Some say short stories aren’t read very much any longer. Two years ago Amazon ended its digital magazine subscription service, a move that almost wiped out even popular short fiction magazines like Clarkesworld. But Clarkesworld is still read by millions of short story fansm as is The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Uncanny, and Lightspeed. Science fiction as we know it got its start in pulps like Amazing, Astounding, and Weird Tales. Philp K. Dick once mused that science fiction isn’t about space adventure or romance or even wars in the starts — science fiction is about new ideas. Short stories are a wonderful delivery mechanism for a singele new idea. That may speak to the staying power of science fiction magazines. Here’s a list of some of the greatest science fiction stories of all time, from New Scientist:
Swarm by Bruce Sterling (1982)
I came across Bruce Sterling’s short story Swarm after finishing his novel set in the same universe, Schismatrix. The short story appeared at the end of the novel and, craving more of Sterling’s kaleidoscopic space society, I dived straight in. After just a few pages, I had this strange feeling of familiarity. A few pages later, it hit me. Swarm had been made into an episode of the Netflix show Love, Death and Robots of which I am a huge fan, and this episode was a particular favourite. The story is set in an alien nest located within an asteroid hurtling through space. The insect-like aliens live in a perfect society where the food is plentiful, the air is warm and everything works as it should. The human characters, Afriel and Mirny, attempt to steal the secrets of this utopia and use it for human purposes. However, their actions lead to the creation of a new insectoid alien designed for intelligence who is charged with preventing Afriel from exploiting the secrets of the swarm. This story has gore, philosophy, romance and aliens all rolled up into one. Read Swarm and then watch the Love, Death and Robots episode, or do it the other way around like me. Both would work. — Finn Grant