Ten SFF short stories and stories that are short

Short stories... I don't like short stories... Mainly it's because I read too fast: I barely have time to get into the story that it's over. It's a bit like going to a gastronomic restaurant when you haven't eaten for two days.
But sometimes, however short, a story grabs you and the world and characters it depicts remain with you for a long long time.
So, there. I don't like short stories and stories that are short, except when I like them.
Those are all short stories (and two novellas.. and two anthologies) I've read and liked in the past twelve months or so, and, as usual, they are by chronological order.

1. Harlan Ellison, "A Boy and his dog", 1969.
Dystopia. Apocalypse and Post Apocalypse.
This novella chilled me to the heart when I read it last year for the first time and I couldn't not talk about it. In a post apocalyptic urban world, Vic lives with his telepathic dog, Blood. Vic is mainly concerned about food and sex. He tracks a woman to rape her but it doesn't turn up the way he expected.
It is a violent story, and though it has plenty in terms of gore, to me its violence is mainly ethical and moral. But it's remarkably well written, up to the last sentences, that will leave you gasping in case you weren't shocked already.

2. Ted Chiang, "Story of your life", in Stories of your life and others, 1998.
Science fiction.
How to sum up a short story that in more ways than one refuses linearity? Maybe someone cleverer than me can do it. I won't try also because I think it'd defeat the purpose of the short story itself. Mainly, there are aliens, but they're almost a side show. It's also about the love of a mother for her daughter. It's also about time. And it's a lot about linguistics, and about a language and a written language that will make a lot of sense to dyslexic readers. But above all else, it's an amazing and beautiful short story. It formed the basis of the film Arrival, but (surprise, surprise...) I much prefer the short story.

3. Vandana Singh, "Delhi", in So Long Been Dreaming (edited by Nalo Hopkinson), 2004.
Science-Fiction. Own Voices.
In Delhi, a drifter can see and interact with people from the past and future Delhi. He has been told his fate is linked to a woman he's been looking for ever since.
This short story is one of the many very good in So Long Been Dreaming, a post-colonial short story anthology with writers such as Nnedi Okorafor or Karin Lowachee. As often with Singh, the writing is impeccable. It has echoes of The Time Machine but the very urban setting of it was a real appeal to me. It's a great introduction to Singh's writing too.

4. Amal El-Mohtar, "And their lips rang with the sun", published on Strange Horizons, 2009.
Fantasy.
An old woman tells a passing stranger of the Sun dancers of her city and begins the tale of one of them, Lam, who stopped the Sun from rising.
The story is very short, a few minutes read. But it is among the most poetic short stories I've ever read. The writing has the cadence of Khalil Gibran's poetry and the narrative reminds of ancient tales with love at the heart of it. At the risk of being far off the mark in my interpretation, I would say it's the anti-The Fall by Camus.

5. Jessica Amanda Salmonson, "Being Lost Viewed as a Virus Viewed as an Angel Lost in the Molecular Structure of the Human Gene", The Eleventh Jaguarundi, 2011.
Fantasy.
The whole collection isn't that SFF-ey, but oh boy! What a writing style! Salmonson considers herself a surrealist, but I actually saw more of Aloysius Bertrand and his prose poetry rather than any surrealist writing (... but it's a compliment coming from me.)
"Being Lost Viewed..." is probably the short story that impressed me the most from the collection, dealing with themes of identity and self, in an allegorical landscape, with mythical hints, weirdness, and an incredible sense of prose.

6. Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie, 2011.
Science-fiction, Fantasy.
The Paper Menagerie is probably one of the most acclaimed short stories collections published so far in the 2010s and as soon as you start reading it, it's pretty obvious why. With stories ranging from scifi to fantasy, from the strange to the comical, it is a delightful read for anyone who like SFF with striking concepts (I particularly loved the ice cube soul) and a confident and flowing prose.

7. Usman Malik, "The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn", published on tor.com, 2015.
Fantasy.
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" is a beautiful novella that'd deserve a publication of its own. It tells the story of Salman, whose family came from Lahore to the USA, and who is told of the story of a pauper princess his grandfather knew. Salman finds himself unravelling family secrets to reach the truth. The writing is often stunning ("chiaroscuric anatomies"... Beautiful!) and the story tells of worlds changing, cultural changes, and the eternal quest of human beings for something greater than themselves.
After reading it, I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Malik's writing. And since it's free to read, you should definitely hit that link a couple of lines above.
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" won the 2017 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella.

8. Juliet McKenna, Shadow histories of the River Kingdom, 2016.
Fantasy.
Shadow Histories of the River Kingdom is a collection of short stories and a novella, all related by the setting: a city and its surroundings in which some people have a hidden magical power to manipulate shadows to create people and creatures. As usual with McKenna's work the characterisation is very well done, with an emphasis on common people and a fair share of tense moments. All the short stories can be read independently but are part of the whole, with recurring characters. It makes it the perfect read for someone who likes fiction in a short format but also enjoys diving into a fantasy world.

9. Aliette de Bodard, "Lullaby for a lost world", available on tor.com, 2016.
Fantasy. Apocalypse and Post Apocalypse.
We won't know much about her world. Just a few hints here and there that beyond the walls, the world is collapsing. But within the walls, everything is fine. Some girls are dying though. And she is dead.
This short story can leave you frustrated, because it's extremely well written, taut like a fine bowstring and gives you only tantalising hints of a broader intriguing world. On the other hand, it's its shortness that makes it unforgettable: the story of the first person narrator is gripping and you soon find yourself completely lost in her thoughts and feelings.

10. Winter Tales, edited by Margrét Helgadòttir, 2016.
Fantasy. Science Fiction.
The anthology Winter Tales includes some really neat short stories, all linked by the theme of winter (could be a great Christmas gift to a scifi reader). Some of my favourites are the opening one, a variation on the "Pied Piper of Hamelin", by Mat Joiner ; "When the trees were enchanted" by Masimba Musodza which mixes old pagan powers with our current multi-cultural capitalist world ; "Winter in the Vivarium" by Tim Major, a climate change story and the brilliant but chilling reimagining of a YA classic by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Disclaimer: a free copy was received in exchange for an honest review on Amazon but with no obligation attached to review it on The Middle Shelf.

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For more stories which are short, you can also check the Short Stories & Novellas category.
Among my previous posts, I also recommend

Derrick Bell, "The Space traders" (science-fiction).

Helen Oyeyemi, whose novel White is for Witching was reviewed here, also published an excellent collection of short stories: What is not yours is not yours.

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