I have always published short stories, and have collected many into story collections. I also offer free short stories for you to read!
Announcing the arrival of my third -- and newest -- collection, Tomorrow Happens. This special edition by NESFA Press contains nearly all of my stories that have appeared in magazines since Otherness, including Aficionado (which details the very beginnings of Uplift), plus a number of provocative essays. Also, several items never-before-seen, including a little tale about Galileo, written just for the occasion. This edition of Tomorrow Happens is unique, limited, and collectable!
CONTENTS:
Introduction by Vernor Vinge
Aficionado
Probing the Near Future
Stones of Significance
Go Ahead, Stand on My Shoulders!
Reality Check
Do We Really Want Immortality?
Paris Conquers All (with Gregory Benford)
The Self-Preventing Prophecy
Fortitude
The Future Keeps Surprising Us
The Diplomacy Guild
Goodbye, Mir! (Sniff!)
The Open-Ended Science Fiction Story
News from 2025
Seeking a New Fulcrum
A Professor at Harvard
The Robots and Foundation Universe
An Ever-Reddening Glow
We Hobbits Are a Merry Folk
The Other Side of the Hill
In Otherness (WINNER: LOCUS Award for Best Collection 1995), humans and aliens encounter the secrets of the cosmos -- and of their own existence. In "The Giving Plague" (SECOND PLACE: 1989 Hugo Award for Best Short Story), a scientist discovers the horror of a new strain of virus. In "Dr. Pak's Preschool" a woman discovers that her baby has been called upon to work while still in the womb. In "NatuLife" a married couple finds their relationship threatened by the wonders of sex by simulation. In "Sshhh..." the arrival of benevolent aliens on Earth leads to frenzy, madness... and unimaginable joy. In "Bubbles" a sentient starcraft reaches the limits of the universe -- and dares to go beyond.
CONTENTS:
TRANSITIONS
The Giving Plague
Myth Number 21
Story Notes
Dr. Pak's Preschool
Detritus Affected
The Dogma of OthernessCONTACT
Sshhh...
Story Notes
Those Eyes
What to Say to a UFO
Bonding to Genji
The Warm Space
Whose MiLLennium?CONTINUITY
NatuLife ®
Piecework
Science versus MagicCOSMOS
Bubbles
Story Notes
Ambiguity
What Continues... and What Fails...OTHERNESS
The Commonwealth of Wonder
The River of Time brings together eleven short stories, including "The Crystal Spheres" (WINNER: Hugo Award Best SF Short Story 1985), and four new stories published here for the first time.
Here are powerful tales of heroism and humanity, playful excursions into realms of fancy, and profound meditations on time, memory, and our place in the universe.
CONTENTS:
DESTINY
The Crystal Spheres
The Loom of Thessaly
The Fourth Vocation of George GustafRECOLLECTON
Senses Three and Six
Toujours Voir
A Stage of MemorySPECULATION
Just a Hint
Tank Farm Dynamo
Thor Meets Captain AmericaPROPAGATION
Lungfish
The River of Time
Some of the following stories, collected here for your online pleasure, have been published in one of my story collections -- Tomorrow Happens, The River of Time or Otherness. Others have appeared exclusively in "outside" publications.
If you are a student or teacher, some of these stories have been used to illustrate or express ideas that are discussed in modern classes, ranging from physics to history. To find out more, click to a page of information about stories that teach.
Just added! The novella "Thor Meets Captain America" (part of my story collection The River of Time), was the inspiration for my huge new graphic novel The Life Eaters.
Just added! Also part of The River of Time, "Tank Farm Dynamo" was added to this site as part of my ongoing interest in using science fiction to teach science. This story has been used widely to teach some principles of physics. It illustrates ideas of micro-gravity, orbital dynamics and the problems of life support in outer space.
Completists eager for more in the Uplift Universe may be interested in reading the novella "Temptation," which appeared in Robert Silverberg's anthology Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction. This work features the adventures of a female dolphin on the faraway world, Jijo, who must escape from two of her own kind and then penetrate a deeply dangerous ancient secret. This novella will be a core element of the next Uplift novel... when I get around to it (!)... and answers several unresolved riddles left over from Heaven's Reach.
Another story, "Aficionado" (which first appeared in Popular Science and now appears in my story collection Tomorrow Happens), details the very beginnings of Uplift.
"Lungfish" has only appeared in The River of Time. It's an in-depth exploration of the concept that civilizations might send robot probes between the stars, and how many different agendas those robots might have.
"Those Eyes," (which appeared in Otherness), takes you on a ride through the notion of UFOs following the tough gaze of a radio talk show host who defies the nasty, skulking 'visitors' to come into the open and face us, eye to eye!
Both "Lungfish" and "Those Eyes" go directly to one of my longstanding interests, spanning both fiction and my other life as a scientist -- the deep question of whether alien life may exist, and if so how it could manifest in both strange and familiar ways. For some of my more scientific and technical approaches to this issue, look elsewhere in this site under the category About Science.
"The Giving Plague," (which appeared in Otherness), came in second for a Hugo. It plunges into our modern fear -- even deeper than nuclear war -- of a virus that might wreak ruin on us all... or else change us immeasurably... and the moral quandaries facing a brilliant researcher.
"The Loom of Thessaly" is one of my oldest stories (and appears in The River of Time). Loads of fun, it explores the ancient legend of the Three Fates... and wonders how they might deal with a modern hero.
The novelette "Stones of Significance" appeared in the special January 2000 issue of Analog Magazine (and in Tomorrow Happens). This story won the AnLab Reader's Poll to be chosen as Best Novelette of the year. It describes a future time when we've achieved godlike powers and compassion... yet pay an eerie price for achieving these heights.
A different take on a similar subject, "Reality Check" appeared in the March 16, 2000, issue of the science journal Nature and was selected for the Year's Best SF 6 Anthology, edited by David G. Hartwell. It also appears in Tomorrow Happens.
public speaking
future/tech consulting
predicting the future
giving back to the future
my Contrary Brin blog
my Tomorrow Happens blog
Uplift novels
other SF novels
graphic novels
young adult novels
free short stories
the transparent society
the political lamp is lit!
about fiction
pop culture
about science
my Questionnaire on Ideology
downloads & podcasts
games & music
film options
my recommendations
freebies & offers
fan sites
photos & artwork
my biography
email me
return home
[All items sold thru Amazon.com (a secure online store) help offset the cost of maintaining the site.]
I still do science, but civilization seems more interested in my perspectives on the future. (Who am I to argue with civilization?) Let's face change with agility and hope, and meet the challenges ahead.
I blog at: Contrary Brin and Tomorrow Happens.
newest David Brin book!
advice to aspiring writers
request special books & autographs
download a free short story
The Meme Wars
We will watch the watchers!
Citizens are competent
Philanthropy & hope
Transparent Society
Disputation & accountability
JRR Tolkien vs. the Future
Infamous Star Wars articles
...and The Matrix
...and The Postman.
What's Your Ideology Quotient?
The Real Culture War
Neoconservatism, Islam and Ideology
War in the 21st Century
The libertarian dilemma
The liberal dilemma
Technological Nightmares
Literature & the Future
Video Surveillance
Science of Science Fiction
Writing Science Fiction
SF that teaches
Holocene Chat!
Public Speaking
Future/Tech Consulting
Contrary Brin
The "Brin-L" discussion group
I answer some emails
This Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Net Ring link is maintained by David Brin. |
|
Previous 5 Sites |
