What are some short stories or novels (probably in the fantasy genre, but not necessarily) with the most awesome, clever, and/or thought-provoking depictions and conceptions of magic?
posted by shivohum
on Oct 22, 2010 -
40 answers
It's a science fiction short story, from a collection. The main character finds a weird piece of technology in a store or something and works out that it's a video recording from the future. They watch it and it's a police advisory warning of 'Smoots' who can travel in time.
The narrator gets a little freaked but puts a notice in a newspaper seeking 'smoots.. no spoofs'. The tale ends on a Lovecraftian note with a figure in a long coat outside the door.
There's a character in the story called 'High Space Dick Hagger' which is what I remembered (because come on, it's awesome).
I vaguely think it might be Sheckley... but it's not quite witty enough. Help me metafilter!
posted by Sebmojo
on Oct 20, 2010 -
2 answers
About two years back, I was traveling and picked up a huge book of short stories in a hostel. They were all by the same author, and for the most part, they were Roald Dahl-esque, intricately plotted, fast moving, usually violent or crimeish short stories with an elaborate twist at the end. However, one of the stories was a lovely departure from the others, and I'd like help identifying it.
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posted by Ideal Impulse
on Aug 25, 2010 -
8 answers
Help me identify a dimly remembered short story... A scientist has created or evolved a race of tiny super intelligent creatures. By setting cruel puzzles for them (such as a descending weight that threatens to crush them) he gets them to invent things for him, one of which was a super strong material made out of banana peel. It most likely ends badly for the scientist.
posted by Artw
on Aug 4, 2010 -
6 answers
Does anyone have any venue suggestions for trying to publish a really gross short story?
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posted by anonymous
on Jul 30, 2010 -
7 answers
Please help me ID a short science fiction story. Space tragedy, Spanish names, and revenge.
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posted by wzcx
on Jul 16, 2010 -
4 answers
Inspired by a recent question, I'm looking for a sci-fi story I read many years ago - bits i remember : guy put in some form of hibernation after the-end-of-the-world, robot looking after him, re-seeding life on Earth from grass seeds in his clothes, probably from some kind of young adult collection, the robots colonise the galaxy.
posted by curious_yellow
on Jul 5, 2010 -
2 answers
I'll shortly be teaching a unit of work to senior high school students titled "Navigating the Global". I'm after short stories, preferably available for free online, that deal with the themes of global vs local culture.
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posted by robotot
on Jul 1, 2010 -
10 answers
What is the name of this really disturbing science fiction short story? (potentially NSFW description)
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posted by brundlefly
on Jun 25, 2010 -
14 answers
Raymond Carver wrote a story in which a character writes a novel, or a story, about and/or titled "The beast that ate Cleveland," or something.
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posted by From Bklyn
on Jun 25, 2010 -
6 answers
Short story about a man who brings Tefillin (phylacteries) on a date and ends up using them as bondage gear?
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posted by milestogo
on Jun 17, 2010 -
6 answers
I need help finding this short story I read in 5th grade, around 1985. It was a sci-fi time travel story, possibly written for a middle grade/YA audience, and it was anthologized in a school textbook/reader.
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posted by suburbanbeatnik
on Jun 11, 2010 -
2 answers
Trying to track down a kid's sci-fi short story about a girl whose neighbour was an alien who could detach and 'fix' body parts.
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posted by Paragon
on May 12, 2010 -
6 answers
I'm looking for some Sci-fi to read, but I have some pretty specific requests: Short stories, bold endings. More inside.
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posted by GilloD
on May 7, 2010 -
31 answers
I have published two short stories in my life, and that was twenty, and twenty-five years ago. Do I mention these in my cover letter to the fiction editor? I mean, yes, it
is my publication history, and as it happens, both journals still exist, but this is still ancient history. To complicate matters, one of these stories was published under my married name, which I am no longer using. I have never mentioned the dates of publication in my cover letters so far, of course. I'm just wondering if editors check up on these things in some way that could easily leave me looking like a liar.
posted by uans
on Mar 16, 2010 -
15 answers
I'd like to re-read this short story and other work by this author: I think this was collected in Best American Short Stories or O Henry short story collection, probably the past fifteen years. A great story, tight writing, great characters, fast pace: Cool-headed young man, Irish heritage, gutsy adventurer, stone-cold in face of danger, and danger abounds in this story, as he's running drugs on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. Drugs purchased with money he borrowed from his sister on some pretext or other.
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posted by dancestoblue
on Mar 9, 2010 -
3 answers
Charlotte, NC, transplant writer (involuntarily amateur) looking for a writing circle/critique group/community of writers.
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posted by Scattercat
on Feb 28, 2010 -
1 answer
Identify an old sci-fi short story - unstoppable robot slowly hunting a man across wilderness?
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posted by Leud
on Jan 3, 2010 -
9 answers
'New Yorker' short story posted in the last year, or the last few years, about a man who lives with the ghost of his parents. Link?
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posted by caveat
on Dec 28, 2009 -
4 answers
Does anybody know the title of a short science fiction story about the male population going mad and killing all the females ?
