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Part 4: Short Stories

Admit it, sometimes you like to snack between meals. There's something satisfying about sneaking a small treat separate from larger feasts. Guess what? The same holds true for reading. In the mood for a quick fix? Take a bite of short fiction!

Science fiction and fantasy readers could easily subsist on short fiction alone if they so desired. With so many sources of good short fiction available, it's hard not to snack between meals.

Short Fiction Anthologies :
Just like snacks, SF/F anthologies—collections of stories by a variety of authors—come in an assortment of flavors.

Some great anthologies for folks starting down the road of science fiction include Science Fiction 101 edited by Robert Silverberg; The Science Fiction Hall of Fame series, edited by various editors; The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction edited by Arthur B. Evans, et. al.; and The Secret History of Science Fiction edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel—all these offer fantastic, well-rounded selections of stories.

A handful of retrospective anthologies offer editors' picks for best stories. Popular ones include Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction series, the longest-running retrospective series in print will soon see its 28th edition; The Year's Best SF and Years Best Fantasy series edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer; The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year series edited by Jonathan Strahan; The Year's Best Science Fiction & Year's Best Fantasy series edited by Rich Horton; and Digital Domains: A Decade of Science Fiction & Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow, who is the undisputed editing queen of Horror short fiction, I might add.