ISFDB Top 100 Short Stories (Critical List)

  1 1007 Bears Discover Fire                      Terry Bisson 
  2  963 Coraline                                 Neil Gaiman 
  3  939 Forgiveness Day                          Ursula K. Le Guin 
  4  923 The Night We Buried Road Dog             Jack Cady 
  5  871 Schrödinger's Kitten                     George Alec Effinger 
  6  856 Rachel in Love                           Pat Murphy 
  7  815 Fire Watch                               Connie Willis 
  8  779 Death on the Nile                        Connie Willis 
  9  776 Story of Your Life                       Ted Chiang 
 10  770 The Mountains of Mourning                Lois McMaster Bujold 
 11  766 "...Where Angels Fear to Tread"          Allen Steele 
 12  731 Danny Goes to Mars                       Pamela Sargent 
 13  692 The Undiscovered                         William Sanders 
 14  683 The Lincoln Train                        Maureen F. McHugh 
 15  674 The Matter of Seggri                     Ursula K. Le Guin 
 16  673 Pretty Boy Crossover                     Pat Cadigan 
 17  672 The Evening and the Morning and the
           Night                                  Octavia E. Butler 
 18  671 Even the Queen                           Connie Willis 
 19  669 Dori Bangs                               Bruce Sterling 
 20  664 The Last of the Winnebagos               Connie Willis 
 21  663 Do Ya, Do Ya, Wanna Dance                Howard Waldrop 
 22  660 Jeffty Is Five                           Harlan Ellison 
 23  658 Beggars in Spain                         Nancy Kress 
 24  658 Into the Miranda Rift                    G. David Nordley 
 25  652 Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge             Mike Resnick 
 26  651 Age of Aquarius                          William Barton 
 27  648 R & R                                    Lucius Shepard 
 28  646 Grotto of the Dancing Deer               Clifford D. Simak 
 29  637 Bloodchild                               Octavia E. Butler 
 30  637 Press Enter []                           John Varley 
 31  630 The Diamond Pit                          Jack Dann 
 32  623 The Flowers of Aulit Prison              Nancy Kress 
 33  615 None So Blind                            Joe Haldeman 
 34  611 Five Days in April                       Brian A. Hopkins 
 35  607 Madonna of the Maquiladora               Gregory Frost 
 36  606 Cocoon                                   Greg Egan 
 37  605 Think Like a Dinosaur                    James Patrick Kelly 
 38  603 The Peacemaker                           Gardner Dozois 
 39  601 When It Changed                          Joanna Russ 
 40  600 Portraits of His Children                George R. R. Martin 
 41  596 Barnacle Bill the Spacer                 Lucius Shepard 
 42  593 The Hemingway Hoax                       Joe Haldeman 
 43  591 Mefisto in Onyx                          Harlan Ellison 
 44  585 The Singular Habits of Wasps             Geoffrey A. Landis 
 45  585 The Manamouki                            Mike Resnick 
 46  578 Bibi                                     Mike Resnick  and
                                                  Susan Shwartz 
 47  577 Black Air                                Kim Stanley Robinson 
 48  575 The Ugly Chickens                        Howard Waldrop 
 49  572 Sandkings                                George R. R. Martin 
 50  571 This Year's Class Picture                Dan Simmons 
 51  571 The Secret Sharer                        Robert Silverberg 
 52  571 Loose Ends                               Paul Levinson 
 53  568 The Pusher                               John Varley 
 54  566 Souls                                    Joanna Russ 
 55  566 Bully!                                   Mike Resnick 
 56  556 The Man on the Ceiling                   Steve Rasnic Tem  and
                                                  Melanie Tem 
 57  550 The Summer Isles                         Ian R. MacLeod 
 58  550 The Blind Geometer                       Kim Stanley Robinson 
 59  547 Aurora in Four Voices                    Catherine Asaro 
 60  545 Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff                   Peter Straub 
 61  545 TeleAbsence                              Michael A. Burstein 
 62  541 Salvador                                 Lucius Shepard 
 63  540 The Only Neat Thing to Do                James Tiptree, Jr. 
 64  540 Ripples in the Dirac Sea                 Geoffrey A. Landis 
 65  539 Kirinyaga                                Mike Resnick 
 66  537 Tangents                                 Greg Bear 
 67  534 The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter     Lucius Shepard 
 68  533 In the Western Tradition                 Phyllis Eisenstein 
 69  531 Beauty and the Opéra or The Phantom
           Beast                                  Suzy McKee Charnas 
 70  529 The Saturn Game                          Poul Anderson 
 71  528 Paper Dragons                            James P. Blaylock 
 72  528 Petra                                    Greg Bear 
 73  527 Hell Is the Absence of God               Ted Chiang 
 74  527 Hardfought                               Greg Bear 
 75  527 Hatrack River                            Orson Scott Card 
 76  526 Suppose They Gave a Peace...             Susan Shwartz 
 77  525 Buffalo                                  John Kessel 
 78  524 The Brave Little Toaster                 Thomas M. Disch 
 79  523 Echea                                    Kristine Kathryn Rusch 
 80  522 Seventy-Two Letters                      Ted Chiang 
 81  521 Georgia on My Mind                       Charles Sheffield 
 82  520 The Chief Designer                       Andy Duncan 
 83  518 Blood Music                              Greg Bear 
 84  517 The Wedding Album                        David Marusek 
 85  516 Forever Yours, Anna                      Kate Wilhelm 
 86  516 For I Have Touched the Sky               Mike Resnick 
 87  516 The Astronaut from Wyoming               Adam-Troy Castro  and
                                                  Jerry Oltion 
 88  515 Chatting with Anubis                     Harlan Ellison 
 89  515 A Roll of the Dice                       Catherine Asaro 
 90  514 Her Habiline Husband                     Michael Bishop 
 91  512 Crocodile Rock                           Lucius Shepard 
 92  512 The Winter Market                        William Gibson 
 93  512 Reality Check                            Michael A. Burstein 
 94  511 Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out
           Tonight                                Ursula K. Le Guin 
 95  511 At the Rialto                            Connie Willis 
 96  510 macs                                     Terry Bisson 
 97  510 The Ultimate Earth                       Jack Williamson 
 98  509 Tower of Babylon                         Ted Chiang 
 99  505 Sailing to Byzantium                     Robert Silverberg 
100  502 My Work Is Not Yet Done                  Thomas Ligotti