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John Scalzi
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Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi Kindle Edition

by John Scalzi (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 912 ratings
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The ex-planet Pluto has a few choice words about being thrown out of the solar system. A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity.

Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.

These four stories, along with fourteen other pieces, have one thing in common: They’re short, sharp, and to the point—science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).

Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best, and features four never-before-printed stories, exclusive to this collection: “Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth,” “Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back,” “Important Holidays on Gronghu” and “The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest.”

John Scalzi is the New York Times bestselling author of Old Man’s War, Lock In and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.
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  1. Print length
    104 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    Dec 31 2016
  4. File size
    1050 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  8. See all details
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Product description

About the Author

John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you're reading this, makes perfect sense. He's best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller "Redshirts," which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word "Whatever" into Google. No, seriously, try it.



Luke Daniels has narrated over 250 audiobooks, has been the grateful recipient of thirteen AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has earned three Audie nominations. His background is in classical theater and film. Luke has performed at repertory theaters around the country, but now he resides in the Midwest with his pack.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01NCF8YH6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Subterranean Press (Dec 31 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1050 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 104 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 912 ratings

About the author

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John Scalzi

John Scalzi

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you're reading this, makes perfect sense. He's best known for writing science fiction, including the New York Times bestseller "Redshirts," which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word "Whatever" into Google. No, seriously, try it.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
912 global ratings

Top reviews from Canada

Gary Lessard
4.0 out of 5 stars The story of the life of appliances is a perfect example, the showerhead suffering in ways you will ...
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
As usual you never know what to expect from John, his humor coming from all directions. However, you almost need to go back over the previous sentence to confirm you just read what you did. The story of the life of appliances is a perfect example, the showerhead suffering in ways you will just have to imagine till you get there.

I think having John as one neighbor and Gary Larson the other would make life so much more interesting.
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JEK
4.0 out of 5 stars Always a funny twist
Reviewed in Canada on January 23, 2017
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Enjoyable stories always with a funny twist. I like his writing and, he usually seems to be starting from a known point.
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Doug
3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly good short stuff.
Reviewed in Canada on January 30, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is pretty short and the last couple of things were filler, but at least 75% of it shows off that great Scalzi humour I appreciate so much, so it was still worth it to me.
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John M. Ford
3.0 out of 5 stars Scalzi Smalls
Reviewed in Canada on August 20, 2017
John Scalzi keeps the introduction and the stories short in this collection of 17 2000-words-or-less stories (and one poem). He learned to write short articles under time pressure for a newspaper—and developed a style that was “…fast, punchy, and to the point.” He believes it to be one of his natural formats—along with the full-length novel, of course.

Your taste may vary, but here are a few that stood out to me as I sprinted through them:

“Alien Animal Encounters” is Scalzi’s first published story consisting of short interviews collected by a reporter from ordinary humans who own extraordinary pets.

“Pluto Tells All” was written after that ex-planet was stripped of its status in 2006. Pluto comes across as gossipy, defensive, and a little bitter. Credible.

“When the Yogurt Took Over” is about our favorite healthy breakfast dominating the home world. Guess those dieters weren’t eating it fast enough.

“Important Holidays on Gronghu” is a memo to employees of Earth’s embassy with guidance about how to and how not to celebrate various Earth and Gronghuan holidays. It does a nice job of profiling an alien culture indirectly.

The stories entertain and amuse, but lack the punch I expect from good flash fiction. As a collection, they show the author’s background in news writing. Most are in the form of actual brief documents such as news articles, memos, interview transcripts and the like. One might tire of this format if there were twice as many stories or the ones here were twice as long.

Oh, and the poem just doesn’t work for me. Sorry.
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Top reviews from other countries

Richard L. Centner
5.0 out of 5 stars Scalzi leaves the reader laughing.
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2017
Verified Purchase
Scalzi is a very funny writer. Although the quality of the pieces vary, none was terrible and most were very good. They're all short enough to read in a not-too-long sitting and most will evince a chuckle or two, some an out loud laugh. They're true to human nature and may be the science fiction equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse.
3 people found this helpful
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Lewis P Bear
5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff and a lot of fun.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
It is a lot of money for a very short book but given it's rarity we are not going to complain.
The book arrived on time and was new as advertised.
If you are a fan it is great fun and possibly trying to get hold of but if you can manage with a download you save a heap of money
One person found this helpful
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Darklongbox
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Entertaining
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
I really enjoy the short fiction of John Scalzi. He has a great sense of humor and an addictive writing style. He seems to have no shortage of ideas, either. I would also recommend the audible version of this book as the delivery was done with humor and aplomb. Even though this is a very short collection as the title suggests I could see myself coming back and re-reading it in the near future. To me this is always a sign of a good book. Well done, John Scalzi, l I hope to see more collections from you in the future. Highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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Catmoor
4.0 out of 5 stars Great wee book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
Good for reading on short journeys, or at lunch break, or anywhen else a sideswipe at life would go down well.
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John M. Ford
3.0 out of 5 stars Scalzi Smalls
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2017
Verified Purchase
John Scalzi keeps the introduction and the stories short in this collection of 17 2000-words-or-less stories (and one poem). He learned to write short articles under time pressure for a newspaper—and developed a style that was “…fast, punchy, and to the point.” He believes it to be one of his natural formats—along with the full-length novel, of course.

Your taste may vary, but here are a few that stood out to me as I sprinted through them:

“Alien Animal Encounters” is Scalzi’s first published story consisting of short interviews collected by a reporter from ordinary humans who own extraordinary pets.

“Pluto Tells All” was written after that ex-planet was stripped of its status in 2006. Pluto comes across as gossipy, defensive, and a little bitter. Credible.

“When the Yogurt Took Over” is about our favorite healthy breakfast dominating the home world. Guess those dieters weren’t eating it fast enough.

“Important Holidays on Gronghu” is a memo to employees of Earth’s embassy with guidance about how to and how not to celebrate various Earth and Gronghuan holidays. It does a nice job of profiling an alien culture indirectly.

The stories entertain and amuse, but lack the punch I expect from good flash fiction. As a collection, they show the author’s background in news writing. Most are in the form of actual brief documents such as news articles, memos, interview transcripts and the like. One might tire of this format if there were twice as many stories or the ones here were twice as long.

Oh, and the poem just doesn’t work for me. Sorry.
7 people found this helpful
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