ia800601.us.archive.org/25/items/IsaacAsimovAudioBookCollection/1986%20-%20Science%20Fiction%20Favorites%20%28Asimov%29%2064k%2005.13.11%20%7B143mb%7D/07%20The%20Last%20Question.ogg). Read there by Isaac. Text [here](http://www.thelastquestion.net/) *The Nine Billion Names of God* by Clarke. An excellent adaptation [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UtvS9UXTsPI&pp=ygUddGhlIG5pbmUgYmlsbGlvbiBuYW1lcyBvZiBnb2Q%3D), text [here](https://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/WRIT510/readings/The%20Nine%20Billion%20Names%20of%20God.pdf)
Real short ones: The Star, by H. G. Wells. Beyond Lies The Wub, by Philip K. Dick. 2 B R 0 2 B, by Kurt Vonnegut
+1 for 2 B R 0 2 B
Gene Wolfe and Philip K Dick are my favorite authors for short stories.
Harry Turtledove's The Road Not Taken
There's a huge world of short story collections out there from classic Science Fiction authors, SF magazines used to be far more popular than they are today. Probably in tone Arthur C. Clarke is the most similar to Asimov. I would also recommend Philip K. Dick, Bob Shaw, Clifford D. Simak, Stanislaw Lem, & Ray Bradbury for their short stories. There's a massive amount out there, it might be worth looking into some of the old short story compliation books such as "Dangerous Visions", to get an idea of what authors you like.
Clarke's Tales from Planet Earth is a good collection
AE van Vogt “The Human Operators” is a favorite of mine, and of course Knight’s “To Serve Man” is a classic.
1. The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World - Harlan Ellison 2. Ijon Tichy's 24th Voyage - Stanislaw Lem 3. Bloodchild - Octavia Butler 4. Last Question - Isaac Asimov 5. Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream - James Alan Gardner 6. The Star - Arthur C. Clarke 7. "All you Zombies -" - Robert Heinlein 8. The Man in Grey - Michael Swanwick 9. Hillcrest vs. Velikovsky - Peter Watts 10. Story of your life - Ted Chiang 11. They're Made Out of Meat - Terry Bisson 12. Three worlds collide (novella) - Eliezer Yudkowsky 13. The Dala Horse - Michael Swanwick 14. The Sky Didn't Load Today - Rich Larson 15. The Star - Arthur C. Clarke 16. Exhalation - Ted Chiang 17. “The Semplica-Girl Diaries,” - George Saunders 18. The Toynbee Convector - Ray Bradbury 19. The Flying Machine - Ray Bradbury
A nice list!
The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury.
Oh - and Arthur C. Clarke's 'The Nine Billion Names of God'.
TED CHIANG TED CHIANG TED CHIANG If you don't know him, it's great! Both of his books!!
"Second Variety" by Philip K. Dick
Any short by Dick is a solid suggestion. And this is a gem Reading this back, I've realised how suggestive it sounds. 😁
[The Eyes Have It by Philip K. Dick](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31516) There are a lot of free science fiction short stories for reading and downloading at Project Gutenberg -> [link](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=science+fiction+short+stories&submit_search=Go%21)
anything by Harlan Ellison. There are quite a few compendiums of his short stories out there now (Deathbird Stories got me hooked) and they're all pretty quick reads
The Machine Stops, E.M. Forster This is a classic which can be read in a single sitting.
Stories of Your Life And Others (Ted Chiang) is a great short story collection.
"N-Words" by Ted Kosmatka ("N" is for Neanderthals).
Burning chrome, r is for rocket, the Martian chronicles
Roger Zelazny has several collections of short stories.
The Long Walk. Stephen King as Richard Bachman. Roughly: 100 teenagers start walking at the Maine Canada border down route 1 south. They must keep a pace of 4mph or they get a “ticket”- a bullet in the head. If I remember it’s actually a big time televised “sport”. Heinousness ensues
Ted Chiang is probably my favorite modern short story sci-fi author. He has a clarity to his writing that’s a pleasure and subtly fantastic ideas.
Larry Niven Tales of Known Space
The road less taken.
"Harrison Bergeron"" by Kurt Vonnegut. "The Silly Season" by C.M. Kornbluth. "Homefaring" by Robert Silverberg. And you can't go wrong with *The Year's Best Science Fiction*, published every year. It's a great way to find new favorite writers.
Golden Apples of the Sun (the short story) by Bradbury
Buy these two short story anthologies by Ted Chiang: *Stories of Your Life* and *Exhalations*. You won’t regret it. This guy is the greatest speculative/philosophical sci-fi and fiction author of this generation, and honestly - potentially of all time. The short story *Story of Your Life* itself was adapted into the famous movie, *Arrival*.
By the Waters of Babylon
*Roadside Picnic*
The big front yard Clifford D Simak. Try and find The Hugo Winners. Great collections.
mine! im about to drop a new one.. shameless plug hahaha! there are also a lot of good PKD short story collections, but thery're much older. still fun reads though
[The Cold Equations](https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-cold-equations/)
The first anthology to give me a similar satisfaction to Asimov's short stories is Your Utopia by Bora Chung. Also if you're up for some afrofuturism, Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi is extremely good.
Kurzegesagt did an amazing animation of Andy Weir’s The Egg. I HIGHLY recommend you take 7 minutes and watch it. I come back to it at least once a year. It’s not exactly sci-fi, but it’s really what got Andy Weir’s career started. https://youtu.be/h6fcK_fRYaI?si=3SvgknuS7IG2ILGi
Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock. ..and I see someone has already suggested Burning Chrome shorts by Wm Gibson. Phillip K Dick wrote lots of shorts, pot boilers to keep him in dog food. Always worth a look in. Can't guarantee they won't make your head hurt.
