Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980) is a book of short stories by Orson Scott Card. Although not purely science fiction and definitely not hard science fiction, the book contains stories that have a futuristic angle or are purely works of fantasy set in current times. All the stories except “The Porcelain Salamander” were first published elsewhere before appearing in the Unaccompanied Sonata collection.
[edit] Story list
- “Ender’s Game”
- In the future only a child unharmed by present-day biases can help the human race in defeating aliens who threaten Earth’s existence. See also: Ender’s Game
- “Kingsmeat”
- A story about cannabalistic monarchs and their treatment of their subjects and one man stuck between it all. See also: Kingsmeat
- “Deep Breathing Exercises”
- A man realizes that people who breathe together die together.
- “Closing the Time Lid”
- Playing with the past, even if you don’t change it, can have disastrous consequences.
- “I Put My Blue Genes On”
- Biological warfare and how it will change man’s own evolution. See also: I Put My Blue Genes On
- “Eumenides in the Fourth Floor Lavatory”
- How one’s past will catch up with oneself.
- “Mortal Gods”
- In our mortality lies our greatness.
- “Quietus”
- Dying can be a difficult thing to come to terms with.
- “The Monkeys Thought ’Twas All in Fun”
- A story about how paradise can have its hidden pitfalls.
- “The Porcelain Salamander”
- How a curse can be lifted only once it’s complete.
- “Unaccompanied Sonata”
- A story about no matter how much you take music away from a man driven, you cannot take the man away from music. Nominated in 1979 for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story and in 1980 for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
