ajdecon
Mad Scientist
Lately, it seems like it's been pretty hard to find good short story collections out there. I think a lot of it's probably financial: SF/fantasy authors have learned that writing novel-length books pay better, and bookstores have learned that they can make more money by stocking the next big novel than collections of older stories.
Personally I find that I prefer SF and fantasy short stories to novels. What could have been a tight, interesting short story becomes meandering and somewhat drawn-out when forced to be book-length: compare Isaac Asimov's or Larry Niven's short stories to their novels for good examples.
But since I'm having so much trouble, I thought I'd ask you: what do you read when you don't want to slog through a whole novel? Any particularly good collections or anthologies that you've read? Really good fiction magazines? Help me out here!
Personally I find that I prefer SF and fantasy short stories to novels. What could have been a tight, interesting short story becomes meandering and somewhat drawn-out when forced to be book-length: compare Isaac Asimov's or Larry Niven's short stories to their novels for good examples.
But since I'm having so much trouble, I thought I'd ask you: what do you read when you don't want to slog through a whole novel? Any particularly good collections or anthologies that you've read? Really good fiction magazines? Help me out here!