Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

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Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi

Author:	John Scalzi
Publisher:	Subterranean Press, 2016
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Book Type:	Collection
Genre:	Science-Fiction
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Synopsis

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."

Table of Contents

Introduction, or, Let's Keep This Short
Alien Animal Encounters
Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search Results
Pluto Tells All
Denise Jones, Superbooker
When the Yogurt Took Over
The Other Large Thing
The State of Super Villainy
New Directives for Employee-Manxtse Interactions
To Sue the World
How I Keep Myself Amused on Long Flights: A Twitter Tale
How I Keep Myself Amused on Long Flights, Part II: The Gremlining
Life on Earth: Human-Alien Relations
Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth
Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back
The AI are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest
Important Holidays on Gronghu
Cute Adorable Extortionists
Penelope