The Best Science Fiction Short Stories I Read in 2024 ... and where you can read them.
Okay. Before we begin, let’s define what I’m talking about.
In 2024, I read 120 groups of stories: anthologies, single-author collections, and slates of award finalists. This amounted to hundreds of stories. It was tied for my lowest book count since starting this website. That was due primarily to about six months of travel which cut into my reading time. There are a large number of collections and anthologies that are mostly finished as this moment, so expect a large review-dump in early 2025.
This list includes some of my favorites:
Read by me in 2024. Not necessarily published in 2024
Only stories that were new to me. Like every year, I reread many of the all-time classics this year. This list is to shine the light on stories that are less likely to be well known.
With each short story, I’ll write a non-spoiler summary and link to where you could buy that book. (I’ll make a small commission, if you do, at not additional cost to you.).
I’ll also link to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in science fiction and fantasy. #getISFDBaHugoAward
Hope you enjoy these thirteen stories as much as I did. The stories are listed in the chronological order that I read them this year.
The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century. edited by Martin H Greenberg. 1998
The Crystal Spheres • (1984) • short story by David Brin. ISFDB
Humanity discovered that the solar system was encased in a crystal sphere when it accidentally shattered it. It turns out that all planets with the potential for life have the same spheres. Impenetrable from the outside and seemingly designed to keep intelligent spacefaring species apart from each other. One day, humanity discovers another solar system with another broken sphere.
Fast Forward Japan: Stories from the Founder of Japanese Science Fiction. by Juza Unno. 2021.
Eighteen O’Clock Music Bath. (1937). by Jūza Unno. ISFDB
Japan’s first dystopian story and a precognition of that country’s increasing militarism. The people are controlled and dehumanized by a daily ‘music bath’ in which the rhythms and notes inspire loyalty and hard work. There are also political machinations, sexy androids, suicide bombers, and the idea of transgenderism as anti-fascist rebellion.
Some of the Best from Tor.com: 15th Anniversary Edition. 2023
Exile's End • (2020) • novelette by Carolyn Ives Gilman. ISFDB
Masterful. This is what science fiction can do at its best. A curator at an art museum meets an alien who claims to be a member of a race believed to be long dead. He becomes dedicated to the repatriation of the world’s most precious painting, which he believes has the spirit of a girl trapped within. It must be destroyed to release her. The story deals intelligently and with nuance around the complicated issues of art, artifacts, ownership, property, and respect for cultures that we find alien, inexplicable, and destructive.
Asimov's Science Fiction - 38th Annual Readers' Award Finalists. Novellas, Novelettes, and Short Stories.
The Less Than Divine Invasion, Peter Wood, January/February 2023. ISFDB
Hilarious and charming story of a botched alien invasion of a small town. All about bureaucracy, small town politics, conveniece store cooking, run down movie theaters, and love.
Berb by Berb, Ray Nayler, November/December 2023. ISFDB
In an alternate history, the USA's victory in World War Two was made possible by harnessing alien technology from a crashed UFO. Now, a man resides in solitude in the desert near the crash site, tormented by memories of his days retrofitting alien weaponry. His solitude is interrupted by peculiar sentient beings known as "berbs," emergent byproducts of escaped alien technology and scrap metal.
The 2024 Hugo Award Finalists
I AM AI by Ai Jiang. (2023) Link to Buy. ISFDB
Superb and poignant story of a future dystopia where on companies monopoly runs everything but a few people live on the margins. That sounds trite, but this story is elevated by a wonderfully written viewpoint character who is stuck pretending to be an A.I. chatbot and is replacing more and more of her body in the search of more robotic performance. There is real terror is watching her battery life wide down knowing that she will die if it hits zero.
Rose/House by Arkady Martine. (2023). Link to Buy. ISFDB
An absolute masterpiece of a science fictional ‘locked-room mystery.’ An architect is given the role of investigating the death (and apparent murder) of an a.i. specialist within a house of their own design. Of course, the house appears to be sentient and highly intelligent. This makes for a brilliant and intense interplay of man vs machine intelligence. Loved every minute of this.
The Wolfe at the Door. by Gene Wolfe. 2023
Memorare • (2007) • novella by Gene Wolfe. ISFDB
Mitch Wildspring is trying to make a documentary about the tombs floating in space, tributes to people who died exploring. Many are techonological marvels. Others are deadly traps. The only thing more trouble is his talent/lover and the woman she is bringing as an assistant. His ex-wife! Brilliant and suspenseful.
It's Very Clean • (1972) • short story by Gene Wolfe. ISFDB
Miles, a young man seeking his first intimate experience with an artificial partner, visits an establishment that offers lifelike robots. Guided by a fat woman with a gold tooth, he is shown a malfunctioning unit before being led to his own encounter. As he spends time with Jill, a seemingly perfect robot, he discovers an unsettling truth that challenges his perception of reality and humanity.
Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions. by Nalo Hopkinson. 2024
“And More Slow” (2018) by Nalo Hopkinson. ISFDB
A beautifully atmospheric story of two women marveling at the fossilized body of an alien woman in a giant cave. Something here that captures the quiet, melancholy sense of wonder that Steven Utley does so well.
New Year, New You: A Speculative Anthology of Reinvention. edited by Chris Campbell. 2024
“Redo” © 2024, Brigitte Winter. ISFDB
I loved this story of a woman slowly realized the horrifying time-travel lengths that her husband has gone to to prevent her from leaving him.
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024. edited by Hugh Howey and John Joseph Adams
Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont. (2023) by P. A. Cornell. ISFDB
The Oakmont is a special apartment building in New York, literally on the precipice of time. People from different years live there together under a number of rules that keep time in line. A woman from 2023 and a man from 1941 have a romance that give a framing to the exploration of The Oakmont. I really loved this. One of my very favorite stories this year.
Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact. November 1978
Hunter's Moon • (1978) novelette by Poul Anderson. ISFDB
A superb novelette with more than enough invention, drama, and action to make a full novel or a great movie. On a distant planet, a married couple study the two very different, sentient races. The husband and wife are using a special technology that allows them to literally ride inside the minds of their subjects. The two races have started a war - attempted genocide really - after one race embraces a new religious pilgrimage that the other believes is causing sterility.
The Last Dangerous Visions. edited by Harlan Ellison. With J. Michael Straczynski. 2024
Goodbye • (2024) by Steven Utley. ISFDB
A heartbroken professor and writer coming to grips with the abrupt end to a love affair with a woman he knew was a time traveler. Raw, painful, and beautiful.
The Final Pogrom • (2024) by Dan Simmons. ISFDB
It is dangerous to write a story about a global genocide of the Jews. It is dangerous to think intelligently about the logistics how how that could most effectively be done. It is dangerous to invent a plausible scientific rationale for why this keeps happening to the Jews throughout history. Simmons’ story is like watching a plane crash. Majestic and horrifying. One of the stories most consistent with the premise of a Dangerous Visions book.
