A mother dog sets out on a perilous journey to save the runt of her litter. This is an interesting post-apocalyptic story as seen from the perspective of dogs who have taken…
Tag: science fiction
“Travel Guide to Spaceport Rest Stops” by Seoung Kim
An interplanetary smuggler reviews rest stops and evades the Undying Priesthood. This is a quick, fun story framed as a series of blog posts about various rest stops before becoming the story…
“In the Space of 12 Minutes” by James Yu
While his wife is on a mission to Mars, an astronomer is assigned an android replica of her, which develops its own ambitions when both are making world-changing discoveries. This story starts…
“Motel Architecture” by J. G. Ballard
A man who lives alone, surrounded by television screens, is troubled by an intruder. The story itself wasn’t terribly surprising, but the premise felt weirdly prescient – replace the television screens with…
“The Great Silence” by Ted Chiang
A parrot explains the Fermi Paradox. Less a story than a meditation and thought experiment, this piece raises many more questions than it answers: why do we search for intelligent life in…
“Prima Belladonna” by J.G. Ballard
A mysterious singer wreaks havoc on a shop that sells musical plants. This story feels about a decade ahead of its time, much closer in tone to the “Dangerous Visions”-era “new wave”…
“The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang
In parallel stories, a young man in mid-20th century Nigeria struggles to reconcile the oral culture he was born into with the literate culture introduced by European colonialism, and a man in…
“Omphalos” by Ted Chiang
A scientist in a world where all of nature points to proof of God’s hand in creation finds her faith shaken by a discovery that suggests that Earth was not the center…
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang
A merchant tells several stories, including his own, about a gate in Baghdad that lets one visit, but not alter, the past and the future. This is a fascinating and sometimes baroque…
“What’s Expected Of Us” by Ted Chiang
A toy triggered by future actions proves that there is no free will, resulting in despair and catatonia. Less a story than a thought experiment with terrible implications; and it’s more than…