A Bite of Stars, a Slug of Time, and Thou – Episode 8

Thx for show guys, glad you are coming back for more!

So y’know my favourite short story of all time is actually in that Brian Aldiss anthology – Track 12 by JG Ballard, or “Jim Ballard, an up and coming British author” as the intro quaintly refers to him. It is, I think, as perfect as short stories get. A nice little revenge fantasy, with the reveal (not quite a twist) perfectly timed, and the symmetry between the sound of the sea and the drowning of Maxted is such a good idea, and so exquisitely realised in Ballard’s prose.

For something more up-to-date, the collection I always rep for is In Dreams, “A celebration of the 7-inch single in all-original SF and horror fiction”. Sounds like an odd idea but it actually has one of the highest hit rates of any collection I own. Covers the spectrum from Glen Miller to virtual pop avatars literally created by the market; has a quite superb alternate history story in which Lennon leaves the Beatles before they get famous; and a story which might suit your purposes, The Elvis National Theatre of Okinawa, a comic tale in which the legend of The King gets reborn in a deeply insane futuristic Japan, in a mere six pages.