Book picks similar to
Utopia, LOL? by Jamie Wahls


short-stories
science-fiction
sci-fi
short-story

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili


P. Djèlí Clark - 2017
    A girl visits a bazaar in Cairo, seeking a favor from a mysterious angelic being.This story first appeared in the anthology Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt.

I Don't Know Timmy, Being God is a Big Responsibility


qntm - 2007
    A short story that is exploring the consequences of Simulation Argument for a deterministic universe.

Apex Magazine Issue 56, January 2014


Sigrid Ellis - 2014
    New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every month. We are a 2013 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine! FICTION Pale Skin, Gray Eyes by Gene O'Neill Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon [pseudonym: T. Kingfisher]Dispatches from the Revolution by Pat Cadigan NONFICTION Women in Pre–1947 Chinese and Indian Horror Fiction and Film by Jess Nevins Interview with Gene O'Neill Interview with incoming Editor-in-Chief Sigrid Ellis Resolute: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief by Sigrid Ellis Cover art by Emma Rios. Edited by Sigid Ellis.

The Litany of Earth


Ruthanna Emrys - 2014
    They took her history, her home, her family, her god. They tried to take the sea. Now, years later, when she is just beginning to rebuild a life, an agent of that government intrudes on her life again, with an offer she wishes she could refuse. "The Litany of Earth" is a dark fantasy story inspired by the Lovecraft mythos.

Black Thorn, White Rose


Ellen DatlowPeter Straub - 1994
    From Roger Zelansky's delightful tale of Death's disobedient godson to Peter Straub's blood-chilling examination of a gargantuan Cinderella and her terrible twisted "art," here are stories strange and miraculous -- remarkable modern storytelling that remold our most cherished childhood fables into things sexier, more sinister... and more appealing to grown-up tastes and sensibilities. The "Snow White, Blood Red" Collection #1. Snow White, Blood Red #2. Black Thorn, White Rose #3. Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears #4. Black Swan, White Raven #5. Silver Birch, Blood Moon #6. Black Heart, Ivory Bones

A Guide For Working Breeds


Vina Jie-Min Prasad - 2020
    This collection of stories is where robots stand in for us, where both we and they are disadvantaged, and where hope and optimism shines through.

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe


Douglas Adams - 1986
    It doesn't appear as a standalone work, but is included with several collections. The story is a prequel to the events in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and has the young Zaphod Beeblebrox working as a salvage ship operator. He guides some bureaucrats to a crashed spaceship which may be leaking some hazardous materials. The bureaucrats are determined to "make it safe". The comic asides in the story include some of the time travel paradoxes which are a common running theme in Adams' SF work, and plenty of material about lobsters

Countdown


Mira Grant - 2011
    We cured cancer. We cured the common cold. We died.This is the story of how we rose.When will you rise?Countdown is a novella set in the world of Feed. Word count: ~19,500

The Guile


Ian McDonald - 2018
    in Ian McDonald's Tor.com Original short story The Guile.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Who Goes There?


John W. Campbell Jr. - 1938
    Campbell classic about an antarctic research camp that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike. Paranoia ensues as a band of frightened men work to discern friend from foe, and destroy the menace before it challenges all of humanity! The story, hailed as "one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written" by the SF Writers of America, is best known to fans as THE THING, as it was the basis of Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World in 1951, and John Carpenter's The Thing in 1982. With a new Introduction by William F. Nolan, author of Logan's Run, and his never-before-published, suspenseful Screen Treatment written for Universal Studios in 1978, this is a must-have edition for scifi and horror fans!

Two Truths and a Lie


Sarah Pinsker - 2020
    But he does remember. And so does her mom. So why doesn’t Stella? The more she investigates the show and the grip it has on her hometown, the eerier the mystery grows.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Sandkings


George R.R. Martin - 1981
    Now, in search of some new pets to satisfy his cruel pursuit of amusement, Simon finds a new shop in the city where he is intrigued by a new lifeform he has never heard of before... a collection of multi-colored sandkings. The curator explains that the insect-like animals, no larger than Simon's fingernails, are not insects, but animals with a highly-evolved hive intelligence capable of staging wars between the different colors, and even religion - in the form of worship of their owner. The curator's warning to Simon about the regularity of their feeding, unfortunately, was not taken seriously...Contents:- The Way of Cross and Dragon (1979)- Bitterblooms (1977)- In the House of the Worm (1976)- Fast-Friend (1976)- The Stone City (1977)- Starlady (1976)- Sandkings (1979)Cover illustration by Michael Whelan

Three Moments of an Explosion


China Miéville - 2009
    Destroyed oil rigs, mysteriously reborn, clamber from the sea and onto the land, driven by an obscure but violent purpose. An anatomy student cuts open a cadaver to discover impossibly intricate designs carved into a corpse's bones—designs clearly present from birth, bearing mute testimony to . . . what?Of such concepts and unforgettable images are made the twenty-eight stories in this collection—many published here for the first time. By turns speculative, satirical, and heart-wrenching, fresh in form and language, and featuring a cast of damaged yet hopeful seekers who come face-to-face with the deep weirdness of the world—and at times the deeper weirdness of themselves—Three Moments of an Explosion is a fitting showcase for one of our most original voices.

Axiomatic


Greg Egan - 1990
    Contents:The Infinite Assassin (1991)The Hundred Light-Year Diary (1992)Eugene (1990)The Caress (1990)Blood Sisters (1991)Axiomatic (1990)The Safe-Deposit Box (1990)Seeing (1995)A Kidnapping (1995)Learning to Be Me (1990)The Moat (1991)The Walk (1992)The Cutie (1989)Into Darkness (1992)Appropriate Love (1991)The Moral Virologist (1990)Closer (1992)Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies (1992)

The Giving Plague


David Brin - 1988
    Not all diseases deserve the word plague. Fate can be ironic indeed. The chilling short story, The Giving Plague, follows microbiologist Forry, a self-proclaimed cynic, as he encounters a virus transmitted by blood donations that could alter humanity for good, forcing him to wrestle with his own inner demons.