The 111 Greatest Science Fiction Stories
While the long forms of writing, namely novels, dominate the speculative fiction field, the short form has played an enormous role in its development. During much of the so-called Golden Age of science fiction, the short story ruled, feeding the many periodicals established for the burgeoning market of readers. Most of those specialized magazines are gone now, but writers in the field continue to hone their craft by writing stories for publication in periodicals, anthologies and their own collections.
For our purposes we define short stories as generally having fewer than 17,500 words. A prose work longer than that is usually called a novella or a novel. Some literary awards also recognize a "novelette" category for stories with at least 7,500 words, but that's too complicated for us. If you can read it in less than an hour, it's likely a short story.
Latest update: May 2, 2024
1809
"The Conquest of the Earth by the Moon"
by Washington Irving, United States
Story
1816
"The Sandman"
by E.T.A. Hoffmann, France
Story
1874
"The Tachypomp"
by Edward Page Mitchell, United States
Story
1881
"The Clock That Went Backward"
by Edward Page Mitchell, United States
Story
1885
"The Great Keinplatz Experiment"
by Arthiur Conan Doyle, England
Story
"The Crystal Man"
by Edward Page Mitchell, United States
Story
1896
"In the Abyss"
by H.G. Wells, England
Story
1897
"The Crystal Egg"
by H.G. Wells, England
Story
"The Star"
by H.G. Wells, England
Story
1918
"The Red One"
by Jack London, United States
Story
1934
"Twilight"
by John W. Campbell, United States
Story
"A Martian Odyssey"
by Stanley G. Weinbaum, United States
Story
1936
"Devolution"
by Edmond Hamiliton, United States
Story
1937
"Call Me Joe"
by Poul Anderson, United States
Story
1938
"Helen O'Loy"
by Lester del Rey, United States
Story
"Microcosmic God"
by Theodore Sturgeon, United States
Story
1942
"Foundation"
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Story
"The Twonky"
by Lewis Padgett, United States
Story
"The Weapon Shop"
by A.E. Van Vogt, United States
Story
1943
"Mimsy Were the Borogroves"
by Lewis Padgett, United States
Story
1944
"Arena"
by Fredric Brown, United States
Story
"City"
by Clifford D. Simak, United States
Story
"Huddling Place"
by Clifford D. Simak, United States
Story
1945
"First Contact"
by Murray Leinster, United States
Story
1947
"With Folded Hands..."
by Jack Williamson, United States
Story
1948
"Mars Is Heaven!"
by Ray Bradbury, United States
Story
"The Lottery"
by Shirley Jackson, United States
Story
"That Only a Mother"
by Judith Merrill, United States
Story
"Scanners Live in Vain"
by Cordwainer Smith, United States
Story
1950
"There Will Come Soft Rains"
by Ray Bradbury, United States
Story
"The Veldt"
by Ray Bradbury, United States
Story
"The Little Black Bag"
by C.M. Kornbluth, United States
Story
"Coming Attraction"
by Fritz Leiber, United States
Story
"Born of Man and Woman"
by Richard Matheson, United States
Story
1951
"The Quest for St. Aquin"
by Anthony Boucher, United States
Story
1952
"Surface Tension"
by James Blish, United States
Story
1953
"It's a Good Life"
by Jerome Bixby, United States
Story
"A Work of Art"
by James Blish, United States
Story
"The Nine Billion Names of God"
by Arthur C. Clarke, England
Story
"A Sauceer of Loneliness"
by Theodore Sturgeon, United States
Story
"The Father-Thing"
by Philip K. Dick, United States
Story
"The Cold Equations"
by Tom Godwin, United States
Story
1955
"Tunnel Under the World"
by Frederik Pohl, United States
Story
"Allamagoose"
by Eric Frank Russell, England
Story
1956
"The Last Question"
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Story
"The Country of the Kind"
by Damon Knight, United States
Story
1957
"Tunesmith"
by Lloyd Biggle, Jr., United States
Story
1958
"Who Can Replace a Man?"
