Short Fiction L - N

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The Last Child into the Mountain
(written with Lee Ellis)
[5300 words]

With the world on the brink of nuclear destruction, the fate of the United States rests in the pudgy hands of an obese and obsessive teen-aged video-game player.


  1. Omni (Ellen Datlow)
    [New York: Omni Publications, ISSN 0149-8711], Mar 1983 ($2.50); pp. 62 - 67 + 120 - 123 [illustrated by Fernando Botero]











  2. [as Yama ni haitta saigo no kodomo]
    [Japanese translation by Jun Atsugi]
    Omni #61
    [Tokyo: Omni Publications], May 1987












  3. Nuclear War (Gregory Benford & Martin H. Greenberg)
    • New York: Ace 58640 [ISBN 0-441-58640-6] [pb], Jul 1988 ($3.50); pp. 149 - 164
Last Drink Bird Head
[500 words]
  1. Last Drink Bird Head: Flash Fiction for Charity (Ann & Jeff VanderMeer)
    • Stirling NJ: Ministry of Whimsy / Wyrm Publishing [ISBN 978-1-890464-12-7] [hc], Nov 2009 ($35.00); pp. 22 - 23
Last Night Out
[1500 words]
  1. Brighten to Incandescence (MB), Jun 2003; pp. 249 - 252















  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 169 - 172
Leaps of Faith
[7000 words]
[A "Kudzu Valley" story]

Heinz Jurgens, exterminator with Ridpest Ltd., is dispatched to the flea-infested home of Shot and Miriam Mayer of Kudzu Valley.  His bouts with migraines and the fantasies that he experiences while under their control lead Heinz to a "leap" of his own.

This story probably represents one of the few serious sf tales — if not the only one — about fleas.  My, ahem, hard scientific information came from an article entitled "The Flying Leap of the Flea" in Scientific American.  The incidents structuring the narrative, meanwhile, had some odd, even perplexing, parallels in my own experience.  In 1977, Ursula K. Le Guin recommended "Leaps of Faith" for a Nebula Award in the short story category, but with the exception of Edward L. Ferman, no one else seems to have noticed this off-trail little narrative. — from Preface to Blooded on Arachne


  1. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction #317 (Edward L. Ferman)
    [Cornwall CT: Mercury Press], Oct 1977 ($1.00); pp. 123 - 138












  2. [as Sursauts de foi]
    [French translation by Daniel Lemoine]
    Fiction #317 (Alain Dorémieux)
    [Paris: Editions Opta], Apr 1981 (15 F); pp. 98 - 119












  3. Blooded on Arachne (MB), Jan 1982; pp. 144 - 163















  4. [as Glaubenssprünge]
    [German translation by Johannes R. Blasius]
    Arachne (MB), Jun 1983, pp. 145 - 163
The Library of Babble
[2100 words]
[Based on notes by Jamie Bishop]
  1. Subterranean Online, Winter 2010 (William Schafer)
    [Burton MI: Subterranean Press], February 2010
    [Online Publication]












  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 188 - 192
Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats
[7000 words]

For reasons you will only later understand, you have been abducted by strangers and are undergoing direct stimulus to the brain.  The information they seek is hidden within your lifetime of memories concerning cats.


  1. Omni (Ellen Datlow)
    [New York: Omni Publications, ISSN 0149-8711], Sep 1991 ($3.50); pp. 60 - 64 + 88 - 96 [illustrated by Clayton Anderson]










  2. You Haven't to Deserve (Jane Hill)
    • Atlanta GA: Task Force for the Homeless [ISBN 0-9628530-2-X] [hc], Oct 1991 ($21.95); pp. 17 - 34













  3. Magicats II (Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois)
    • New York: Ace 51533 [ISBN 0-441-51533-9] [pb], Dec 1991 ($3.99); pp. 13 - 34
    • New York: Baen Books [ISBN 978-1-62579-114-6] [ebook], Mar 2013 ($4.99)











  4. Hugo and Nebula Anthology 1993 (Brad Templeton)
    • San Jose CA: ClariNet Communications [CD ROM], 1993 ($29.95)







  5. Nebula Awards 28 (James Morrow)
    • New York: Harcourt Brace; Apr 1994; pp. 207 - 227
      1. [ISBN 0-15-100082-4] [hardcover] ($24.95)
      2. [ISBN 0-15-600039-3] [trade paperback] ($12.95)












  6. At the City Limits of Fate (MB), Aug 1996; pp. 209 - 230
















  7. [as Das Leben als Puzzle aus Katzen mit glänzendem Fell]
    [German translation by Ingrid Herrmann]
    Riffprimaten (Wolfgang Jeschke)
    • Munich: Heyne SF 5390 [ISBN 3-453-09454-9] [pb], 1996 (ÖS 125,00); pp. 9 - 38












