The science fiction genre has some of the most amazing novels I have read. But short science fiction stories are often forgotten and overlooked. That is why we will be looking at the 25 best sci-fi short stories of all time!
There are many classic and iconic sci-fi short stories and more people should read them. The thing is, they don’t make lists because short stories are often neglected. We will correct that mistake by focusing solely on short stories.
Most of these authors are well know and beloved by millions such as H. G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke. They are just some of the many popular authors who have written an amazing short sci-fi story over the centuries. You can see the full list below!
The 25 Best Sci-fi Short Stories
- The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1895)
- Nightfall by Isaac Asimov (1941)
- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (1948)
- There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury (1950)
- The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury (1951)
- The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
- All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein (1958)
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1959)
- 2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut (1962)
- We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick 1966
- When It Changed by Joanna Russ (1972)
- The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin (1973)
- The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon
- Sandkings by George R. R. Martin (1979)
- Burning Chrome by William Gibson (1982)
- Fire Watch by Connie Willis (1984)
- Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler (1984)
- Swarm by Bruce Sterling (1982)
- I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqeline Harpman (1995)
- Cloud of Poems by Cixin Liu (1997)
- The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu (2011)
- Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience TM by Rebecca Roanhorse (2017)
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017)
- The Ones Who Stay and Fight by N. K. Jemisin (2020)
- Lena by qntm (2021)
These are 25 of the best sci-fi short stories of all time and don’t cover this neglected form of books. After reading some of them, you’ll end up going down a rabbit hole and discovering even more amazing sci-fi short stories. How many of these short stories from this list have you read or plan to read? Let us know in the comments below!
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Two of my favorites: Harrison Bergeron – Kurt Vonnegut, and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream – Harlan Ellison
I came here to add exactly this! I Have No Mouth hugely influenced me.
Flowers for Algernon made a huge impact on me when I was very young. So did the stories in Asimov’s Tomorrow’s Children.
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is memorable and amazing. It’ll activate your conscience. A sci-fi story I love that isn’t on this list is Space-Time for Springers by Fritz Leiber.
The Ones Who Stay and Fight was written in response to The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, I believe.
Thanks for the list! Love sci-fi but never got around to read short stories. Now I know where to start.
Actually a decent list. I admire short story writers. I find big novels easy to plot and plan, but delivering impact in a few pages is a great skill.
I’ll consider a couple of these to read.
It’s been a while since I’ve read these…might have to go back and read them again!
Thanks for sharing your list. I will definitely check out the ones I’ve not read
you just fucking copied this list from New Scientist!!!!!