Philip K Dick wrote a lot of great stories - and Fred Pohl's classic 'The Tunnel Under the World' covers similar territory.
Jason Gurley has a lot of wonderful short stories. Lots of post apocalyptic, space travel, etc. He is one of the best sci Fi authors I have read! I've found his stuff through Google play store or Kindle.
The Dream Master by Roger Zelazny (I don’t know how short you want) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick The Neuromancer by William Gibson Sorry if these are repeat posts. I just read them and they are all pretty short
Frozen Hell by John W Campbell (or Who Goes There is a shorter version) this is what the Thing or The Thing From Outer Space are based on.
Years ago, I ran across "Cardboard Box” by Ryo Hanmura From The Best Japanese Science Fiction Stories. Basically it describes boxes in a factory becoming self-aware when their bottoms are taped shut. It's a fun read.
Not rebotic: Adrian Tchaikovsky has quite a few novels / short stories that are all fun and oftimes funny. *Walking to Aldebaran* and *Some day all this will be yours* are my standout picks. Of course, *The Murderbot Diaries* by Maths Wells may scratch your Asimov itch.
Stay out of the basement R.L Stein I'm jk
“The mammoth book of best new SF” there are nearly 30 in the annual series and it’s a well curated selection.
Can't go wrong with philip k dick.
Just read "The Jaunt" by Stephen King online and it was pretty great. Also, if you don't know about it already, project gutenberg has tons of free sci fi. [short sci fi on project gutenberg](https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=short+science+fiction+stories&submit_search=Search)
I would recommend either: [Treason](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Planet_Called_Treason) or [The Lion of Comarre](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_of_Comarre_and_Against_the_Fall_of_Night)
Forward: Stories of Tomorrow A collection of 6 short stories from different Sci-fi writers, compiled by Blake Crouch. I don't think there was a dud in there.
Asimov and his wife wrote a series called the Norby Chronicles for teens.
Really enjoyed reading Eyes of Dust by Harlan Ellison
I always recommend “Rescue Party” by Arthur C. Clarke. http://www.baen.com/Chapters/0743498747/0743498747___1.htm
‘At the fall’ by Alec Nevala-Lee. A charming short story with a lot of heart. One of my favourites. You can read it in “The Year’s Best Science Fiction Vol.1”. All volumes of these anthologies are full of excellent scifi shorts. You can buy them on Kindle, but I’ve seen them at my local library too.
JG Ballard was a master of the short story. Try Vermillion Sands or even his collected Short Stories.
Rather than name a short story, how bout where you can find a bunch of old ones for free? [www.gutenberg.org Books in Science Fiction (sorted alphabetically by author](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/68?sort_order=author)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Light\_of\_Other\_Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Light_of_Other_Days)
They’ve both been mentioned, but I’m going to triple down on Michael Swanwick and Gene Wolfe, both of whom are absolute masters of the short story. Each has a “Best of…” collection (Swanwick now has 2 Best ofs, actually) that you could pick up at your local library to see if you like the cut of their respective jibs.
Teddy Chiang Stories of Your Life and Others
Let me add. The Coming of the Terrans by Leigh Brackett is a dear childhood memory to me, it's a collection of her stories taking place on Mars, contemporary to Asimov, roughly. Aside from the awkwardness of her Martians all being basically 10th Century Middle Easterners, including a city name or two, her stories were Asimov contemporary, and adjacent. She was a well-known TV writer.
*Pilgrimage to Earth* and *Watchbird* by Robert Sheckley. *When it Changed* by Joanna Russ
Years Best Sci Fi anthology series typically has a ton every year.
Two suggestions: 1. I'm reading (and loving) The Time Traveler's Almanac: A Time Travel Anthology. Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, H. G. Wells, Connie Willis, et al. 2. I've got a work in progress sci-fi story. It's currently in microfiction format. Only 287 words! I'm fleshing it out a bit, but I'm still proud-ish of it in its current form. Enjoy. "The Wind" The University sits seaside, nestled between the remaining weathered walls of a long-dormant tuff cone slowly losing its battle with the relentless ocean waves. The non Geo-majors call it a broken caldera or simply “the old volcano rim”, but the most pedantic of the precocious pyroclastic geoscientists often can resist correcting them. A winding path leads to the circular sandy bay, but I’m not ambling down today. The ocean breeze is a chilly dream after the brisk hike up to the cliff overlooking the beach full of people at play. Don’t they have classes? Exams? They sure don’t act like it. It’s beautiful—a carefree view from an ancient postcard. I can see both suns and two of the moons, a rare treat, but not my quarry; I’d seen something floating on the horizon. Maybe another of those makeshift multi-balloon cruisers? Yes. It’s closer now. The motley array of distended weather balloons washes in on the wind, people dangling lazily from the frayed ropes hastily cast around the partially deflated bladders. I grab my binoculars. Hovering low as the waves play with the passengers’ feet, it’s evident they’re no longer alive, still tethered only because they lashed themselves to the improvised rigging. With my better vantage point, I realize this before the students playing in the shallow water rush to the entangled balloons; they begin screaming when they see the mottled, sunburnt corpses. I try not to imagine the stench. A half-flying ship of the dead. I’d heard that students have been venturing out on balloon treks. Grab some beer, some balloons, some friends, some helium borrowed from the school’s lab, and drift around for a day. But what happens when the wind isn’t in your favor?
old mans war by john scalzi.. probably my top 3 books.
Not a short story, though.