Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings is hosting a science fiction short story contest this weekend. All you have to do is read a story, post a comment then cross your fingers and hope to win!
It has been dubbed the “Out of This World Mini-Challenge” and here is what you need to do:
- Read a science fiction short story
- Post a comment about it on the Stainless Steel Droppings web site between January 17th and 18th.
Pretty easy huh? That’s what I thought. Did I mention he is giving away a prize too? Can’t get much better than that can it? I mean c’mon – reading a great story and possibly winning a prize too! Remember, you can check out all the details by reading Carl’s post – just scroll down to the part entitled “Out of This World Mini-Challenge.”
Oh, and since Carl likes my site so much (ahh… I am basking in the glow!) he is giving my readers an extra chance to win the prize. Here’s what BestScienceFictionStories.com readers can do to help their chances of winning:
- Read any of the stories that I have reviewed here at BestScienceFictionStories.com
- Leave a comment on MY site about the story
- Then leave a comment on Stainless Steel Droppings stating that you left a comment on my site about the story. (Is that confusing you? It is me… kind of.)
Whew! If you need any help finding a short story to read then just click on any of the categories listed to the right, or here are a few short stories I recently reviewed that would be excellent for this challenge (owing to length and quality of story):
- The Crystal Spheres by David Brin
- The Home Team by Greg Wickenhofer
- The Father-Thing by Philip K. Dick
- Jeffty is Five by Harlan Ellison
- Through Thy Bounty by Lucy A. Snyder
- The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick
- Yokel with Portfolio by Robert Silverberg
- Understand by Ted Chiang
- The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith
- The Fluted Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Ok, best of luck!
-Rusty
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6 users responded in this post
Hi Rusty- I stumbled into Carl’s challenge today. Thank you for the suggestions! Since I can’t stay onliine so long at home, I’m glad I found a short short in The Home Team by Greg Wickenhofer.
This was a really quick, fun read. You can just FEEL the frustration!
I did look at the others and will try to get back to read some of them later! It’s been awhile, but when I was younger I read all the Asimov and Bradbury stories I could get my hands on. About 5 years ago I introduced my teenage son to Orson Scott Card. He went further in the Ender series than I have.
Okay – now I have to go leave a comment at Carl’s challenge!
Thanks so much for the mention. I sent folks over here and I know a few have been already. I’ll be reading Fluted Girl soon as I am working my way through Bacigalupi’s collection, Pump Six.
Do you read a lot of short stories in book form as well or do you mostly read them online?
Just read “Ass-Hat Magic Spider” by Scott Westerfield from the Starry Rift anthology and “Elevator” by Nancy Kress from the Eclipse Two anthology and both were excellent stories. I think you’d like them.
I’m off now to read the Cordwainer Smith story!!!
MarthaE – I absolutely agree with you about “The Home Team” – it is an amazing little story! And Asimov is also a great writer, his Foundation books are what really got me into SF 20 years ago. Be sure to check out my Asimov and Bradbury categories for some free online stories.
Carl – It has been a busy day with a lot of readers coming from your site – that makes for some fun SF reading! I can’t wait to hear what you thought of The Fluted Girl, I am becoming a big fan a Bacigalupi. I have read loads of stories in printed form, but the past six months I have mostly been reading free online stories – there is just too much good stuff out there, and I like being able to link to it on my site. Oh, and thanks for the recommendations – I’ll definitely check them out.
I certainly don’t see myself ever losing the love of reading the printed word. There is just something about that experience (which is handled so well by Westerfield in Ass-Hat Magic Spider). However, in doing the reviews for this kind of shared experience it is really annoying to not be able to point people to places online where they can instantly read what you just read and share their thoughts!!!
I’m glad you’re getting visitors. I know others who have visited and posted about it on their sites thought I don’t see that they’ve commented here.
I can’t thank you enough for this incredible site you’ve got here! I’ve had so much fun with Carl’s challenge…even more than I expected, and I expected to have a lot.
Anyway, sci-fi is definitely a fairly new reading experience for me, and I’m truly flabbergasted by the overwhelming variety. I’ve read quite a few thanks to Carl’s challenge and your site here (The Father Thing, The Home Team, All Summer in a Day, The Fluted Girl), that I probably never would have run across otherwise. And I loved them all. Though I think The Fluted Girl will be the one that sticks with me the longest…that story just blew me away. Anyway, thank you!!!
Carl – I think there are advantages to both printed and electronic stories. On one hand I really like reading printed stuff, it seems more natural and is easier to do. However I agree with you that the ability to share a link to a story so someone else can read it is a giant advantage of online stories – one that I think is getting more and more important.
Debi – thanks for your comment. I am really glad that you found some great SF stories to read. The variety and creativeness are some of my favorite things about the genre. I totally agree with you about “The Fluted Girl” – amazing!