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Today’s post is a guest review by John DeNardo – you know, that guy who puts in so much work and time over at the excellent all-around science fiction blog SF Signal. I recently asked John “What is your favorite science fiction short story and why?” Here is what he had to say:
John’s Answer:
The difficulty in answering this question is that there are so many from which to choose! I took a stab at picking my favorite pieces of short fiction a few years ago in an old post titled “Design Your Own Dream Anthology” where I list 25 of them. That seems like a good starting point. Or maybe not: looking those over today, I still have fond memories of all those stories and find it hard to winnow that list down to just one…
I am very, very tempted to choose Alastair Reynolds’ “Diamond Dogs” for its sheer coolness factor: a ragtag team of characters (most notable the eerie bio-mechanical specialist Dr. Trinignant) that sets out to solve the mystery of a Big Dumb Object; where every room is a puzzle to be solved, each more dastardly than the one before, with the stakes eventually being your life. Cool stuff indeed.
But! I’m going to have to go with Tom Godwin’s classic, “The Cold Equations”. At a time when most science fiction was taking liberties with the realism of space travel and the dangerous capabilities of technology, Godwin centered his story on the cold, harsh reality of space travel and a surprise stowaway who is its victim. Not only did this create a dramatic tension that is rarely achieved, but it totally immerses you into the story to the point where you feel as helpless as the pilot. Great stuff.
About John:
John DeNardo, one of the bloggers extraordinaire at SF Signal, is what you’d get if John Turturro and Joe Pesci had a love child that was raised by Potsie – except with a lot less talent. His social ineptitude is exceeded only by his tendency to laugh at his own jokes. In his spare time, he likes to write short autobiographies in the third-person.
Rusty’s Two Cents:
Wow! Thanks for the excellent review John! I have never read (or even heard of) “Diamond Dogs” but it is definitely going on my to-read list. I have read Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed that novel, so it wouldn’t take much for me to believe that “Diamond Dogs” is also excellent. In the mean time you can satisfy your raging curiosity by reading John’s own review of “Diamond Dogs”, or checking out Alastair Reynold’s book Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days
I will agree that “The Cold Equations” is a great science fiction short story. I just read it for the first time last month and loved it! Check out my own review of “The Cold Equations” – which includes information on where you can find a free online version to read.
Finally, as a way of thanking John for taking the time to share with us his favorite science fiction stories, why don’t you jump on over to SF Signal and check out not only all their cool content – but their newly re-designed web site as well.
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Ah, haven’t thought of The Cold Equations for a while… certainly a classic. My only (minor) gripe with it is the blatantly sentimental style, but then it does serve to get the idea across, and the story does come from a different, more innocent era…
My favorite short story is “Unaccompanied Sonata” by Orson Scott Card. I read it decades ago in Omni magazine.
It was a future utopia / dystopia tale about a man in a talented man in perfect job who loses everything because of the lure of forbidden knowledge.
Nathan,
Yes, it is true that stories from that time era had a different style, and “The Cold Equations” certainly fits the bill. But I guess they have their place, because although I enjoy reading contemporary science fiction stories the most I still find it fun to read the classic ones too – despite their sometimes overly dramatic style.
Thanks Steven,
That sounds like a very cool story. I had never heard of it, but it sounds like it was good enough to be nominated for a few awards. I’ll have to see what I can do about reviewing that one!
Diamond Dogs is definitely a great, cool story.
A friend bought a copy of the World Turned Upside Down anthology recently and told me that The Cold Equations was the best short story he had ever read (and this is a guy that has 50+ years of sci fi reading under his belt). So of course it is the first one I read.
I loved it. I actually enjoy the sentimentality of it, it is one of the things I enjoy in stories anyway and I felt it was used to great effect in this story.
Coincidentally enough I pulled the story back out last Thursday night and read it aloud to my wife and she loved it as well.
This was certainly a great choice and I hope it inspires others to check out this great story.
Carl,
I agree, the sentimentality of the story is one of the things that makes it so good.
Incidentally, did you know that The World Turned Upside Down is available for free online? Yep, check out The Fifth Imperium.
That is great! I love the concept of two authors sharing the stories that inspired them or meant something to them when they were younger.