by Brian W. Aldiss, England
Story
1959
"The Martian Crown Jewels"
by Poul Anderson, United States
Story
"'—All You Zombies—'"
by Robert A. Heinlein, United States
Story
"Flowers for Algernon"
by Daniel Keyes, United States
Story
1961
"Harrison Bergeron"
by Kurt Vonnegut, United States
Story
1963
"A Rose for Ecclesiastes"
by Roger Zelazny, United States
Story
1965
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman"
by Harlan Ellison, United States
Story
"The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth"
by Roger Zelazny, United States
Story
1966
"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"
by Philip K. Dick, United States
Story
1967
"Aye, and Gomorrah"
by Samuel R. Delaney, United States
Story
"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"
by Harlan Ellison, United States
Story
"Gonna Roll the Bones"
by Fritz Leiber, United States
Story
1968
"Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones"
by Samuel R. Delany, United States
Story
"Passengers"
by Robert Silverberg, United States
Story
1969
"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long"
by Brian W. Aldiss, England
Story
1970
"Slow Sculpture"
by Theodore Sturgeon, United States
Story
1971
"Inconstant Moon"
by Larry Niven, United States
Story
1972
"Goat Song"
by Poul Anderson, United States
Story
"Eurema's Dam"
by R.A. Lafferty, Russia
Story
"Roadside Picnic"
by Arkady and Boris Strugatski, Russia
Story
"The Word for World Is Forest"
by Ursula K. Le Guin, United States
Story
1973
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"
by Ursula K. Le Guin, Russia
Story
1974
"Standing Woman"
by Yasutaka Tsutsui, Japan
Novel
1975
"Catch That Zeppelin!"
by Roger Zelazny, United States
Novel
"Home Is the Hangman"
by Roger Zelazny, United States
Novel
1976
"The Bicentennial Man"
by Isaac Asimov, United States
Story
1977
"Jeffty Is Five"
by Harlan Ellison, United States
Story
1980
"Grotto of the Dancing Bear"
by Clifford D. Simak, United States
Story
1982
"Burning Chrome"
by William Gibson, Canada
Story
"Fire Watch"
by Connie Willis, United States
Story
1983
"Speech Sound"
by Octavia E. Butler, United States
Story
1984
"Bloodchild"
by Octavia E. Butler, United States
Story
1985
"Dogfight"
by William Gibson, Michael Swanwick, Canada, United States
Story
"Pots"
by C.J. Cherryh, United States
Story
"Snow"
by John Crowley, United States
Story
"Tourists"
by Lisa Goldstein, United States
Story
"A Clean Escape"
by John Kessel, United States
Story
"The Road Not Taken"
by Harry Turtledove, United States
Story
1986
"Tangents"
by Greg Bear, United States
Story
"Face Value"
by Karen Joy Fowler, United States
Story
"Rats"
by James Patrick Kelly, United States
Story
1988
"Shrödinger's Kitten"
by George Alec Effinger, United States
Story
1990
"Bears Discover Fire"
by Terry Bisson, United States
Story
1991
"They're Made Out of Meat"
by Terry Bisson, United States
Story
1992
"Even the Queen"
by Connie Willis, United States
Story
1993
"Georgia on My Mind"
by Charles Sheffield, United States
Story
1994
"The Martian Child"
by David Gerrold, United States
Story
1995
"One"
by George Alec Effinger, United States
Story
2001
"Hell Is the Absence of God"
by Ted Chiang, United States
Story
2007
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"
by Ted Chiang, United States
Story
2008
"Exhalation"
by Ted Chiang, United States
Story
2009
"The Egg"
by Andy Weir, United States
Story
2016
"Seasons of Glass and Iron"
by Amal El-Motar, Canada
Story
2017
"Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience"
by Rebecca Roanhorse, Canada
Story
2020
"Two Truths and a Lie"
by Sarah Pinsker, United States
Story
