Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

If short stories can sometimes be a difficult medium, because the compressed space they must be worked in often leaves the reader unsatisfied with the way characters and narrative are developed, this collection of very short works from John Scalzi enjoys a different track record: the humorous nature of these stories lends itself quite easily to brevity and they feel more like well-developed jokes than anything else, or like some of the witty posts with which the author delights his blog’s readers.

So here you will find, for example, a mock interview with a very peeved Pluto, whose demotion from the status of planet still burns deeply, despite the abysmal cold in the fringes of our Solar System: the annoyed ex-planet takes this show more opportunity to vent some of its displeasure toward some old and new adversaries, the scientific community at large and – quite inexplicably – Phil Collins. Just to give you an idea of the tone of these stories, here is a quote directly from the ex-planet:


[…] people start calling me and telling me I'm the newest planet. And I remember saying, I don't know if I want that responsibility. And they said, well, you can't not be a planet now, Walt Disney's already named a character after you. That's really what made a planet. Not the astronomers, but that cartoon dog.


Or we can read the advertisement for a very special travel agency that can send its customers into alternate universes, offering various possible scenarios about a certain event: the example used is the death of Adolf Hitler, and despite the far-from-palatable subject, Mr. Scalzi manages to make you laugh out loud with his vision of alternate futures. My favorite is the one where the time-frame alteration keeps sending the city of Vienna back and back into the past, transforming it into a battleground for competing armies, until


[…] when the time traveling pro-Magyar forces show up, they are slaughtered by everyone else which is tired of all this time-traveling crap, thereby ending the causality loop.


Or again we are treated to a collection of hilariously crazy tweets the author posted to ease his boredom during a long flight, imagining the assault on the plane’s wing operated by a gremlin bent on plunging the vehicle down to earth. If you don’t think this could be funny (especially in the case of people who are not comfortable with flight), reading this brief piece will make you change your mind.

Each story is prefaced by a few words about its inception and history, and all of them are accompanied by little drawings that complement the story to perfection. If you want to spend a couple of light-hearted hours in the company of a favorite author, or if you want to discover John Scalzi’s peculiar brand of humor, this is the perfect place to start.


Originally posted at SPACE and SORCERY BLOG show less

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I've been a pretty consistent fan of Scalzi so when I got a chance to read his short stories before publication, I jumped on it with zeal.

His trademark humor works great here. From trade unions and planets to booking agents for super heroes to strongly-worded employee guides at supermarkets where some touchy aliens shop, I can't say there was a story here that I didn't like.

Of course, not all were humorous by nature, but most of them were and I had a great time with all of them.

Expect social commentary, some dry legalese set upon really funny alien situations and a really delightful story about the end of humanity by kitchen appliances. :)

I totally recommend checking these out... but just not for the show more poetry. Um. Poem. ;) show less

Fun, amusing and very short stories by John Scalzi. The most common theme is human-alien interactions and if you've read some of his longer fiction, those can get very interesting. Amusing in the same way that Kaiju Preservation Society is, but without the current culture references. Good stuff, not to be taken seriously.

I actually bought an ebook, which is not a thing I usually do. Usually I only get free ebooks or borrow them from libraries or people (usually my sister) buy them for me. It's a thing. However, this was published by Subteranean, so the hardback copy is very nice and very expensive and it’s unlikely to come out in paperback, but I want to read it, so, ebook it is.

Not my favorite Scalzi ever, but it is a solid collection of amusing, mostly-SF stories. Most take place in various different future settings where humans and aliens have already met and are learning to live around each other. A couple take place in a world where superheroes (and super villains) are real. One is about the AI apocolypse. One is from the perspective of a cat. show more

Recommended if you’re a Scalzi fan (of course) or if you’re interested in some fun SF short stories. show less

Miniatures is a collection of science fiction short stories. Some are very short – just a few minutes long. They’re all humorous. I think my favorite was the one about smart appliances talking about their owners behind their owners’ backs. If you’ve ever wondered if your smart appliances are judging you, well, guess what – they are! Another story that stood out to me was the interview with the agent for superheroes. Who knew hiring a superhero to save your city was so complicated? They never show the contracts and negotiation side of it in the movies!

Miniatures has several narrators, with each character within a story having a different one. This makes the stories sound more like short radio plays than someone reading a book. show more This method made for a fun listen.

If you’re in the mood for a light-hearted read/listen (and given the general mood of the world lately, you probably are) then this book is a great choice. show less

Miniatures
By John Scalzi
This is such a fun book! It's a bunch of short stories, mostly sci-fi and the majority humorous! The variety of stories are great too! I giggled, smiled, and enjoyed each story which is very unusual to like all short stories from a book.
I listened to the audio version which was awesome! Various great narrators.

This is a really well produced audiobook of a good selection of short, humorous sci-fi. Nothing particularly mind-bending or of transcending insight here, but a bunch of very short, interesting stories -- the most consistent theme being "what life will be like once alien/human interactions are routine." It seems like several works were produced specifically for live performance, and as a result, they come across particularly well in the audio performance.