recommend short stories?

[EricNoah]

I'm looking for a short story anthology to keep in my car so when I eat at a restaurant at lunch I have something to read. I kept the new Conan anthology in my car for about 9 months and it was a worthy lunch companion. I recently picked up a sci fi novel and am finding that I can't read just 1-2 pages at a shot because I keep forgetting who the characters are. So ideally I'd like stories that are somehow connected (same main characters, or location/setting or something) so I don't have to remember too much of what I read last time and can just jump into it. A recent thread mentioned Lankhmar -- is there a Lankhmar anthology out there somewhere? I was also thinking about the first Thieves World book. Any other suggestions?

 

[ssampier]

You haven't read it already, Legends is excellent. It's not anthology, but has many good short stories.

 

[JoeBlank]

When I saw the thread title I was going to mention the Conan anthologies.

The Science Fiction Book Club has Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser anthologies:
http://www.sfbc.com/doc/full_site_enrollment/detail/fse_product_detail.jhtml?repositoryId=540039010
http://www.sfbc.com/doc/full_site_enrollment/detail/fse_product_detail.jhtml?repositoryId=636530010

 

[WayneLigon]

Most of the Lankhmar books are technically anthologies.
The second Conan anthology is out.
Thieves World would be good.
The early Wild Cards books.
Mad Amos by Alan Dean Foster; connected short stories in a weird west setting
A Different Flesh by Harry Turtledove - When they discovered America, they also discovered that primitive hominids still lived there.
Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson
The Sector General collections by James White: Major Operation, Ambulance Ship, Sector General
Retief of the CDT, Retief: Diplomat at Arms, and other collections by Keith Laumer
The Mysterious Cure and Other Stories of Pshrinks Anon. by Janet O. Jeppson
The Exploits of Solar Pons by Basil Cooper - Holmes pachiste
The Mysterious Doom and Other Ghostly Tales of the Pacific Northwest by Jessica Amanda Salmonson -- Order from Sasquatch Books, 1931 Second Ave., Seattle WA 98101. -- Icludes most of her Penelope Pettiweather: Occult Detective stories.
Paratime by H. Beam Piper - collection of Paratime patrol stories
Nightmare Seasons by Charles L Grant - his Oxrun Station stories
deLint's Newford story collections: The Ivory and the Horn, Moonlight and Vines , Dreams Underfoot

 

[Mark]

If you've not read them, get ahold of a Sherlock Holmes compendium. Classic. Also, any old Asimov, Bradbury, perhaps some Poe, and the Thieves World books (old and new) are probably worth having around.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

The Swords against Darkness anthology series is on Gygax's recommended reading list for the DMG; some good stories, and many that are interesting as a glimpse of the state of fantasy at the dawn of D&D.

Jessica Salmonson's Amazons anthologies from the same period have a slightly higher hit rate IMHO.

Michael Shea's Nifft the Lean is a fix-up novel (originally published as short stories, jammed together into a common narrative) and it's hella good.

For magazines, Black Gate publishes sword & sorcery short fiction; its publication schedule is a little erratic, but the quality is high. Fantasy and Science Fiction is always a good bet.

 

[Crothian]

Thieves World is of course great (old and new)

Dragons of Light and Dragons of Darkness are two books all about Dragons. THe shorts stories are pretty good and by some well known authors like George RR Martin, Roger Zelazny, and others. The books are over 20 years old, but hold up well.

 

[CrusaderX]

If you've not read them, get ahold of a Sherlock Holmes compendium.

Agreed. You can often find big hardback Holmes collections in the discount section of bookstores for around 6 bucks.

I also really enjoy the collection of Solomon Kane short stories I found in paperback.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

I agree with Mark on Bradbury. Great read after all these years. Even his novel The Martian Chronicles is comprised of short stories. Have you considered H.P. Lovecraft's works? Tons of short stories and unlike most anything else out there.

 

[EricNoah]

Thanks for the suggestions. Based on recommendations I just ordered a Thieves' World anthology (compilation of first two anthologies, apparently) and a Lankhmar one.