Top Ten Best Science Fiction Short Story Collections

My experience with writing short stories is that until you write a short story, you writing is much weaker than it should be. The requirement for a set number of words requires a writer to think about exactly what they want to say, without a lot of fluff around it. This is why, I think, that many of the best known science fiction novels appear in short story collections. So, here's my take on where to find who the best science fiction writer's are, based on their ability to write a good short story. One thing I can say about these collections is that you will find me repeating, I like some of the stories better than the author's novels. I included a couple that are fantasy and horror collections because many people view science fiction as the title for the entire set of genres : fantasy, horror, science fiction, and suspense.

Currently Reading Classics of Science Fiction Short Story Collections

Recently, a bunch of classics of science fiction were released on Kindle Reader. Since I was getting ready to head out on vacation with a limit of 33 lbs in my luggage, I decided to try the install of the Kindle Reader onto the Dell Mini I bought because it weighed only 3 lbs. This will save me porting the dozen or more novels I take on my trip and provide me hours of reading, all for under the usual price of one novel including stories by . These are the "fathers" of the science fiction genre. Ones that I picked up include The Golden Age of Science Fiction Volume I and Volume II, and A Cornucopia of the Science Fiction from the 30s, 50s and 60s, all costing under $10.

Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury

Pick any one of the Ray Bradbury collections; you'll likely find yourself walking on some far off planet, finding strange effects created by technology, battling off predators, or hearing the eerie call of some dead civilization. If you pick one of the collections, make sure it has There Will Come Soft Rains like The Stories of Ray Bradbury from Everyman's Library.

Vacuum Diagrams by Stephen Baxter

I wasn't much of a Stephen Baxter fan when I started writing science fiction, but my advisers pushed me to read the hard science fiction stories and I surprised myself by taking Stephen Baxter's as sort of a guide to what is real in the genre. The reason I like these is that much of the fun of science fiction-outer space imagery--aliens, fast ships, and battles--are combined around a central science concept that is easily understood. My favorites are the tale of a young girl growing up, fast called Lieserl, Cilia-of-Gold, which tells the tale of an ice creature, and More than Time or Distance, which involves a battle where the XeeLee (main enemy of the humans) actually aid a human.

We Think Therefore We Are edited by Peter Crowther

One of the reasons I like this collection is that the human connection to computers and from there into any automated machinery and to the developing understanding of the way humans think, all are greatly responsible for the prevalence of science fiction stories that deal with these topics. Expect to be the mind at the control of a spaceship or to wonder if you are you, or human or machine.

The Year's Best Science Fiction by Gardner Dozois

They come out pretty regularly and you get to have Gardner Dozois' "state of the market" overview, along with stories selected from many of the science fiction magazines. Most of the writers are on the who's who list of science fiction writers.

At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft

Any of the short story collections by are worth a read, any some of them are found online like at DagonBytes.com. I selected this collection because I like the title story. At the Mountains of Madness is mixed horror and science fiction, and told by a scientist that is investigating signs of life in the Antarctic and ancient beings. Other stories by HP Lovecraft feature investigations into the unknown, creepy, alien, and are told by characters that have a scientific bent.

L. Ron Hubbard's Writer's of the FutureWinning Contest Short Story Collections

The L. Ron Hubbard Writer's of the Future stories are fun reads and the top winners of the quarterly contest. The judges are pretty good at picking great stories including some like Jay Lake that go on to publish many novels. But what I like best in these are some of the essays on writing science fiction and on writing including Orson Scott Card on "Are We at the End of Science Fiction" and "Seven Keys to Writing Success" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

The Phases of the Moon, Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg

These stories felt like ones I'd read before and probably had. I like them better than some of his novels. Expect tales of nuclear destruction, competition with aliens, weird events and the attempt to communicate with aliens.

Philip K. Dick Reader

Philip K. Dick is best known for stories of his that were turned into movies such as Minority Report and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Most are fun, action packed, some quite devious and very thoughtful.

CosmiComics by Italo Calvino

Most of Italo Calvino's stories are a bit fantastic, short, and sweet with a wry edge. I picked CosmicComics because it contains space stories for real and space stories that were about space metaphorically. Other collections like The Castle of Crossed Destinies are more fantasy oriented; these use tarot cards to form the tales.

This is My Funniest Volume I and II edited by Mike Resnick

These short stories all have their humorous aspects and range across the genre, some fantasy, some horror, some science fiction. Many of the writers are well-known and you probably will be surprised to read a story with some humor from some of these. Expect time travel, fairies, poking fun at writers, editors and literary figures.