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I I have had this Zelazny collection since 1971, very strong short stories here.

Sounds fascinating! Great review that doesn't give too much away

Sounds interesting, and also terrifying.

Wow, what a horrifying concept lol. I hate spiders. 😂

This looks interesting! Great review!

Great interview and discussion! In terms of Alastair's short story collections there's also the massive ""Beyond the Aquila Rift" collection of stories from Gollancz.

On first look, I thought this would be about Marvels Spiderman story from some alternative universe 😂

Description should have a proper list.

Well, I just adore Zelazny's writing in general. Roadmarks is a long time favourite which I have read many times. It was probably my favourite until A Night In Lonesome October came out. I should mention that I loved The Doors of his face The Lamps of his mouth so our reading tastes are likely different. I don't love short stories in general, but TDOHFTLOHM, that was an exception. Am reading his last book, Lord Demon at the moment and that is pretty amazing as well.

Great review! I'm looking forward to reading this one as well!

Have enjoyed Short Sci-Fi September! What's on for October?

BTW just wanted to say there's some great stories in here i recall reading now the plots have been mentioned and others that sound intriguing so I'm going to have to expand my TBR list again.

Since recommending by his bootstraps I've reread it and it is a short story not a novella plus is available as a free download as it's out of copyright. Same applies to All You Zombies which is in some ways the same story and in others, not 😅

Man, Love Death and Robots is such a treat... i loved all 3 seasons but s1 was extra special because I had never experienced a series of animated shorts of wildly different style and through the roof quality before. I first experienced Zima Blue there, and it stuck deep in my brain. It was part of what made me come back to sci fi literature and reading in general!

Hi Robin from Dorset Bob - I read The Door Into Summer nearly 50 years ago but as long as you read it in its historical context its an interesting read - many regard it as a ground breaking novel but in the 40's and 50's the SF scene was just really developing and growing so we ought to allow some 'rough edges' in my view. Read it and please let us know what you thought.

Oh wow!!!! Thank you Robin! You rule!

I'm not competing in the book giveaway, but here are some of my favorite short stories (in no particular order): I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison; Nightfall by Isaac Asimov; It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby; Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr.; The Man Who Never Grew Young by Fritz Leiber; and for short story collections it's hard to beat The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (Volume 1) edited by Robert Silverberg, The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova; and the two groundbreaking original anthologies edited by Harlan Ellison (Dangerous Visions and Again Dangerous Visions). Love your channel!

I read The Time Migration in To Hold up the Sky short story collection. I don’t remember if I liked it... From that book I enjoyed The Village Teacher quite a bit.

people of this story are lucky than the people of blake courch's wayward pines

I'm in! Thanks!

I’m in! Just finished my first Hamilton book “Pandora’s Star” and loved it!

I wouldn't miss this one. Of course I'm in! My recommended short story is Inconstant Moon, by Larry Niven. The story is about the protagonist realizing that the moon that night is much brighter than usual. You might get an idea why, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone! I read many short story collections and anthologies, but this is the only story that I remember vividly. Everything is so well described that I don't just remember the story, I see it as a movie in my head. There is also an Outer Limits episode made from it that I might see some day. I remember the few Outer Limits episodes that I've seen were quite good, but still, I don't want to risk it and ruin the story. So, yes, I recommend it to everyone who wants to read a good short story.

Also in. Agree about collecting emails though best not to do it again

Im in Robin. Always watch your presentations. Just enough info to whet the appetite but not spoil the book. Recommendation on form.

Hi Robin, Why not ask for the email address AFTER the person has won. Since they left a comment on your video, you can inform them there that they won and then talk privately. No need to collect many email addresses. Seven

Count me in! “The Toynbee Convector” by Ray Bradbury. 🔮 Filled in the form, too.

I’m in!🤘😎

Good interview. 👌

I’m in! My recommendation is ‘The Little Black Bag’ by C.M. Kornbluth (1951). More in the form.

I'm in for some Hamilton, have not read anything by him yet!

I am in 🙏

Excellent conversation, well done. Alastair is one of my favourite contemporary authors, and the conversation pointed me in the direction of some of his influences which was excellent. Your "Short Stories" theme has been very enjoyable, thank you.

Great interview with my favorite author! Thanks for the interesting discussion Robin. And thank you to Al (if you're reading this) for doing these interviews. It's fun to hear about your writing process and how you approach short stories.

I found Alastair Reynolds after my favorite episode of "Love, Death, & Robots." "Beyond the Aquila Rift."

Great conversation. I haven’t read any of AR’s short stories, but I did watch and remember loving Zima Blue! I’m glad he talked about it here. I wonder if Zima means winter; it does in Polish.

