The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time
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: August 21, 2023
The 88 greatest science fiction stories
In chronological order
1816
The Sandman
E.T.A. Hoffmann,
France,
story
1934
Twilight
John W. Campbell,
United States,
story
A Martian Odyssey
Stanley G. Weinbaum,
United States,
story
1937
Call Me Joe
Poul Anderson,
United States,
story
1938
Helen O'Loy
Lester del Rey,
United States,
story
Microcosmic God
Theodore Sturgeon,
United States,
story
1942
The Twonky
Lewis Padgett,
United States,
story
The Weapon Shop
A.E. Van Vogt,
United States,
story
1943
Mimsy Were the Borogroves
Lewis Padgett,
United States,
story
1944
Arena
Fredric Brown,
United States,
story
City
Clifford D. Simak,
United States,
story
Huddling Place
Clifford D. Simak,
United States,
story
1945
First Contact
Murray Leinster,
United States,
story
1946
The Million-Year Picnic
Ray Bradbury,
United States,
story
1947
With Folded Hands...
Jack Williamson,
United States,
story
1948
Mars Is Heaven!
Ray Bradbury,
United States,
story
The Lottery
Shirley Jackson,
United States,
story
That Only a Mother
Judith Merrill,
United States,
story
Scanners Live in Vain
Cordwainer Smith,
United States,
story
1950
Little Black Bag of Magic
C.M. Kornbluth,
United States,
story
Coming Attraction
Fritz Leiber,
United States,
story
Born of Man and Woman
Richard Matheson,
United States,
story
1951
The Quest for St. Aquin
Anthony Boucher,
United States,
story
1952
Surface Tension
James Blish,
United States,
story
1953
It's a Good Life
Jerome Bixby,
United States,
story
A Work of Art
James Blish,
United States,
story
The Nine Billion Names of God
Arthur C. Clarke,
England,
story
The Cold Equations
Tom Godwin,
United States,
story
1956
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov,
United States,
story
The Country of the Kind
Damon Knight,
United States,
story
1957
Tunesmith
Lloyd Biggle, Jr.,
United States,
story
1958
Who Can Replace a Man?
Brian W. Aldiss,
England,
story
1959
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes,
United States,
story
...All You Zombies
Robert A. Heinlein,
United States,
story
1961
Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut,
United States,
story
1963
Eight O'Clock in the Morning
Ray Nelson,
United States,
story
A Rose for Ecclesiastes
Roger Zelazny,
United States,
story
1965
'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman
Harlan Ellison,
United States,
story
The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth
Roger Zelazny,
United States,
story
1966
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale
Philip K. Dick,
United States,
story
1967
Aye, and Gomorrah
Samuel R. Delaney,
United States,
story
Gonna Roll the Bones
Fritz Leiber,
United States,
story
1968
Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones
Samuel R. Delany,
United States,
story
Passengers
Robert Silverberg,
United States,
story
1969
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
Brian W. Aldiss,
England,
story
1970
Slow Sculpture
Theodore Sturgeon,
United States,
story
1971
Inconstant Moon
Larry Niven,
United States,
story
1972
Goat Song
Poul Anderson,
United States,
story
Eurema's Dam
R.A. Lafferty,
Russia,
story
Roadside Picnic
Arkady and Boris Strugatski,
Russia,
story
The Word for World Is Forest
Ursula K. Le Guin,
United States,
story
1973
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Ursula K. Le Guin,
Russia,
story
1975
Catch That Zeppelin!
Roger Zelazny,
United States,
novel
Home Is the Hangman
Roger Zelazny,
United States,
novel
1976
The Bicentennial Man
Isaac Asimov,
United States,
story
1977
Jeffty Is Five
Harlan Ellison,
United States,
story
1980
Grotto of the Dancing Bear
Clifford D. Simak,
United States,
story
1982
Burning Chrome
William Gibson,
Canada,
story
Fire Watch
Connie Willis,
United States,
story
1984
Bloodchild
Octavia E. Butler,
United States,
story
1985
Pots
C.J. Cherryh,
United States,
story
Snow
John Crowley,
United States,
story
Out of All Them Bright Stars
Nancy Kress,
United States,
story
1986
Tangents
Greg Bear,
United States,
story
Face Value
Karen Joy Fowler,
United States,
story
1988
Shrödinger's Kitten
George Alec Effinger,
United States,
story
1990
Bears Discover Fire
Terry Bisson,
United States,
story
1991
They're Made Out of Meat
Terry Bisson,
United States,
story
1992
Even the Queen
Connie Willis,
United States,
story
1993
Georgia on My Mind
Charles Sheffield,
United States,
story
1994
The Martian Child
David Gerrold,
United States,
story
1995
One
George Alec Effinger,
United States,
story
2001
Hell Is the Absence of God
Ted Chiang,
United States,
story
2007
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
Ted Chiang,
United States,
story
2009
The Egg
Andy Weir,
United States,
story
2016
Seasons of Glass and Iron
Amal El-Motar,
Canada,
story
2017
Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience
Rebecca Roanhorse,
Canada,
story
2020
Two Truths and a Lie
Sarah Pinsker,
United States,
story
