Any recommendations for books, novellas and short story collections?
Hey, I'm trying to pull back a bit from the present news cycle, so I'm looking for some alternatives. My brain often is looking for some stimulation that isn't something huge and meaty, so I figured short stories and novellas could be helpful in particular. If you have something long that's great, feel free to toss that in as well.
I like short stories that depict interesting and different worlds, though they don't need to be particularly detailed. Stories with positive (or at least not miserable) endings would probably be better for my mood. For some examples, I liked the I, Robot stories, particularly the first one with Grace and Robbie, They're Made out of Meat, Flatland, The Year Without Sunshine. I'm realizing that is kind of Sci fi heavy, but that might just be because there are more Sci fi short stories I've bumped into, a lot from links elsewhere on the internet.
For some examples of novels and series that I've liked, Cradle by Will Wight, Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, Scholomance by Naomi Novik, Ender's Game. Recently, I liked Tomorrow and Tommorow and Tomorrow, and Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, but I don't know if I could handle that level of sad right now. For historical fiction,the only examplez I can think of right now are A Woman of Independent Means, and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but I used to read a lot of it when I was younger.
Books I didn't like, but loved aspects of are Babel (I absolutely loved the setting, the book itself felt like it was beating you up with a cudgel), The School for Good mothers (I enjoyed the exploration of what Good motherhood is, and how mothers are judged by society, I disliked how disjointed the actual plot was).
I tend not to like stories where most or all characters are hard to have empathy for -- I hated A Catcher in the Rye, and loathed the Arthur Miller plays I had to read in school. I can get impatient with stories that keep the world vague for a very long time, like Never Let Me Go.
So, any recommendations?
Seconding Ted Chiang, and I will also highly recommend Greg Egan. Those two are in my opinion the best science fiction short story writers. Greg Egan has a The best of Greg Egan collection, which as the title implies great. For something a bit older, and with a generally cozy and positive vibe to most of his stories, I can recommend the stories by Clifford D. Simak.
And something completely different, as I also tend to read mostly science fiction stories, I have picked up a short story collection by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Not very far yet, but I like his simple yet very poetic language.
I love Greg Egan so much. <3 His stuff is just a little less accessible than Ted Chiang's.
I recently read The Dispatcher by John Scalzi and enjoyed it.
I listened to the audiobook of The Dispatcher and enjoyed it as well. I was disappointed in the sequel, though. It seemed like the characters were suddenly 70% dumber. Things that were obvious to the audience (and not hidden from the characters in any way) needed constant explaining to them. Luckily the first one is a complete story and doesn't depend on the existence of the sequel.
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells is a on going sci-fi novella series, with two full length novels. The story follows the main character a Security Unit (SecUnit) named itself Muderbot after it had hacked it's own governor module, but it would rather watch it's soap operas and considers spending less time with humans a blessing.
If you haven't read any of Ted Chiang, he has two great collections of short stories and is a brilliant writer. Scifi.
The Murderbot Diaries isn't a perfect fit, because some of its books are proper novel length. It's so good though that I recommend it anyways.
Becky Chambers Wayfarers and Monk and Robot series. They're mostly cozy, though they deal with real issues, and they're hopeful views of the future.
I'm a sci-fi fan.
So hard to find a good escape. Seems like every sci-fi novel is a dystopian story.
If not a dystopian story, the story is run of the mill, filled with cliches, a hack.
If not those things the author is a lousy writer with poorly written characters.
If you have something that passes all of those test please let me know!
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This first book is an introduction to an entire universe full of visceral situations and characters that’ll make you feel something. Worth giving a try because if you enjoy the first tastes of Robin’s creation, there’s a whole lot more headed your way.
Anything by Becky Chambers - her books have substance, but in a calm and reflective and yet completely enjoyable and accessible way.
In a similar vein but going back aways, Zena Henderson did some great character-driven SF stories as well.
While we are dredging around in the past, Roald Dahl (yes, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory guy) wrote three or four volumes of really good short stories for adults, most of which have quite disturbing horror-adjacent themes - and thereby maintaining a degree of shock value even today - but they are written in a clear and jaunty way that makes them enjoyable to read, and each one is bite-sized. Not at all like contemporary horror, and keep in mind he is an excellent writer who understands the craft involved in story telling.
Elizabeth Gilbert's A Signature of All Things is a longer novel that takes in... a lot of things... and is very absorbing to read.
If you want a rolicking read without a scrap of commonsense but lots of characterisation and decent plotting and some genuinely laugh out loud moments, try the Stephanie Plum series of detective novels by Janet Evanovich. Start at the series beginning, and if you like them you are in luck because I think there are about 30 of them.