I agree with those who thank you for your list being not just the same old same old. Several I'd never heard of, and those included both recent and non-recent titles. Previous comments have recommended many books to you. I will limit myself to saying that Lem is the funniest SF writer I know. Maybe even the funniest writer I know period. People who just read Solaris are missing out. Read The Futurological Congress or The Star Diaries. Also (maybe I'm not limiting myself all that much) Brunner is good but he was very prolific so some of his output is, to say it politely, uneven. I recently re-read several of his and the ones that held up the best were Bedlam Planet, Polymath, and The Infinitive of Go.

Nice idea. Too many Booktubers don't seem to like/appreciate short-stories but in sci-fi, maybe even more than other genres, they're the bricks the whole thing's built from IMO. (and aside from the usual suspects and those recommended - 'The Light of Other Days' is one of my all time favourites for instance - i'll always recommend Greg Egan's collection "Axiomatic" when SF&F short-stories come up. E.g. "Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies" from that is another fave of mine)

Very interesting and some good collections i now need, my wallet does not thank you. All the stories Ive read i would absolutely agree with as being worthy. And now I have a bunch of new ones to search out, the monkey one, The WIll, Shortcut , Reason and how the World was saved.

This was a really great idea, Robin. Cheers for inviting me to contribute. I only discovered Bob Shaw last year, but have grown to love his work. Light of Other Days sounds really interesting, such a great concept. I Have a Mouth, and I Must Scream, is an absolute classic… and terrifying. Evil Robot Monkey sounds intriguing, especially in terms of Emily’s relationship to her own medical interface with technology. I’ve only read The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem. Love the sound of How the World Was Saved; what an imaginative premise to ask a robot to create nothing! Also cool to get your perspective on the Polish and English translation. Cheers for all the recommendations!

Nice. I recall reading Them Bones now. I had recalled elements of the story but not what it was. I read The Man Who Folded Himself by Gerrold a few years ago (really liked it) and later discovered he'd done a lot more SF including several highly rated star trek episodes (TNG). Theres a couple of very strong novellas along the same lines that predate it, well worth reading, both by Heinlein. All You Zombies, and By His Bootstraps. There was a film of AYZ i don't recall what it was called.... OK i looked it up, Predestination. I read Up The Line years ago it didn't leave much of a mark on me.

Great idea for a video! Loved all the guests and suggestions!

I love the Time Travel concept and potential paradoxes. Thanks for enlightening us to these books. I don't think that I've read much time travel, but I've sure watched enough of it in movies.

Thanks for putting this together Robin! I had, as always, a ton of fun chatting with you on video (and also after). Couple of the short stories mentioned by the other book-tubers also intrigued me. So much to read! 😃

Great idea for a video and such eloquent recommendations from all involved.

Star Trek ripped off or reused Arena for one of the original episodes. Eg i dont know if the author got credit. And im pretty sure thata another story you mentioned about the eden with a dark secret (i wont spoil it) was done in next generation. I find it amusing that a Peter Hamilton story is in a collection of short stories. I recall the very slow time machine from years ago. Cant recall the ending though. I love cordwainer smith instrumentality stories. Youve missed off though one of two stories, a tough choice given your criteria, which Harlan Ellison? A boy and his dog, or i have no mouth and i must scream ETA ive just ordered rediscovery of man its only £2.99 on amazon in kindle format compared to £10 paperback. I probably read it years ago but at that price am happy to reread

Interesting list. Many of them don't appeal to me once you present the story, but some certainly pique my interest, such as Hoyle's _Black Cloud_ and Kim's _The Cabinet_ - neither of them books I'd heard of before. Good call choosing _The Lathe of Heaven_ as the LeGuin entry. I read it back-to-back with _The Left Hand of Darkness_ and preferred the former, though they're both amazing SF books, and the first two SF books I read when I decided to get into the genre two years ago. I am always a bit curious why 1Q84 is people's first science fiction pick of Murakami's. It's a great page-turner and an enjoyable read, though it could have easily have been edited down by a third or so as some sections are highly repetitive and superfluous, but I don't even think it is science fiction. Speculative fiction, perhaps; magical realism, most certainly, but not science fiction. Whereas _Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World_ is science fiction, and often overlooked. Cordwainer Smith has been on my to-buy list for a while. I think science fiction, especially when it explores concepts, philosophy, and hypotheticals, is extremely well suited to short stories where it's easier to let the idea take the front seat and leaving character development and arcs in the back. Usually that doesn't work quite as well in a novel. But, no Philip K. Dick? No Stanisław Lem? I guess for such a short list, there will be as many greats left out as there will be included.

Man ... 5:52 ... That book's cover looks incredible. Very intriguing the name of the book. Makes me sure wonder what its about and what stories are contained in it.

Okay, at 9:47, I haven't read short stories from the bottom 3. But, I know that PJF is always enjoyable to me; however, Asimov would be a good choice too. Then, Zelazny is good too.

Hey, Robin, I always love your videos. It makes me smile to see you up on your YT Channel. Because I love sci-fi and don't read as much as I want to, but you remind me of how much I love it.