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A comment on The Last Question. Parent comment

Re:The Last Question by aerovistae on Thursday June 09, 2022 @03:29AM (#31678500)
Nah, this story is just exceptionally good. Asimov was a fine writer, but this story was his crowning achievement in short fiction and he knew it too. You can read his other things and none of them will give the same feeling.

Nightfall is a decent story though. But yeah, The Last Question is in a league of its own. It's one of my favorite short stories ever along with The Library of Babel by Borges, The Great Automatic Grammatizator by Roald Dahl, and "Repent, Harlequin!" said the Tick-Tock Man by Harlan Ellison.

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Re:The Last Question by teekert on Thursday June 09, 2022 @05:53AM (#31679330)
If you like these kind of "Mind blown", "Goose bumps" stories, read some Ted Chiang. Really stories that stick with you. I love this whole book: [0]

If you like a bit longer stories, try some Greg Egan. Or, his book with short stories is also really nice: [1]

[0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223380.Stories_of_Your_L...

[1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156783.Axiomatic

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Re:The Last Question by sky-kedge0749 on Thursday June 09, 2022 @02:26PM (#31684962)
I want to second or third the recommendation for Ted Chiang. Basically all of Chiang's stories could go on any "best short stories" list.
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Re:The Last Question by numlocked on Thursday June 09, 2022 @12:01PM (#31682878)
Thank you for the recommendations! I've read the Borges, but the other two were new to me and were a great way to start my day. The sibling comment also wisely recommends Ted Chiang. "Exhalation" is probably the canonical equivalent to The Last Question.
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Re:The Last Question by aerovistae on Thursday June 09, 2022 @05:44PM (#31687322)
Yep I enjoyed Exhalation a lot. Good collection and great story.
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