  8. [as Das Leben, betrachtet als ein Puzzle aus poussierlichen Katzen]
    [German translation by Michael Windgassen]
    Magische Katzen (Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois)
    • Munich: Heyne Allgemeine Reihe 9790 [ISBN 3-453-09316-X] [pb], 1996 (DM 12,90)












  9. [as Życie jako układanka z kotami na wysoki połysk]
    [Polish translation by Kinga Dobrowolska]
    Nebula '92 (James Morrow)
    • Warsaw: Prószyñski i S-ka [ISBN 83-7180-065-7] [trade pb]; May 1997 (16,50 zł); pp. 301 - 328










  10. [as Shenghuó, yi zhi shanshan fa liàng de wánjù pintú mao (Life, a Shiny Toy Puzzle Cat)]
    [Chinese translation]
    1997 America's Best Science Fiction (David G. Hartwell)
    • China: Yuanfang Publishing House [ISBN 9787805951522] [trade pb], Feb 1998 (); pp. -








  11. [as Tsuyayakana neko-tachi no jiguso pazuru ni mitateta jinsei]
    [Japanese translation by Hisashi Asakura]
    Magicats II (Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois)
    • Tokyo: Fugosho Mystery [ISBN 4-594-02771-7] [pb], Sep 1999











  12. Tails of Wonder and Imagination (Ellen Datlow)
    • San Francisco: Night Shade Books [ISBN 978-1-59780-170-6] [trade pb], Feb 2010; pp. 123 - 137














  13. [as La vida considerada como un puzzle de gatos muy lustrosos]
    [Spanish (Castilian) translation by Maria Fernandez Gutierrez]
    En los suburbios del destino (MB), Jun 2010, pp. 189 - 206










  14. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 333 - 349v















  15. [as Zhizn' kak pazl, sostavlennyy iz chrezvychayno luchezarnykh koshek]
    [Russian translation by P. Denisova]
    Skazki o voobrazhayemykh chudesakh (Ellen Datlow)
    • Moscow: RIPOL Classic [ISBN 978-5-386-08388-5] [hc], Mar 2015; pp. 188 - 212










  16. [as Zhizn' kak pazl, sostavlennyy iz chrezvychayno luchezarnykh koshek]
    [Russian translation by P. Denisova]
    Skazki o voobrazhayemykh chudesakh (Ellen Datlow)
    • Moscow: RIPOL Classic [ISBN 978-5-386-09251-1] [hc], Apr 2016 (); pp. -








Love's Heresy
[3200 words]
  1. Shayol #3 (Pat Cadigan)
    [Kansas City KS: Flight Unlimited], Summer 1979 ($3.00); pp. 10 - 13 [illustrated by Barbara Stitt]











  2. Close Encounters with the Deity (MB), Aug 1986; pp. 63 - 72














  3. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 21 - 27

The Making of Kid Dibauda
[500 words]
  1. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 202 - 203
The Mark 16 Hands On Assembly of Jesus Risen, Formerly
Snake-o-rama

[see Among the Handlers]
Menard's Disease
[800 words]
  1. QPB Calendar of Days 2002 (Kathy Kiernan)
    • Mechanicsburg PA: Quality Paperback Book Club [spiral-bound hc], Sep 2001


  2. The Thackery T. Lambshead Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases (Jeff VanderMeer & Mark Roberts)
    • San Francisco / Portland: Night Shade Books, Oct 2003; pp. 113 - 115
      1. [ISBN 1-892389-54-1] [trade hardcover] ($24.00)
      2. [ISBN 1-892389-53-3] [limited hardcover] ($45.00)
    • London: Tor Macmillan [ISBN 1-4050-4960-X] [hc], Nov 2004 (£12.99)
    • New York: Bantam [ISBN 0-553-38339-6] [trade pb], Apr 2005 ($14.00)
    • London: Pan Macmillan [ISBN 0-330-43794-1] [trade pb], Nov 2005 (£8.99)





















  3. [as Doença de Menard]
    [Portugese translation]
    Almanaque do Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead de Doenças Excêntricas e Desacreditadas (Jeff VanderMeer & Mark Roberts)
    • Cascais, Portugal: Edições Saída de Emergência (Bang!) [ISBN 978-989-637-068-8] [trade pb], May 2010 (€ 9.00)









  4. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 144 - 146
Midwifing the World
[900 words]
  1. [as Midwiving the World]
    The Silver Web #15 (Ann Kennedy)
    [Tallahassee FL: Buzzcity Press, ISSN 1082-8370], January 2002 ($5.95); pp. 13 - 14











  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 141 - 143
Miriam
[1500 words]
  1. [as by Nōni Tyent]
    A Cross of Centuries (Michael Bishop)
    • New York: Thunder's Mouth Press [1-56025-926-4] [trade paperback], Apr 2007 ($16.95); pp. 29-34