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posted by Pendragon
on Dec 27, 2009 -
8 answers
Sci-fiShortStoryFilter: A generation ship on a long-term voyage slowly forgets the purpose of its mission and begins to interpret the mission control manual and previous captain's logs as religious works, and cease working toward their target.
Basically all other details I've forgotten, and I'm pretty sure it's not "Thirteen to Centaurus" by JG Ballard that I'm thinking of.
posted by palindromic
on Dec 14, 2009 -
29 answers
I'm trying to find a short sci-fi story I read over 10 years ago that I barely remember. It may have involved some or all of the following: bicycle repair, ripe banana smelling bacteria used as deodorant and anti-libido medication.
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posted by jrishel
on Nov 19, 2009 -
7 answers
Please help me remember the title and author of a short story I read maybe 15 years ago. A handicapped woman, living with her sister and her sister's family, sees a man in church she feels quite sure is the devil. In order to get away from him, she struggles to regain the physical independence she had given up. (She had gone into a wheelchair because walking was possible, but too painful.) She does manage to become self-sufficient enough to move out on her own--and then wonders if it was worth it, after all. I am almost sure the author was Italian. Can anyone help?
posted by uans
on Nov 16, 2009 -
0 answers
Help me find this short story that I read in 8th grade 20 years ago. It's about a prisoner who finds the entrance to a tunnel in his jail cell and crawls all the way down...
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posted by yawper
on Nov 1, 2009 -
4 answers
In the early 1980s, Starlog magazine ran a column called Quest that featured readers' artistic submissions. To this day, I still recall a story called "Bomb Run," which dealt with an Enola Gay-style bombing of an alien planet. Did anyone else read this story, and if so, do you know where can I find it online or at least learn the author's name?
posted by nightengine
on Oct 14, 2009 -
2 answers
please help identify this short story...I believe I would have read this in the 80's. There was a team of psychic investigators, and they are called to look into strange events (unexplained accidents?) on a section of highway. In the end it turns out that cumulative spiritual energy of roadkill animals is somehow striking back/rising up, and there is an exorcism of some sort. Then they hear about the bus full of dangerous inmates which has crashed...(implying that the aftereffects will be horrific)
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posted by maryrussell
on Sep 20, 2009 -
3 answers
Name this short story about an immigrant student working as a babysitter for an American professor.
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posted by Bizurke
on Sep 9, 2009 -
3 answers
Short story cover letters: How do I indicate I have actually read the journal I am submitting to , or do I do so, at all? I am a Canadian who wants to publish short fiction in the far larger market in the U.S. Every literary journal’s submission guidelines urge you to read at least one copy of their magazine before submitting.
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posted by uans
on Sep 8, 2009 -
16 answers
What are some short stories/myths etc. with a sole female protagonist for film adaptation?
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posted by breadfruit
on Aug 22, 2009 -
6 answers
Anyone recognize this short story about a journalist who wants to learn what it's like to be on Death Row? It's NOT by Roald Dahl.
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posted by web-goddess
on Jul 19, 2009 -
6 answers
SFShortStoryFilter: Looking for a short(ish) story I must have read in one of the more popular SF anthologies about a human race of nigh-immortals spread out through several verses.
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posted by tigrrrlily
on Jun 27, 2009 -
6 answers
Please explain what happened in Edna O'Brien's short story "Old Wounds", published in the June 8-15 issue of the New Yorker (
link).
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posted by medusa
on Jun 12, 2009 -
5 answers
Help me remember the name of this short story I read in a humor anthology in the late 70's. I remember the title as "A Visit to the Cream-Puff Factory," but all my attempts to find it again have been unsuccessful.
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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo
on May 21, 2009 -
2 answers
After looking everywhere and which a way, I am at a loss. I am looking for a short story with a near future high tech anarchy as background-- something that resembles David Brin's concept of
The Transparent Society, Utopian Version, where every body knows everybody else's business--as opposed to, say, Police Surveillance State On Steroids Big Time where Big Brother knows your business and location as in
1984 meets The Minority Report.
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posted by y2karl
on Mar 10, 2009 -
11 answers
"What science fiction short story is this?" filter. One story about body switching/different perceptions, and another about mindreading.
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posted by anthy
on Feb 25, 2009 -
10 answers
"ID this short story" Filter: Story about a storyteller toy à la Teddy Ruxpin who is discarded by its owners after they receive a new model.
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posted by infinitewindow
on Jan 10, 2009 -
6 answers
Can you help identify a short story read on NPR on or around x-mas day 2007, about a poor white family helping out a poor black family, probably out west, probably in the 1930s?
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posted by chr1sb0y
on Dec 24, 2008 -
4 answers
I feel like I should know this one but Google has failed me.
I recall reading a Sci-Fi-like story about a group of children who were only allowed to play outside in the sun for one day a year. I can't remember if the lived underground or if it rained all of the time. I just remember that there was only one day they could enjoy being outside. Does anyone know the name or author of the story?
posted by extraheavymarcellus
on Dec 11, 2008 -
6 answers
"ID this SF story" filter: I read this story in middle school out of a scifi anthology. It was about a human soldier who was launched into space in a capsule with an onboard computer, containing all the knowledge of the Earth, as well as enough supplies to last him indefinitely.
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posted by wayofthedodo
on Dec 1, 2008 -
6 answers
