Saturday, June 28, 2014

Short Stories, Apocalypse Version

Because I promised another apocalypse post, right? So I gathered up some apocalyptic short stories for you. All written by dudes, I’m noticing. We need more women writing apocalyptic short stories (luckily we have Margaret Atwood and Susan Beth Pfeffer to deal with long form).

Year of the Jackpot by Robert A. Heinlein. Really more of a long story at ninety five pages. You can buy it for two dollars, kind of a lot really, but I remember it being a good story about the world seeming to reach a peak of insanity. The ending is probably one of my favorites.

Last Contact by Stephen Baxter. It’s a story about dark energy, cool enough, and a sudden “big rip” as the universe is suddenly pulled apart, vanishing before our eyes. Unfortunately, it’s not online anymore, a real shame. I wish I mentioned it when I first read it (of course, I didn’t have a blog then, so it may have been difficult). If you can find it somewhere, I highly recommend it.

The Scarlet Plague by Jack London. I love Jack London, so I just had to include his story of life after a plague wipes out most of the planet and returns the few survivors to a pre-industrial level. It’s a pandemic story from ninety nine years ago. It’s worth reading for that alone.

The Spider by Hans Heinz. Okay, confession, this isn’t an apocalypse story. But it is about impending doom, so I think I can kind of make it work? Well, whatever, it’s my blog. I make the rules. Anyway! It’s about a med student investigating a hotel room where everyone ends up hanging themselves. Not all that different from 1408 by Stephen King, but I liked this one better.

What apocalypse related stories do you like? Or short fiction in general?

8 comments:

  1. Does The Walking Dead count as an apocalypse-related story? If so, I choose that one :)

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  2. Inconstant Moon by Larry Niven, 1971. The moon is abnormally bright one night, which delights most people, but the narrator and other scientifically minded people realize the sun must have experienced a wild flare (since the moon only reflects sunlight). Broadcasts and communication from the other side of earth are ominously absent, and the narrator surmises that this is the last night of his life as the earth slowly rotates toward the killing disaster.

    Nowadays, everyone would know right away. Twitter would take care of that.

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  3. I'll have to check out London's story.

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  4. Not a fan of apocalypse fiction, so I have no recommendations. Although, this week's Entertainment Weekly is the "Apocalypse Issue".

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  5. I used to read and write a lot of short fiction and I love it. Somehow though, since starting to write novels almost exclusively, I've stopped reading short stuff. Which is dumb...

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  6. I used to read and write a lot of short fiction and I love it. Somehow though, since starting to write novels almost exclusively, I've stopped reading short stuff. Which is dumb...

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  7. haven't read a lot in that area, but if I get a good rec, I'm all for it!! glad to have found your blog, and am now following!

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Please validate me.