  2. The Door Gunner and Other Perilous Flights of Fancy (MB) (Michael H. Hutchins, ed.), Feb 2012; pp. 451 - 454















  3. Making History (Rick Wilber)
    • New Word City [978-1-64019-359-8] [ebook], Mar 2019 ($9.99)













  4. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 180 - 183
The Monkey's Bride
[7400 words]
  1. Heroic Visions (Jessica Amanda Salmonson)
    • New York: Ace 32821 [0-441-32821-0] [pb], Mar 1983 ($2.75); pp. 195 - 214















  2. One Winter in Eden (MB), Jan 1984; pp. 181 - 202















  3. Chapter XL of Who Made Stevie Crye? (MB), Sep 1984; pp. 208 - 231















  4. [as La Fiancée du Singe]
    [French translation by Jean-Daniel Brèque]
    La Fiancée du Singe [book]
    • Dunkerque, France: Arachne [trade pb], Sep 1985; 62 pp. [illustrated by Patrick Marcel]













  5. [as La Fiancée du Singe]
    [French translation by Josie Fanon]
    Chapter XL of La Machine Infernale (MB), Sep 1985; pp. 137 - 152













  6. [as Die Braut des Affen]
    [German translation by Irene Bonhorst]
    Chapter XL of Die Alptraume der Stevie Crye (MB), 1991; pp. 278 - 307
Mory
[7300 words]

Daniel Gholston, an old man whose entire family has died in the past year, visits an amusement park.  There he pursues the person who he feels is responsible for their deaths.


  1. Shadows (Charles L. Grant)
    • Garden City NY: Doubleday & Co. [ISBN 0-385-12937-8] [hc], Sep 1978 ($7.95); pp. 124 - 141
    • Chicago: Playboy Press 16751 [ISBN 0-872-16751-8] [pb], Oct 1980 ($2.25); pp. 155 - 175
    • New York: Berkley 05955 [ISBN 0-425-05955-3] [pb], Sep 1982 ($2.50); pp. 155 - 175
    • New York: Berkley 08644 [ISBN 0-425-08644-5] [pb], Jul 1986 ($2.95); pp. 155 - 175
    • [as Shadows II]
      London: Headline 3014 [ISBN 0-7472-3014-5] [pb], Oct 1987 (£2.50)
    • [as Shadows II]
      London: Headline [ISBN 0-7472-0018-1] [hc], Nov 1987 (£9.95)



















  2. [Italian translation by Maria Benedetta De Castiglione]
    Ombre (Charles L. Grant)
    • Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore [Oscar Horror 7] [ISBN 88-04-32704-9] [pb], Jan 1990 (Lire 9.000); pp. 195 - 220
Murder on Lupozny Station
(written with Gerald W. Page)
[16600 words]
  1. Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction #359 (Edward L. Ferman)
    [Cornwall CT: Mercury Press, ISSN 0024-984X], Apr 1981 ($1.50); pp. 6 - 43 [cover illustrated by David Hardy]












  2. Brighten to Incandescence (MB), Jun 2003; pp. 93 - 133
Nine Prescriptions for My Funeral
[1800 words]
  1. SF Eye #15 (Stephen P. Brown)
    [Asheville NC: SF Eye, ISSN 1071-3018], Fall 1997 ($5.00); pp. 68 - 70 [illustrated by Diego M. Rios]











  2. A Reverie for Mister Ray (MB), May 2005; pp. 558 - 566
No Appetite for Communion
[1250 words]

(Originally published as part of a collaborative symmetrina titled We Shall Not, We Shall Not Be Moved, with Bruce Holland Rogers, Deborah Layne, Susan O'Neill, David Galef, and Victoria Elisabeth Garcia)

  1. Indiana Review Vol. 27, No. 1 (Grady Jaynes)
    [Bloomington IN: Indiana University, ISSN 0738-386X], Sum 2005 ($9.00); pp. 83-98, 264-273













  2. A Few Last Words for the Late Immortals (MB), Nov 2021; pp. 184 - 187
No Enemy But Time (abridgement)
[29700 words]

[Abridgement of No Enemy But Time (MB), Apr 1982]
[Note: not abridged by MB]

  1. Science Fiction Digest #3 (Shawna McCarthy)
    [New York: Davis Publications, ISSN 0277-0768], May/Jun 1982 ($1.95); pp. 120 - 189
No Enemy But Time (excerpt)
[3700 words]
  1. Chapter One of No Enemy But Time (MB), Apr 1982; pp. 14 - 25















  2. The Nebula Awards #18 (Robert Silverberg)
    • New York: Arbor House [ISBN 0-87795-565-4] [hc], Nov 1983 ($16.95); pp. 68 - 80
    • New York: Bantam 24371 [ISBN 0-553-24371-3] [pb], Sep 1984 ($2.75); pp. 49 - 58
No Picnic
[3000 words]
  1. Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories (MB), Jun 2017; pp. 187 - 193











Compiled by Michael H. Hutchins

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